Do you know anything about Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is the sister science to Yoga, yep, and it’s pretty important to understand. Simply put Yoga is considered the Science of the Mind, and Ayurveda is considered the Science of the Body. So they team up pretty well together.
Ayu = Life
Veda = knowledge
So you can say it’s the Study or Knowledge of Life! As you can imagine this is a huge concept and complicated study. For today, lets keep it focused on the body and how you can get started understanding this amazing system.
Ayurveda is a medical science with it’s purpose to heal and enhance the quality and longevity of life.
Ayurveda has been practiced for thousands of years in India, and is only recently becoming more well known here in the west. The teachings from long ago are proving true today, blending the ancient study of Ayurveda with current science.
Life = meaning all life and everything to do with nature. Ayurvedic teachings tell us that we are a combination of the natural elements which are earth, water, fire, air, either. And when we fall ill or are in dis-ease we are actually out of balance with our own natural elements.
How do we know what our natural elements are or what our natural balance is? When we look at Ayurveda we are looking at the qualities or natures of our own individual selves. You can consider we are a microcosm of a huge macrocosm!
A simple way to sense the elements within us is to rub your hands together vigorously for about 1 minute to create friction and heat. Then put your hands up to your face and see what you notice. The heat is fire; the friction and tingling is air/either; the slight sweat on your palms is water; the solid palms themselves are the earth.
Prakriti - how we are born into the world. We are all born with a certain balance of the natural elements.
Vrikruti - how we are now and usually not the same as when we were born. Life circumstance, habits, location of where we live now, all kinds of things contribute to this shift from our natural state.
We can all look at our lifestyles and see how we may be different now than when we were younger. We realize we are not just older, but systems aren’t as strong and vital, which by the way isn’t normal!
When working with Ayurveda we look at our daily habits and our constitution (balance or not) and make lifestyle choices to support our total wellbeing.
“According to Ayurveda, health is a continuous and participatory process that embraces all aspects of life; physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, familial, social, and universal. Achieving balance on all levels of being is the true measure of vibrant health”.
This means we are part of our own healing and also part of our own dis-ease. We don’t just get sick. Our body has an innate intelligence to come back to balance, as long as it’s given the proper support.
As an example; let’s say you had the habit of going to bed really late, and having to get up really early for work, and this was your daily habit. Over time your body starts to react - you feel sluggish and tired, so you drink coffee or an energy drink through out the day to keep going. Do this long enough and the body can’t keep up, so systems start to break down. Like your immune system gets compromised and you get a viral infection, or you start to notice your balance is off and you end up falling and injuring yourself. These are simple examples of how what we do affects the function of our body, and how easy it is to ignore until the message is too loud!
I love Ayurveda because it doesn’t label us as bad or good, it just looks at our natural balance and offers lifestyle choices, food, and sometimes herbs to help bring us back to balance.
How can we figure out our natural elements or our constitutions?
Ayurveda calls our constitution the Dosha’s. There are many quizzes online you can take to help you identify your individual nature or dosha.
Here is a simple QUIZ you can take right away.
There are 3 Dosha’s; Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. We are a combination of all 3, but have primary natures which categorizes us into usually one Dosha.
Vata - natural elements of air/either
Pitta - natural elements of fire/water
Kapha - natural elements of water/earth
When you take a quiz, you can get an idea as to what Dosha you are. When I first learned about this, I was excited to learn my specific Dosha, and if I got out of balance, there were simple things to do that can bring me back into balance.
And what happens if we ignore this balance? We get sick, or injured, or get depressed or have anxiety. We do not need to live in suffering especially when we can add simple lifestyle practices or a shift in food to help us get back to our natural balance.
This is why I love Ayurveda so much. It allows us to be humans and have experiences and then make adjustments if we go out of balance. Keep It Simple Sweetie (KISS).
Curious? Want to learn more? You can go to my YouTube Channel - Wellness with Sue to watch my vdeo’s on Ayurveda and the 3 Doshas. You can also reach out to me via the contact page to request a consultation.