Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word derived from two roots: ayur, which means life, and veda, knowledge. When knowledge is arranged systematically with logic becomes a science. With time, Ayurveda has become, the science of life, and that is precisely what it means. It is considered the art of healing. The science to live long and prosper, the science to be happy. It has its roots in ancient veda literature and it involves our entire life, the body, mind and spirit. It is probably the earliest medical science having a positive concept of health to be achieved through a blending of physical, mental, social, moral and spiritual welfare. It became one of the oldest medical systems, practiced (uninterruptedly) in India, for more than 5000 years, dealing with both, the preventive and the curative aspects of life in a most comprehensive way. Besides being a medical system, Ayurveda is an authentic life system to promote health. It was formally recognized and accepted by the World Health Organization. Classified by the NCCAM (The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicines),  as the main professional complementary system category. There are, traditionally eight medical fields in the Ayurveda: general medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics, surgery, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, toxicology, virility (restoring vitality to the system) and rejuvenation and psychology. In India there are 134 medicine faculties (schools), where a student must assist for more than 5 years to obtain the doctor’s degree. Its principles are universally applied to each individual’s daily existence. Nowadays, the world’s interest and acceptance for the Ayurveda is increasing considerably, since it offers practical solutions to  problematic factors in the XXI Century’s traditional medicine, and all, with deep respect for nature and the human being. It is a live medicine which due to its conception and methodology, it blends and integrates itself with modern medicine, complementing with its valuable contributions and solutions.

The Ayurvedic Objective

Ayurveda was born so that human beings can accomplish the purpose of existence: to discover our internal reality. Health is the basis to achieve this goal. Ayurveda helps a healthy person to preserve his/her health and an ill one to obtain it.

Main Characteristics

1.     It is the first holistic system that integrates body, senses, mind and spirit (soul).

2.     It has been proved by experience for more than 5000 years.

3.     Its principles are universally applicable.

4.     It is capable of attacking the illness’ cause  instead of merely attending the symptoms.

5.     It centers or focuses on the integral treatment of the patient.

6.     It uses multiple therapeutic resources, usually unattended by the individual.

7.     The specific therapy is fundamentally done with natural origin remedies.

8.     It is oriented to achieve rejuvenation and to reestablish the corporal balance.

9.     Depurates accumulated toxins through special techniques called panchakarma.

10. There are four main classifications of management of disease in Ayurveda: shodan, or cleansing; shaman or palliation (balancing doshas); rasayana, or rejuvenation; and satvajaya, or mental hygiene.

Main Postulates

·        It exists an equivalence between the universe (cosmos) and the macrocosm and the person and the microcosm. Humans are creation of a universal consciousness. We are a miniature of nature.

·        Every single experience positive or negative in the corporal level has its effect on the mind and vice-versa.

·        Health is a state of balance between the body, mind and consciousness.

·        In the same way the truth is infinite and unique, each person is. The possible treatments are infinite and specific to each one of us.

·        The best medicine is the one that cures the patient.

·        Every food is remedy and every remedy is food.

·        Ayurveda’s philosophical bases are ruled by the following:

a.      The five basic elements’ theory (ether or space, air, fire, water and earth). The structural aspect of the body is made up of these five elements, but the functional aspect of the body is governed by three biological humors:

b.     The three different corporal (body) types, which are biological functions or humors called doshas, (vata, pitta and kapha).

c.     The seven dhatus or tissues (plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone, nerve and reproductive).

d.     The three malas, elimination or waste products of the body (feces, urine and sweat)

e.      Agni, the energy of metabolism. 

f.       The three basic mental constitutions or qualities of human temperaments: satvic, rajasic and tamasic (individual differences in psychological and moral dispositions and reactions to socio-cultural and physical environments).

g.     Life’s Trinity conformed by body, mind and spirit.

h.     Disease is a condition of disharmony in any of these factors, and the root cause of imbalance, or disease, is an aggravation of dosha (vata-pitta-kapha), caused by a variety of internal and external factors.

Satvic Mental Constitution

The people in whom satvic qualities predominate are humanistic, spiritual perhaps also religious, compassionate and pure minded. Following truth and righteousness, they have good manners, behavior and conduct. They do not get easily upset or angry. Although they work hard mentally, they do not get mental fatigue, so they only need to sleep a few hours each night. They look fresh, alert, aware, full of luster, wisdom, joy and happiness. They are creative, humble and respectful of others. Worshiping God and humanity, they love everyone and everything. They care for people, animals, trees, nature in general, and that is why satvic are very respectful of all life forms and existence. They have well balanced perception, intuition and intelligence.

