Sprouted in the pristine land of India some 5000 years ago, Ayurveda, the science of life and longevity, is the oldest healthcare system in the world and it combines the profound thoughts of medicine and philosophy. Since then Ayurveda has stood for the wholesome physical, mental and spiritual growth of humanity around the world. Today, it's a unique, indispensable branch of medicine, a complete naturalistic system that depends on the diagnosis of your body's humours - vata, pitta and kapha - to achieve the right balance.
Ayurveda is not just about good physical health. It is a therapy that promises holistic wellness. The natural herbs and oils used in the therapy are of great medicinal value as is said in the Vedic literature on Ayurveda. The history of Ayurveda which can be traced back to the Vedic Ages clearly lays out instructions to maintain health as well as fighting illnesses through therapies such as massages, herbal medicines, diet control and exercise.
Elimination of toxic elements from the body is the primary function of this curing remedy. The system gets purified when the poisonous elements are removed from the body. As a result, the chances of falling ill are largely zeroed down which makes one feel tension-free. It rejuvenates the mind, body and soul.
Charaka Samhitha (Treatise on Medicine), Susrutha Samhitha (Treatise on Surgery) and Ashtanga Samgraha (Treatise on the basic principles) are the three major treatises in Ayurveda. These treatises tell us that every individual has a unique constitution. Every organ or system has an energy related to it and there has to be equilibrium between them. The balance generally gets affected when we fall ill. The objective of Ayurveda is to re-establish this equilibrium in order to maintain good health.
Kerala has a number of Ayurveda treatment centres which offer various packages. From treatments like uzhichil and pizhichil to curing illnesses like arthritis to beauty massages for the skin and hair; there is no place better than Kerala to seek the benefits of Ayurveda. Kerala has a number of natural herbs such as Aswagandha, Amalki, Katphal, Brahmi, Bharangi, Yashtimadhu, Shankhupusham to name a few. Turmeric, Cinnamon, Keezharnelli (Phylantus Amarus), Kilukillapa (Crotalaria Retusa Linn), Koduveli (Plumbago Zeylanica Linn) and many more herbs with medicinal values are found in Kerala.
The rainy season, from June to September, is the ideal time for Ayurvedic treatments because the atmosphere remains cool, moist, and dust free. This opens up the body’s pores, making it receptive to herbal oils and therapy. The places offering the best packages in Ayurveda in Kerala are: Somatheeram Ayruveda Resort near Kovalam, Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Shala which is a hospital, Beach and Lake Ayurveda Resort and Surya Samudra Spa Niraamaya at Trivandrum, Keralyeem Ayurvedic resort near Alleppey and Ayurkshethra at Kumarakom.
Ayurveda is an ancient system of treatment based on the medicinal value of plants found in abundance in India.
Ayurveda evolved around 600 BC in India. This new system of medicine stressed on the prevention of body ailments in addition to curing them. Followed by the Dravidians and Aryans alike, Ayurveda has been practiced ever since. Ayurveda believes in the treatment of not just the affected part, but the individual as a whole. Making it the natural way to refresh yourself, eliminate all toxic imbalances from the body and thus regain resistance and good health.
Kerala's equable climate, natural abundance of forests (with a wealth of herbs and medicinal plants), and the cool monsoon season (June - November) are best suited for Ayurveda's curative and restorative packages. In fact, today, Kerala is the only State in India which practices this system of medicine with absolute dedication.
Life in Ayurveda is conceived as the union of body, senses, mind and soul. The living man is a conglomeration of three humours (Vata, Pitta &Kapha), seven basic tissues (Rasa, Rakta, Mansa, Meda, Asthi, Majja & Shukra) and the waste products of the body such as faces, urine and sweat. Thus, the total body matrix comprises of the humors, the tissues and the waste products of the body. The growth and decay of this body matrix and its constituents revolve around food which gets processed into humors, tissues and wastes. Ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and metabolism of food have an interplay in health and disease which are significantly affected by psychological mechanisms as well as by bio- fire(Agni).
According to Ayurveda all objects in the universe including human body are composed of five basic elements (Panchamahabhutas) namely, earth, water, fire, air and vacuum(ether). There is a balanced condensation of these elements in different proportions to suit the needs and requirements of different structures and functions of the body matrix and its parts. The growth and development of the body matrix depends on its nutrition, i.e. on food. The food, in turn, is composed of the above five elements, which replenish or nourish the like elements of the body after the action of bio-fire (Agni). The tissues of the body are the structural whereas humours are physiological entities, derived from different combinations and permutations of Panchamahabhutas.
Health or sickness depends on the presence or absence of a balanced state of the total body matrix including the balance between its different constituents. Both the intrinsic and extrinsic factors can cause disturbance in the natural equilibrium giving rise to disease. This loss of equilibrium can happen by dietary indiscrimination, undesirable habits and non-observance of rules of healthy living. Seasonal abnormalities, improper exercise or erratic application of sense organs and incompatible actions of the body and mind can also result in creating disturbance of the existing normal balance. The treatment consists of restoring the balance of disturbed body-mind matrix through regulating diet, correcting life-routine and behavior, administration of drugs and resorting to preventive Panchkarma and Rasayana therapy.
