Rudraksha Ayurveda

About Ayurveda

Ayurveda is the world’s oldest known medical science, which originated in India over 5,000 years ago. The main source of this ancient knowledge is the Vedas or the divine books of knowledge propounded by spiritual Rishis (sages) in India.

Ayurveda is not simply a healthcare system, but a form of lifestyle adopted to maintain perfect balance and harmony within the human existence. According to Ayurveda, life represents a combination of the Atma (soul), Mana (mind), Indriyan (senses) and Sharira (body). It revolves around the Five Elements Panchamahabhutas that constitute an individual's nature or Prakriti. This nature is determined by the vital balance of the three physical energies - Vata, Pitta and Kapha - and the three mental energies - Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

According to Ayurveda, living in harmony with nature and according to natural principles ensures complete physical health and peace of mind. However, modern life often violates the principles of natural living. We work long hours in offices with artificial light and air conditioning systems. We don’t have time to prepare breakfast, eat a fast food lunch at our desk and a pre-prepared dinner in front of the television. We rush from one mundane task to the next while being bombarded with advertising and constant noise, and absorbing pollution through the air and water. No wonder we are inviting disease rather than confronting it. Living naturally according to some simple principles can prevent the need for expensive medical treatment or needless suffering from debilitating conditions. Learn to listen to your body and read the signals of distress to maintain health, and lead a more productive life. 

Ayurveda thus offers a unique blend of science and philosophy that balances the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual components necessary for holistic health.

The Five Element Theory - Panchamahabhutas

Earth, and everything on it, is the product of different combinations of the five basic elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space. It should be noted that the names of these elements are actually representative categories. Everything found on Earth can be classified into one of these five categories, based on their innate characteristics. The word "element" is not used as a name or label for each individual natural element, in the manner that the modern scientific periodic table uses it.

Just as chemistry and physics use specific technical terms to classify matter, Ayurveda uses the characteristics of the five elements (pancha mahabhutas) to identify various objects. If something is classified as "fire" it does not mean that it is literally a fire. It means that the object displays the characteristics of fire, like combustion, heat and so on. Similarly, if an item is classified as "water" or "earth" it means it is moist, cool and sticky or heavy, solid and stable. 

In Ayurveda, the place in which to determine the elements around us is not a science laboratory, but the human body. We use our senses of hearing, taste, touch, sight and smell to identify the surrounding elements and their qualities. The pancha mahabhutas theory may sound simplistic, but it is actually a very sophisticated method of classifying not only all of the objects found on Earth but also the natural cycles experienced on it like days, seasons and life itself. This is because the elements dominate at particular times, depending on the conditions experienced and observed. 

For example, the human lifecycle is divided into childhood, where physical growth takes place (water and earth), adulthood where activity and change occur (fire), and old age where mobility becomes impaired and the body begins to weaken (space and air). The year is divided into four seasons – winter when it is cold and rainy (water, earth); spring when new growth occurs and it becomes warmer (water, fire); summer when it is hot and dry (fire, air); and autumn when it is windy and cool (air and space). 

Understood and applied correctly, such a system of classification becomes a powerful method for considering the way man interacts with his environment. The elegance of this science lies in the simplicity of the basic concepts, and the powerful analytical tool they provide for internal (body-mind) and external (environmental) assessment.

The elements (mahabhutas) have certain qualities, attributes and impacts on the body and mind. All objects and substances are a mixture of the five elements, but they have one dominant element that allows them to be identified and classified. Examples of food and herbs are used to illustrate the elemental groups.

Ayurvedic Body Types

There are two distinct, yet inter-related, classifications of a person in Ayurveda. The first relates to the body, and the second to the mind. Your nature is determined by this combination of body and mind types, and is known as your prakriti. Prakriti means “nature”. When referring to the theory of creation, it is the unmanifested nature of cosmic matter. When referring to humans, prakriti means the unique physical and psychological nature displayed.