Rajasic Mental Constitution

The people in whom rajasic qualities predominate are egoistic, selfish or self-centered, ambitious, aggressive, proud, competitive, and have a tendency to control others. They like power, prestige, position, and are perfectionists. They are hard working people, but not so well organized, they are always lacking proper planning and direction. They are ungrounded, active and restless. Emotionally they are angry, jealous, ambitious, competitive, and have very few moments of joy whenever they are able to taste success. These people have a great fear of failure, are subject to stress and soon lose their mental energy. They require about eight hours of sleep. They are loving, calm and patient only as long as their self interests are served; which means rajasic individuals are good, loving, friendly and faithful only to those who are helpful to them or at their service. They are not honest to their inner-self or consciousness. Their activities are self-centered, egoistic and self-worshiping.

Tamasic Mental Constitution

The people in whom tamasic qualities predominate are less intelligent. They tend towards depression, laziness, and an excess of sleep, even during the day. A little mental work tires them easily. They like jobs of less responsibility and they also love to eat, drink, sleep and have sex. They are greedy, possessive, attached, irritable, and do not care for others. These people may even harm others through their own self interest. It is difficult for them to focus their minds during mediation.

Vata, Pitta and Kapha: The Three Doshas

The structural aspect of the body is made up of the five elements (space, air, fire, water and earth), but the functional aspect of the body is govern by three biological humors. Ether (space) and air together constitute vata; fire and water pitta; and water and earth kapha. So, vata, pitta and kapha are the three biological humors that are the three biological components of the organism. They govern psycho-biological and physio-pathological changes in the body. Vata, pitta and kapha are present in every cell, tissue and organ, but they differ in each person in permutations and combinations. The sperm is the male seed, and the ovum is the female egg. They also contain  vata, pitta, kapha and changes of these three doshas occur depending on the individual’s diet, life style and emotions. The sperm is influenced by the father’s lifestyle, diet and emotions, and the ovum by those of the mother’s. At the time of fertilization, when a single sperm enters a single ovum, the individual’s (baby’s) constitution is determined. Every person has a unique combination of these three doshas. To understand individuality is the foundation of healing according to Ayurveda, the “science of life”. Vata, pitta and kapha are distinctly present in every individual and express in each human being differently according to the predominance of the different qualities.

Vata Qualities

Vata is dry, light, cold, mobile, active, clear, astringent and dispersing. All of these qualities can be manifested in the vata person. For instance, it would be typical of a vata to have dry hair, dry skin, dry colon and a tendency towards constipation. Because of the light quality (not heavy), this individual will have a light body frame, light muscles, low fat, and would probably be thin or even underweight. He / she will always have cold hands, cold feet and poor circulation. They do not like cold seasons and love summer and are very active, they love jogging or jumping because they cannot sit still in one place. Vata is subtle, and this quality is responsible for emotions like fear, anxiety, insecurity and nervousness. However, they have very clear understanding and perception, they could be clairvoyant. They understand things immediately but can also forget them with the same swiftness. It is said that vata is astringent because they have a drying and chocking quality of taste, and because they feel like a chocking sensation in their throat while the are eating.

Pitta Qualities

Pitta is a biological combination of fire and water elements. It has hot, sharp, light, liquid, sour, oily and spreading qualities. Pitta has a strong smell, like a fleshy smell, and also has a bitter, sour taste. These would be the qualities manifested in an individual with an excess of pitta in his/her body. It is due to the hot quality that the pitta person has a strong appetite and warm skin. The body temperature is a bit higher than the vata person. For instance, the pitta person can perspire at a fifty degree temperature, but the vata person, instead, cannot perspire even at a much higher temperature. When the pitta person perspires, there is a typical strong sulfur smell; and when a pitta person is hungry, he/she has to eat otherwise, s/he will become irritable and hypoglycemic. The pitta people have sharp nose, sharp teeth, sharp eyes, sharp mind, sharp memory and they also use sharp words when they speak. They have soft, warm, oily skin, straight oily hair, and even their excretions are oily and liquid. They have a tendency to get gray hair, or to lose hair prematurely. Pitta girls also get earlier menstruation and reach puberty before others do. Sometimes they start their menstruation at the age of ten. Because of their light quality, pitta people are moderate in body frame, and they do not like bright light. They love to read before they go to bed,  and sometimes they even go to sleep with a book on their chest. They  adore knowledge and have a great capacity of leadership and organization. Often, they are wise, brilliant people, but they can also have a controlling, dominating personality. They have a tendency towards comparison, competition, ambition, and aggressiveness and criticism. If there is no one there to criticize, pitta people will criticize themselves.

