MIND-BODY MEDICINE: THE ESSENCE OF AYURVEDA
Ayurveda – The Wisdom of Ancient Medicine
Ayurveda is the practice of developing a deep sense of awareness of who and what you are in relation to both the physical world around us as well as the universe within. Ayurveda offers a path toward optimal health and the focus is not to managing disease: therefore, Ayurveda is a wholistic approach to foundational health and wellbeing, and the pathway for natural medicine if disease is present.
Mind-body medicine is a relatively conventional aspects of the medical approach in the United States and Western medicine traditions. Starting right around the Renaissance and Enlightenment ages, philosophers (who were often doctors and/or preachers of religion) promoted the beliefs of mind is separated from the rest of the body, and our medicine has been largely built around that construct.
However, the ancient traditional Asian medicines did not follow the same path of separation of the mind from the body; therefore, the connection of mind-body is at the heart of and a central component in both spirituality natural medicine. Ayurveda, is the oldest ancient medicine of India, is rooted in the connection of mind-body- awareness and has evolved into a complex health paradigm system which continues to retain its old principles of natural health at its core.
At the center of Ayurveda, the mind-body-awareness medicine is interconnected. At birth, we are a body, made of sensing organs, with genetic predispositions and patterns already forming in the womb. This body consumes not only food, but also our every experience of thoughts, perception
emotions and the environment. The body takes in experience and feeds it to the brain, which stores it in the form of knowledge and further ingrains or changes these patterns into behavior and belief for our use in later years–for example, a heating surface is hot and therefor painful, while ice is cold, and give a smile of good feelings. These information guides us through our journey in life, assist us in our adjustment to circumstances as they arise. Life happens and we make decisions with guidance derived from these built in experiences.
Understanding Ayurvedic Wholistic Living
In practice, the mind-body-awareness medicine of Ayurveda begins with a basic assessment and placement of our individuality into 1 of 3 body “types,” a practice that has been utilized for some 5000+ years. These body types, or Doshas, are the main domains of our bodies.
There are 3 doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha; they can be used as a system of classification when examining microbiology or meta-social constructs. For example, the cell membrane is oily and therefore has Kapha qualities, or – at the personal-level – someone who tends to have lethargic tendencies, tends to gain weight, and has an active mind, is Kapha-dominant. Every system in the human body can be described as having either Vata, Pitta, or Kapha qualities-with a combination of all three.
- Vata Dosha has been described as being composed of Ether and Air. People with this dominant trait tend to be creative and quick learners. When out of balance, Vata types are likely to have anxiety, insomnia, dry skin, constipation, and mental fogginess.
- Pitta Dosha has beendescribed as being a combination of Fire and Water. In balance, Pitta types are friendly, disciplined, and good leaders and speakers. Out of balance, Pitta looks like compulsivity, irritability, indigestion, and inflammation.
- Kapha Dosha has been described as a blend of Water and Earth. These people are kind, nourishing, and stable, but when the system is out of balance, this dosha Kapha is lacks the motivation, is sluggish, gains weight, and may be congested.
Everyone of us has a combination of the 3 doshas which is unique to the individual, from birth (prakriti). Environment and lifestyle choices further shape our expression of these qualities, influence the person toward balance or imbalance (disease) (vikruti). These concepts are supported by modern scientific studies. Genomics looks at these predispositions acquired at conception and is beginning to prove these concepts of the Dosha and prakriti through genotypic influences on the metabolic pathways and chronic diseases. An example will be, while one’s genetics might predispose a person to being more Pitta – or more intense and fiery – so too do their actions. Goal-driven, aggressive, and passionate, the Pitta personality is more predisposed than others to being stressed-out, having high blood pressure, and acid regurgitation.
Although, if that person fuels the stress with a high-pressure working environment, as such, he/she can become more pitta in thinking, and more heat builds in the body.
Pitta-predominant types have a high basal metabolic rate (BMR) and energy consumption that can lead to tissue destruction and premature aging, and foster an average life span, whereas Kapha-predominant prakriti types have a tendency toward a delayed manifestation of aging and a longer life span.
This cyclical system of thinking and being is mind-body medicine manifesting itself through.
Ayurvedic practitioners, help people to see how they can either help or harm their bodies with their actions, personalizing approach all the while, rather than following a “conventional-fits-all” modality. An individual may be told to as a Pitta-dominant that he/she must eat cooling foods and avoid hot and spicy foods. We may tell the parents of Kapha-dominant child to encourage sports activities participation so that they are raised with a good exercise habits and can avoid Kapha-prone imbalanced such as type 2 diabetes mellitus.
A Tradition of Personalized Balance
In the Charaka Samhita, written in approximately 400 BCE, it is stated in verses 1-55, “The body and the mind are the abodes of imbalance (diseases) as well as health. Proper body-mind-awareness interaction is the foundation toward happiness and lasting joy. If only it were so easy to maintain proper interactions and keep a balanced living. As feeling, sentient beings, humans are prone to emotional imbalance, which compromises the digestive functions. When elevated stressed dwell in the body, many people become anorexic, while others tend to go way over int their consumption of foods.
Our bodies will still be working hard on “digesting” the upsetting situation, however, will be unable to digest the food we eat; as a result, ama (toxins) is created – the storage of toxins in our tissues. As ama (toxins) builds in tissues (dhatus), it blocks the flow of the systems, bogging down the organs, interfering with the endocrine system, and stressing the entire system even further, or – the body overheats, damaging the tissues.
We correct these imbalances according to the unique prakriti and vikruti of each individual personally. Often, the start of the approach with plans through complex and thorough detox programs to stop inflammatory processes and hypersensitivities. Through yoga, diet (eating behavior), breathing exercises, and mindfulness practices, we teach patients to be self-aware and careful with decisions. The individual become witnesses of their own bodies, thereby becoming more aware of what is happening to them and learning the beautiful science of life and balance.
Life is not a linear path, and we must experience the challenges on the road to personal growth: however, through balance and awareness we can learn to simply witness these challenges without attaching to any of them.
We have come to accept that Elevated Stress is part of our everyday life, and so it has become part of life for many of us. High levels of stress cause excess build-up of free radicals in the physiology and can lead to disease and premature aging. The ancient science of Ayurveda offers many ways to combat day-to-day stress and enhance your natural ability to throw off the effects of chronic elevated stress.
At The End
Life is like a river flowing to its banks. Although it looks stagnant, every second it is changing between raging high and milder flow. In Ayurveda, we believe the purpose of life is to achieve Nirvana, or bliss, through recognizing the “Brahman” in each of us. Harmonize the mind-body connection that helps us to realize that “Brahman” is us, and this Brahman is not different from Brahma, the creator.
This is the essence of it all: the mind-body connection of Ayurvedic Living. When we ignore the influences of the mind, the patterns of thought that arise from our constitution, then the body will play out the consequences of that pattern. Should we on the other end, focus on balancing the thoughts thought pattern through selective mode process, we will achieve body-mind coherence balance in the body. Balance must necessarily include the physical, mental, and spiritual paths to optimal wholistic health.