Ayurveda, the science of healthy living, originated in the ancient civilizations of India more than 5,000 years ago. The word Ayurveda comes from the Sanskrit root words veda (study) and ayush (life). It literally means “the knowledge or study of life.” Ayurveda is the oldest healing system in the world. It is believed that Ayurvedic ideas played a formative role in developing Chinese medicine.
The pantheon of Ayurvedic knowledge is believed to have been revealed to the ancient sages of India (spiritual scientists called rishis) in the depths of their meditations. In as early as the 3rd century BCE, the medical science of Ayurveda developed an advanced scientific methodology, which consisted of observation and inductive, deductive, and analogical reasoning. Ayurveda’s theories of drug composition, molecular structure, physicochemical properties, and therapeutic actions of food and drugs and their pharmacological actions were fully developed by this time. These concepts were based on Nyaya, an ancient Vedic doctrine of physics. The foundation of advanced molecular biology and quantum physics can be seen in ancient works by Ayurvedic authors like Kashiraj Dhanvantari.
There are over 600 plants and more than 8,000 recipes of drug combinations in the Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia.
By the 1st century CE, Ayurveda emerged with a two-pronged focus on preventative health and curative medicine, which includes internal medicine, psychiatry, surgery, and toxicology. This book is concerned with Ayurveda’s practices for preventative health.
The World Health Organization reports that, by 2020, two-thirds of all disease worldwide will be the result of lifestyle choices. Mahatma Gandhi loved Ayurveda because he believed that teaching us how to live in harmony with nature should be the purpose of medicine; with Ayurveda’s emphasis on lifestyle changes addressing the root causes of diseases, this purpose is realized.
The Ayurvedic sage Rishi Sushrut is considered the grandfather of modern surgery. His text Sushruta Samhita is the world’s most ancient document on surgery. The Sushruta Samhita was compiled between 700 and 600 BCE, whereas Corpus Hippocraticum (the text of modern medicine) was written between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
This book covers Ayurveda’s primary focus: health promotion, disease prevention, and wellbeing optimization.
A beautiful poetic verse from the Sushruta Samhita reads, “Life is the dynamic combination of the body, senses, mind, and spirit, or the conscious principle.” Ayurveda is the first holistic science defining health as a four-dimensional state of wellbeing of your body, mind, senses, and spirit. If all of Ayurveda were to be summarized in a single word, it would be balance (santulan). Accordingly, I’ve divided the first three sections of this book into body, mind, and spirit. The practices I’ve recommended throughout help balance your five senses.
While many people know Ayurveda primarily by its three bioforces, or doshas (vata, pitta, and kapha; see here for more information), there’s a lot more to Ayurveda. As the science of life, Ayurveda touches upon all aspects of how to live in a healthy, happy, and fulfilling way. Its wide-spanning range includes how to improve your digestion, practical ways to love yourself (and thereby improve all your relationships), what kinds of daily and seasonal regimens to adopt for health promotion, and all-natural skincare. Ayurveda also gives you abundant spiritual insights. I’ve tried to capture the range of what Ayurveda offers through the varied nature of the mind, body, and spirit practices in this book.
Living Ayurveda has made me appreciate the great depth and breadth of this expansive science. The following five lessons have been particularly life changing for me, and so I am happy to share them with you as an introduction to Ayurveda.
Whereas modern Western medicine tends to focus on helping you manage the symptoms of your health problems, Ayurveda teaches you to dig deep to determine the root causes of why you manifest certain diseases in the first place.
A client once described how she was sent to various eating disorder centers as a teenager due to what was really a digestive disturbance called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Because the doctors only looked at the surface level of her weight loss, she was wrongly diagnosed with anorexia. At the eating disorder clinics, she witnessed young girls with eating disorder diagnoses hanging themselves out of deep mental despair. This trauma caused her much health-related anxiety. And it was all totally unnecessary.
Had my client been able to find her way to Ayurveda then, she would have learned that it was her diet that led to her severe weight loss, IBS, and subsequent eating-related anxiety. An Ayurveda practitioner could have given her a customized diet to bring her physical digestion to a state of balance and taught her the art of mindful eating at the mental and psychological level. And she would have been guided to connect with a deeper part of herself that’s beyond the body and mind.
I know from my own experience with anorexia as a teenager that eating disorders are about more than just the denial of food, and often reflect a deeper spiritual hunger. I’m incredibly grateful to Ayurveda for addressing the root causes of my eating disorder, which were much more psychological than they were physical. I can see how certain mental misperceptions I possessed created my physical imbalances. By transforming my mind with the healing power of Ayurveda, I restored my physical health.
