Language/Hindi/Culture/Ayurveda-:-Introduction

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Ayurveda is more than just a popular form of alternative medicine. It is a system of holistic healing unlike any other. Thought to be over five thousand years old, Ayurvedic medicine teaches us to see the world as it relates to the elements—or doshas—of vata, pitta, and kapha.

According to Ayurveda, everyone is born with a mixture of these three doshas. Determining your primary dosha is the first step towards finding your optimal state of balanced, natural health. If you don't know your own unique.

With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages:Hindi Culture → Indian Festivals and Holidays → Major Festivals, Hindi Culture: Indian Festivals and Holidays: Public Holidays, Addressing People & Visual Arts : Ajanta Paintings.

What Is Ayurveda?[edit | edit source]

The name “Ayurveda” is derived from two words in Sanskrit, “ayuh” meaning “life” or “longevity” and “veda” meaning “science” or “sacred knowledge.” Ayurveda’s definition therefore roughly translates as “the science of longevity” or “the sacred knowledge of life.”

At its root, Ayurveda is a holistic tradition and way of living that can help each of us to claim and celebrate our capacity for wellness. Ayurveda can help us:

  • Sync up with our truest inner nature
  • Honor and develop our strengths
  • Hone in on our challenge areas
  • Redirect detrimental tendencies
  • Maintain balance in the face of adversity

In other words, Ayurveda is not simply about taking an herbal formula and waiting for the results. Instead, Ayurveda encourages you to be an active participant in your own journey toward healing.

This involves learning about your relationship with the elements and the unique combinations they create called doshas, which we will explore below. First, let’s take a look at Ayurveda’s background.

The Five Elements[edit | edit source]

Ayurveda recognizes five elements as the fundamental building blocks of nature:

  • Earth
  • Water
  • Fire
  • Air
  • Ether (Space)

Every substance contains all five of these elements. That said, in a given substance, one or two elements are typically predominant over the others.

The Twenty Qualities[edit | edit source]

Ayurveda also identifies twenty qualities (gunas) that can be used to describe every substance or experience. These qualities are organized into the following ten pairs of opposites:

Heavy Light
Slow (Dull) Sharp (Penetrating)
Cold Hot
Oily Dry
Smooth Rough
Dense Liquid
Soft Hard
Stable Mobile
Gross Subtle
Cloudy (Sticky) Clear

The gunas are essential to understanding the Ayurvedic principle that like increases like and that opposites balance.

For example, a person who is particularly cold natured, living in a cold climate, in the middle of winter, is likely to be experiencing an aggravation of the cold quality.

The remedy? Heat—in the form of warming foods, hot drinks, heating spices, soothing baths, snuggly warm clothes, and if possible, an abundance of heart-warming experiences.

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