Ayurveda

Ayurveda is much more than a medical system, it is the Yogic healing and spiritual therapy that has been a part of India's history, cuisine, culture, and collective consciousness for thousands of years. This ancient science teaches us how to become the stewards of our body, mind, karma, and the environment.

Ayurveda views health and healing as a spiritual journey of slowly absolving ourselves of our toxic interactions with the physical world, at the body, mind, and soul level, and moving towards a more divine exchange with the entire cosmos. Whenever possible, it favors a gradual introduction of changes in diet, medicinal herbs, lifestyle, culture, and mindset, over sudden transformations or extreme cures.

Ayurveda emphasizes that imbalances will return to normal naturally when permitted to do so. There is a cause for what created the imbalance in the first place, which has to be uncaused at every level possible to get our health and vigor back. Ayurveda transforms you step-by-step as Ayurveda’s prescription for balanced living becomes a way of life incorporated through food, spices, herbs, asana, pranayama, and lifestyle choices.

In other words, taking Ayurvedic supplements, without simultaneously working on our lifestyle, diet, and outlook on life model popular around the world today, is not authentic Ayurveda. It is an adaptation of the pill-disease model of allopathic medicine.

Ayurveda seeks to harmonize the Five Elements (Ether, Air, Fire, Water and, Earth) and the three types of imbalances or “Doshas”, (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha) that result in physical and mental disease when one or all of these elements go into excess in our body and mind.

According to Ayurveda, Ojas is that special substance in the body that gives health, immunity, mood, vigor, sleep, digestion, reproduction, and the capacity for emotional wellbeing that includes discernment, equanimity, and spiritual awakening.  Ojas is the most essential life energy that results as the final bi-product of all the "nutrition" that we consume, digest, and absorb, including food, water, air, thoughts, impressions, ideas, and experiences.

The body and mind not only run on the fuel of Ojas, but the physical body is also connected to the cosmic/vibrational body through the quality of Ojas that our body produces. In western biochemistry, Ojas can be equated to our "happy" neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, which gives motivation and reward, serotonin that provides satisfaction and contentment, oxytocin that helps us fall in love and create bonds, endorphins, which produce bliss and joy and Gaba that functions as a sedative and pain killer. Healthy production of these and other neurotransmitters are critical to every aspect of our physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.  

In a healthy person who is under average stress, it should take about 60 days for the body to digest, process, and begin producing refined and high-quality Ojas. Modern-day living makes it almost impossible to produce and maintain a healthy level of Ojas at this speed. All of us have too many compromising factors such as environmental toxin overload in our food, water, air, and the environment.

Furthermore, the overuse of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals and even many nutraceuticals that are not easily broken down and absorbed by the body send the body into toxic overload. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important in this day and age that our mental consumption, something which we have more power to control, be as toxin-free as possible. Ayurveda offers therapies for the mind, such as Ayurveda psychology, mantra, meditation, asana, Marma Therapy (acupressure), Yama and Niyama (Yogic precepts for healthy living), alongside its herbal remedies and diet for the body.

In addition, Jyotish or the Vedic science of Astrology offers us an opportunity to go deeper into our karmic or genetic predispositions to ascertain weaknesses and strengths in our constitution and predispositions.

According to Ayurveda, the root cause of all our diseases, directly or indirectly, is called prajnaparadha, which in Sanskrit means “Ilusion masquerading as wisdom.” Actions that are not approved by the intellect (budhi), patience, and equanimity (dhariya), rooted in True knowledge (Smriti), and with the absence of discrimination (Viveka) create this prajnaparadha.

This is what compels us to lose touch with our inner knowing of what is good for us and what is not and we end up consuming all the wrong foods for our constitution, drinking too much, making bad lifestyle decisions, or exerting beyond our capacity. Human-caused pollution and global warming are perhaps the greatest prajnaparadha of cosmic proportions, as we are destroying the very environment that sustains us.

Overblown focus on a goal or belief, be it self-promotion or altruism, allows us to move in a direction that may be contraindicated for our constitution. The body in its wisdom adjusts to whatever we expose it to, even if it is toxic, and soon we become immune to the negative effects of our consumption until it reaches critical levels.

Ayurveda has many lifestyle recommendations including rising early, Abhyanga (self-oil massage), living with the circadian rhythms of nature and seasons, pranayama (yogic breath- work), and many medical prescriptions, tonics, spices, teas, herbs, and foods that can help replenish the body's Ojas. Unlike, modern-day holistic medicine, Ayurveda prescribes lifestyle recommendations, supplements, and herbs with the specific doshic imbalance and the unique physical and mental health condition of the patient in mind. For example, a herb, tonic, or even food that is good for one dosha may be harmful to another dosha.

Medical astrology is very helpful in narrowing down disease tendencies, the timing of disease, and the more subtle influences on our well-being. Although, all the afficlited Planets, Houses, and Signs can indicate health problems, the sixth, eighth and twelfth house, and Rahu/Ketu and Saturn dashas are the primary planetary periods when our health is more likely to suffer.

It was only a decade or so ago that Western medicine first began to recognize the Gut-Brain Connection, which reveals that many of the essential functions of the mind and nervous system that affect mood and cognition have their source in a faulty digestive process. Ayurveda has known for thousands of years that our digestive system is our "second brain" and that emotions and feelings are closely linked to bowel function and over all well being.

