Ayurveda

Ayurveda is much more than a medical system, it is the Yogic healing and spiritual therapy that has been a part of India's history, cuisine, culture and collective consciousness for thousands of years. This ancient science encourages us to become the stewards of our body, mind and environment. Ayurveda views health and healing as a spiritual journey of slowly absolving ourselves of our toxic interactions with the physical world, at the body, mind, and soul level, and moving towards a more divine exchange with the entire cosmos.  Whenever possible, it favors a gradual introduction of changes in diet, medicine, lifestyle, culture, and mindset, over sudden transformations or extreme cures. With Ayurveda, step by step, we will be transformed without necessarily being able to point to any one thing, herb, or activity.

Ayurveda emphasizes that imbalances will return to normal naturally when permitted to do so. There is a cause for what created the imbalance in the first place, which has to be uncaused at every level possible to get our health and vigor back.

 Got Ojas?

According to Ayurveda, Ojas is that special substance in the body that gives health, immunity, mood, vigor, sleep, digestion, and even the capacity for emotional wellbeing that includes discernment, equanimity, and spiritual awakening.  Ojas is the most essential life energy that results as the final bi-product of all the "nutrition" that we consume, digest, and absorb, including food, water, air, thoughts, impressions, ideas, and experiences. To some extent the capacity for the body to produce healthy Ojas is inherited and part of our genetic code, which can be seen be seen in the Vedic Horoscope.

The body and mind not only run on the fuel of Ojas, but the physical body is also connected to the cosmic/vibrational body through the quality of Ojas that our body produces. In western biochemistry Ojas can be equated to our "happy" neurotransmitters, such as Dopamine, which gives motivation and reward, Serotonin that provides satisfaction and contentment, Oxytocin that helps us fall in love and create bonds, Endorphins, which produce bliss and joy and Gaba that functions as a sedative and pain killer. Healthy production of these and other neurotransmitters are critical to every aspect of our physical, mental and spiritual health.  

In a healthy person who is under average stress, it should take about 30 days for the body to digest, process, and produce refined and high-quality Ojas. Modern-day living makes it almost impossible to produce and maintain a healthy level of Ojas at this speed. We all have too many compromising factors such as environmental toxin overload in our food, water, air, and the environment and depleted organs.

Furthermore, the overuse of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals and even many nutraceuticals that are not easily broken down and absorbed by the body send the body into toxic overload. Therefore, it has become even more important in this day and age that our emotional consumption, something which we have more power to control, be as toxin-free as possible. Ayurveda offers therapies for the body and the mind, such as mantra, meditation, Marma therapy, Yama and Niyama (yogic rules for healthy living), alongside its herbal remedies.

The Root Cause of Disease

According to Ayurveda, the root cause of all our diseases, directly or indirectly, is called prajnaparadha, which in Sanskrit means “Ilusion masquerading as Wisdom.” Actions that are not approved by the intellect (budhi), patience, and equanimity (dhariya), rooted in True knowledge (Smriti), and with the absence of discrimination (Viveka) create this prajnaparadha.

This is what compels us to lose touch with our inner knowing of what is good for us and what is not and we end up consuming all the wrong foods for our constitution, drinking too much, making bad lifestyle decisions, or exerting beyond our capacity. Human-caused pollution and global warming is perhaps the greatest prajnaparadha of cosmic proportions, as we are destroying the very environment that sustains us.

Overblown focus on a goal or belief, be it self-promotion or altruism, allows us to move in a direction that may be contraindicated for our constitution. The body in its wisdom adjusts to whatever we put into it, even if it is toxic, and soon we become immune to the negative effects of our consumption until it reaches critical levels.
 
Ayurveda has many lifestyle recommendations including rising early, Abhyanga (self oil massage), living with the circadian rhythms of nature and seasons, and many medical prescriptions, tonics, spices, teas, herbs, and foods that can help replenish the body's Ojas. Unlike, modern-day holistic medicine, Ayurveda prescribes supplements and herbs with the doshic balance and the unique physical and mental health condition of the patient in mind.

Although any planet house or sign can cause health problems, Rahu Ketu and Saturn dashas are the primary planetary periods when our health is more likely to suffer.

Gut-Brain Connection

It was only as recent as 2010 when Western science first began to recognize the Gut-Brain Connection, which shows that many of the essential functions of the mind and nervous system that affect mood and cognition have their source in a faulty digestive process.  Ayurveda has known for thousands of years that our digestive system is our "second brain" and that emotions and feelings are closely linked to bowel function.

Ayurveda calls good gut bacteria Yogini and bad bacteria Krimini (root word criminal in English). and treats most mental health and nervous system disorders like anxiety, IBS, depression, ADD, Autism by helping to restore the digestive system and digestive flora. Indeed Ayurveda's first principle of treating any health concerns is to prevent any side effects to the digestive system which requires maintaining doshic balance at all times.

