Ayurveda – A premier, an introduction to the science of life

“He who has health… has everything”

Ayurveda is an ancient holistic health science originating in India some 5000, or more years ago. It advocates a way of life in perfect harmony with Mother Nature and has evolved down the ages to be an extremely comprehensive and effective way of diagnosing and curing disease – even challenging modern medicine (Allopathy) in many areas. Naturally, Ayurveda has become hugely popular all around the world and modern research has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the therapeutic effects of its treatments and herbal medicines.

Origins;

“The body, and that which is called the mind, are both considered to be abodes of disease, likewise of well-being. The cause of well being is the harmonious or concordant interaction of body and mind”

‘Charaka Samhita’, one of the oldest Ayurveda texts.

Ayurveda (a compound Sanskrit word implying both ‘the science of life’ and ‘the art of living’) began in India during the Vedic period. It is a branch of Adharvaveda, one of the four Vedas (Sanskrit for knowledge) or treatises which form the basis of Indian Philosophy. Ayurveda was quickly adopted by almost all groups across India and began spreading to places such as Persia (now Iran), China and Afghanistan.

According to ancient beliefs Ayurveda was gifted to mankind by the gods to help us lead a healthy and productive life free of disease.

Health and Beauty through timeless knowledge

The central goal of Ayurveda is simple… to establish perfect, radiant health physically, mentally and spiritually in every living being. If body, mind and spirit are out of balance, either partially or totally, we are likely to feel unwell and experience diseases. However, if they are in harmony we experience the sensation of deep tranquillity, referred to as ‘Swastha’.

Our body is trying to be perfectly healthy all the time through its innate self-healing and self-regulating abilities but, consciously or sub-consciously, we repeatedly interfere with these natural abilities. Ayurveda can help us to create the right internal and external conditions to restore balance to our whole being.

Ayurveda recognises unique constitutional differences of all individuals – even if two people have the same symptoms different treatment approaches are likely to help. Ayurveda emphasises disease prevention, rejuvenation of the body systems and longevity of life. It provides an integrated approach to preventing and treating illness through lifestyle modification and natural therapies aimed at restoring balance to body, mind and spirit.

According to Ayurveda, every living and non-living being in Nature is a combination of five basic eternal elements, called Panchamahabhootas. As the human body is an integral part of Nature it is also created from these elements in various compositions and, in essence, every cell of the body has all the properties of life. The only difference between the human body and the external world is the expression of Chaithanya, also known as consciousness, life spark, spirit or the soul.