~alchemy from within~
The Science of Vitality
Lord Dhanvantari - The God of Medicine, an incarnation of Vishnu. He represents the divine healer within each individual.
There are two root words that make up the word Ayurveda, Ayus, meaning "life" or "longevity", and Veda meaning "science" or "wisdom". Ayurveda refers to the traditional holistic medical system, native to India. Its basic principles teach us to consider ourselves as a three part organism, the physical body, the mental body, and the subconscious, or causal body. By seeing the organism in this way, we allow ourselves to examine the nature of our senses. What we see, hear, eat, smell, and feel create the experience of what it is to be human. Ayurveda promotes harmonious action in accordance with our senses, therefore promoting health and longevity.
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Ayurvedic treatment is based on assessing the states of the natural elements (fire, air, water, earth, and ether), three gunas (quality of the mind), and seven dhatus (tissues) within the body. The combination of these three assessments are the make up of our core nature, and any imbalance in these elements, creates disease.
Every human has a unique coding of the elements, gunas, and state of the dhatus. In an Ayurvedic treatment plan, the goal is to bring the organism back to its own unique balance of the elements, promote the highest attributes of the mental landscape, and encourage the vitality of the tissues in the body.
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By utilizing and adjusting the nidana (root cause) of the disease path, we invite harmonious action and health to the parts of the organism that need addressing to heal and revitalize the person. For most people, this requires simple lifestyle, diet, and mental practices.
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Nityam hitahara vihara sevi samikshyakari vishayeshvasaktah
Data samah satyaparah kshamavan aptopasevi cha bhavati arogah
That person who always eats wholesome food, enjoys a regular lifestyle, remains unattached to the objects of the senses, gives and forgives, loves truth, and serves others, is without disease.”
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— CARAKA SAMHITA
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
You don't have to get sick to be well
Ayurveda is an ancient and effective health paradigm.
Preventing illnesses before disease has the opportunity to erupt is one of the natural consequences of creating and maintaining healthy habits. Disease prevention begins with our daily choices. Stress, poor diet, a sedentary or aggressive lifestyle, heavy toxicity, trauma, improperly digested foods or waste materials, and mental afflictions that are left un-dealt with, are all common ways the human body will create a state of imbalance or illness. Managing these factors in your own life before they can rear and cause harm is the paradigm of treatment and the scope of Ayurveda as preventative medicine.
Preventing disease begins with managing the stressors of our unique lives. Gaining insight into our patterns and habits - and taking responsibility for the factors that we have control over is not only strategically wise in eliminating unhealthy choices - it is also liberating and a causative factor in maintaining health and preventing future disease.
The human vessel is biological and experiences life through our mind and consciousness. We need quality food, clean water and air, and proper exercise to maintain the physical body. In the same manner, we need structured disciplines that tame the disrupting currents of our mind and consciousness. Healthy prana (life-force) is necessary to maintain not only the physical body, but the mind and consciousness as well. Pranayama (yogic breath work) is utilized to determine the level of functionality with which we go forth into life. If we have healthy prana intake, we tame the disturbances of the mind. If we do not, we can suffer from mental and emotional afflictions.
Proper intake of food, exercising at the level of your own need, vital intake of prana, and use of yogic practices are how Ayurveda encompasses a broad range of prevention.
There are six natural stages in Ayurvedic Pathology: Aggravation, Accumulation, Overflow, & (RMD) Relocation, Manifestation, and Diversification.