Importance of Ayurveda in the West

Modern world has gifted us with enormous innovative tools and techniques that have made life easier to live. But an explicit insight on the pros and cons of this massive technological development instinctively fills our mind with a wide range of chaos! The more the world progresses technically, the more the human life steps ahead in stress, ailments and an innate mechanical progress. Thus life becomes so insensible that one is always deemed with worries and stress. What could be the apt antidote to this malady? Ayurveda stands distinct as the most holistic remedy to end this mechanical life and mark the start of a natural way of living filled with eternal bliss! This is the reason why Ayurveda is widely recognized in the west in recent times.

Ayurveda serves as the root for Traditional European Medicine (TEM), Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Unani – a natural system of healing of the Middle Eastern world. This is the strong reason why Ayurveda is rightly called as the ‘Mother of Natural Healing’. With its genesis in ancient India, the essence of Ayurveda spread to the west with the advent of many foreigners who translated the Ayurvedic encyclopedias namely Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita to Arabic, Latin, German and English.

It is a well known fact that the first major plastic surgery in the western world was performed in 1815 by Carpue who spent 20 years in India to study the Ayurvedic surgery methods. Amazing right!!! This is just a single piece of information that is known to the world and there are much more Ayurvedic secrets to be revealed and relived.

Importance of Ayurveda in the West: Western Culture is more secured with massive man-made technologies that are strong enough to weaken the resources of nature of which human resource forms a major part. Decrease in physical efforts makes life more involuntary thus increasing the mental stress. Apart from this, the modern medical system deals only with the ailments rather than their root causes, resulting in a temporary relief with more side effects that make the ailments permanent and vulnerable. Thus, people are drawn towards the most dependable holistic approach that has a unique gift of a meaningful, mentally strong life with eternal peace for every individual.

To add more life to the fact that Ayurveda has found its place in the west, down comes the sturdy list of causes that has made the western world to feel the importance of Ayurveda.

  • Self-Realization for a Divine Living: Ayurvedic healing methodology includes a wide range of techniques of which Yoga, Meditation and Rejuvenation of the body and mind with effective Ayurvedic oils have gained wide attention in the West. These forms of practice leads to self-realization thus making one to realize the true purpose of living, paving way to eternal satisfaction and ecstasy of leading a meaningful life. Ayurveda serves its sole purpose of making one to realize self and live in harmony with self and nature thus giving comprehensiveness to human existence.
  • Good for All: Unlike modern medical system, Ayurveda is good for all individuals irrespective of their status of health. With its elegant regime, Ayurveda dignifies the diseased and strengthens the stronger ones leading to health and longevity.

Apart from this, Ayurveda remains as the most natural, less expensive medical system with homemade remedies of defensive nature. Effective utilization of Ayurvedic natural herbs, spices, vegetables and natural Ayurvedic Essential oils in your day to day living will support longevity and help you in the long run.

Ayurveda can be made more efficacious if its real essence is absorbed and utilized effectively. Studies have proved that Ayurveda is effective in the treatment of acute chronic diseases like diabetes and the integration of Ayurvedic Healing system with Modern therapy can pave way for finding a solution for some of the life threatening diseases like cancer.

One final yet valid reason that makes the West fascinated towards Ayurveda is its approach towards the patients that is lifted high with a sense of personal touch and care that is often missing in the western medical system.

As a true believer and benefiter of Ayurveda, I take this opportunity to thank all those strenuous efforts of the invaluable immortals who strived a lot in  bringing the knowledge of Ayurveda to the west that has served numerous people in the past and will continue to serve in the future as well!!!

Thought for the day:

“Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease.” –Hippocrates

Suggested Reading:

  1. Ayurveda: A Comprehensive Guide to Traditional Indian Medicine for the West by Frank John, M.D. Ninivaggi
  2. Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life: Achieving Optimal Health and Wellness through Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, and Western Science by Claudia Welch
  3. Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners: Familiar Western Food Prepared with Ayurvedic Principles by Amadea Morningstar

Reference Links:

  1. Ayurveda by Wikipedia
  2. Meditation by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  3. Differences between Ayurveda and Modern Medicine (Allopathy) by LuzySalud

Importance of Ayurveda in Today’s Lifeless Living

None of us can articulate a statement such as, ‘We are healthy, happy, resonate and can bounce back at any worst situation of our life’. This assertion does not exhibit the lack of self-confidence in you but pinpoints the negative environmental force and the turbulent lifestyle that dominates mankind and staying responsible for the decrease in the average life expectancy of human beings. Every man and woman is unique. Just as the lines in our palms, we are distinct and is the way of treating our health as well. Such a unique science of healing is called as Ayurveda, the intense knowledge of life and the right choice for harmonious living.

Why Ayurveda in today’s digital epoch? You may even wonder about choosing Ayurveda, the age old remedial practice for treating your illness and prevent you from forthcoming health discrepancies. This is the world of fast food items, instant cures, on the spot solutions and there’s an app for everything, which makes you even lethargic and reduces your life expectancy. Shocked??? Don’t get panic, I’m not saying that mobile apps are detrimental but they have actually complicated our life in the name of ‘simplifying it’. For example, but for a mobile app for online banking, you would have walked down to your nearby bank and the energetic physical exercise has been deserted. On the other hand, Ayurveda insists on meditation, physical exercises and yoga for hale and hearty living along with the ideal medication.

