AyurvedaNews

Lifestyle modification through Ayurveda   Preventive Aspect of Ayurveda: Ayurveda is a science and art of living. As such, it is not concerned only with the treatment and cure of a disease but also aims to relieve one from all categories of suffering ? physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual. Ayurveda, then, is not just a system of medicine but deals also with all aspects of life.   Ayurveda has two main objectives:   1. To maintain and promote the positive health of healthy individuals. 2. To cure the disease of diseased persons.   In our modern era, due to varying factors of faulty dietary habits, work pressure, competitive lifestyles, longevity, always being in a hurry, pollution of air, water and earth and the noise levels in city living all contribute to disease. A number of people are suffering from these lifestyle related disorders. They live in worry, tension, anxiety, fear and anger due to the above factors and may suffer fr...

Why knowledge of Prakriti is important?   The word 'Prakriti' means 'nature' and this reflects the natural state of human beings on an anatomical, physiological, and psychological level. In Ayurveda, no two people are alike, or we can say that every person is born with a definite genetic constitution. The Prakriti, which may also be referred to as Dosha, is vital in determining our body type, behavior patterns, needs, and our predispositions. A specific combination of elements gives us our Doshas which are our specific body constitutions. The Doshas are three forms of energy that work as a team in the body, like executives of an organization. The three predominant Doshas, Vata, Pitta and Kapha, are the forces that create one's Prakriti.   Knowledge of Prakriti is invaluable in the treatment of disease. The initial diagnosis of an Ayurvedic Physician (Vaidya) lies in determining the nature (Prakriti) of an individual. This information allows the ...

STHAULYA (Obesity) in Ayurveda Part – I Obesity has been described by the term Sthaulya Roga in various Ayurvedic classics. According to Ayurveda, Obesity is the excess amount of body fat. In this way excess weight of muscles, bone, fat and water in the body can be labelled as Obesity, is also known as Overweight . Obesity is a condition in which the natural energy reserve, stored in the fatty tissues of the body, is increased to a point where it is associated with certain health conditions or increased mortality. Obesity is both an individual clinical condition and is increasingly viewed as a serious public health problem. Obesity contributes too much morbidities in the population and it is known as causative or precipitating factor for various killer ailments like diabetes, hypertension, joint disorders, Breast, Prostrate and Colon Cancers, Respiratory problems, Stroke, Heart diseases like IHD / CAD etc.]   Ayurveda included Atisthula (obese or overweigh...

STHAULYA (Obesity) in Ayurveda Part - II Obesity is primarily a Kapha body type problem. There are a number of methods to achieve weight loss through Ayurveda's holistic approach such as –   Nidana Parivarjana: Removal of the causes Nidana Parivarjana is the foremost and very important principle of the Ayurvedic therapy. It has a great importance in the management and also in the prevention of various fatal diseases. When a person consumes more calories than he burns up, then the excess calories get stored in the form of fat or adipose tissues, causing obesity. The Sthaulya Rogi (obese person) should avoid the causative factors of obesity, such as- Not exerting physically or lake of exercises, Sleeping in daytime (the afternoon), The diet, which cause an increase in the Kapha Dosha, Life styles, which cause an increase in the Kapha Dosha, Exessive intake of foods, which are difficult for digestion, such as consuming sweet, cold and unctuous food contents in exces...

Beauty Concepts in Ayurveda Introduction Ayurveda, the "science of longevity" promotes positive health, natural beauty, and long life. Although rooted in antiquity, Ayurveda is based on universal principles and is a living, growing body of knowledge-as useful today as it was in centuries past. Traditional Ayurveda fits quite well into modern models of holistic healing concerned with a broad view of the total health of the individual: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What Ayurveda offers to these models beyond its own techniques is a deeper awareness of how the body and our experiences are a microcosm of the greater universe and the relationships in the interaction between our inner and outer worlds.   Ayurveda teaches that the balance of three subtle energies, known as Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, maintains health. These energies account for all forms of matter (Kapha), the force, and direction they move (Vata), and the transformations they go through (P...

Rasa - The six tastes   The knowledge of Rasa or taste is considered as important as the knowledge of Doshas for the purpose of treatment. Charaka brings this out very succinctly in this way: "A physician well versed with the classification of rasas and doshas seldom commits a mistake in diagnosing and treating a disease."   There are six tastes identified by Ayurveda:   Madhura (sweet) Amla (sour) Lavana (salt) Katu (pungent) Tikta (bitter) Kashaya (astringent) Each of the six tastes identified in Ayurveda has its own qualities or gunas. A taste can be light or heavy, moist or dry. These specific characteristics unique to each taste influence how it will affect us, both immediately and over the long term. Tastes which are light are generally easier to digest and assimilate, while those that are considered heavy from an Ayurvedic stand point take more energy to digest. Moist tastes will have a lubricating effe...