Ayurveda For Beginners
What does Ayurveda mean?
Ayurveda is a word in the Sanskrit language of India that translates to the science (or wisdom) of life. Āyuḥ translates to life, and Veda translates to wisdom, knowledge, or science. Translated to “Science of Life.” It is one of the oldest and most comprehensive medical sciences globally. Ayurveda encompasses mind, body, and spirit and emphasizes positive health. It focuses on preventative imbalances that lead to disease. An individualized multi-dimensional approach is used for prevention and treatment.
Origin Of Ayurveda
Ayurveda originated thousands of years ago and is still used today for professional practice, research, and education. It is often viewed as the first system of medicine ever established. Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old system of care that holistically addresses the mind, body, and spirit.
It uses nature as medicine, in a preventive and curative sense.
Ayurveda is part of the Vedic system of knowledge, which originated in India and are some of the oldest written texts. Ayurveda was initially an oral tradition transmitted through concepts, and poetic phrases (sutras, translated to “thread”) used to pass knowledge from one generation to the next.
The religious aspect of medicine in the Vedas (the chanting of mantras and sutras) gradually supplemented observations based on scientific thinking and study. The material scattered throughout the Vedas was collected, subjected to rigorous tests for efficacy, and then rearranged into what we know as Ayurveda today.
Many original Ayurvedic Sanskrit texts have been translated into various European languages, including English, during the last thirty years. This has gradually led to the current popularity of Ayurveda in the West.
Many forms of medicine have roots in Ayurveda. Such as herbalism, traditional Chinese medicine, marma therapy, energy medicine, acupuncture, acupressure, and Reiki.
What makes Ayurveda Special?
Ayurveda is based on the laws of nature. It is a holistic and natural medicine that realizes that the relationship between human beings and the universe is intrinsic and cannot be separated. Ayurveda emphasizes balance and harmony with help from nature itself.
Ayurveda treats the individual focusing on mind, body, and spirit and emphasizes the prevention of diseases with the help of diet, daily routines, and seasonal routines.
Ayurveda is a versatile system of health care because it respects the uniqueness of the individual, and it can be tailored to suit any person’s unique needs. It is all-encompassing and can complement traditional medicine for those who are already unwell or on medications and can be a part of their healthcare support system.
Ayurveda considers all the levels of the individual- body, mind, and spirit. It uses all aspects of your personal journey to create a specialized path for healing that is unique to you. It offers natural ways of treating diseases and promoting health inspired by nature.
Practicing Ayurveda, you understand the roles nature and elements play in our overall health and balance. You will find natural ways to treat disease and promote health. You will be to emphasize preventative health vs. just treating illness. You will understand you as you are. Ayurveda empowers everyone to take responsibility for their well-being. It appreciates you as you are today.
Ayurveda uses food, spices, herbal therapies, bodywork, and lifestyle changes to create optimal health conditions. It emphasizes eating right to bring yourself back into balance, exercising, breathing deeply and fully, reducing stress, sleeping well, and other basic concepts to keep your body whole, balanced, and healthy.
It aims to use your personal story to create a specialized and individualized path for healing. It appreciates your uniqueness and knows how to treat you as an individual. In Ayurveda, food and other Ayurvedic practices support a strong mind-body constitution, helping you maintain good health. If you do get sick, a body in balance will be able to heal faster.
To put a cherry on top of all these benefits, Ayurveda is cost-effective, and most importantly, it works!
Benefits of Ayurveda
It considers all the levels of the individual - body, mind, and spirit.
It respects the uniqueness of the individual.
It offers natural ways of treating diseases and promoting health.
It emphasizes prevention.
It empowers everyone to take responsibility for their own well-being.
It is cost-effective.
It works.
The Five Great Elements
Ayurveda defines nature as being compromised of five elements, or bhutas: ether (or space), air, fire, water, and earth. These elements are the building blocks for the universe and humans. They are present in everything, including us, and we need all of these elements to live.
The bhutas create our foundation and structure (earth), movement and circulation (air and space), transformation, light, and metabolism (fire), and cohesiveness, digestive juices, and secretions (water). We need space to expand, air to breathe, the sun to transform or grow, water to hydrate, and the earth to nourish.
All five elements are found in varying amounts in every person and the environment. They are expressed differently in each of us, making each of us unique. Everything in the universe, including us, will have more of one element or less of element than another.
Think of the Earth as an example. The beach has more water, the mountains have more earth, and the desert has more fire. Or another example uses the weather. Sunny days has more fire, windy days have more air, and rainy days have more water.
We are like nature. Some people are more “earthy,” while others are more “hot-headed” or more “grounded,” and some are “spacey.” Our unique combination of the five elements makes up our predominant body composition, or dosha, with three types: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
Ether/Space
Nothingness is the quality of space. Space serves as the medium in which the other elements (bhutas) manifest.
Sound is born from and propagates through space.
Qualities: Subtle, soft, clear, smooth, expanding
Air
Subtle vibrations create air, which gives direction to all processed and functions. Air moves blood through our arteries and veins, moves food through our digestive tract, and transmits nerve impulses with lighting speed to and from the brain.
Qualities: Rough, dry, light, cold, mobile
Fire
Light and heat are produced from the friction inherent in the movement. The sun offers the most striking example of this principle. The sun's heat is, directly and indirectly, responsible for the conversion (metabolic processes). Without it, there would be no transformation and no life.