No more ‘ONE SIZE FITS ALL’: Human life is not a minimalist web design where one-size-fits-all concept triumphs in making excellent websites. This concept is followed in the modern medicinal system, where Ibuprofen is recommended for fever, pain and certain other discomforts for all. This may reduce the pain for time being but according to a 2010 based research, the habitual use of NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs) was coupled with raise in hearing impairments and lead to other adverse effects like dizziness, nausea, constipation, dyspepsia, hypertension, gastrointestinal bleeding and much more. This is because the contemporary system of curing fails to analyze the unique system of an individual.

Ayurveda, in turn traces out the special Ayurvedic body types also known as Dosha, namely Vata, Pitta and Kapha after which it focuses on treating the root cause of the illness. This holistic way of healing grants you the perfect diet, appropriate medication, regular meditation, unfailing physical exercises and pertinent yoga for a healthy, youthful, systematic and a balanced life based on your physical, emotional, social, environmental and mental attributes.

Ayurvedic therapy does not insist on swallowing pills blindly but proffers various remedies in the form of natural herbs, decoction, powder, tonic, medicated oils and Ayurvedic essential oils for curative massage and other treatment measures. It also trusts in the popular adage which says, ‘Food is medicine’ depicting that a balanced diet with all the essential nutrients can prevent you from health calamities and that is why Hippocrates rightly said ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’.

Reference Links:

  1. Ibuprofen by Wikipedia
  2. Principles of Minimalist Web Design By Smashing Magazine
  3. Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) by MedicineNet.Com

Super Six Tastes Of Ayurveda: A Tasty Insight

Tongue is a tantalizing part of the human body. Though it is scientifically proven to perform numerous significant tasks like cleaning the teeth, phonetic articulation etc, the predominant function of the tongue is often associated with gustation and the taste buds. Drinking and eating are highly essential for survival and every single time the food that we intake is encountered first by our tongue, which helps us identify the real taste. This is the entry point that decides the quality and nature of the food or medicines that we ingest. Ayurveda, the noble Indian science of healing had described about six different tastes of our food and insists that our diet should be a balanced proportion of all the six tastes for a healthy living.

Importance of tongue in identifying the basic tastes: Tongue might seem very simple to us but you will be surprised to know that there are about 8 intrinsic and extrinsic muscles. The basic tastes that are identified by our tongue are bitterness, saltiness, sourness, Umami, sweetness and metallic taste. The cell membranes and the receptors on the taste buds play a vital role in recognizing the unique tastes. I feel like saying ‘What a splendid Scientist, Genius, Master, Physiologist and Inventor our Creator is!!!!

Super six tastes of Ayurveda: The ancient healing system known as Ayurveda defines six tastes for harmonized living. They are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. Ayurveda states that ‘the sense of taste is the natural guide map for a balanced nutrition’. This heavenly method of healing humanity says that each and every taste has a unique mechanism for nourishing our body, mind, spirit and senses gradually.

Most of the times the taste of our choice determines our personality and a popular adage that witnesses this statement is ‘We are what we eat’. Tasteless items are not at all considered and the booming restaurant industry proves the importance of taste since ages. According to Ayurveda, the six tastes are derived from the five vital elements. The significance of the six Ayurvedic tastes are as follows:

  1. Sweet: This taste is derived from the combination of earth and water. It is present in food items that are rich in carbohydrates, amino acids, fats, sugars, oils, milk and milk products, fruits, beans, and certain vegetables like beetroot, carrot and cooked potatoes. This taste has a heavy, oily, moist and cold characteristic. It is popularly known for building tissues of the human body.
  2. Sour: Sour taste is a combination of fire and earth. This taste in present in fermented food products, citrus fruits and vegetables with acids like ascorbic acid. It stimulates digestion by fortifying the digestive fire. It is hot, moist, oily and light in nature.
  3. Salty: It is derived from the fire and water elements having a moist, heavy and hot nature. Salty taste is found in sea salt, rock salt, refrigerated sea foods, salted nuts, pickles, chips and certain vegetables like kelp and seaweed. It calms the nerves, enhances digestion, supports in waste elimination and brings down anxiety and fear.
  4. Pungent: Being derived from air and fire elements, this taste is light, dry and hot. Pungent taste is a part of onions, garlic, ginger and chili peppers. It supports trouble-free digestion, reduces muscular pain and boosts circulation.
  5. Bitter: Bitter taste is a combination of ether and air. This taste is cool, dry and light in nature. It is found in spices like dandelion root, turmeric, fenugreek, green leafy vegetables like bitter guard, spinach, egg plant etc, Tea, coffee and olives also taste bitter. It has excellent detoxifying properties that aids in treating skin rashes, weight reduction, fever, water retention and much more.
  6. Astringent: This is a combination of the earth and air elements. Astringent taste is found in beans, potatoes, raw honey, resins, tannins, cranberries, cauliflower, broccoli, pears, turnip and few other spices like marjoram and turmeric. It is slightly cold in nature and purifies the tissues of the body.

Wow! Is all that I have to utter here as it’s really amazing to know the tastes that are good to our health. Hope our blind eating would stop here and help us start a healthy Ayurvedic diet with a combination of the all these six essential tastes.

Reference Links:

  1. Gustation by Wikipedia
  2. Ayurveda & Aromatherapy: The Earth Essential Guide to Ancient Wisdom and Modern Healing by Dr. Light Miller and Dr. Brian Miller
  3. The 6 Tastes: Our Guide Map To Optimal Nutrition by Eat Taste Heal