Ayurveda
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is an ancient form of medicine originating in India. It is based on the premise that for your body to function well, for your mood to be kept up, and for your mental health to be stable, you need balance in your life. Makes sense, Right?
The balance that Ayurveda focuses on is between the elements present in each of us: earth, fire, water, air, and space.
Balance is found by first identifying which elements are most predominant in a person, something present since birth. Your whole makeup as a person is determined by which elements you have the most of. Very, very, few people have a balance of elements…maybe the Dalai Lama perhaps…For the other 99.9% of us out there, our bodies are constantly in a state of flux, gaining and loosing. Despite this fluctuation, your primary elements will maintain dominance within you though and will place you in one of three categories (Pitta, Vata, Kapha), presenting themselves outwardly and inwardly.
The elements are connected to many things in your body, the world and everything can be categorized by them. Your 5 senses for example are each connected to a different element. Fire is connected with eyes and the sense of sight. This is why we can see the fire of determination burning in someones glare or you describe beautiful eyes as being bright and filled with light. As well, elements are connected with major organs, emotions, personality traits, and physical features. In the larger picture, the world we live in is categorized by the elements too, times of day can be associated with different elements as can foods and activities.
This categorizing is quite extensive.
How this all translates to you, medicine, and your health is that by knowing what elements are dominant in your body you can counter act the negative effects of them and boost the positive ones. Having a lot of earth in you for example can make you gain weight easily. BUT, knowing which foods will decrease this effect and eating more of those will stabilize your weight. Furthermore, knowing what time of day to eat your larger meals and what time of day to eat your smaller ones can help you take control of your bodies natural rhythm and work in your favour. Beyond diet, headaches have different characteristics and can be soothed by knowing which elements are at work, and symptoms like a runny nose can let you know what herbal remedies would work best.
Ayurveda is a holistic health practice that participates in all aspects of your life and presents itself clearly to you. You do not need to concoct potions of wild roots and hold ceremonies to feel great and improve your health, you simply need to listen to your body and work with it, not against it.
The balance that Ayurveda focuses on is between the elements present in each of us: earth, fire, water, air, and space.
Balance is found by first identifying which elements are most predominant in a person, something present since birth. Your whole makeup as a person is determined by which elements you have the most of. Very, very, few people have a balance of elements…maybe the Dalai Lama perhaps…For the other 99.9% of us out there, our bodies are constantly in a state of flux, gaining and loosing. Despite this fluctuation, your primary elements will maintain dominance within you though and will place you in one of three categories (Pitta, Vata, Kapha), presenting themselves outwardly and inwardly.
The elements are connected to many things in your body, the world and everything can be categorized by them. Your 5 senses for example are each connected to a different element. Fire is connected with eyes and the sense of sight. This is why we can see the fire of determination burning in someones glare or you describe beautiful eyes as being bright and filled with light. As well, elements are connected with major organs, emotions, personality traits, and physical features. In the larger picture, the world we live in is categorized by the elements too, times of day can be associated with different elements as can foods and activities.
This categorizing is quite extensive.
How this all translates to you, medicine, and your health is that by knowing what elements are dominant in your body you can counter act the negative effects of them and boost the positive ones. Having a lot of earth in you for example can make you gain weight easily. BUT, knowing which foods will decrease this effect and eating more of those will stabilize your weight. Furthermore, knowing what time of day to eat your larger meals and what time of day to eat your smaller ones can help you take control of your bodies natural rhythm and work in your favour. Beyond diet, headaches have different characteristics and can be soothed by knowing which elements are at work, and symptoms like a runny nose can let you know what herbal remedies would work best.
Ayurveda is a holistic health practice that participates in all aspects of your life and presents itself clearly to you. You do not need to concoct potions of wild roots and hold ceremonies to feel great and improve your health, you simply need to listen to your body and work with it, not against it.
Ayurveda and Yoga
Ayurveda and yoga go hand in hand to me. Once I found out which elements are predominant within me I immediately saw why some yoga postures and sequences either worked for me or not at all.
As with everything else described above, each yoga posture has elements which they accentuate within a person. Going to a regular yoga drop in class therefore can actually leave you feeling worse than when you entered if the sequence being taught increased an already present imbalance within you. For example, if you where feeling over active and restless, a sequence which included many poses related to air would overstimulate you. What you actually needed was a gentle earth and water flow to sooth and calm you.
In this way, what we do to our bodies is just as important and impactful as what we put in them.
As with everything else described above, each yoga posture has elements which they accentuate within a person. Going to a regular yoga drop in class therefore can actually leave you feeling worse than when you entered if the sequence being taught increased an already present imbalance within you. For example, if you where feeling over active and restless, a sequence which included many poses related to air would overstimulate you. What you actually needed was a gentle earth and water flow to sooth and calm you.
In this way, what we do to our bodies is just as important and impactful as what we put in them.
