Ayurveda

Ayurveda is not just a medicine with a wide depth of philosophical thought, clinical and therapeutic, but also represents a philosophical and scientific vision of extended breath and complexity related to the peculiar expression system for observation of nature.

Tradition (of whatever nature and provenance that is) is an evolutionary experience distilled and then the memory itself. And ‘only in the traditions that we can find our true nature and retrieve what we have forgotten, what made us lose sight of the meaning of things and of life itself. Among the oldest traditions in the world, survived intact for thousands of years of history, Ayurveda, also called “Indian traditional medicine”, literally means “knowledge of life or the duration of life” and that meaning goes far beyond the simple concept of care medical.

AYURVEDIC MEDICINE

The word Ayurveda comes from Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language, and more specifically the union of two words Ayu and Veda. The word Veda means knowledge while Ayu stands for “life”, so understood as a science of Ayurveda knowledge of life.
Life is understood as a continuous interaction between the body, sense organs, mind, soul. In recent years, the medical world has spread a new word “psychoneuroimmunology”, which defines the relationship between the body and mind and their effects on the immune system. But the relationship between body and mind, had already been described thousands of years ago in the classic treatises and texts of Ayurveda, where have medical knowledge content in the field of Western medicine date back to the last decades.

Purposes

Ayurveda has four basic purposes: to prevent disease, cure, health, maintain health, promote longevity.

The term health / healthy in Sanskrit is Svastha which literally means “stabilize in itself” or “in their condition to themselves”. Let’s see how the concept of health is considered as a natural condition of man, while the disease is seen as a move away from a normal condition.

Renowned Ayurvedic physician Sushruta (ca. fifth century. AC) defines the state of health:
“The healthy individual is one who has moods, the digestive fire, the tissue components and excretory functions each in good balance, and that the spirit, the senses and the mind always pleased.”
This definition considers the three main aspects of a person’s life: body, mind and spirit.
The O.M.S. (World Health Organization) has literally embraced this word in its definition of health: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social.”

One of the basic principles of Ayurveda is that man is considered a miniature of nature: nature is the macrocosm, the man the microcosm, and this simply means that the ingredients found in nature are the same as in humans.
All five basic elements that make up the universe, ether / space, air, fire, water and earth, are expressed in different ways in the formation of living beings, determining origin and structures. According to this principle it is possible to use, if we know it, all that is in the universe in order to cure diseases.

That’s about it very indicative history:
“In ancient India there was a great and famous University called Daksasila attended by many students from many countries in order to learn all the Vedic Sciences including Ayurveda. The rector of this university, whose name was Nagarjuna, was a large, famous alchemist. the final exam day, he summoned all the students by telling them that the examination would consist of a single piece of evidence, to hear that all the students were very happy. Then he told them to look for, near the temple University any substance that they thought they would not be able to be directly or indirectly useful to treat the man. the students set out to catch and returned a few hours later, bringing some sand, some of the pieces of wood, others of stone, each student had something in own hands. only one student returned to last empty-handed, and needless to say, was the only one to pass the examination. “

The lesson of this story is that everything, including the poison, can be used as a “medicine” if you know how to use it, when to use it and why use it. The purpose that Ayurveda aims, as all the Eastern sciences, is to reach a balance of the energies of the body and of the mind. Such energies are derived from a combination of variously articulated Five basic elements and are expressed in the three principles called doshas.

Dosha definition

With a very simple definition we can define these principles as bioenergy expressions, structure and characteristics, govern the individual’s psycho-physiological functions. According to Ayurveda the individual is unique and unrepeatable expression of the combination of these three basic principles (doshas): Vata, Pitta and Kapha, the prevailing principles determine the constitutional type.
The term Vata Dosha indicates the principle we are born of the combination of ether and air, is a principle of movement in the body and presides over all the functions of the sist. Nervous and governs everything that moves.
The term Pitta Dosha indicate the principle born from the combination of Fire and Water, is the principle of heat and the processing and governs all digestive processes and processing.
The term Kapha Dosha indicate the principle born from the combination of Water and Earth, is the principle of cohesion and stability, presides over the functions of the sist. Immune and it is responsible for the body structure.

Often only one or two doshas predominate and influence our personality and physiological constitution. The individual constitution or Prakriti is therefore determined by the composition and prevalence of each dosha and it is what identifies not only our mental and physical structure but also the individual predispositions toward imbalances and illnesses; for simplicity of exposition we can assimilate the Prakriti to a sort of ayurvedic genome. The knowledge of our constitution, or Prakriti, is therefore of prime importance to the wise management of our lives and therefore our health.

