Photo Credit: Shriram Yoga Society

Ayurveda refers to a method of natural healing that has existed for the last 5,000 years. It comes from India’s Vedic culture. Aryuveda gradually re-emerged in India and the rest of the world after being stifled during foreign occupation. Traditional medicine in China and Tiber traces their roots to Ayurveda. Ancient Greek medicine also espoused concepts in orthodox Ayurvedic manuscripts thousands of years ago. In Sanskrit, Ayurveda means something like “lifespan anchored on knowledge or science of life.”

Science of Life

Aryuveda is not simply the treatment of ailments. Early Hindus considered the system as a “Science of Life.”

AYUR = Life

VEDA = Science or Knowledge

The wisdom helps people remain essential and realize their complete human potentials. Ayurveda guides us on the appropriate day to day as well as seasonal routines. It teaches us about the right diet, correct use of senses, and behavior. Ayurveda tells us that health represents the stable and dynamic combination of the mind, spirit, body, and environment.

Guiding Principles

Ayurveda follows two principles.

1. Mind and body are connected can cannot be extricated.
2. Only the mind has more power in healing and transforming the human body.

Freedom from sickness depends on expanding our knowledge, balancing this awareness, and brining said balance to our bodies. While meditating, we come into a state of prolonged awareness and inner peace.  Mind and body cannot become separated so meditation balances the body naturally. Meditation creates a state of soothing awareness slowing down our heart rate.

We also breathe slowly reducing the production of stress hormones. On the other hand, we increase production of neurotransmitters that promote wellbeing. Meditation is one of the instruments Ayurvedic doctors prescribe to balance our minds and bodies. Ayurveda introduces numerous practices for self-awareness as well as nurturing state of balance.

Benefits of Ayurveda

The major benefit of Ayurvedic medicine is to help us live longer, maintain out health, and live balanced lives without taking prescription medicines or medical surgeries and suffering as a result of painful conditions. In India, the people have depended on Ayurvedic practices for healing conditions such as infertility for many centuries. However, other complementary and alternative practices have become popular in recent years.

The University of Maryland Medical Center along with other prominent institutions conducted research on Ayurveda. The Maryland Medical Center published a report in 2015 revealing that Ayurvedic medicine helps treat digestive, inflammatory, autoimmune, and hormonal conditions.

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Anxiety or depression
• Asthma
• Cancer
• Dementia
• Painful Menstruation
• Herpes
• High blood Pressure
• Cholesterol Excess
• Parkinson’s disease
• Perimenopausal problems
• Premenstrual syndrome
• Stomach cramps

Ayurvedic herbs and procedures which include Yoga and meditation have also shown signs of being useful as possible remedies for persistent fatigue, chronic constipation or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, acne, pain, and obesity. Ayurveda considers uniqueness in the prescription of holistic treatments compared to the style of medical treatment in the Western world.