Ayurveda and the Mind

Ayurveda is a mind-body medicine system based on the belief that the macrocosm and microcosm are one. The burn of fire, the softness of the water, the hardness of earth, the movements of air, the infinite space of ether are all contained in our bodies and their actions in varying degrees. In the process of governing the body, these elements go into excess mode as doshas - Vata (air and ether) Pitta (fire and water), Kapha (water and earth).

Turbulent or calm thoughts, anger, joy, compassion, will, desire, suppressed past life memories are also all varying expressions of how we are consuming these elements in our mind. Ayurveda psychology requires a delicate balancing act of nature's forces like wildfires from raging in our minds (high fire/pitta), high winds from making us lose focus and concentration ( high Air/vata), or emotional floods (high water/kapha) from taking over our ability to navigate life. 

The healing path of Ayurveda prescribes that we understand that every food, herb, activity we partake in, and every impression we consume affects the balance of the elements and as a consequence the doshas in our body and mind.  Ayurveda even recommends that spiritual practices and yoga be done with these elements in mind. Indeed, too much meditation and pranayama can unground the airy Vata type of individual, and too much hot yoga can aggravate the pitta individual.

Detox

Each and every one of us has many levels of toxins and dosha accumulation at the cellular, mental, as well as deep in our subconscious.  These cannot be released too quickly, because this would overwhelm the organs of excretion and destabilize the mind. Drastic detox can literally change our personality, which is not always recommended, especially in Vata types. In fact, if you force the body or hurry up the transformation process your body,  if it is healthy it will resist you. You must honor your body and let it return to equilibrium at its own pace over the many cycles and seasons of life. Traditional Ayurveda focuses on daily detox rather than drastic detox therapies popular today. 

Panchkarma, Ayurveda's medical detox, which requires purgation, enemas, and serious elimination therapies, should only be performed under the guidance of a highly skilled Ayurveda doctor.

Today Ayurveda must also take into account that when a herb or food has to pass through a digestive and metabolic system that is overloaded with toxins, the divine intelligence of the herb gets corrupted and can lead to further damage.

Marma Therapy

Marmas are junction points connecting thousands of vibrational channels, or nadis, in the body where concentrated life force energy is located, much like the acupuncture points of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  These points are related to the different organs and systems of the body keeping us alive, and also allow for direct contact to our higher self, "jeevatma."  The Master Marma point is the Adipathi marma (soft spot at the top of the head). It is called the Master marma because it receives most of the prana (life force) from the cosmos. 

Ancient Ayurvedic texts explain that it is important to avoid incision or injuries to these powerful points in the body, as well as maintain healthy circulation of prana through proper breathing, good diet, and gentle marma pressure therapy. Marma therapy is a complete Mind, Body, Soul therapy because it can awaken the innate healing of our physical, emotional, and mental body, as well as connect us with the silent part of our consciousness, the witnessing soul. 

During a marma therapy session, herbal oils infused with essential oils are gently applied onto marma points, the specific vibrational energy of the herb penetrates and unclogs the channels, awakening the intelligence of the gaps (sandhi). When the sandhis and channels (nadis) are activated and awakened, they affect the physical channels (srotas) and the Prana (life force) starts to flow into the different physical organs and organ systems to cleanse, purify and enhance all the functions of the body/mind.

The three primary channels are Prana, Apana, and Sushumna - Prana is Soma (cooling) predominant, Apana is Agni (fire) predominant, and Sushumna is (air) predominant. Ayurveda recommends marma therapy as one of the essential ways to keeping these three primary channels free from toxic build-up. Especially critical in modern times is the vibrational pollution from Electro Magnetic Radiation (EMF and EMR), which can be effectively cleared through marma therapy.

Marma therapy gives immediate results by promoting deep relaxation and calm and clarity to the body and mind and also long-term benefits as the toxin build and vibrational pollution is removed giving improved physical stability and allowing the light of our soul to shine through.

Marma therapy is unique in that it is healing both for the practitioner and the client. Self- Marma therapy can also be easily learned and included in our daily routine.

Mantra

Ayurveda contends that disease results from disturbed sound frequencies. Mantras are comprised of the same vibrational material as Prana (life force) that freely travels through the bodily channels (nadis). Therefore, mantras can be safely used to re-align the disturbances in our vibrational frequencies. 
Mantras can also purify the sandhis or Marma (junction points), which are responsible for filtering any polluted prana before it enters the body and transforming prana into what the body needs.

Ayurveda’s subtle interventions like the Marma and Mantra Therapy are very effective, especially when combined, as a remedy for negative planetary influences because they not only help balance the doshas in the physical body but also promote a connection with our vibrational body, which creates balance with the planetary energies.