What's so wonderful about Ayurveda?

Answer: The way it makes you feel.

Ayurveda does not accept that it is normal to feel poorly, even in little ways. If you are in balance, you feel energetic, alert, calm, and content.

We each have our own personal "balance", our own unique constitution. This constitution is made up of varying amounts of the five basic elements. (We are natural creatures, of the earth, remember?) These elements are air, ether, earth, fire and water. Once we learn which elements are dominant in us, we can develop lifestyle rhythms that support our own unique balance.

For example, say you fill out an Ayurvedic questionnaire about your physical and mental tendencies, and find you have a lot of fire in your constitution. In life you may notice your negative feelings include stress, impatience or frustration, and your illnesses are frequently rashes, fever and overly quick digestion. Using this new awareness, you notice when you're becoming imbalanced and have an arsenal of cooling foods and techniques to attend to this before it becomes a larger issue or even progress to a disease.

There is a lot of history to back up this approach. Ayurveda is one of the earliest practices of medicine. It was first organized in the ancient scriptures, the Vedas, best guess around 2000 BC.  Ayurveda is a sanskrit word. "Ayur" translates to "life" and "veda" translates to "knowledge". Therefore, we can say that Ayurveda is "knowledge for life".

While Ayurveda is a system of medicine, it's based on some logical foundational concepts that we all can practice. There are certainly times to visit an Ayurvedic or western doctor, but if you understand some basic concepts, you can apply them to many simple conditions yourself. In addition to the idea that we all are composed of unique blends of the elements, here are a few more concepts to chew on:

Red flags are raised much earlier in Ayurveda than in western medicine. As westerners, we often accept lethargy, poor digestion, poor sleep, skin conditions, joint aches, anxiety, and stress as unfortunate, but normal conditions in todays life. In Ayurveda, these are the very first clues that deeper issues are developing. These clues tell us that there is an imbalance that will eventually  settle in a particular weak area, becoming disease. Ayurveda does not wait until full blown disease develops to suggest treatment. We should all be navigating life with energy, focus, and vibrancy, and anything less is a cause for concern.

Daily routines are one key to health. Developing healthy habits and routines will make life feel simpler, and support our feeling vibrant every day. Go to bed, wake up and eat meals at about the same time each day. Select some Ayurvedic practices such as self-massage, neti (nasal cleansing), breathing exercises and meditation and treat them as daily routines, not as choices. You'll begin to find a natural rhythm that feels grounding, comforting and balancing.

Good digestion is another key to health. If digestion is poor, there can be a toxic leftover called "ama" that can settle in weak areas, becoming disease. Ayurveda looks at the quality of our digestion as one clue as to how things are going with our health. The types of foods, herbs and spices, exercise, and the daily routines we incorporate are key. (Hint: yoga is great!!)

While Ayurveda may focus on seemingly less severe conditions, the treatments can seem more challenging. That is because the very first tier of treatment is lifestyle and diet. It makes a heck of a lot of sense, but that doesn't make it easier. In Ayurveda, if the digestion is strong, healthy routines are in place and the diet suits the individual, most diseases will be headed off before developing. But, that requires self-discipline and consistency, always a challenge.

But, a simple Ayurvedic treatment can have a far reaching effect. Say you notice your digestion is a little "irritable" and you have some eczema on your arms. You adjust your diet, practice self-massage with cooling oils and practice daily alternate nostril breathing to sooth the nervous system. Your digestion calms, the skin begins to clear. But, lo and behold, you also begin to feel more patient and even tempered! You may not even have noticed your irritability with your family and co-workers (although they sure did!) Ayurveda is like that; it treats the whole person, mind and body. You find that as your temperament evens, so does your digestion, and your skin remains clear and healthy. Who woulda thunk?

If something in the above sparks interest, know that Focus Yoga will continue to offer information on Ayurvedic approaches to good health. As a matter of fact, we are offering an Ayurveda 101 workshop Wednesday, October 10. Click here for more information.