Ayurveda encourages us to go beyond examining our outward symptoms and our physical body. Because each of the four dimensions of Ayurveda (body, mind, spirit, and senses) plays a critical role in manifesting both health and disease, we must also examine our mind, emotions, and any existential suffering. That’s why, when practiced in its traditional way (not merely as a medicine-prescribing profession), Ayurveda leaves absolutely no corner of your existence unexamined in the patient-intake process. Ayurveda is a wonderful complement to Western medicine because it paves a path for patients to truly practice health promotion and disease prevention.
By digging deep, Ayurveda empowers you to make health-promoting choices to reclaim wellness at every level: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I’m delighted to share many of my discoveries of healing at all of these levels so that you, too, can start taking your health into your own hands.
Ayurveda is defined as a science of healthy living that teaches you how to distinguish between actions that bring you joy and those that bring you sorrow (as our mental states greatly impact our physical wellbeing). There is an increasing body of academic research proving the importance of compassion for mental health. Ayurvedic sages, however, have always known this, and have proclaimed happiness-giving actions to be those that benefit you and society. In other words, individual health has always been equated with serving the community in Ayurveda.
That’s right. There’s no separation between nature and you. Everything you hear, smell, see, taste, and touch in the outer world can be discovered inside you, too.
A key Ayurvedic concept is that of the fundamental union between the macrocosm (the whole universe) and the microcosm (the universe within you). The wise saying “As above, so below” expresses the same wisdom that Ayurveda has revealed for thousands of years.
So, what unites us all? How are you connected with the whole world? We are all connected through the five great elements (pancha mahabhutas): space, air, fire, water, and earth. These elements comprise our individual bodies and minds and the whole world around us. Let’s take a look at how.
The expansive spaces. What do you think of when you look up at the sky? I always feel expansive. As I look at the clouds, which represent absolute spaciousness to me, I’m reminded to keep my mind and heart open. Within the body, it’s similarly important to have open space in the lungs, nose, arteries, and abdomen. If you’ve ever experienced congestion in your lungs or felt like you can’t breathe after eating a large meal, I think you can relate to the importance of keeping these spaces within the body open! The element of space is subtle. It’s connected with the sense of sound. I feel more spaciousness throughout my being when I close my eyes to meditate and connect with an inner openness that’s as wide as the sky.
The restless, moving air. Hurricanes and tornadoes are powerful displays of the air element in nature. Inside your body, you can experience the movement of air, too. Whenever you walk, dance, jump, run, or otherwise physically move your body, it’s the element of air within you that creates this movement. Air is present in the subtle movements of the breath. You are able to contract and relax your muscles due to the movement air provides. Air is present in the process of eliminating, in childbirth, sneezing, talking, laughing, and even thinking. Ever felt like your mind was racing? That’s the air element manifesting in the microcosm of your mind. We feel the wind on our skin; it’s connected with the sense of touch.
Being lit on fire. We see many different kinds of fire in the world around us — from forest fires to campfires to the sun, which is one big ball of fire. Unlike air, which is invisible, fire is connected with the sense of vision; the most pain-free way to perceive fire is by seeing it. Fire burns when you touch it. The nature of fire is to transform anything and everything that comes into contact with it. In your body, the fire element is responsible for the transformation process that occurs whenever you metabolize your food, as your body converts food into nutrients that give you health, vitality, and strength. This digestion process is the key to good health in Ayurveda. Hence, the presence of a healthy amount of the fire element in your body is very important. You’ll learn more about why in chapter 1.
The fire element is also connected with the process of digesting information and assimilating it into knowledge, which will begin happening as you put into practice what you read in this book. Have you ever felt like your mind was on fire with ideas, motivation, and creativity? Intelligence and confidence stem from the presence of healthy fire in your mind and body.
The eternal flow of water. Water comprises about 97 percent of the earth’s surface. We see it in the oceans, rivers, lakes, seas, floods, and rains. The water element plays a vital role in your body, too. Water is an essential ingredient in your blood, urine, sweat, saliva, bodily tissues, spinal fluid, and tears. If you suffer from obesity, Ayurveda believes this is a sign of too much of the water element in your system, as water is a primary ingredient of body fat. Water is connected to your emotions, like how your eyes water with tears. The water element is something you can taste; it’s connected with the sense of taste. Water also manifests in your mind as the sweetness of emotions. Love, compassion, and satisfaction are all connected to the water element.
