Ancient Holistic Health
About Ayurveda
Ayurveda is an ancient healing system which helps us maintain a balanced, happy, healthy life, and improve the quality of our health and prevent disease. Ayu means life and ved means science. By definition, Ayurveda is the science or knowledge of life. Ayurvedic practices and treatments work from the inside out, bringing your mind and body into harmony so you can enjoy life with energy and enthusiasm.
One of the fundamental principles of Ayurveda is how prana or energy is expressed in life. Inside we are made up of energy or prana. Prana or energy is ultimately derived from the universe. We get prana from air we breath, the water we drink and from the food we eat, therefore, prana infuses life into everything on Earth. In Traditional Chinese Medicine prana is called chi.
In my practice, special attention is paid to prana, the liver, digestion and the physical and energy channels.
Prana and its Components
Prana has three components which come from the vibrational energy emitted by the moon (soma), the sun (agni) and the flow and movement of soma and agni (marut). We know how good it feels when we eat a fresh home cooked meal, or when we are out in nature breathing fresh air. This is prana, enlivening you. The more processed or denatured a food is, the less prana it has, and denaturing also applies to water when filtered, chlorinated and processed. Prana infuses our body, our cells with nature’s intelligence and travel in our energetic channels called nadis.
The Five Elements, The Five Senses, The Three Doshas
5 elements of nature- space, air, fire, water and earth
Our 5 senses are associated with the 5 elements of nature:
Sound- space
Touch- air
Sight- fire
Taste- water
Smell- earth
The three doshas: vata, pitta, kapha are created from the five elements of nature, and their source is prana.
Vata dosha is made up of space + air elements and receive marut energy. Marut energy allows for agni and soma to move and flow.
Pitta dosha is made up of fire + water elements and receives agni energy from the sun.
Kapha is dosha made up of water + earth elements and receives soma energy from the moon.
Ayurvedic Doshas
The three mind-body types or doshas in Ayurveda are vata, pitta and kapha and their source is prana. The doshas are governed by the five elements of nature, which in turn are derived from the components of prana: soma, agni and marut. By definition dosha means that which is out of balance, or trying to stay balanced. Your doshas are affected by what you eat and do throughout the day, by the environment and your digestion.
Vata: space and air elements- governs movement and flow
Pitta: fire and water- governs heat and transformation
Kapha: water and earth- governs structure and fluids
Vata dosha is considered the “king of the doshas”. Pitta and kapha doshas cannot move in the body without vata.
Vata governs all movement and flow in the mind and body.
Pitta dosha is responsible for heat, transformation and metabolism.
Kapha dosha governs structure, lubrication of the body including joints, the stomach, lungs, brain and spinal cord.
Vata, pitta and kapha doshas each have 5 subdoshas, making a total of fifteen subdoshas.
Of the three doshas, vata goes out of balance first. To avoid aggravating vata, maintain a steady routine, don’t push your bed time past 10pm, eat fresh, warm, unctuous meals on time, try not to rush around too much and have daily quiet time.
By understanding the energetic qualities: soma, agni, marut, and how the doshas: vata, pitta and kapha play out in us and interact with our senses, we can understand our symptoms by identify imbalances, and make appropriate adjustments in our lifestyle and diet. We can then bring ourselves back into balance by drawing on food and drink, herbs and spices, colours, environments and lifestyle choices as medicine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Help?
How does knowing my Dosha help me with my health?
The Ayurvedic doshas: vata, pitta, kapha are a gateway to deeply valuing one’s health. We all have vata, pitta, kapha qualities, with varying degrees of each. By knowing the doshas and their energetic qualities you can acquire a deeper insight on the cause and effect principle of food, environment and behaviour on your health. For example, when you go to bed late, or skip a meal, your vata and pitta energy goes high. With these repeated behaviours, high pitta can manifest symptoms like feeling overly emotional, quick to react or anger; high pitta can also lead to acid stomach or skin problems. High vata can disturb circulation and can lead to increased anxiety, dizziness, headaches or blood pressure issues. By curbing imbalances, we protect our body from developing more serious health problems later on. Disease does not happen overnight. Ayurveda recognizes various stages of disease starting with accumulation, which lead to imbalances. Imbalances left unattended can further develop and manifest as chronic conditions or disease.
How does something as old as Ayurveda help me today?
Though the principles of Ayurveda go back thousands of years, they are still relevant today. The knowledge of Ayurveda is timeless, understood by ancient rishis who were in deep meditation, abiding by the laws of nature and eternal truths. They developed principles on how to live and sustain a healthy life, by living in harmony with nature. For example, these “ancient doctors” we can call them understood that most diseases can be traced back to poor digestion. They also knew that raw, uncooked grains, legumes, vegetables, when eaten raw is difficult to digest therefore need to be cooked. With modern science we know these substances are phytates, lectins, and oxalates which can create digestive and other potential health problems. Even though these ancient sages could not understand this on a microscopic level, they understood these facts nonetheless and were aligned with health-promoting ways of living.
What is the significance of yoga, beyond the postures?
There is more to Yoga than postures. Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means to yoke, or unite. Yoga can mean different things to people, yet it is very practical. There is known to be six paths to Yoga: Hatha, Raja, Karma, Bhakti, Gyana and Tantra - all leading to self realization.
Yoga existed long, long ago at a time when knowledge was orally passed down, before the time of Patanjali. Maharishi Patanjali, known as the “father of yoga”,organized the knowledge of yoga. Yoga comes from the word yuj which means union. The study of Yoga, as written in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali outlines the methods and the practices to liberate the mind from distractions, creating a path to uniting with your loving, peaceful self— your true nature. So we can think of Yoga as a very useful manual on how to feel whole, united with our inner peace.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali or EightLimbs of Yoga contains 195 aphorisms of how to purify the mind, providing details to an eight-limb path (ashtanga yoga) of self-actualization and inner peace (samadhi). There has been a growing number of research on the physical and mental health benefits of physical postures in Yoga (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), and mindfulness and meditation. Maharishi Patanjali lived around the 2 BC and his sutras are commonly cited all over the world to this day.
Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga
1. Ethical morals- Yama
2. Self-discipline- Niyama
3. Postures- Asana
4. Control of the breath- Pranayama
5. Drawing in the senses- Pratyahara
6. Concentration- Dharana
7. Contemplation and meditation- Dhyana
8. Union with self- Samhadi