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The 'veda' (science) of 'ayur' (life span) - Indian system of medicine is a gift of the 'vedic' age
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Saraswati namasthubhyamVarade kaama roopiniVidyaarambham karishyaamiSidhirbhavatu me sadaa
O Goddess Saraswati, the giver of Boons and fulfiller of wishes, I prostrate to You before starting my studies. May you always fulfill me?
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Ayurveda
is a wholistic system of medicine from India that uses a constitutional
model. Its aim is to provide guidance regarding food and lifestyle so
that healthy people can stay healthy
and folks with health challenges can improve their health.
There are several aspects to Ayurveda that are quite unique:
Ayurveda
is an intricate system of healing that originated in India thousands of
years ago. We can find historical evidence of Ayurveda in the ancient
books of wisdom known as the Vedas.
In the Rig Veda, over 60 preparatison were mentioned that could be used
to assist an individual in overcoming various ailments. The Rig Veda was
written over 6,000 years ago, but really Ayurveda has been around even
longer than that. What we see is that A
yurveda is more than just a medical system. It is a Science of Life. We
are all part and parcel of nature. Just as the animals and plants live
in harmony with nature and utilize the Laws of Nature to create
health and balance within their beings, we, too, adhere to these very
same principles. Therefore, it is fair to say that Ayurveda is a system
that helps maintain health in a person by using the inherent principles
of nature to bring the individual back i
nto equilibrium with their true self. In essence Ayurveda has been in
existence since the beginning of time because we have always been
governed by nature's laws.
Ayurveda is made up of two Sanskrit words: Ayu which means life and Veda
which means the knowledge of. To know about life is Ayurveda. However,
to fully comprehend the vast s
cope of Ayurveda let us first define "Ayu" or life. According to the
ancient Ayurvedic scholar Charaka, "ayu" is comprised of four essential
parts. The combination of mind, body, senses and the soul.
We
tend to identify most with our physical bodies; yet, in actuality,
there is more to us then what meets the eye. We can see that underlying
our physical structure is the mind, which not
only controls our thought processes but helps assist us in carrying out
day-to-day activities such as respiration, circulation, digestion and
elimination. The mind and the body work in conjunction with one another
to regulate our physiology. In order for
the mind to act appropriately to assist the physical body, we must use
our senses as information gatherers. We can think of the mind as a
computer and the senses as the data which gets entered into the
computer. Smell and taste are two important senses th
at aid in the digestive process. When the mind registers that a
particular food is entering the gastrointestinal tract, it directs the
body to act accordingly by releasing various digestive enzymes. However,
if we overindulge the taste buds with too much
of a certain taste, such as sweet, we may find that the ability of the
mind to perceive the sweet taste is impaired; and thereby the body
becomes challenged in its ability to process sweet foods. Maintaining
the clarity of our senses is an essential part
in allowing the mind and body to integrate their functions and help in
keeping us healthy and happy individuals.
Ayurveda
also sees that before we exist in physical form with the help of the
mind and senses that we exist in a more subtle form known as the soul.
The ancient seers of India believed tha
t we were comprised of a certain energetic essence that precluded the
inhabitance of our physical entity. In fact, they hypothesized that we
may indeed occupy many physical bodies throughout the course of time but
that our underlying self or soul remains
unchanged. What we see to help illustrate this concept is what
transpires at the time of death. When the individual nears the time to
leave the physical body, many of his/her desires will cease to be
present. As the soul no longer identifies with the bod
y, the desire to eat food or indulge in a particular activity that used
to be a great source of satisfaction for that person drops by the
wayside. In fact, many individuals have been documented to experience
the sensation of being "out of their bodies."
These are just a few examples of how we are made up of these four components that we call life. 
