Ayurveda

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Ayurveda

• The Science of Life

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Origins and Definition

• knowledge for long life science of life
• from Sanskrit ayus, long life, and veda, science
  of knowledge
• Atharvaveda (one of the 4 most ancient books of
  Hindu culture) 114 hymns for treatement of
  disease dating from (maybe) 1500 BCE
• Charaka Samhita (5th or 6th cent. BCE) attributed
  to Charaka is primary classical source

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5 Elements 3 Doshas

• ayurveda stresses balance, a kind of dynamic
  homeostasis
• everything in the universe, including human
  beings, is comprised of prthv/earth, jala/water,
  agni/fire, vayu/air and akasa/sky.
• these resolve into 7 body tissues/dhatus
  plasma/chyle (rasa dhatu), blood (rakta dhatu),
  flesh (mamsa dhatu), fat (medha dhatu), bone
  (asthi dhatu), marrow (majja dhatu) and semen or
  female reproductive tissue (sukra dhatu)
• the elements combine in various proportions to
  create the elemental humors, called doshas as
  follow vayu vata (air and space/wind), pitta
  (fire and water/bile) and kapha (water and
  earth/phlegm)

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Earth, Water, Fire

• earth represents that which is solid, stable,
  rigid, unchanging manifests as bones, teeth,
  tissues, cells/matter a stable substance
• water is fluid, changing, substance w/o
  stability in the body it is the blood, lymph,
  fluid between cells that carry off wastes and
  transport nutrients
• fire is transformational power form w/o
  substance energy of atoms, of digestion and
  transformation of food into energy or tissue
  responsible for impulses of nervous system,
  thoughts and feelings

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Air and Ether/Akasa

• air is gaseous, mobile and dynamic existence w/o
  form air/oxygen is the basis for all energy
  transformations necessary for fire
• ether is space in which everything happens both
  source of matter and space in which it exists
  also defined as sound--meaning the entire
  spectrum of vibration

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Health

• is defined as balance/ harmony
• balance is achieved when prakriti and vikriti are
  in sync
• prakriti ones basic constitution as defined by
  the inherent composition of doshas
• vikriti the presenting doshic composite that is
  the result of life circumstances and the systems
  reaction to those circumstances
• methods life style interventions and natural
  therapies
• mind-body one system both need to be addressed

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Prakruti and Vikruti

• prakruti constitution, individual composite of
  doshas determined at conception unchanging
  throughout the lifespan sanskrit word means
  nature, first creation.
• vikruti that constitution/composite of doshas
  that is a result of the interaction between an
  individual and her environment
• ideally, vikruti should match prakruti when it
  doesnt there is disharmony and possibly illness
• treatment aims to bring harmony to the system
  through diminishing excess and increasing
  vitality to that which has become depleted.

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Ojas and Ama

• Ojas is vitality, vital essence
• Ama is congestion, toxicity
• Ama is defined as a sticky plaque-like substance
  that is produced as the bodys way of trying to
  mobilize impurities from the tissues and organs
  and micro-channels (or Shrotas) of the body. When
  the body is not able to fully eliminate these
  impurities through the normal channels of
  elimination such as the bowel, urinary tract or
  skin, then Ama forms, and may first appear as
  congestion, phlegm, dental plaque, the white
  coating on the tongue, and may later accumulate
  in the arteries, joints and tissues.
• Ayurvedic practices are designed to
  decrease/eliminate ama and increase ojas

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The Senses
element sense sense organ action organ of action
ether hearing ear speech tongue, vocal cords, mouth
air touch skin holding hand
fire vision eye walking feet
water taste tongue procreation genitals
earth smell nose excretion anus
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The Doshas

• dosha, that which changes
• can be regarded as a mistake
• constantly shifting in relation to one another
• not only human beings but days and seasons
  participate in tridosha
• 2-6 (am and pm) vata
• 6-10 (am and pm) kapha
• 10-2 (am and pm) pitta
• winter is kapha spring and fall are vata summer
  is pitta (note this is am approximation)

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Vata

• meaning wind, to move, flow, direct the process
  of, command
• needed by other 2 doshas for expression
• governs all movements w/in the body-mind
• blinking, breathing, pulsations, expansion and
  contraction, cytoplasm and cell movements, single
  impulses in nerves, feeling and emotions such as
  freshness, nervousness, fear, anxiety, pain,
  tremors, spasms
• primary seat is colon but also lives in hips,
  thighs, ears, bones, pelvic cavity and skin
• related to touch

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Pitta

• dynamic interplay between water and fire, which
  are transformative in their interaction and
  modulation of each other
• governs
• digestion, absorption, nutrition, metabolism
• body temperature, skin color, eye luster
• intelligence, understanding
• arouses anger, hate and jealousy
• small intestine, stomach, sweat glands, blood,
  fat, eyes and skin are homes for pitta

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Kapha

• equilibrium of water and earth/structure and
  lubrication
• kapha dosha
• cements the body, maintains strength and natural
  tissue resistance
• lubricates the joints, moisturizes the skin,
  helps heal wounds
• imparts biological strength, vigor, stability
• supports memory retention gives energy to heart
  and lungs and maintains immunity
• lives in chest (home), throat, head, sinuses,
  nose, mouth, stomach, joints, cytoplasm, plasma,
  liquid secretions
• attachment, greed, long-standing envy as well as
  calmness, forgiveness and love are its emotions

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Rules for Healthy Living

• any substance that enters the body-mind can
  nourish, balance or disturb the organism
• nourishment is food balance is medicine
  disturbance is poison
• based on the idea that like increases like, we
  use food, herbs, thoughts, lifestyle choices to
  nourish, heal or sicken ourselves

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Diagnosis

• The Charaka Samhita recommends a tenfold
  examination of the patient
• constitution?
• abnormality?
• essence?
• stability?
• body measurements?
• diet suitability?
• psychic strength?
• digestive capacity?
• physical fitness?
• age

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Pancha Karma

• Literally 5 actions
• curative and preventative recommended at least
  once a year to remove ama
• done under supervision at health spa--3, 5, 6,
  14, 21 days
• can include lighter cleansing diet, and several
  consecutive days of deeply relaxing, luxurious
  Ayurvedic cleansing treatments such as warm oil
  massages, herbal steam baths and mild herbal
  enemas
• originally induced vomitting (vamana) as well as
  herbal enemas, netti pot and nysa oil treatments
  for sinuses

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