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Ayurveda – The Nature’s Science Of Healthy Living
Ayurveda is one of the oldest system of medicine in the world. For thousands of years people have been getting benefited with its awesome treatments and procedures. The beauty of ayurvedic medicine is in the fact that it not only treats the symptom or disease but the person as a whole. The sense of calmness, contentment, serenity, and rejuvenating energy that you get with ayurveda is hard to find anywhere else.
Basic Principles Of Ayurveda
In ayurveda disease is seen as a manifest of the internal imbalance in the “doshas”. And the treatment primarily revolves around fixing this imbalance.
Ayurvedic treatments are performed in three different ways: by medicines, by diet and lifestyle modifications and by various physical procedures collectively known as “Panchakarma”.
Ayurvedic treatment revolves around two fundamental basics – Prakriti and Dosha.
The Concept Of Prakriti:
The unique physical and psychological characteristics of a person combine to give a specific constitution or prakriti. Different people have different types of prakriti and thus they have different moods, behavior and specific needs and characters. The prakriti of a person is unchangeable and it remains the same for the whole life. However what you eat and and how to you digest and excrete can greatly influence your prakriti.
The Concept Of Dosha:
According to Ayurveda, universe is made up of five basic things and so are our bodies. They are:
1. Space
2. Air
3. Water
4. Fire and
5. Earth.
These five basic elements combining in a specific proportion in our bodies to form “dosha”. These “dosha” help our bodies do their day to day tasks and influence every aspect of our health. There are three doshas explained by the manuscripts:
1. Vata Dosha
2. Pitta Dosha
3. Kapha. Dosha
Vata controls the mind, breathing functions, blood circulation, heart and waste excretion (bowel). It is believed to be the most prominent of the three doshas. If you have predominant Vata dosha you are more susceptible to arthritis, asthma, anxiety, heart problems and skin problems.
Pitta plays role in digestive system, metabolism of the food and controls the appetite. People with predominantly Pitta dosha are emotional, get angry quickly, have dry skin, have plenty of body hairs, acidity and high blood pressure.
The last dosha is Kapha which controls body development, muscular growth, strength of the body, weight and immunity. A person with predominant Kapha nature may have asthma and breathing difficulty, cancer, high blood sugar, nausea, indigestion and obesity.
Various types of tablets, herbal syrups and powders are used by doctors for treatment in ayurveda. The ingredients used in these medicines are sourced from natural resources. This is the main reason why your body digests them so quickly without any side effects. Most of the ingredients used in these medicines are crude or raw in nature which contain many different alkaloids. So when you use an ayurvedic medicine you also get some additional benefits for your health along with the treatment.
The Concept Of Dhatu:
According to ayurvedic principles, there are seven types of tissues (dhatu) in the human body. These are:
- Rasa (plasma)
- Rakta (blood)
- Mamsa (muscles)
- Asthi (bone)
- Meda (fat)
- Majja (marrow)
- Shukra (semen)