In Ayurveda diagnosis is always done of the patient as a whole. The physician takes a careful note of the patient’s internal physiological characteristics and mental disposition. He also studies such other factors as the affected bodily tissues, humors, the site at which the disease is located, patient’s resistance and vitality, his daily routine, dietary habits, the gravity of clinical conditions, condition of digestion and details of personal, social, economic and environmental situation of the patient. The diagnosis also involves the following examinations:
The basic therapeutic approach is, ‘that alone is the right treatment which makes for health and he alone is the best doctor who frees one from disease’. This sums up the principal objectives of Ayurveda, i.e. maintenance and promotion of health, prevention of disease and cure of sickness.
Treatment of the disease consists in avoiding causative factors responsible for disequilibrium of the body matrix or of any of its constituent parts through the use of Panchkarma procedures, medicines, suitable diet, activity and regimen for restoring the balance and strengthening the body mechanisms to prevent or minimize future occurrence of the disease.
Normally treatment measures involve use of medicines, specific diet and prescribed activity routine. Use of these three measures is done in two ways. In one approach of treatment the three measures antagonize the disease by counteracting the etiological factors and various manifestations of the disease. In the second approach the same three measures of medicine, diet and activity are targeted to exert effects similar to the etiological factors and manifestations of the disease process. These two types of therapeutic approaches are respectively known as Vipreeta and Vipreetarthkari treatments.
For successful administration of a treatment four things are essential. These are
The physician comes first in order of importance. He must possess technical skill, scientific knowledge, purity and human understanding. The physician should use his knowledge with humility, wisdom and in the service of humanity. Next in importance comes food and drugs. These are supposed to be of high quality, wide application, grown and prepared following approved procedures and should be available adequately. The third component of every successful treatment is the role of nursing personnel who should have good knowledge of nursing, must know the skills of their art and be affectionate, sympathetic, intelligent, neat & clean and resourceful. The fourth component is the patient himself who should be cooperative and obedient to follow instructions of the physician, able to describe ailments and ready to provide all that may be needed for treatment.
Preventive Treatment & the concepts of Aetio-Pathogenesis
Ayurveda has developed a very vivid analytical description of the stages and events that take place since the causative factors commence to operate till the final manifestation of disease. This gives this system an additional advantage of knowing that possible onset of disease much before the latent symptoms become apparent. This very much enhances the preventive role of this system of medicine by making it possible to take proper and effective steps in advance, to arrest further progress in pathogenesis or to take suitable therapeutic measures to curb the disease in its earliest stage of onset.
Types of Treatment
The treatment of disease can broadly categorize as under;
(a) Shodhana treatment aims at removal of the causative factors of somatic and psychosomatic diseases. The process involves internal and external purification. The usual practices involved are Panchkarma (medically induced Emesis, Purgation, Oil Enema, Decoction enema and Nasal administration of medicines), Pre-panchkarma procedures (external and internal operation and induced sweating). Panchkarma treatment focuses on metabolic management. It provides needed purificatory effect, besides conferring therapeutic benefits. This treatment is especially helpful in neurological disorders, muscular-skeletal disease conditions, certain vascular or neuro-vascular states, respiratory diseases, metabolic and degenerative disorders.
(b) Shamana therapy involves suppression of vitiated humors (doshas). The process by which disturbed humor subsides or returns to normal without creating imbalance of other humors is known as shamana. This treatment is achieved by use of appetizers, digestives, exercise and exposure to sun, fresh air etc. In this form of treatment, palliatives and sedatives are used.
(c) Pathya Vyavastha comprises indications and contraindications in respect of diet, activity, habits and emotional status. This is done with a view to enhance the effects of therapeutic measures and to impede the pathogenetic processes. Emphasis on do’s and don’ts of diet etc. is laid with the aim to stimulate Agni and optimize digestion and assimilation of food in order to ensure strength of tissues.
(d) Nidan Parivarjan is to avoid the known disease-causing factors in diet and lifestyle of the patient. It also encompasses the idea to refrain from precipitating or aggravating factors of the disease.
(e) Satvavajaya concerns mainly with the area of mental disturbances. This includes restraining the mind from desires for unwholesome objects and cultivation of courage, memory and concentration. The study of psychology and psychiatry have been developed extensively in Ayurveda and have wide range of approaches in the treatment of mental disorders.
(f) Rasayana therapy deals with promotion of strength and vitality. The integrity of body matrix, promotion of memory, intelligence, immunity against the disease, the preservation of youth, luster and complexion and maintenance of optimum strength of the body and senses are some of the positive benefits credited to this treatment. Prevention of premature bear and tear of body tissues and promotion of total health content of an individual are the roles that Rasayana therapy plays.