Why Ayurveda in the West?

Why Ayurveda in the West?

The term Ayurveda means “knowledge (veda) of longevity (ayus),” often translated as “science of longevity” or “science of life,” denoting an entire ancient and natural system of healing. Ayurveda, a health-care tradition originating in India over 5,000 years ago, gives us the knowledge of how to live in harmony with our bodies for a healthy, happy, stress-free life. Ayurveda is not just a system of medicine for treating diseases but also a science designed to increase our well-being and happiness in all aspects. It shows the path to live in such a way as to arrive at optimum health.
Modern Indian society recognizes Ayurveda as a legitimate medical system. Practitioners receive state-licensed, institutionalized medical training. Approximately two-thirds of India’s rural people, who comprise 70 percent of the population, use Ayurveda for their primary health care needs. In the United States, approximately 751,000 people have received Ayurvedic treatment, according to a 2004 National Center for Health Statistics study .New Age Ayurveda, a paradigm of global Ayurveda is more preventative in its orientation and emphasize adopting an “ayurvedic lifestyle” which will strengthen the immune system and help prevent disease. The noninvasive diagnostic techniques of Ayurveda, the medicines themselves, which admittedly are often slower acting but have few if any negative side effects compared to western medicine, rising interest in Asian philosophies, desire to explore alternative lifestyles, desire by patients to exercise greater control over their own health, cost effectiveness and the personalized individual attention of physicians who treat the body as a whole unit rather than looking at arts of it in isolation and symptomatically oriented has led to immense popularity of Ayurveda in West.

Philosophy of Ayurveda
The philosophy of Ayurveda and its treatments are aimed at putting people in touch with themselves on a deeper spiritual level compared to other holistic therapies. Four aims of life in Ayurveda represent the various aspirations of all human beings. If we analyze all our desires and pursuits, we will find that these can be grouped under four basic human pursuits. So the four aims of life are...
Dharma: Religion, merit, virtue, righteousness, duties, nature, one that should be followed among the present choices of actions, the characteristic property or attribute are some of the related meanings. The word 'Dharma' means moral rules, activities in accordance with natural and universal principles. 'Dharma' also means one that should be chosen or done or exercised out of given choices.
Artha: To strive to obtain that part of our life or mental life that is related with five sensations of sound, touch, vision, taste and smell and five executive sense organs like hands, legs, sexual organs, excretory organs and tongue, business matter, wealth, profit, good.
Kama: Objects of desire, emotional aspirations, desire of sensual enjoyments, lust.
Moksha: It means liberation, emancipation, spiritual aspirations, freedom of soul from compulsions of birth and rebirths, attainment of Cosmic Consciousness. This dimension of our life is usually ignored or neglected.
Ayurveda is more as a spiritual calling than as a money-making enterprise for an Ayurvedic physician. In this he follows the advice of the Caraka Samhita:
He who practices medicine out of compassion for all creatures rather than for gain (artha) or for gratification of the senses (kama) surpasses all. No benefactor, moral or material, compares to the physician who by severing the noose of death in the form of fierce diseases brings back to life those being dragged towards death’s abode, because there is no other gift greater than the gift of life. He obtains supreme happiness. (Cikitsasthana 1.58–62)
Other attractive features of Ayurveda practice is a greater client focus, positive influence of improved diet and sanitation on health and a fuller link between health and the broader social and family well-being.
Two main objectives of Ayurveda:
Swasthasya swaastha rakshanam, means "keeping the healthy person healthy." Prevention is the primary and most important goal of ayurveda. All the major treatises of Ayurveda give strong emphasis on the observance of the laws of 'Swasthavritta' i.e. the code for a healthy conduct. 'Swasthavritta'literally means 'the regime of abiding in one's own nature'. Ayurveda advocates the maintenance of a healthy life by one's own right action. Ayurveda places great emphasis on prevention and encourages the maintenance of health through close attention to balance in one's life, right thinking, diet, lifestyle and the use of herbs .The daily routine or ‘Dinacharya’ and the seasonal regimen or ‘Ritucharya’ are designed to keep us healthy. Good social conduct, morality, good manners and good character are some other factors which are necessary to stay away from diseases. Vyadhakanam vyadhi paramokshaha, which means "for the person who does not have this knowledge of how to stay optimally healthy or does not implement the knowledge, and thus gets out of balance, Ayurveda teaches that person how to get rid of the imbalance."
