Ayurveda Medicine
The Importance of Incorporating Ayurveda for Optimal Health
Ayurveda originated in India 5000 years ago and means the knowledge or science of life. It is thought to be the oldest existing body of knowledge on health and healing and contains the roots of all other healing philosophies.
In Ayurvedic medicine, optimal health and even one’s spiritual growth starts with prevention. Prevention is based on a balanced lifestyle that is in harmony with the cycles of nature.
Ayurveda recognizes that all living creatures, whether human, plant, or animal, must live in harmony with nature in order to survive. Ayurveda speaks of daily and seasonal routines that ensure maximal health, mental clarity, and longevity. For example, birds fly south in the winter. Their survival depends on it. In the fall, leaves turn red and fall off the trees. It’s a law of nature. We tend to insulate ourselves away from much participation in the changes that take place from one season to the next.
Going to sleep and rising with the sun, eating seasonal foods for your region, and building your activities around the natural rhythms of the day are all simple and profound ways to stay in harmony with nature.
Ayurveda offers insight into the wisdom of life and longevity and teaches people how to live in harmony with the natural world around them. It is through Ayurveda that one understands how the body becomes out of balance due to certain lifestyles, environmental and dietary factors thus becoming susceptible to disease The emphasis is on prevention and alleviation of disease through diet and lifestyle.
Using Ayurveda can often be an effective way to help treat lifestyle-mediated illnesses like coronary vascular disease, type-2 diabetes, obesity, autoimmune conditions, and digestive disorders. Using Ayurvedic practices, such as dietary changes, herbal remedies, meditation, breathing exercises, and massage are safe and effective.
Western medicine is termed allopathic medicine. Interestingly allopathic's Latin origin 'allo' means other. Allopathic medicine was named such because it uses elements 'other' than those in nature to treat illnesses and disease.
