What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is pronounced “I – ur – vay – da” is the sister science to yoga.
Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word translated to science of life:
- Ayur = life
- Veda = science or knowledge
Both yoga and Ayurveda come from the Vedic traditions dated back more than 5,000 years. Ayurveda is a comprehensive medical system practiced in India for thousands of years that is individualized to a person’s constitution. Your constitution is based on the relationship to the 3 fundamental energies. In Ayurveda, everything can be a medicine or a poison depending on how it is used.
Ayurveda is a very practical, pragmatic, simple approach to life and wellness. It uses common sense with underlying principles:
- Like attracts like
- To reduce something, do the opposite
- Everything is striving for balance
As it is an ancient tradition, methods of measuing were very different thousands of years ago. Ayurveda is a qualitative tradition. Qualities are how we observe/measure:
- Qualitative = a property that can be observed but not measured numerically
- Ayurveda is based on the analysis of qualities
- Quantitative = a property that can be observed and measured numerically
- Western medicine is based on the analysis of quantities
Life and everything in it can be examined through many lenses, for example:
- Elements
- Doshas = fundamental energies
- Gunas = primal qualities
Everything, animate and inanimate, has a special characteristic:
- Fire = burns
- Scissors = cut
- Humans = search for happiness
Ayurveda focuses on the subtle energies of ALL things: organic and inorganic things and their thoughts, actions, and emotions. There are 3 fundamental energies, or doshas, are called (1) Vata, (2) Pitta, (3) Kapha
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