Ayurveda has increasingly identified itself as a kind of preventive medicine; indeed, it has become as much a positive lifestyle index as a system for curing illness. However, in general terms, health care in the West seems to be coming full circle in that it is now beginning to return to the equivalent of the plural roots of historic past.
Principles of Ayurveda
The beautiful gift of Ayurveda is that it is a natural system of nutrition and healthcare that balances your whole being: physical body, mind, emotions and sprit. Just as everyone has a unique fingerprint, each person has a particular pattern of energy-an individual combination of physical, mental and emotional characteristics- which comprises their own constitution. This psycho-physical constitution (prakrti) is determined at conception by a number of factors and remains the same throughout one's life. Examples of emotional and physical stresses include one's emotional state, diet and food choices, seasons and weather, physical trauma, work and family relationships. Once these factors are understood, one can take appropriate actions to nullify or minimize their effects or eliminate the causes of imbalance and re-establish one's original psycho-physical constitution (prakrti). Balance is the natural order; imbalance is disorder. Health is order; disease is disorder. Within the body there is a constant interaction between order and disorder. When one understands the nature and structure of disorder, one can re-establish order.
Ayurveda identifies three basic types of energy or functional principles that are present in everyone and everything. Since there are no single words in English that convey these concepts, we use the original Sanskrit words Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These principles can be related to the basic biology of the body. These three bodily humors, vata, pitta, and kapha, are called as “the agents of DNA which form the blueprint for the physiology”. Vata is the energy of movement, Pitta is the energy of digestion or metabolism and Kapha, the energy of lubrication and structure. The cause of disease in Ayurveda is viewed as a lack of proper cellular function due to an excess or deficiency of Vata, Pitta or Kapha. In Ayurveda, body, mind and consciousness work together in maintaining balance. To learn how to balance the body, mind and consciousness requires an understanding of how Vata, Pitta and Kapha work together. According to Ayurvedic philosophy the entire cosmos is interplay of the energies of the five great elements-Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The basic difference between Ayurveda and Western allopathic medicine is that the Western allopathic medicine currently tends to focus on symptomatology and disease, and primarily uses drugs and surgery to rid the body of pathogens or diseased tissue. Ayurveda does not focus on disease. Rather, Ayurveda maintains that when there is minimal stress and the flow of energy within a person is balanced, the body's natural defense systems will be strong and can more easily defend against disease.
Ayurveda encompasses various non invasive techniques for assessing health. The Practitioner arrives at diagnosis through direct questioning, observation and a physical exam, as well as inference. Basic techniques such taking the pulse, observing the tongue, eyes and physical form; and listening to the tone of the voice are employed during an assessment. Nadi or Pulse diagnosis is the ancient art and science of detecting the existing status of a person’s body, mind, soul and spirit. The functioning and health of the entire mind body constitution can be determined from the pulse, including the balance of the doshas, the health of the various organs, advance warning signs of potential problems that may crop up later etc. By detecting early symptoms of imbalance and disease reaction in the body, one can take preventive steps to correct the problem before it manifests into a major one.
The treatments in Ayurveda are basically two types, "Shodhanam" and "Shamanam". Shodhanam is all about removal of impurities, while Shamanam involves applying of medicine on the infected parts and thereby curing
the illness. Ayurvedic treatment focuses on four main areas; cleansing or detoxification (physiological balancing, rejuvenation to enhance energy and longevity) and mental and emotional wellness (to release stress and anxiety).
Ayurveda sees that the two main areas that affect our health and wellness are the foods we eat and the lifestyle we live. Ayurvedic texts emphasize that health is found through consistent awareness and monitoring of our intake of Prana (life-energy), through our five senses, our food, our breath, our word and thought and action. According to ayurveda, every individual has unique needs for balance. Nutritionally modified individualized diets for people is based on various factors such as age and gender, the doshic tendencies that need to be balanced at a given time, the strength of the body tissues and the digestive fires and the level of ama (toxins) in the body. Some universally applicable principles that are important to follow if you are living an ayurvedic lifestyle are:
1. Include the six tastes at every main meal
In ayurveda, foods are classified into six tastes--sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent. Each taste has a balancing ability, and including some of each minimizes cravings and balances the appetite and digestion. The general North American diet tends to have too much of the sweet, sour and salty, and not enough of the bitter, pungent and astringent tastes. The Amalaki Rasayana, made from the Amla fruit, offers five of the six ayurvedic tastes--all except salty.