The balance of the doshas can be considered as a natural order, when that order is disturbed, it creates an imbalance that is seen as a disorder. Health is order, the disease is disorder. In organisms there is a constant interplay and alternation between order and disorder, between balance and imbalance. Wrong habits, lifestyle, diet, stress and emotional repression can act unbalancing the balance of any individual’s dosha, these “worsening” produce an alteration in the metabolism and tissue physiology leading to the production and accumulation of Ama or toxins.
These toxins enter the bloodstream and are distributed throughout the body by blocking the channels that according to ayurveda functionally linking all body tissues. Intoxication gradually affect the body at all levels, energy, immune and metabolic leading to the expression of the disease. Each disease is thus the expression of an accumulation of ama or toxins.
In terms of Western biomedical these toxins or Ama, by their nature, they can be found in the identification free radicals, considered by Western medicine among the main held responsible for every illness and degenerative aging phenomena.
In this light it is interesting to note that both Ayurvedic detoxifying treatments such as Panchakarma, the most important pharmacological remedies (Rasayana) have a very strong antioxidant properties documented in several scientific studies.

Ayurveda thus identifies as being key to preventing disease and aging the elimination of accumulated toxins and the limitation of their future education, this is through the adoption of appropriate eating habits and routine of life either through special detox programs as Panchakarma. The Ayurvedic doctor can evaluate, through the diagnostic method in which ayurvedic examination of the wrist plays a major role, the imbalance in the early stages, before the expression symptomatic overt, and can thus also act preventively by providing specific guidance on the best habits life and food and the remedies appropriate to restore mental and physical balance necessary to maintain the health status.

The cure

Nursing techniques used by Ayurvedic medicine are varied and include actions aimed at re-balancing of both body and mind and their relationship with the environment. In short we can identify a series of actions through the body: nutrition, use of medicinal plants, external physical treatments such as massages (Abyangam) made with oils and specific techniques, detoxifying therapies known generically under the term panchakarma, purification techniques and yoga asanas.

Ways: according to Ayurveda, the imbalance stems from a wrong use of the senses, so as well as the senses can be the vehicle of imbalance can also be a bearer of rebalancing. For that consider all of the treatments, such as aromas, music, awareness of food flavors, shapes and colors spaces, tactile stimulation and contact, targeted to appropriate sensory solicitation to a specific therapeutic response.

Behavior understood as that which binds us to the environment, free from any moral reference, and including for example the psychophysical rhythms linked to daily schedules, seasonal changes and the rhythms of nature in general.

Mind: Ayurveda places particular emphasis on the ecology of the mind and its processes as an individual balance and suggests several key balancing methods based on meditation techniques and yoga.

Environment: The environment Ayurveda identifies the source of sensory stimuli that can determine our balance, and therefore provides an accurate analysis of their environments according to the science called Vedic Vastu (ideally similar to Chinese feng shui).

Ayurveda is therefore actually a lot more than just medicine, it indicates rather a life dedicated to address the regularity and harmony of lifestyle, it expressed in its three main components namely: activity, nutrition and rest.

AYURVEDIC TREATMENTS

Ayurveda is the traditional Indian medicine that deals with the restoration and maintenance of the psycho-physical balance allowing us to maintain the health and thus prevent the onset of disease using the principles of Nature, its intimate balance and its products.

The Ayurvedic treatments are differently articulated, consider the individual constitution (Prakriti) and the state of equilibrium of the doshas, ​​are most often joined the Ayurvedic medical therapy, so that the approach to the psycho-physical rebalancing is complete and focused.

The substances used in the treatments are varied but essentially based herbalised oils and medicated powders which vary according to the imbalance and the constitution of the person doshica. The same treatments, but applied to specific oils with properties, have then different effects.

Number of treatments, products used and frequency are then determined on the basis of individual needs.

They are provided for complete treatments (lasting about 60 ‘or more) and partial (lasting about 40’) in addition to special procedures the duration of which can be variable. Some treatments are performed by a single therapist, others by two or more therapists.

Some treatments are at the end of a simple application Svedana (Ayurvedic steam bath).

There are specific treatments that are carried out only by prescription.

AFTER AYURVEDA TREATMENT 

After each treatment, it is always advisable to observe a minimum rest period of at least 15 ‘. According to the treatments can be listed times and in different ways.

E ‘must then remove the excess oil through a simple base of herbal powders shower.

It is always advisable to remove the oil from the head, to avoid possible problems due to cooling, especially in cold weather, so that might aggravate Kapha Dosha.

Taila (medicated oil) and Churna (dust) USED IN TREATMENT

It must be extremely careful in the choice and use of materials used in Ayurvedic treatments. Medicated oils are selected to meet high quality criteria that favor the classics and pure ayurvedic oils formulated according to traditional recipes. Oils and medicated powders are from qualified and recognized companies that operate in full compliance with the Ayurvedic principles, guaranteeing the quality of its products.