The History and Philosophy of Ayurvedaby Light Miller, ND and Bryan Miller, DC
5,000 years of research and practice underlie Ayurveda's healing system.
Ayurveda is the world's oldest recorded healing system. Used for 5,000 years by many thousands of doctors on millions of patients, it is a proven system of prevention and healing. Ayurveda's goal is to achieve health by working toward balance and harmony, not by fighting disease. Prevention is emphasized over cure. Ayurveda recognizes the importance of physical balance, emotional release, mental health, environmental mindfulness and spiritual progression in the total health picture. Ayurveda is the only system of medicine which recognizes ten different metabolic types. Western medicine does very well in cases of traumatic injury, acute and emergency care. But we in the West suffer more from auto-immune diseased such as arthritis, allergies, heart disease, cancer and even addiction. Because Ayurveda is an all-inclusive body of knowledge which uses a low-tech approach to healing, it is a system that can be adapted to all peoples and climates. Using natural forces such as heat, cold, light, herbs, foods, minerals, exercise and working with the mind and emotions through meditation, Ayurveda may be the basis of a global medicine, accessible and affordable to all. Ayurveda is the current rage in alternative medicine, with thousands of people flocking to hear best-selling author Deepak Chopra, M.D., and visiting Ayurvedic clinics around the world. Ayurveda has several levels of treatment. At its most basic level, patients are able to treat themselves with simple diet and lifestyle changes, assisted by an understanding of their metabolic type and their own inherent strengths and weaknesses. Essential oils can be a powerful component of self treatment. The purpose of this [article] is to give the reader a basic understanding of Ayurveda and how it can be used to bring balance and restore health....If you are not already a student of Ayurveda, our hope is that this will be an introduction into an exciting new world of self-healing and discovery. HISTORY Ayurveda was discovered and developed by ancient Indian holy men known as Rishis. Due to their relationship (connectedness) to both the spiritual and physical worlds, they were able to discern the basic nature of the universe and man's place in it. They developed an oral tradition of knowledge that was fluid and allowed for growth. As new therapies and herbs were discovered and trade brought new information from other cultures, Ayurveda was built. The Rishis were scientists who made huge advances in the fields of surgery, herbal medicine, the medicinal effects of minerals and metals, exercise, physiology, human anatomy, and psychology. Their surgeries included difficult procedures such as Caesarean section (successfully performed in the West only in the last 100 years). Passed down from teacher to student for centuries, this information was recorded when written language was developed: the Rig Veda (4500 years ago), the Atharva Veda (3200 years ago) and others. As knowledge of Ayurveda spread to other civilizations, its adaptability was recognized and it was often integrated into local forms of medicine. Ayurveda had a profound effect on the medicine of Tibet, China, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Indonesia. Ayurvedic medicine was suppressed in India during British colonial rule. In 1833, the East India Company closed and banned all Ayurvedic colleges. For almost 100 years, Ayurveda was known as "the poor man's medicine," practiced only in rural areas where Western medicine was too expensive or unavailable. With India's independence, Ayurveda has re-emerged to gain equal footing with "Western medicine." Currently, 70% of India's population is treated Ayurvedically. In 1978, at a conference on Third World Medicine sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations, it was concluded that Ayurveda would be the best system of medicine for undeveloped countries. There is hope that a global medicine will be created with Ayurveda as its base; its low cost, use of local herbs and remedies, adaptability to any climate, and reduced dependence on pharmaceutical products, are all favorable aspects for the world's population. Western, Chinese and traditional native medicines may be appropriately blended in each locale. PHILOSOPHY Ayurvedic theory believes that health results from harmony within one's self. To be healthy, harmony must exist between your purpose for being, your thoughts, your feelings, and your physical actions. Your purpose is peaceful, yet if your thoughts are fearful and your emotions negative, your physical body will manifest some dis-ease as a "wake-up call" to change. In Ayurveda, the manifestation of disease is actually considered to be a good sign, because it reveals a previously hidden aspect of oneself . . . an aspect to be healed. Health is harmony within all aspects of self. This inner harmony also becomes manifest as harmony with family, friends, co-workers, society and nature. Often the first questions an Ayurvedic physician may ask are: "What is your purpose in life? And what is its appropriate form (work, job, activity, etc.)? How are your relationships?" When harmony exists in these areas, physical healing is so much easier. The goal of Ayurveda is true freedom from death and disease; enjoyment of uninterrupted physical, mental and spiritual happiness and fulfillment. It may sound surprising, but according to Ayurvedic philosophy, enjoyment is one of life's purposes. But you can lose your ability to enjoy if you overindulge, and disease is one of nature's ways of saying you've overindulged. Either you limit yourself or Mother Nature will limit you. We have more degenerative disease in the West because of our abundance and tendency to overindulge. Ayurveda's Four Goals in Life