2. Choose foods by balancing physical attributes
In ayurveda, foods are also categorized as heavy or light, dry or unctuous/liquid and warm or cool (temperature), and different qualities balance different doshas. A balanced main meal should contain some foods of each physical type. To keep Vata dosha in balance, choose more heavy, unctuous or liquid, and warm foods, and fewer dry, light or cool foods. To help balance Pitta, focus more on cool, dry and heavy foods, and to balance Kapha, try more of light, dry and warm foods.
3. Choose foods that are sattvic
Sattvic foods have an uplifting yet stabilizing influence, rajasic foods stimulate and can aggravate some aspects of the mind, heart or senses, and tamasic foods breed lethargy and are considered a deterrent to spiritual growth. Our modern food culture has got us eating inordinate amounts of rajasic and tamasic foods, like ketchup, burgers, french fries, frozen dinners, nuked and processed foods, with very little fresh ingredients anymore.
Almonds, rice, honey, fresh sweet fruits, mung beans and easy-to-digest, fresh seasonal vegetables and leafy greens are examples of sattvic foods. To get the full sattwa from sattvic foods, prepare and eat them whole and fresh.
4. Opt for whole, fresh, in-season, local foods
From the ayurvedic perspective, the most healthful diet consists of whole foods, eaten in as natural a state as possible, the only exception being when removing a peel or cooking helps increase digestibility and assimilation for certain types of constitutions. If the digestive fire is not strong enough, even wholesome foods can turn into ama (toxic matter) in the body. Ama is fertile ground for infections and disorders to germinate take root and flourish. Drinking iced water or ice-cold beverages douses the digestive fire and causes ama to be generated. Eating heavier foods after sundown, eating a new meal before the previous one is digested, or eating when stressed or working also impact digestion. Foods that are frozen, canned, refined so as to denude the food of its nutritive value, processed with artificial colors, flavorings, additives or preservatives, genetically altered, or grown with chemical pesticides or fertilizers are not recommended by ayurvedic healers, because such foods are lacking in chetana--living intelligence--and prana--vital life-energy--and will do more harm than good in the physiology. For the above reasons, it's best to choose foods and produce that is locally grown or produced, foods that are in-season, and foods that are organic, natural and whole.
5. Rotate menus and experiment with a variety of foods
According to ayurveda, each meal should be a feast for all of your senses. When your plate reflects an appealing variety of colors, textures, flavors and aromas, your digestive juices start freely flowing in anticipation and your body, mind and heart are all fulfilled by the eating experience.
Ayurveda and Yoga therapy are two such complimentary and synergistic tools of holistic living and wellness, where one leaves you on the efficient and effective pathway of health and wellness, the other takes you from there to newer heights of true health - happiness, peace and joy. The foundation of solid, tested and proven principles will help youngsters to unleash their full creative effort in their family, organization and social life. Middle age is the age when most of 'civilization born disorders' like hypertension, diabetes, heart and nervous disorders begin to develop and ruin the health and life. These can be managed and prevented to a large extent by yoga practice and ayurvedic medicine.
Another important factor for maintaining good health and staying active even in the old age is called rejuvenation therapy (Rasayan Chikitsa). So a healthy person should take rejuvenating preparations to maintain good health and stay young. Ayurveda recommends a seasonal routine (ritucharya) as well as daily routine (dinacharya). Each season brings with it its own challenges with respect to your health and needs for balance. The time when the seasons change is the best time to do a periodic ayurvedic cleansing regime (Panchakarma), to divest yourself of the earlier season's accumulation of ama and to prepare the physiology by flushing the toxins from the body for the new season. This is one of the main reasons for ayurvedic skin care products and protocols taking the spa and beauty worlds by storm. Thus
In summary, Ayurveda addresses all aspects of life-the body, mind and spirit. Ayurveda approaches the complete individual while giving instructions about maintaining the health. It recognizes that each of us is unique; each responds differently to the many aspects of life, each possesses different strengths and weaknesses. Through insight, understanding and experience Ayurveda presents a vast wealth of information on the relationships between causes and their effects, both immediate and subtle, for each unique individual.
References
1.www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india701/interviews/ayurveda101.html&c5=&c6=&c15=&cv=1.3&cj=1"
2. Modern and Global Ayurveda. Pluralism and Paradigms Edited by Dagmar Wujastyk and Frederick M. Smith STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, ALBANY © 2008 State University of New York
3. AyurBalance, Inc., 2003-2004.