Ayur- means life. -Veda means knowledge. Ayurveda therefore is the bridge that connects you to the knowledge of yourself and nature around you. Ayurveda is the owner’s manual for the human body placing conscious attention and understanding on individual differences and how one can harmonize with nature to resist disease and optimize health, vitality and longevity.

If you want to take charge of your health, Ayurveda is for you. Ayurveda answers your questions about how to prevent illness and maintain vitality, getting to the root cause of chronic conditions as well as supporting a healthy lifestyle. I have practiced Ayurveda and continue studying this healing science for many years and have enjoyed the benefits. It is worthy of your deepest attention.

Ayurveda is one of the world's oldest healing systems; a traditional medicine based on theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to its people to maintain health as well as to prevent, diagnose, and improve physical and mental health. The word "Ayurveda" and the language composed within it, is Sanskrit, dating back to 1700-1200 BCE. It is one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages believed to have been the original language of the greater Indian Subcontinent in ancient times.

The beginnings of Ayurveda can be traced to around 6,000 BCE where they originated as an oral tradition. Many of the concepts of Ayurveda existed since the times of Indus Valley Civilization. Recorded forms of Ayurveda as medical texts were first recorded from the vedas, or spiritual texts of that time. The intuitive and spiritual connection to nature and the body created this vast and deep science. Ayurveda is a vast science having its foundations in anatomy and physiology, psychology, herbology, men and women's health and pediatrics. As a complete and holistic science that promotes longevity, Ayurveda is based in maintaining balance between mind, body, and spirit.

Ayurveda - Tools to self-heal

Ayurveda is a holistic approach to life, healing and longevity. Focus is placed on establishing and maintaining balance of the life energies within us, rather than focusing on individual symptoms. It recognizes the uniqueness of each person and thus requiring different approaches to healing. We learn from nature and follow her rhythms. We respond to disease by healing them from the root. Where the principle of “like attracts like & the opposite brings balance” is revered. We use the gurvadi gunas or ten pairs of opposites (qualities found in nature) to bring awareness to balance. The pancha mahabhutas - air, water, fire, earth, & ethers make up the doshas. The doshas are vata (air & ethers), pitta (fire & water), & kapha (earth & water). All three are present in all living things. Ayurveda recognizes a unique combination of the doshas upon birth, called prakriti. While not a main focus, it does tell an individual’s tendencies in mind, body, & spirit and is helpful in treatment plans. While prakriti is our state of balance, our vikriti is our state of imbalance at any point in time.

It is the aim in Ayurveda to keep the doshas balanced. Where there is imbalance, there begins the disease process. We seek to balance them through diet (ahar), lifestyle (vihar), and daily routine or dinacharya, as well as herbs. Agni or our digestive fire, the foundation of health, is very important in Ayurveda and much of the treatments are centered around strengthening it. Ayurveda recognizes six stages of disease. Much suffering can be prevented when disease is caught in the first three stages, making Ayurveda unique and at a great advantage to modern medicine where focus is on the last three stages of disease where great suffering has already begun.

We can learn to recognize symptoms telling us the disease process is beginning and take proactive steps to bring balance and stop the disease process. Herein lies Ayurveda’s greatest strength - in becoming one’s own self-healer.

Ayurveda is for Everyone

Ayurveda is an ancient system of health that focuses on the complete person and that includes the body, mind and spirit. Ayurveda is for everyone - child, adult, women, men, and the elderly.

Ayurveda defines health not as “the absence of disease,” but when all body tissues, organs, systems, and functions are acting together in a balanced way. People are more vulnerable to disease when vital energies (doshas) of the mind, body, and spirit are out of balance.

Ayurveda believes that by balancing the various mind-body functions, the natural intelligence of the body will ultimately bring itself to wholeness over time.

Ayurveda recognizes that each person has a unique mind-body constitution. The Ayurvedic consultation process identifies the various components of an individual’s mind-body constitution, determines where any imbalances may exist, and provides education, guidance, and options for helping the individual to nourish, stimulate, and balance vital energy to bring about their own improvements in health and wellness.

It is an individual’s correct implementation of the right Ayurvedic practices and treatments that bring about improved health and wellness.

If you are interested in learning more about how Ayurveda can help you, we would love to hear from you. Reach out at contact@restoredsattva.com or book an online wellness & lifestyle consultation for health recommendations unique to you.

Journeying together,

Kari