Ayurveda is referred to as knowledge of life. Ayu means Life and Veda stands for Knowledge. In India, Ayurveda is being practiced for over 1000’s of years. Lord Vishnu’s avatar, Lord Dhanwantri is revered and considered to be ‘God of Ayurveda’. Ayurvedic origins can be found in Arthaveda, comprising of 114 hymns describing about treatments and medicines for chronic and acute ailments affected in human beings. The objective of Ayurveda is to maintain the individual’s social, mental and physical health. It also aims towards balancing the person’s spirit, body and mind.
Ayurveda rather emphasizes upon leading healthy and fit life and be tuned with nature. It comes with a holistic approach, focusing upon natural healing derived through available natural resources. Mankind in ancient India was entirely dependent upon Home remedies or on Ayurveda. But major decline pertaining to Ayurvedic practices was witnessed during the medieval era. With Muslim and British invasion, the aftermath only became worse as these invaders did not heed Indian values associated with sciences or life here. Western science and learning became popular in India with the coming of the British. Ayurveda got into a headstrong fight with western doctors and scientists who probably nullified its value, since it lacked proves and experiments.
Still, Ayurveda has managed to survive and has been healing different types of ailments successfully. Indians are dependent upon such age old practices to treat innumerous diseases. Ayurvedic disease is found to work on the disease right at its root. These days, Ayurveda has been categorized under alternative medicines. Earlier, it was considered to be the available option to cure different types of ailments. There are many people who are quite skeptical about availing allopathic medications, since medicines like antibiotics and steroids come with unwanted side effects. But the achievements made by western medical sciences cannot be ignored. There are diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, depression and others that may quickly and easily heal using meditation techniques and herbs.
Three rudimentary substances are present in Ayurveda, considered to be Tri doshas (3 problems), namely, Kapha, Pitta and Vata. Even if one of them tends to imbalance, then it is likely to cause diseases. The Ayurvedic Practitioner would first analyze the patient’s pulse to check if any of the doshas are imbalanced. Several Ayurvedic hospitals have come up that offer treatments to cure different ailments. Indians in huge numbers prefer to avail Ayurvedic treatments in Kerala as this place offers tranquility and beautiful and mesmerizing natural environment.
Few Ayurvedic Therapies are:
- Panchkarma: To detoxify the entire body, there are 5 bio-cleansing procedures.
- Pizhichil: This is an oil treatment. Here, medicated oil drops are squeezed onto the patient’s body. It helps to improve blood circulation and cures body pain.
Other therapies are known to exist in Ayurveda to treat diseases that human beings suffer from in modern times.