“For the one who is wise, the whole world is a teacher.”
— Ayurvedic text Ashtanga Hrdayam
Standing on solid earth. “Solid as a rock” is a great way to describe the presence of the earth element. You can also see the sturdiness of the earth in the grounded nature of the tree, the stability of the mountain, the hardness of nuts, and the rooted quality of vegetables that grow underground. In your body, the earth element expresses itself in your skin, bones, nails, teeth, hair, and tendons. This element gives you the power of perseverance to stay the course. Loyalty, supportiveness, and growth are all characteristics of the earth, as are emotional grounding and stability. The ability to smell the sweet fragrance of flowers blooming in the springtime is due to the earth element, which is connected with the sense of smell.
By remembering that the macrocosm is within me (the microcosm), I have become a deeper student of life by learning from everything, and everyone, I find. Each person I meet, every animal, plant, and tree I see, and the eternal sun, moon, wind, and sky are my teachers. I greet challenging situations as teachers, too.
In Ayurveda, the five great elements combine in different ways to form three mind-body types, called doshas:
Air and space form vata dosha. This bioforce is connected with any and all movements in the body. A balanced vata dosha gives you visionary and creative qualities, along with flexibility (literally and figuratively). When imbalanced, it manifests as anxiety, pain, emaciation, and more. There are 80 diseases connected with vata.
Fire and water combine to create pitta dosha, which is all about transformation. A balanced pitta gives you the ability to be an excellent leader, make tough decisions, and perform critical analyses. Imbalanced pitta creates burning sensations and 40 different diseases, including heartburn, hot flashes, and inflammation.
Earth and water coalesce to make up kapha dosha. It’s responsible for growth and stability. Balanced kapha makes for perseverance, nurturing, and stamina. Imbalanced kapha leads to 20 diseases, including obesity and diabetes.
You (the microcosm) interact with the world around you (the macrocosm) under the natural law of “Like increases like.” Here’s a practical example: my skin gets dry and my joints start cracking in summertime, when it’s hotter and drier in the atmosphere, so I especially love oiling my body during the summertime (you can learn how to do this beautiful practice here). The moist, unctuous oil, which has the exact opposite quality of the dryness on my skin, moisturizes my body. My dry skin is reduced due to application of a dissimilar substance (oil). It’s so simple. And it really works.
In a broader understanding of “Like increases like,” negativity begets negativity, as seen by the downward spiral of addictions. Fortunately, the opposite is equally true: the more you make positive choices in your life, the more positive choices you can make.
The sun has a very special place in Vedic spirituality. It is the source of all of life. Ayurveda reveres the sun as a symbol of health, wealth, power, creativity, joy, spiritual illumination, and abundance. The ancient teachings of Ayurveda reveal how our recommended daily routines revolve around the sun, which we’ll explore in detail in chapter 8.
The sun is connected with the fire element, and, according to Ayurveda, the strength of the fire element within your body is responsible for your digestion. Healthy digestion is the key to good overall health. There’s a direct relationship between the strength of the sun in the sky and the strength of your digestive fire, which is like an inner sun. Ayurveda recommends eating your largest meal around noon, as that’s the time of the day when the sun is strongest.
The spiritual rituals described in chapters 6 and 7 will help you establish a personal relationship with the sun to strengthen your spiritual power. I found it extremely helpful to begin my Ayurveda lifestyle with these rituals, which gave me the willpower to put the physical practices (diet and lifestyle changes) of Ayurveda into action. The spiritual sun rituals will support you in developing a deeper spiritual connection in your daily life.
In chapter 9, I’ll describe how the five great elements and three doshas play out in the macrocosm and in your own mind and body. You’ll learn how to take advantage of the seasons that are better for building health, and how to protect yourself in the seasons when your health is naturally considered more at risk.
Nothing is random in Ayurveda. There’s a reason why you normally experience certain conditions during certain times of the year, like colds and allergies in springtime. Ayurveda’s seasonal diet and lifestyle recommendations give you tools and insights into how you can eat, drink, exercise, work, travel, and even procreate in optimal ways throughout the year.
Before Ayurveda, I was accustomed to eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and suffered poor digestion as a result. Following Ayurveda’s seasonal wisdom has tremendously improved my own and my clients’ health. Knowing what to eat and how to modify my lifestyle depending on the time of year is a wonderful way that I now live in harmony with nature.
Living by Ayurveda’s wisdom has changed my life forever. I am honored and delighted to welcome you onto your wellness journey so that you, too, may experience the power and potential of this art and science of healthy living.