Kapha Qualities

Individuals who have more kapha in their bodies, will have heavy, slow, cool, oily, liquid, dense, thick, static and cloudy qualities. Kapha is sweet and salty. They have heavy bones, heavy muscles and fat; and they also have a strong tendency to put on weight. Kapha people are slow and have a slow metabolism and digestion. They walk slowly and even talk slowly. They love eating, sitting and doing nothing. They do not like jogging or jumping. However, despite the fact they always have a big appetite, they  can work and concentrate without food (while a pitta person could not). Their skin is cool and clammy. They have thick and wavy hair, and very big, attractive eyes. Kapha people have a slow but prolonged, steady memory. Due to the cloudy quality, their mind is heavy and foggy. They love candy (especially chocolate) and sweets, feel lethargic and sleepy in the mornings or after a meal, and they really need coffee or a strong stimulant to be able to move. Kapha people are forgiving, loving and compassionate.

Summaries of the characteristics of the predominant doshas

Vata individual:

• thin body and little weight gain
• rough, dry skin which can crack easily
• teeth prone to decay
• small, dull-looking eyes (not always)

·        eating quickly and irregularly

·        erratic memory

·        insomnia

·        restlessness

·        nail biting

·        decisiveness

·        ability to earn money quickly (and spend it just as quickly)

·        difficulty in sustaining relationships

·        high sex drive

·        dreams about flying, jumping, climbing, running and tall trees

Pitta individual:

• medium body, neither too light nor too heavy
• smooth skin, possibly with moles and freckles
• small eyes often green, brown or gray
• good appetite but not prone to rapid weight gain
• medium veins, muscles and bones
• thin hair which falls out easily (males prone to baldness)
• free, often excessive perspiration
• moderate sex drive
• high intelligence, but a tendency to anger and being judgmental
• openness to new ideas
• decisiveness and leadership qualities

Kapha individual:

• a body prone to fat
• thick, oily hair and skin
• clear whites of the eyes
• thick, heavy eyelids
• unprominent veins and muscles
• heavy bones
• strong-smelling body odour
• slowness, ponderousness and tendency to inactivity
• unimaginative approach to sex
• tendency to oversleep
• medium intelligence

The Ayurvedic pharmacopeia  includes more than 5000 different formulations which have been developed trough thousands of years. Its effectiveness, tolerance and safety have been proved in life’s laboratory.

Ayurveda includes subjects that are not usually covered by the allopathic medicine, such as paying attention to diet and life style systematically, based on the psycho-physic biotypes. It recognizes that the ultimate cause of every illness resides in violating nature’s laws. The central elements for providing treatment or illness’ prevention, are based in promoting a mental balance and reducing stress.

We must be conscious that our health cannot be separated from what we eat, what we do and what we think. Ayurveda provides us a system to comprehend the ensemble of energies and qualities of movement performed in our daily life activities, so that we may use them to impede or to prevent the imbalances which cause illnesses.

Ayurveda emphasizes in the search or maintenance of a healthy life through recommendations of a daily regime, an austere (simple) behavior, dietetic regulations, seasonal changes, instructions related to sleep and sexuality, and other similar topics of everyday life. This way we can be in perfect harmony with nature’s cosmic rhythms.

In the far East, the clue to understand is acceptance, observation and experience, while in the Western hemisphere, the formula is to question, to doubt, (to dispute or to debate everything), to analyze and to get a logic deduction. This unequal way of approaching life requires a new way of thinking for the ones beginning to study Ayurveda.

Ayurvedic medicine offers an integral plan according to each person’s constitution, to maintain and / or to reestablish the mind-body balance based on nutrition, physical activity, daily routines, mental harmony and spiritual development,  added to the help of medicinal herbs and detoxification and rejuvenation techniques.

Ayurveda is an ancient clinical art of diagnosing the disease process through questioning (inquiring about the past, present and family history), observation (inspection), tactile experience (palpation), percussion, and listening to the heart, lungs and intestines (auscultation). This art is about interpreting the pulse, tongue, eyes and nails in the clinical examination, and also in a more specific examination of the functional systems separately. It says  that to restore health we must understand first the exact quality, nature and structure of the disease disorder, or imbalance. The body has its own intelligence to create balance, and we can help it in that process.

According to this science of life, and this art of healing, our life is a relationship. A relationship not only with everyone we know and our love ones, but most importantly with  our inner-selves. Our unique, intimate and personal relationship with our body, mind and spirit, which is our absolute reality and life itself. Ayurveda enables us to accomplish our mission here through each  heart beat and self-consciousness, and to dance with the universe in total harmony with its cosmic rhythm. It gives us a much better perspective of what health really is. Because if we learn, we can read and balance ourselves, since our bodies are a true reflection of our intimate thoughts, and because our brains see what our hearts feel. 

Back to Top