Naturally Healthy You With Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a simple, yet complex thought. According to vedic science, everything in the universe has a conscience just like you and me. Everything. Including air, wind, fire, earth, the planets and stars. Just as we, as human beings, are complex and diverse; the world is also complex and diverse. And yet, everything and everyone is very different, individual. Thus, the practice of ayrveda is also very individual.

The basic philosophy behind ayurveda is to live your life in harmony with nature and all natural laws. These laws include diet, daily routine, stress management, exercise and alertness. Every day we are exposed to viruses, bacteria and allergens. Our bodies were designed to ward off these illnesses. And yet, we interfere with these natural defenses through our daily stresses, poor nutrition and fatigue. Your natural health is, therefore, self directed. And so must your healing.

Vedic science follows five great elements or building blocks to every living thing:

Earth - a solid state of matter. In our body stability is represented by our bones, teeth, cells and tissues.

Water - change and the liquid state. Water is necessary for survival. A large part of the human body is made of water. But water is not stable.

Fire - transforms solids to liquid; to gas and back again. In our bodies, fire equals energy. This energy binds our atoms together. It converts food to fat and muscle. Energy creates nerve impulses, feelings, reactions and thought processes. And yet fire has no substance.

Air - is a gaseous form. Within the body, air is necessary for energy to be able to work. Air is the element required for fire to burn. And yet air has no form.

Ether - is the space where things happen. It separates all matter. Ether represents vibration.

Every substance and human being is made up of these five great elements. Each of these elements is related to our five senses:

Ether = hearing
Air = touch
Fire = vision
Water = taste
Earth = smell

The diet, to be nutritional, should contain foods consisting of the six tastes. You already know that your diet should contain fats, protein, carbs, minerals, vitamins, etc. If your meal contains the six tastes, it will fulfill all your nutritional needs. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent and pungent.

These tastes are divided into three doshas. If your diet is out of balance, you can change your diet according to what is out of balance. The doshas are:

Vata - made of ether and air. How much ether and air in your body will determine how active vata is.
Pitta - made of water and fire. These elements represent change or transformation. They control each other in order to remain in balance.
Kapha - made of water and earth. Here lies structure and lubrication. It keeps your water and earth mixed together in equal parts.

The doshas control particular bodily functions. For example vata is responsible for movement and breathing; pitta for body heat and digestion and kapha for energy and greed. If your breathing is labored, you can increase or decrease the senses responsible for vata.

With much study you can follow charts and make adjustments to bring your body into balance. That is where therapists can help out greatly. As I said, the concept seems so simple, yet it is very complex.

As mentioned above, every body is very different, so every treatment will be very different. Seeing a therapist is like seeing any doctor. They will ask a long list of questions so that they can determine what ails you and how they will go about treating you. They will be looking at all the different aspects of your lifestyle.

On to their charts, they will be able to determine what sort of treatment to offer whether it be yoga, meditation, diet change, lifestyle change, exercise, etc. I started out with breathing. Sounds simple enough. Check out my experience at Ayurveda Breathing.

Holistic Online provides an extremely exhaustive description of ayurvedic methods including all sorts of information and charts. If you are seriously interested in studying ayurveda, this is the page for you. The only bad part is there is so much information it is overwhelming at first. Just take it in baby steps.