Ayurveda is the world's oldest recorded healing system. Used for 5,000 years by many thousands of doctors on millions of patients, it is a proven system of prevention and healing. Ayurveda's goal is to achieve healthy by working toward balance and harmony, not by fighting disease. Prevention is emphasized over cure. Ayurveda recognizes the importance of physical balance, emotional release, mental health, environmental mindfulness and spiritual progression in the total health picture. Ayurveda is the only system of medicine which recognizes ten different metabolic types.
Western medicine does very well in cases of traumatic injury, acute and emergency care. But we in the West suffer more from auto-immune diseases such as arthritis, allergies, heart disease, cancer and even addiction. Because Ayurveda is an all-inclusive body of knowledge which uses a low-tech approach to healing, it is a system that can be adapted to all peoples and climates. Using natural forces such as heat, cold, light, herbs, foods, minerals, exercise and working with the mind and emotions through meditation, Ayurveda may be the basis of a global medicine, accessible and affordable to all.
Ayurveda is the current rage in alternative medicine, with thousands of people flocking to hear best-selling author Deepak Chopra, M.D., and visiting Ayurvedic clinics around the world. Ayurveda has several levels of treatment At its most basic level, patients are able to treat themselves with simple diet and lifestyle changes, assisted by an understanding of their metabolic type and their own inherent strengths and weaknesses. Essential oils can be a powerful component of self treatment.
The purpose of this section is to give the reader a basic understanding of Ayurveda and how it can be used to bring balance and restore health. To discover your metabolic type, and in which direction you may be imbalanced, fill in the questionnaire on pages 25-29. There are also many books listed in the bibliography which we recommend for a more detailed study of Ayurveda. If you are not already a student of Ayurveda, our hope is that this will be an introduction into an exciting new world of self-healing and discovery.
HISTORY
Ayurveda was discovered and developed by ancient Indian holy men known as "Rishis." Due to their relationship (connectedness) to both the spiritual and physical worlds, they were able to discern the basic nature of the universe and man's place in it. They developed an oral tradition of knowledge that was fluid and allowed for growth. As new therapies and herbs were discovered and trade brought new information from other cultures, Ayurveda was built. The Rishis were scientists who made huge advances in the fields of surgery, herbal medicine, the medicinal effects of minerals and metals, exercise, physiology, human anatomy, and psychology. Their surgeries included difficult procedures such as Caesarean section (successfully performed in the West only in the last 100 years). Passed down from teacher to student for centuries, this information was recorded when written language was developed: the Rig Veda (4500 years ago), the Atharva Veda, (3200 years ago) and others.
As knowledge of Ayurveda spread to other civilizations, its adaptability was recognized and it was often integrated into local forms of medicine.
Ayurveda had a profound effect on the medicine of Tibet, China, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Indonesia.
Ayurvedic medicine was suppressed in India during British colonial rule. In 1833, the East India Company closed and banned all Ayurvedic colleges. For almost 100 years, Ayurveda was known as "the poor man's medicine," practiced only in rural areas where western medicine was too expensive or unavailable.
With India's independence, Ayurveda has re-emerged to gain equal footing with "Western Medicine. Currently, 70% of India's population is treated Ayurvedically. In 1978, at a conference on Third World Medicine sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations, it was concluded that Ayurveda would be the best system of medicine for undeveloped countries. There is hope that a global medicine will be created with Ayurveda as its base; its low cost, use of local herbs and remedies, adaptability to any climate, and reduced dependence on pharmaceutical products, ate all favorable aspects for the world's population. Western, Chinese and traditional native medicines may be appropriately blended in each locale.
PHILOSOPHY
Ayurvedic theory believes that health results from harmony' within one's self. To be healthy, harmony must exist between your purpose for being, your thoughts, your feelings, and your physical actions. Your purpose is peaceful, yet if your thoughts are fearful and your emotions negative, your physical body will manifest some disease as a "wake-up call to change." In Ayurveda, the manifestation of disease is actually considered to be a good sign, because it reveals a previously hidden aspect of oneself... an aspect to be healed. Health is harmony within all aspects of self. This inner harmony also be¬comes manifest as harmony with family, friends, co-workers, society, and nature.
Often the first questions an Ayurvedic physician may ask are: "What is your purpose in life? And what is its appropriate form (work, job, activity, etc.)? How are your relationships?" When harmony exists in these areas, physical healing is so much easier.
The goal of Ayurveda is true freedom from death and disease; enjoy¬ment of uninterrupted physical, mental, and spiritual happiness and fulfill¬ment. It may sound surprising, but according to Ayurvedic philosophy, enjoyment is one of life's purposes. But you can lose your ability to enjoy if you overindulge, and disease is one of nature's ways of saying you've overin¬dulged. Either you limit yourself or mother nature will limit you. We have more degenerative disease in the West because of our abundance and ten¬dency to overindulge.
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