What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is an ancient healing modality with its roots arising from native India. It is said to be one of the oldest healing modalities in the world, with the knowledge of it dating back more than 5000 years ago.
The word Ayurveda can be broken down in to two separate words, those being; ‘Ayu’, which translates to ‘life’ and ‘Veda’ which translates to ‘the knowledge of’. Together, they describe ‘the knowledge of life’.
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One of the basic principles of Ayurveda surrounds the knowledge of the panchamahabhuta theory – the 5 great elements or energetic forces theory. The 5 great elements are: Prithvi / Earth, Jala / Water, Tejas / Fire, Vayu / Air and Akasha / Space. We understand, through this theory, that everything in the multiverse, including us as humans, is made up of different portions and combinations of these energetic forces. In adopting this theory and understanding that these elements are what constitute living and non-living matter, the Vedas developed the Tridoshas: Vata (Vayu & Akasha), Pitta (Tejas & Jala) & Kapha (Prithvi & Jala).
This forms the understanding that we as unique beings, as well as everything in nature that surrounds us, are made up of different combinations of the 5 great elements, and that they are what give rise to our physical form. With this notion, we begin to see how everything we need to heal ourselves, already resides within and around us, because everything is made up of the same elemental forces, just in differing combinations.
Ayurveda is a healing system that understands that dis-ease arises from imbalance among the tridoshas (and therefore in the 5 great energies) in an individual. The tridoshas form the fundamental building block in helping healers to understand your unique prakruthi and vikruthi, which furthermore help us to understand how best to support you in restoring balance within.
In most cases, any individual has 2 dominant doshas (meaning a combination of up to 4 dominating elements), which help in identifying the fault lines on which imbalance could occur should a person live out of alignment with the rhythm of nature surrounding them. It reveals to us the secret powers of our body, consciousness & soul, and their combined ability to heal us. Through deep understanding of the rhythmical and cyclical nature of the elements, and therefore us as humans, we acknowledge the need for minimal intervention, using methods of healing that are non-invasive but that, instead, prompt our body to restore harmony and balance by reminding it of it’s innate healing ability.
Ayurveda avoids using one form of treatment for each patient, due to understanding our individuality, and emphasises diving deep in to the story of the individuals journey to gain as much knowledge as possible about the imbalances before deciding on a unique treatment protocol. We do this by advising on diet, lifestyle, bodywork therapies and herbal combinations when necessary. The aim of Ayurveda is to not only treat dis-ease if it arrives, but to work with people to prevent dis-ease occurring in the first place.
It is a simple and effective tool for any one to walk through life with, and is inclusive of all ages and periods of ones life.