Knowing your dosha and guna provides you with an understanding of your basic physical and psychological nature, and helps you tailor a personal diet and lifestyle that maintains optimum health and peace of mind. Each person has a unique dosha with unique nutritional needs. Establishing your dosha enables you determine suitable diets, exercise and lifestyles to maintain balance. This is the key to maintaining health.

Definition of dosha
It is difficult to translate the precise meaning of dosha. It is often translated as “biological type” or physical constitution. This definition allows a simple and easy understanding of the concept. However, the original definition of dosha is more complex. In Sanskrit, dosha is defined as “doosyati iti doshah.” The literal meaning of this is “that which contaminates is called dosha.” So doshas may be considered the pathogenic factors, or disease-causing agents in the body. Imbalance of vata, pitta and kaphadoshas cause disease in the body.

Dosha only refers to the three biological energies of vata, pitta and kapha. As an imbalance of these elemental combinations is the direct cause of physical disease, they are the prime disease causing factors (the “contaminants”). Secondary factors in the disease process, like body tissues (dhatus), toxins (ama) and waste materials (malas) are actually the product of, or dependent upon, an imbalance in the doshas.

The Body Types - Prakriti

Knowing your prakriti helps you to tailor a personal diet and lifestyle that can prevent disease and physical disorders, and obtain peace of mind. It provides you with an understanding of your basic physical and psychological nature, and how to keep it in balance with your surroundings. This is the key to maintaining health.

Every human usually has varying degrees of vata, pitta and kapha. The doshas are usually not present in equal proportions. In most people there is a natural uneven distribution. Very rarely, a person may have a completely even distribution of doshas.

Although we each have characteristics of vata, pitta or kapha to different degrees, one of these elemental natures will dominate and that is the “main” dosha. The secondary dosha is the one present in the next highest proportion. Every dosha type or combination is acknowledged in Ayurveda, which lists seven separate physical constitution types based on the basic three:

• vata
• pitta
• kapha
• vata-pitta
• vata-kapha
• pitta-kapha
• vata-pitta-kapha

The Mind Types (Gunas)

Guna is simply defined as character or quality, but has a broader meaning. A guna is also an influence or impulse. The cosmic matter is made up of three gunas. Everything on Earth also has a predominant guna, as well as the more specific qualities obtained from their elemental makeup. Just as our bodies contain all of the elements, our minds have each of the gunas. 

The three basic gunas/qualities have no directly equivalent terms in English. They are:

• Sattva (knowledge, purity)

• Rajas (action, passion), and

• Tamas (inertia, ignorance).

Foods, plants, animals and people can all be grouped according to their dominant quality/guna. To refer to a guna is a reference to the qualities displayed by that entity or object, whether sattvic, rajasic or tamasic. 

In the human context, guna usually refers to the quality of the mind and character of a person. That is, whether they are calm, gentle, patient and tolerant (sattvic), passionate, spontaneous, greedy, materialistic, exploitative and focused on sense gratification (rajasic), or ignorant, lazy, insensitive and deceitful (tamasic). 

All three types of guna are present in everyone, and each may be displayed in different contexts. People can alternate between gunas depending on the environmental context and their diet, as well as phase of life and other factors. This is because the guna of food consumed, and the surrounding social or physical environment directly influence the mind guna. 

Just as the five elements are present and may alternate in predominance depending on the environment, the various gunas may dominate in particular circumstances. As human beings, our objective is to increase our sattvic guna by choosing to eat and do those things that are also sattvic in nature. The quality of the food we eat, and our environment, are therefore crucial to maintaining mental health. 

As mentioned earlier, the mind is inherently connected to the body. Increasing our contact with, or consumption of, rajasic or tamasic things ultimately creates an imbalance in the mind and distress in the body. This is followed by disease and sickness in a variety of forms. If your dosha is unbalanced it can similarly disturb the mind guna. This link between the mind and body can often make diagnosis of the origin of some diseases difficult. Did it originate in the mind and then disturb the body, or vice versa? 

Ayurvedic medical theory and science, although ancient, has enduring relevance and wisdom for human beings in any age. It has been used to treat millions of people over centuries, and will continue to offer insight to people well into the future.