Ayurveda calls good gut bacteria Yogini and bad bacteria Krimini and treats not just physical but also mental health and nervous system disorders like anxiety, OCD depression, ADD, and Autism by helping to restore the digestive system and digestive flora. Indeed, Ayurveda's first principle of prescribing any medicine is to ensure that the digestive system will be enhanced rather than compromised. As such, knowing the predominant Dosha of the patient’s gut becomes very important in herbal and dietary prescriptions.

Ayurveda is a mind-body medicine system based on the belief that the macrocosm and microcosm are one. The burn of fire, the softness of the water, the hardness of earth, the rapid movements of air, the infinite space of ether are all contained in our bodies and their actions in varying degrees. In the process of governing the body, these elements go into excess mode as doshas - Vata (air and ether) Pitta (fire and water), Kapha (water and earth).

Turbulent or calm thoughts, anger, joy, compassion, will, desire, suppressed past life memories are all varying expressions of how we are consuming these elements in our mind. Ayurveda psychology requires a delicate balancing act of nature's forces like wildfires from raging in our minds (high fire/pitta), forceful winds from making us lose focus and concentration (high Air/vata), or emotional floods (high water/kapha) from taking over our ability ground and anchor ourselves.

The healing path of Ayurveda prescribes that we understand that every food, herb, activity we partake in, and every impression we consume affects the balance of the elements and as a consequence the doshas in our body and mind.  Even spiritual practices and asana should be done with these elements in mind. For example, too much meditation and pranayama can unground the airy Vata type of individual, and too much hot yoga can aggravate the Pitta individual.

Each and every one of us has many levels of toxins and dosha accumulation at the cellular, mental, as well as deep in our subconscious. These should not be released too quickly, because this would overwhelm the organs of excretion and destabilize the body and mind. Drastic detox can literally change our personality, therefore it is not always recommended, especially in Vata types. In fact, a healthy body will resist forced or rushed detox processes. You must honor your body and let it return to equilibrium at its own pace over the many cycles and seasons of life. Traditional Ayurveda focuses on daily detox rather than drastic detox therapies popular today. 

Panchakarma, Ayurveda's medical detox, which requires purgation, enemas, and serious elimination therapies, should only be performed under the guidance of a highly skilled Ayurveda doctor and with plenty of follow-up rest, and rejuvenation through herbal medicines.

Sadly, we are all exposed to many toxins and unnatural substances, which was not the case when Ayurveda was practiced in ancient times. Without Panchakarma or Ayurveda’s daily detox protocols, strong Ayurveda herbs should be used with caution, as they may not always be helpful or even cause harm in the long run.

Marmas are junction points connecting thousands of vibrational channels, or nadis, in the body where concentrated life force energy is located, much like the acupuncture points of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  These points are related to the different organs and systems of the body keeping us alive, and also allow for direct contact to our higher self, "jeevatma."  The Master Marma point is the Adipathi marma (soft spot at the top of the head). It is called the Master marma because it receives most of the prana (life force) from the cosmos. 

Ancient Ayurvedic texts explain that it is important to avoid incision or injuries to these powerful points in the body, as well as maintain healthy circulation of prana through proper breathing, good diet, and gentle marma pressure therapy. Marma therapy is a complete Mind, Body, Soul therapy because it can awaken the innate healing of our physical, emotional, and mental body, as well as connect us with the silent part of our consciousness, the witnessing soul. 

During a marma therapy session, herbal oils infused with essential oils are gently applied onto marma points, the specific vibrational energy of the herb penetrates and unclogs the channels, awakening the intelligence of the gaps (sandhi). When the sandhis and channels (nadis) are activated and awakened, they affect the physical channels (srotas) and the Prana (life force) starts to flow into the different physical organs and organ systems to cleanse, purify and enhance all the functions of the body/mind.

The three primary channels are Prana, Apana, and Sushumna - Prana is Soma (cooling) predominant, Apana is Agni (fire) predominant, and Sushumna is (air) predominant. Ayurveda recommends marma therapy as one of the essential ways to keep these three primary channels free from toxic build-up. Especially critical in modern times is the vibrational pollution from Electro Magnetic Radiation (EMF and EMR), which can be effectively cleared through marma therapy.

Marma therapy gives immediate results by promoting deep relaxation and calm and clarity to the body and mind and also long-term benefits as the toxin build and vibrational pollution is removed giving improved physical stability and allowing the light of our soul to shine through.

Marma therapy is unique in that it is healing both for the practitioner and the client. Self- Marma therapy can also be easily learned and included in our daily routine.

Ayurveda contends that many diseases results from disturbed sound frequencies. Mantras are comprised of the same vibrational material as Prana (life force) that freely travels through the bodily channels (nadis). Therefore, mantras can be safely used to re-align the disturbances in our vibrational frequencies. 

Mantras can also purify the sandhis or Marma (junction points), which are responsible for filtering any polluted prana before it enters the body and transforming prana into what the body needs.

Ayurveda’s subtle interventions like the Marma and Mantra Therapy are very effective, especially for negative planetary influences because they not only help balance the doshas in the physical body but also promote a connection with our vibrational body, which creates balance with the planetary energies.