l. The fulfillment of your duties to society. Ayurvedic philosophy believes that only a person with a strong immune system can be healthy. The practitioners identify the immune system as a fragment of nature (the Divine Mother). This gift from her creates us, sustains us, nourishes us, and protects us from outside invasion. As long as our immune system is strong, we suffer no disease. The ancient vedic word for immunity means "forgiveness of disease" -- from the concept that negative thoughts and lifestyles cause disease. Disease, therefore, is a message about a need for change . . . if only we can understand this. In this sense, strength comes from transforming our projections about our symptoms. Healing comes from seeing adversity as a challenge, by taking back our negative thoughts about people and events. We can transform disease into a "perfect opportunity." Spiritual health, then, is a dynamic balance between a strongly integrated individual personality and nature (a nature that's understood to encompass all aspects of existence). This is only possible when people remember their debt to nature. In summary: Ayurveda believes that health results from the relationship (the connectedness) between self, personality, and everything that goes into our mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual being. It believes that health also results from good relationships with others, from an acknowledged indebtedness to Mother Nature, from the realization of one's purpose, and from the pursuit of legitimate goals in life. Ayurvedic philosophy maintains the importance of a strong immune system, that forgiveness is strengthening, and that immortality is possible. The Five Element Theory According to the Five Element Theory, the human being is a small model of the universe. What exists in the human body exists in altered form in the universal body. Ayurveda believes that everything is made up of five elements, or building blocks: earth, water, fire, air and ether. Their properties are important in understanding balances and imbalances in the human body. Earth - is representative of the solid state of matter; it manifests stability, fixity and rigidity. We see around us rocks and soil standing against the wearing forces of water and wind. Our body also manifests this earth/solid-state structure: bones, cells and tissue are physical structures through which our blood courses and oxygen is transported. Earth is considered a stable substance. Water - characterizes change. In the outer world we see water moving through its cycles of evaporation/clouds/condensation/rain, we see it moving around solid matter such as rocks and mountains, and we see it eventually wearing away solid, immovable matter as it flows from the mountains to the sea. We see rivers carrying dissolved soil and nutrients, carrying economic trade and exchange of information and culture -- we see the earth's bodies of water nurturing life everywhere. Our blood, lymph, and other fluids move between our cells and through our vessels, bringing energy, carrying away wastes, regulating temperature, bringing disease fighters, and carrying hormonal information from one area to another. Water is considered a substance without stability. Fire - is the power to transform solids to liquids, to gas, and back again. The heat of the sun melts ice into water that becomes vapor under its influence. Fire provides power to the water and weather cycles of nature. The sun's energy is the initiator of all energy cycles on earth -- including all food chains. Within our bodies it is fire (energy) that binds the atoms of our molecules together; that converts food to fat (stored energy) and muscle; that turns (burns) food into energy; that creates the impulses of nervous reactions, our feelings, and even our thought processes. Fire is considered form without substance. Air - is the gaseous form of matter which is mobile and dynamic. We do not see the air that blows through the tree's leaves, but we feel it. We know how material it can be -- how it can respond to energy, absorb it, and give it off -- when we watch or experience a hurricane, typhoon or tornado. We feel air as it courses down our throats and into our lungs -- cut that off for more than a few minutes and we know with our whole being how fundamental air is to life. Within the body, air (oxygen) is the basis for all energy transfer reactions -- oxidation. Clean and pure, it is a key element required for fire to burn. Air is existence without form. Ether - is the space in which everything happens. Like outer space with millions of miles between celestial bodies, or the inner space of our bodies where our very atoms are only .00001 charged particle and .99999 emptiness. Space, the distance between things -- that which helps to define one thing from another. Ether is only the distances which separate matter. The Three Doshas In Ayurvedic philosophy, the five elements combine in pairs to form three dynamic forces (interactions) called doshas. Dosha means "that which changes" because doshas are constantly moving in dynamic balance, one with the others. Doshas are primary life forces or biological humors. They are only found in life forms (similar to the concepts of organic chemistry), and their dynamism is what makes life happen. The five elements combine to create the three doshas (forces). Vata (va-ta) is a force conceptually made up of the elements ether and air. The proportions of ether and air determine how active Vata is. The amount of ether (space ) affects the ability of air to gain momentum, as expressed in Vata. In the body, Vata is movement (a dynamism of the combination between ether and air), and manifests itself in living things as the movement of nerve impulses, air, blood, food, waste and thoughts. Vata has seven characteristics, which are: cold, light, irregular, mobile, rarefied, dry, and rough. These qualities characterize their effect on the body. Too much Vata force can cause nerve irritation, high blood pressure, gas and confusion. Too little Vata, we have nerve loss, congestion, constipation and thoughtlessness.
