Ayur translates to ‘life’ and ‘veda’ refers to established understandings or‘wisdom’. This ‘Wisdom Of Life’ is ever changing as is the dance of life, hence our name LIVING WISDOM AYURVEDA.
Ayurveda is an inclusive and comprehensive system of understanding life, not only in the ancient times, but one that can also be applied to our modern way of living. It is a wholistic system wherein the health of body, mind, emotions and spirit are seen as essentially interwoven.
The essence of Ayurveda is an intuitive and easy to understand system of health which was widely practised by householders for over 5000 years. It is also a complex and detailed medical system with the first recorded surgeries and a deep history of observing the effectiveness of its philosophy, application and results.
Ayurveda understands that we all have a unique ‘inner ecology’. Just as our planet earth has cold mountain peaks, forest fires, swamplands and deserts, so too does our own inner ecology. Ayurveda shows us the ways to preserve and rebalance the natural ecosystem within, through realigning with the elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether which we simplify into the doshas of Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Through understanding how to balance the doshas, we can learn how to keep a healthy eco-system by increasing what is deficient and reducing the qualities which are in excess. To do this, we need to understand the elemental or dosha qualities in the environment around us and use it to balance out the inner condition. We do this through our foods and cooking styles, eating habits, herbal medicines, simple home therapies, physical activities, professions, colours, scents, etc. See Intro to Doshas for more information.
Our body is the temple of our soul and food is our medicine. This is because we can easily balance our body and mind through taking in dosha compatible foods and avoiding foods that are disturbing to our dosha. Ayurveda is unique in understanding that what is beneficial for one person could be harmful to another. By knowing the elemental balance of our own individual constitutional type and our condition, we know not to increase those elements, but to balance them with their opposite qualities.
Our unique inner ecology of balance and harmony is our constitutional type, called prikruti, whileconditions of ecological damage are termed vikruti. These disturbances may be caused by birth trauma, improper digestion and diet, emotional stressors, seasons, climate etc. Throughout the unfolding of this life, we will accumulate conditions of vikruti, which may change between the doshas at different periods of time, as well as possibly differ in various parts of the body. Knowing our priktiru allows us to understand the beauty and potential of our individual perfected state, while knowing our vikruti allows us to understand the patterns of imbalance and therefore the path to self-healing.
Health is likened to a tree of life. The soil is our food and the roots our ability to digest so we may grow healthy and strong. If there is either a dosha (imbalance) in the soil or in the ability to digest (agni), this dosha may creep up the trunk of the tree and affect some of the leaves of the tree or perhaps even a whole branch. Ayurveda understands that we must not only treat the symptoms in the leaves directly, but must also look to the roots (agni) and the soil (our food) for the cause and cure of the disease. Ayurveda teaches us how to diagnose problems before they actually manifest as an allopathically recognized ‘condition’ and therefore is wise to use as a preventative system of medicine. By observing simple changes in our health, we can recognize how to rebalance before more serious illness manifests.
We are here to inspire you to understand the deeper living wisdom of your health and empower you to use simple and natural tools to heal, balance and rejuvenate your mind, body and soul.
For further guidance or a personal assessment of your health, please contact us for questions or an individual consultation.