AYURVEDA
“Ayurveda comprehensively illuminates the basic laws and principles governing life on Earth. To understand Ayurveda is to understand the forces that engender our well-being as well as those that lie at the root of disease.”
-Dr. Vasant Lad, “The Science of Self-Healing”
Ayurveda is a traditional and holistic medical system originating in India ~5000 years ago. It addresses every part of our being: mind, body, and spirit, as the health of one part affects the health of the others. Ayurveda translates to mean the “study” or “science” of “life” or “daily living.” This comprehensive model for understanding health empowers each person to take charge of their own health and vitality, as this wisdom and ability, though maybe forgotten, is innate to each of us. Though genetics and oppressive cultural and economic systems absolutely affect our health, we can make conscious daily choices that can either support or further hinder true health; and Ayurveda not only gives us a road map for these choices, but it also works to cultivate the awareness and clarity needed to make them.
As an energetic science Ayurveda looks at the qualities, or gunas, expressed in each person’s individual mind-body constitution, as well as their imbalanced state, to determine what the issues are and how to address them, so that the root cause is addressed, instead of simply masking symptoms.
The Ayurvedic framework suggests that most disease begins in the gut. If your digestive fire (or agni) is weakened, or your microbiome is out of balance, then you will struggle to digest, absorb, and assimilate the food, beverages, and even thoughts, feelings, and experiences that you consume, into beneficial material and energy.
(more info coming soon!)