When the movement of air is unrestricted by space (as in the open ocean) it can gain momentum to become hurricane winds moving at speeds of over 150 mph. When air is restrained in a box, it cannot move and becomes stale. Pitta (pit-ta) is a force conceptually created by the dynamic interplay of water and fire. These two seemingly opposed forces represent transformation. They cannot change into each other, but they modulate each other and are vitally necessary to each other in the life processes. In our bodies Pitta is manifested by the quality of transformation. Pitta is the enzymes which digest our food and the hormones which regulate our metabolism. In our mind, the Pitta force is the transformation of chemical/electrical impulses into understood thoughts. Too much Pitta can cause ulcers, hormonal imbalance, irritated skin (acne), and consuming emotions (anger). Too little Pitta and we have indigestion, inability to understand, and sluggish metabolism The Pitta force is described according to eight characteristics which affect the body: hot, light, fluid, subtle, sharp, malodorous, soft and clear.
When you boil water on a fire, if the fire is too hot, all the water boils away and the pot burns. If you put too much water into the pot, it overflows and puts out the fire. Kapha (ka-fa) is the conceptual equilibrium of water and earth. Kapha is structure and lubrication -- it draws on the conceptual characteristics of the elements of earth and water. At one level, Kapha is the cells which make up our organs and the fluids which nourish and protect them. In the Ayurvedic organization of cause and effect, too much Kapha force causes mucous buildup in the sinus and nasal passages, the lungs and colon. In the mind it creates rigidity, a fixation of thought, inflexibility. Not enough Kapha force causes the body to experience a dry respiratory tract, burning stomach (due to lack of mucous, which gives protection from excess stomach acids), and inability to concentrate. Kapha force is expressed according to the following qualities; oily, cold, heavy, stable, dense, and smooth.
When a handful of sand is thrown into a container of water, the two will separate as the sand settles to the bottom. Only by continuous stirring will the mixture remain in balance. The force of Kapha is like the stirring, maintaining the balance. Changing Forces These three dynamic forces are constantly changing and balancing each other in living things. They make life happen. In a plant, Vata is concentrated in the flowers and leaves (which reach farthest out into space and air), Kapha is concentrated in the roots (where water is stored in the embrace of earth), and Pitta is found in the plants' essential oils, resins and sap (especially in spices which stimulate digestion). Different plants have different concentrations of V-P-K (Vata, Pitta, Kapha). We can use different foods, plants, and specific plant parts to alter our body's proportion of V-P-K. Eating root vegetables, milk products, or sedating herbs like valerian, increases our Kapha. Drinking herbal flowers like jasmine, or eating dry grains, increases our Vata forces. Eating hot, spicy foods like cayenne, or concentrated protein like bee pollen, increases our Pitta tendencies.
The foregoing excerpts are taken from the first chapter of Ayurveda & Aromatherapy: The Earth Essential Guide to Ancient Wisdom and Modern Healing by Light Miller, ND and Bryan Miller, DC and are reprinted with permission of the copyright holders. Illustrations by Peter Sinclair, Jessica N. Miller and Jancis Salerno. Copyright © Light Miller, ND and Bryan Miller, DC.; published by Lotus Press, P.O. Box 325, Twin Lakes, WI 53181
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