ayurveda, the science of life.
Ayurveda is the art of daily living in harmony with the laws of nature. It is an ancient natural wisdom of health and healing, a science of life. According to Ayurveda health is a perfect state of balance among the body's three fundamental energies, or dosha -vata, pitta, kapha- and an equally vital balance among body, mind and the soul or consciousness.
Ayurveda is a profound science of living that encompasses the whole of life and relates the life of the individual to the life of universe. It is a holistic system of healing in the truest sense. Body, mind and consciousness are in constant interaction and relationship with other people and the environment. In working to create health, Ayurveda takes into consideration these different levels of life and their interconnectedness.
As a science of self-healing, Ayurveda encompasses diet and nutrition, lifestyle, yoga practice, rest and relaxation, meditation, breathing exercises, massage therapies and medicinal herbs along with cleansing and rejuvenation programs for healing body, mind and spirit.
As you get familiar with these natural methods you can make the lifestyle choices and learn the self-healing modalities that are right for you in order to create, maintain, or restore health and balance.
According to this science, every individual is both a creation of cosmic energies and a unique phenomenon, a unique personality. Ayurveda teaches that we all have a constitution, which is our individual psychobiological make-up. From the moment of conception this individual constitution is crated by the universal energies of Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. These five elements combine into the three fundamental energies, or dosha. Each of us come to life with a unique constitution, characterized by these five elements in different percentage and that makes what can be defined our inherited genetic code. Substantially, it is our nature, our own patter on energy, our combination of physical, mental and emotional characteristics and predispositions.
As the internal and external conditions of our lives change, if we are going to remain healthy, we need to constantly adjust in order to maintain equilibrium. To maintain health and balance we have to juggle with the three doshas, taking action to increase or decrease, vata, pitta or kapha as conditions demand. This requires moment-to-moment awareness, moment-to-moment consciousness, moment-to-moment healing.
Thus healing -healthy, balanced, conscious living in the fullness of the present moment- is really a way of life. Ayurveda is not a passive form of therapy but rather asks each individual to take responsibility for her or his own daily living.
Through our diet, relationships, our job, our numerous responsibilities and our daily life as a whole, we can take simple actions for prevention, self-healing, wholeness and growth towards fulfillment.