What is old is new again AYURVEDA
A review of the ancient medicinal practice of prolonging life though Harmony and Balance.
The age-old art that stays in style
Spa therapies generally involve treatments such as Swedish massage, facials, steams and pedicures. Here I discuss a 5000 old tradition of wellness and longevity, whose teachings were passed down the ages as oral tradition and eventually as Sutras, or poetical verses in Sanskrit.
When speaking of well being in the context of health, one is not referring to the market-driven ideas of the present day, but rather the intimately related emotional and physical aspects of health and wellness--- the mind, body and soul. The more we nurture ourselves with the purity of the environment, the more radiant we become physically and expressively --- regardless of our particular body shape or proportions. We will glow, things flow smoothly. It is as if a light has been turned off has come back on.
Ayurveda is perhaps the most complete system of living, embracing not only medicine, but also philosophy, psychology, lifestyle, and health. It is India’s traditional natural healing system, believed to be more than 5,000 years old.
The term Ayurveda derives from the Sanskrit words ayus and veda. Ayus translates as “life” and Veda as “knowledge” or “science” Ayurveda thus means the “Knowledge or Science of Life.” According to Ayurveda Ayus is union of the mind, body, senses and soul. It is energy and vitality and is eternal.
Ayurveda teaches us to live in harmony with the basic laws of nature. According to Ayurveda, health is a continual and participatory process that embraces all aspects of life: physical, mental emotional, behavioral, spiritual, familial, social, and universal. Achieving balance on all levels of being is the true measure of vibrant health.
All organic and inorganic substances are made up of five basic elements, ether, air, fire, water, and earth. These are the building blocks of all material existence. Everything we know has a varying ratio of the five elements. Since we as humans are a combination of the five elements we also have a distinct pattern or map for each person, and no two people will be the same.
We nourish ourselves with foods from the earth, and eventually, our body returns to the earth, from where it came. Water is our life sustaining fluid, making up a large percentage of our total body mass. Fire is within us accounting for the heat and radiant energy that exists within all metabolic and chemical actions. Air flows freely throughout the body, giving movement to biological functions and feeding every cell with oxygen. Space is ever-present, patiently residing in the background, providing the other elements with an opportunity to interact.
The five Elements also explain why substances of the natural world are harmonious with the human body. We utilize plants, herbs, minerals, and water because these substances are the same in composition and character to our own underlying make-up.
Clearly, as each individual has all these principles at work, each person is a combination of the three doshas. Typically though, one or two doshas dominate lending unique character to the individual’s mind-body constitution.
| VATA | PITTA | KAPHA | |
| Weather | Dry, Very cold | Hot & humid | Cold & Damp |
| Foods |
Cold and dry foods e.g.chilled drinks or garbanzo beans |
Spicy foods e.g. chilies, peppers |
Sweet foods, complex carbohydrates e.g. cakes and breads |
| Behavior | Excitable, hyperactive | Intense, intellectual | Calm, easy-going |
| Weight | long and wiry build | Medium, athletic | Large Frame |
| Skin | Normal to dry, thin | Sensitive, T-zone | Thick, large pores oily all over |
| Hair | Dry, brittle | Patchy, thinnning | Thick, voluminous |
| Heath |
Low immunity, Susceptible to fatigue |
Suceptible to infection, and bacteria |
Strong immunity |
| Sleep | Light or disturbed sleep | Medium Sleep, Active dreams | Deep, sound sleep |
*To help determine your body type go to http://tridosha.com/self-test
| VATA | PITTA | KAPHA |
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When in balance vibrant, lively, enthusiastic, clear and alert mind, flexible, exhilarated, imaginative, sensitive, talkative, quick to respond |
When in balance warm, loving, contented, enjoys challenges, strong digestion, lustrous complexion, good concentration, articulate and precise speech, courageous, bold, sharp wit, intellectual |
When in balance affectionate, compassionate, forgiving, emotionally steady, relaxed, slow, methodical, good memory, good stamina, stability, natural resistance to sickness |
|
When out of balance restless, unsettled, light interrupted sleep, tendency to over-exert, fatigued, constipated, anxious, worried underweight |
When out of balance demanding, perfectionist, tendency towards frustration, skin rashes, irritable, impatient, prematurely gray hair, premature hair loss |
When out of balance complacent, dull, oily skin, allergies, slow digestion, lethargic, possessive, over-attached, tendency to oversleep, overweight |
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What aggravates VATA irregular routine, staying up late, irregular meals, cold, dry weather, excessive mental work, too much bitter, astringent or pungent food, traveling, injury |
What aggravates PITTA excessive heat or exposure to the sun, alcohol, smoking, time pressure, deadlines, excessive activity, too much spicy, sour or salty food, skipping meals |
What aggravates KAPHA oversleeping, overeating, insufficient exercise, too little variety in life, heavy and unctuous foods, too much sweet, sour, salty food, cold, wet weather |
Out of whack
The pressures of modern life can and will wreak havoc with our natural state of well being. In past times people were in close contact with the earth and changes of the seasons, working the land, hunting and harvesting the food. Today we have traded this time tested habit of natural and direct experience for our creature comforts and conveniences.
More of us live in cities, spending the waking hours in man-mad environments. Simple things like light and heat, which once ruled our work and sleep patterns have become controllable at the flick of a switch. Foods being flown in from all over the world are available to us year round, all but extinguishing significance of seasonal selection.
The world of the computer has on one hand made life simpler, yet has also encouraged a sedentary existence. Supposedly, we have more control, but the further we get from the earths natural rhythms, the more stressed our daily living becomes.
