What is Ayurveda

What is Ayurveda

Ayurveda is considered the world's oldest continually practised medical system.

Pronounced "Aa-your-vay-da",

Ayurveda literally means the "science of life". It first originated in India between 5000 to 10000 years ago and is generally believed to be the oldest healing science in existence, and the science from which most other health systems and practices emerged.

As a system it places emphasis on the maintenance of health as opposed to the curing of illness and sustains a portfolio of approaches and methods for maintaining health as opposed to simply providing methods for curing illness. As such ayurveda can be described as holistic and entails a whole approach to living and not simply a set of methodologies for managing illnesses and diseases. In the contemporary world this holistic approach is highly attractive to many people at the same time as its rigour may be not wholly appropriate. Many advocates of ayurveda struggle to successfully communicate the distinctive quality of ayurveda without seeming to be either "new world" in their approach and to lack theoretical rigour. Ayurveda as a whole suffers from the lack of an evidence-based approach which results in many techniques and their associated outcomes from being anecdotal at best or lacking statistical rigour. Younger practitioners who have been inculcated in western medical methodologies are powerfully aware of these failings and of the need for a more statistical and data driven approach to research and practice.

Ayurveda has three main focuses:

1. Healing illness
2. Prevention of disease and the comcomitant sustenance of good health
3. Long life

Ayurveda defines various etiological factors for diseases in general. The seven causes are:

1. sahaja (congenital factor ),
2. garbhaja (not satisfying urges of apregnant lady),
3. jataja (causes after birth -improper diet ,lack of exercises ,etc causing diseases like obesity, cardiac problems etc) )
4. peedaja ( due to injuries )
5. kalaja (due to seasonal changes ),
6. prabhavaja,(eternal causes)
7. swabhavaja.( conditions like aging , thirst etc).

The concept of HEALTH in Ayurveda is the most holistic concept . Ayurveda defines the state of health as the complete balance of the three humours ( vata, pitha, kapha ), the proper functioning of agni (digestive power ), the balance in all dhatu (differant types of tissues or building units of the body ) and the proper evacuation of urges . The practices of ayurveda are conducive to the maintenance of health by achieving this balance. It follows logically that ayurveda is not therefore an occassional practice for it adherents but rather a consistent approach to living life.

The most revolutionary idea in origin of disease is the concept of Aama .Concept of ama has been used in different context.The food we take in ,if not digested properly will transform into a putrefying state called aama , end result will be belching, bloating , etc..Another concept of aama is attributed as orgin of disease. Any disease has its orgin from aama , either at tissue level or at digestion level .In short aama has a concept of anything that is toxic to the body , whether as indigested food or any external agent entered the body .

Many factors like poor nutrition and over exertion can result in the weakening of immune system. A well balanced diet builds up a life sap that protects the immune system. Apart from a robust health, the life sap can also ensure mental peace and spiritual enrichment through meditation. By developing the immune sap, most of the immune disorders can be managed effectively.