Ayurveda is an ancient system of healthcare and well-being. In Sanskrit, Ayu means life and veda means knowledge. Therefore, Ayurveda literally means the knowledge of life.
Ayurveda offers principles and guidelines to support the body, mind and spirit.
“Ayurveda is the most sacred science of life”
Charaka Samhita
Origin and History
Established in India over 5000 years ago, Ayurveda stems from the ancient Vedic culture, born out of the wisdom of ancient sages, scholars and thinkers and their deep desire for a better understanding of self. It began as an oral tradition and was shared by accomplished masters to their disciples. Eventually Ayurvedic teachings were recorded in writing around 2500 years ago, when three main ancient Ayurvedic scripts were written – Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita and Ashtanga Hridyam.
Your constitution and balance
According to Ayurveda, we each have our own unique constitution type – a combination of the elements that make up our body that impacts every aspect of our lives. Understanding this individuality and living in tune with our constitution is the key to wellness. Ayurveda identifies three basic types of energy – vata, pitta and kapha, that are present in everyone and everything.
Ayurveda is based on beliefs that everything in the universe is connected, and there is a balance to be achieved for all things good. Imbalance, internal or external, is the cause of unhappiness and illness. Knowledge of Ayurveda enables one to understand how to create this balance of body, mind and consciousness according to one’s own individual constitution and how to make lifestyle changes to bring about and maintain the necessary balance.
Practical guide
Ayurveda provides us with teachings to manage our own health and well-being. It equips us with tools and techniques to better understand our lifestyle choices, our food intake, the environment we’re in and the effect that changing nature around us has on our wellbeing.
Ayurveda complements modern medicine well because it focuses on prevention of disease and taking control of our own individual wellbeing.