Qualities: Hot, sharp
Water
Agni condenses to form water. E.g., steam, which, when it cools, becomes water. Water governs a substance's ability to change shape without separating or losing its integrity. The function of water is to nourish and protect.
Qualities: Flowing, wet, dull, sift, cloudy
Earth
Water dries and forms the earth. A substance or particle with shape indicates the presence of an earth element. All structures, whether an atom, molecule, rock, mountain planet, solar system, and galaxy, are determined by Prithvi. It governs the shape and structure of every living thing.
Qualities: Gross, heavy, static, hard, dense
The Three Constitutions, Tridoshas
Your unique mind-body constitution, or dosha, comprises the five great elements, and when combined, they create the doshas. These three doshas are found in all living things. In our body, they are responsible for all biological and psychological functions, and they are present in all of us.
The doshas manifest how nature is represented in us and explain how our physiology works and our unique needs, strengths, weaknesses, and energy.
The way these elements present themselves at your conception depends on many things, including where you were conceived and born, the state of mind of your parents when you were conceived, how the planets were aligned. Even the food your parents ate before your conception determines your body composition.
There are three doshas- Vata, Pitta, and Kapha- each comprises two of the five elements. Just as all the elements exist within us, all the doshas are within us. Vata is a combination of space and air, Pitta is a combination of fire and water, and Kapha is a combination of water and earth.
Your unique mind-body constitution, or dosha, comprises the five great elements, and when combined, they create the doshas. These three doshas are found in all living things. In our body, they are responsible for all biological and psychological functions, and they are present in all of us.
The doshas manifest how nature is represented in us and explain how our physiology works and our unique needs, strengths, weaknesses, and energy.
Ayurveda's 20 Qualities - The Gunas
The Guna's are attributes or qualities used to describe the elements and are paired in opposites. These qualities are the polarities of all the forces in the universe. These qualities are experienced in varying degrees throughout nature. They are an essential part of our life. There are 20 qualities (10 pairs of opposites), and each one is associated with a different dosha. Each attribute is used to aid in finding what helps or aggravates a dosha.
Like Attracts Like
In Ayurveda, there is a principle that "like attracts like." We can easily be thrown off balance if we attract similar qualities as our dosha. Qualities can accumulate, and too much of one thing will leave you feeling unwell. Using the law of opposites helps us create balance.
Let's say you are feeling heavy, sluggish, and slow. You wouldn't want to eat heavy and oily food that will make you continue to feel the same way. You would like to eat the opposite of what you are feeling.
Since the elements are found everywhere and in everything, the 20 qualities can describe everything—experiences, foods, personality, etc.
The idea of like attracts like, is that too much, or too little, of quality can throw us off balance. Healing can be achieved by utilizing the opposite for recovery.
Understanding the Guna's gives you much power in your healing journey. Knowing what qualities accumulate and cause you to feel unwell will help you know what opposite attributes to incorporate into your life.
The Twenty qualities (Gunas):
Heavy / Light
Cold / Hot
Oily / Dry
Dull / Sharp
Smooth / Rough
Dense / Liquid
Soft / Hard
Static / Mobile
Gross / Subtle
Cloudy / Clear
Vata Dosha
Composition: Air + Ether
Description: The energy of action, transportation, and movement.
Qualities: Dry, rough, light, cold, subtle, and mobile.
Pitta Dosha
Composition: Fire + Water
Description: The energy of transformation, conversion, and digestion.
Qualities: oily, sharp, hot, light, moving, liquid, acidic
Kapha Dosha
Composition: Water + Earth
Description: The energy of construction, lubrication, and nourishment.
Qualities: Moist, cold, heavy, dull, soft, sticky, static.
What Is Prakruti?
A person’s prakruti is the inherent balance of the three doshas at the moment of their creation.
Prakruti, the body constitution, is the proportion of Doshas at the time of conception. The most crucial factor in Ayurveda is the determination of one's individual constitution. Finding the right Prakruti is critical, as preventative or treatment plant is dependent on the specific Prakruti of the individual being treated.
It is the baseline of balance that each individual can go back to for the highest possible health possible. It is established at the time of conception. It does not change as we grow and age.
In the current world, we often classify people based on some
common attributes such as Race / Gender/ Religion/ Economic class/ Region
Ayurveda does it based on the following:
- Physical features (skin, hair, body frame etc.)
- Psychological features (preferences / choices /mental abilities/ memory/ behavioural patterns)
- Physiological (eating pattern/ bowel habits/ intensity of hunger/ depth and quality of sleep/ Heat-Cold intolerance)
Knowing Your Prakruti Helps:
Maintain physical balance in the body
Achieve harmony at the subtle levels
Establish appropriate life routines and rituals
Understand proper diet and herbal supplements
Determine the perfect exercise routine
Knowledge of proper Ayurvedic body therapies
Find the ideal location to live, find a suitable career
Improve relationships
Want to know more about your prakruti? Meet with an Ayurveda Health Counselor to get an in-depth Dosha Assessment.
Basic Ayurvedic Principles
Ayurveda means "science of life."
Ayurveda originated 5,000 years ago
Ayurveda focuses on prevention and healing the individual
The universe is made up of five basic elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth
The five elements, when combined, give rise to Dosha's, the three constitutions
Your dosha never changes and was determined when you were conceived
"Like Increases Like," which can lead to an imbalance
Gunas- Qualities, or attributes, that are used to describe the elements and are paired in opposites
The 20 Gunas describe all things—food, emotions, experiences, characteristics
Your unique dosha is known as Prakruti, and when it is out of balance, it is known as vikruti
