Ayurveda is a truly holistic health system that supports you from the cradle to the end of your life. The Ayurvedic mode of living aims to maximize your lifespan by optimizing your health through interventions that care for your body, mind, spirit, and environment. Ayurveda places a great emphasis on the prevention of disease and on health promotion, as well as on a comprehensive approach to treatment.
The genealogy of Ayurveda traces back to about 5,000 years ago in the Indus valley, where the Vedas, or oldest Ayurvedic scriptures, originated.
Sushruta, a physician in the sixth century BC informs us, you are only considered healthy when your appetite is strong, your tissues (dhatus) are functioning normally, your humours (the doshas:
vata, pitta and kapha) are in balance, bodily wastes are eliminated well, and your mind and senses experience joy.
Ayurveda places great emphasis on the effects of the different seasons and your diet on the equilibrium of the body. Different doshas, or attributes, are prevalent at different times of the day, and during the seasons these cause physiological changes in your body. Ayurveda understands that moving with the times and climate is a mainstay of good health because you are a microcosm of what’s going on in your environment.
Here are the eight primary Ayurvedic specialties
Toxicology (agada tantra)
✓ Childhood diseases or pediatrics (Bala tantra)
✓ General surgery (Shalya tantra)
✓ Internal medicine (Kaya chikitsa)
✓ Psychiatry and mental disorders (Bhuta vidya)
✓ Management of diseases of the head and the neck (Salakya tantra)
✓ Fertility treatment (Vajikarana)
✓ Rejuvenation and the treatment of geriatrics (Rasayana)