The Simple Beauty of AyurvedaBy Tamela Thomas, Wellness Manager Is
there a single answer to explain why so many Americans are newly
interested in Eastern practices? From the coverage of acupuncture and
Traditional Chinese Medicine by major insurance plans to the explosive
growth of yoga, we are definitely seeking these time-tested traditions.
For some it may be a new level of care. For others it is a more
intuitive way to live; an inner connection that was somehow missing.
Whatever the reason, there is no denying we are paying attention and
exploring the benefits therein. This month's article provides an
overview of another Eastern practice that is gaining widespread
interest: Ayurveda. Nisha Shah, western-trained as a Personal Trainer,
stress manager and Registered Dietitian with a Masters of Public
Health, spent much of her childhood in India living within the
Ayurvedic tradition where yoga and the "vedas" (guiding principles of
how people are to live to achieve an optimal state of being) are handed
down from generation to generation. Her early-life experiences have
come full circle as she now amalgamates East and West in her one-on-one
counseling practice. Join Nisha as she unites Ayurvedic counseling with the WAC. Ayurveda—Health in Self
By Nisha R. Shah, MPH, RD, CLC
What
is good health? Health is a simple concept that resists simple
definition. You have probably felt it and you know it when you see it
on someone else. It's not merely the absence of pain, but rather a
state of persistent wellness. It is a state that resists becoming
overly agitated or unbalanced, it is an awareness of one's personal
power, and it is a consistent sensation of feeling "well in one's
being."
Many health and fitness seekers have been highly
proactive in their quest for physical health, but have not developed
their health on mental, emotional or spiritual levels. In Ayurveda, an
ancient Eastern health science, to be "healthy" is to be established in
your "self." Ayurveda seeks to generate equilibrium at all levels
of a person's being—mind, body, spirit, environment and personality—in order to obtain true self-establishment or health. You come to
understand your individual natures and are able to identify the
thoughts and actions that tend to bring you out of balance. You choose
to become more conscious of your tendencies and develop habits that
move you toward equilibrium and, over time, toward a sustainable sense
of well-being.
Ayurveda means "the knowledge or science of
life." It is the sister science of yoga as they both originate from the
ancient Vedic texts of India. Ayurveda is a "holistic" system of
medicine that treats the person as a whole, not as a group of
individual parts. The philosophy behind Ayurveda is that health
reflects the harmonious operation of one's physical, mental and
emotional levels, and disease is caused when an imbalance occurs. Ayurvedic
medicine is based on the principle that every individual has a unique
constitution related to energies within the body. This constitution is
determined at conception and remains the same throughout one's life. A
balanced constitution is the best defense against illness, both
physical and mental. Ayurvedic practitioners help individuals
understand their own constitutions and how to make lifestyle changes to
bring about and maintain this balance. Each person has a
particular pattern of energy—a combination of physical, mental and
emotional characteristics—that comprises his or her own constitution.
In Ayurveda, constitutions are determined by the balance of three vital
energies in the body, known as the three doshas. The doshas are known
by their Sanskrit names of vata, pitta and kapha. Each individual
constitution is controlled by all three doshas to different degrees. We
usually have one, possibly two, dominant doshas. Good health reigns
when all three doshas work in balance. Everything you do—how
you eat, sleep, think, exercise and relate to the world—will either
intensify or tame these three energies. For example, Ayurveda teaches
that food is divine and the process of eating is one of the most
intimate interactions between man and nature. Learning to rejuvenate
yourself through, not with, food is an examination of not merely what
you eat but also how you eat it. The aim is not to become fixated on
your diet, or to become obsessed with what you could or should be doing
differently. Instead, your goal is to create healthy eating patterns
for both your body and mind. These habits can then serve by their
example to teach other parts of your "self" how to create and maintain
the health that manifests by being able to process and utilize every
stimulus that comes your way. In Ayurvedic thought, illness,
excess weight, lethargy, emotional pain and stress are all symptoms of
imbalances trying to be expressed. They find their voices in our
thoughts and bodies, and demand to be heard, understood, tended to and
then released. In this way, the messages of imbalance bring us the
opportunity to make changes and regain balance in our selves and in our
lives. What does it mean for you to be in balance? Why are you
the way you are? The application of Ayurveda occurs on an individual
level, enabling each person to observe his or her own creative and
destructive natures. Understanding our tendencies lets us examine those
aspects of ourselves that keep us in balance, and allows us to observe
the causes of imbalance in an objective, less judgmental manner. As you
become more familiar with your individual qualities, you begin to see
how these attributes have shaped who you are on physical, emotional and
mental levels. The three doshas
Ayurvedic science recognizes individuals' constitutions to be a
combination of three vital energies in the body, known as doshas. Good
health reigns when all three doshas work in balance.
- VATA: Air & Space—Vata is cold, dry and irregular
- PITTA: Fire—Pitta is hot, oily and irritable
- KAPHA: Earth & Water—Kapha is cold, wet and stable
In an Ayurvedic consultation, you will identify your specific
mind-body type, or dosha, understand your coinciding nurturing and
disruptive tendencies, and then work to engage your positive, more
constructive qualities to assist you in living in balance and vitality.
The goal is to begin to understand what keeps you in balance on all
levels of being: in your physical body, through thoughts and actions,
in your heart and feelings, and in your spirit or essence. You learn to
let go of toxins that your overloaded, overstimulated life has created,
and reduce the creation of new toxins by developing habits of
awareness. Introducing small, individually agreeable changes that feed
all planes becomes the foundation for your self-care. Balance becomes a
daily practice that nurtures you, sustains you, and satisfies you on
all levels. The pursuit of fitness is no longer just the quest
for the perfect physical body, but rather we seek inner and outer
health and an overall improved sense of well-living. Ayurveda offers a
comprehensive framework for health and wellness through daily pursuit
of physical, mental and emotional health. We, as individuals, must take
responsibility for our health and define personal wellness in broader
terms to include all aspects of well-being. My hope is that in
your quest for health and wellness, learning to integrate Ayurvedic
principles into your lifestyle will help who you are and what you want
to coincide with what you really need.
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