Why is it so? You ask. It is these simple and modern connivances that interfere with the energy flows in our bodies. As a direct result, the body’s natural balance of elements is disturbed. In an Ayurvedic context one would refer to this as an imbalance in our doshas. The results could be stress, insomnia, anxiety, hypertension, hair loss, flu or common cold and many other disorders that affect lives and well being. Bearing in mind we cannot drop out and return to a natural existence, what we can do to help restore our own natural balance in modern times?
The source of health
Popular cosmetology and medicines focus primarily on outer beauty, treating the symptom rather than the cause of the disorder itself. Ayurveda recognizes that individual positive health results from a balance of five fundamental elements. When this balance is disturbed, ill health issues occur. Ayurveda addresses wellbeing from the sites of origin in the mind and body, and capitalizes on all efforts relating to positive health, treating people as a whole, unique individuals rather than mere cases of some skin or scalp disorder. The most basic idea of Ayurveda is the concept of balance. We are healthy and happy when our doshas are properly aligned. Most disease results from an imbalance of our doshas.
To treat disease, the Ayurvedic practitioner attempts through various treatments to restore balance. The balanced body then heals itself. In essence, Ayurveda is a system that uses the body's own defenses to restore and maintain health and happiness. It pertains to the achievement of the perfect state of well being, balancing the mind, body and soul.
The Ayurvedic approach to health is twofold: heal sickness by restoring the body's natural balance of energies (doshas), and preserve health by carefully maintaining that balance through daily and seasonal routines.
The two 5,000 year old Ayurvedic wellness and longevity therapies --- Abhyanga Marma Point Massage and Shirodhara --- can help return and maintain the doshas in sync. When we combine them we will allow the body’s energies to be restored and the inner mind to find peace thus facilitating living in harmony with equilibrium, free of disease.
Abhyanga Marma Point Massage
Literally translated, Abhyanga means oil application. Marma Points --- vital energy points --- are positions on the body where flesh, veins, arteries, tendons, bones and joints meet. They are also junctions where Vata, Pitta and Kapha elements coincide. They are points which have great importance to a person’s mind, body and spirit. The Major Marma pints correspond to the chakras. The minor points are found around the torso and limbs, thus healing through marma affects the chakras’ and the doshas’ physical health.
The Marma Point massage can be carried out with either two hands or four hands. When using four hands it stimulates both the left and right side of the brain simultaneously, allowing for deeper oil penetration. The therapists are moving synchronicity and the pressure is applied is equally at all times. They work either from navel towards head or from navel towards foot, or on the left hand side and right hand side of the body. It is a well choreographed dance full of grace, giving and gratitude.
This treatment utilizes dosha specific herbal oils to pacify the client’s imbalance in their doshic type. Because the marmas are the junctions of all five principles, it is in these points that herbal application and pressure can most effectively restructure or rebalance the health and longevity of the body and mind by ensuring the proper balance. Abhyanga therapeutic oil application combined with Marma Points helps eliminate these toxins from the body, allowing healing and restoration of the tissues, channels, digestion and mental functions.
General benefits may include the following:
• Calming excessive mental activity
• Improving circulation
• Removing stiffness from joints
• Improving concentration and intelligence
• Promoting good vision
• Stimulating the lymphatic system
• Remedying insomnia
• Balancing hormonal and nervous system
• Making the body feel light, active, energetic
• Stimulates antibody productions thus strengthening the immune system
Shirodhara
Shiro means head/forehead region and Dhara literally means flow – in this case with therapeutic oils. This traditional technique is quite powerful in its ability to relieve emotional and physical tension by working on the third eye --- the center of the forehead.
Shirodhara is a modern technique. The patient lies supine on a flat surface with head back and a rolled towel or pillow underneath the neck. A stream of warm oil is poured very slowly onto the center of the forehead---the location of the third eye known as the window to the soul. The effect is indescribable. People emerge from this therapy with a sense of tranquility that is reflected in a health glow as a free flow of energy emerges.
Typically, the treatment lasts for a half hour. A base oil is blended with a few drops of aromatic essential oil to create the liquid. It is then warmed to a comfortable temperature and the treatment begins.
The third eye is a vital marma and the chakra for mental powers---it is not unusual for some people to find the treatment to be a very powerful meditative experience. It is critical that the room be quiet, clean and free of drafts. Through the generations Shirodhara has been applied to treat various disorders of the head, neck, eyes, ears, nose and skin, throat and nervous system. It is specifically suited to ease any Vata imbalance located in the head and chest area. It is also wonderful also for Pitta issues, as the therapy is used to treat cholesterol, enlarged prostate, ulcers and reduces heat from bodily systems.
Some simple benefits are that:
• Provides deep mental and physical relaxation
• Reduces insomnia
• Helps treat asthma, allergies and rheumatism
• Alleviates excess perspiration
• Helps resolve mental conflict
Dynamic duo
The combination of abhyanga Marma Point Massage followed by Shirodhara is a means of returning to the natural rhythms of the earth, warding off the effects oft the modern world and keeping in touch with ourselves.
These Ayurvedic therapies are two of the oldest and best kept secretes that continue to persevere. As a friend of mine once said, “Anything that is good or valuable we retain… any thing that is irrelevant is lost or forgotten.” That is also true of a tradition that has not been forgotten after 5,000 years. Embrace Ayurvedic treatments, to close your mind to stress and anxiety and open it to a balanced mind, body and spirit.
Greg Soucy is a licensed massage therapist, Ayurvedic practioner, wellness coach and health mentor with more than 20 years of experience in the wellness industry. Soucy specializes in Ayurvedic treatments and body re-education to treat pain, attain balance and achieve quality of life. He instructs spas in Ayurvedic treatments and advanced massage techniques and conducts wellness seminars. To contact Soucy e-mail gregsoucy@gmail.com , or go to www.tridosha.com or call 305-810-8534.
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