What Ayurveda is...and what is isn't
There’s often a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about Ayurveda, so I thought I’d provide a few simple explanations to help you better understand what Ayurveda really is and what it definitely is not.
Ayurveda is a beautiful, effective, empowering and joyous approach to looking after yourself so that you can meet life feeling vibrant, happy and calm.
Ayurveda is an ancient science
Ayurveda has been around for thousands of years and stood the test of time as a reliable means of healing and taking care of ourselves day-to-day.
The ancient texts that underpin Ayurveda go into phenomenal detail about diseases, bodily processes and what we can do to balance them both before imbalance strikes and once disease has manifested.
These days a lot of Ayurveda has been watered down to new age nonsense, but true Ayurveda is grounded in logic and sense.
Ayurveda is root cause-focused
Modern society has us addicted to quick fixes and band-aid solutions. We’re all hooked on finding the silver bullet; that one thing that will make all our troubles go away.
This doesn’t work. Even if it does, it probably won’t work for long. Why? Because many modern solutions address the symptoms but ignore the root causes.
Ayurveda aims to get to the bottom of what’s causing your issues and then works to introduce changes to remove the issue for good, or at the very least, minimise its effects.
Ayurveda is complementary
Ayurveda does not require us to reject western medicine.
No modality should be used in isolation if we want to take a thorough approach to our own long-term health. Both Ayurveda and conventional medicine have their limitations, but when we take the best from both worlds, we give ourselves great odds for healing.
Ayurveda often fills the gaps in conventional medicine and usually reduces our need to rely on allopathic medicine alone or for long periods of time.
Ayurveda is individualised
Ayurveda recognises that every single one of us is entirely unique. Each of us bring a different set of experiences, circumstances, conditions, lifestyle factors and demands that have shaped our health and well-being.
There are certain things in Ayurveda that are great for most of us, but we must also acknowledge that we’ve all gotten to where we are via a path only we have walked.
This is about creating an approach to treatment that is designed entirely for you.
AYURVEDA IS HOLISTIC
A human being is not made of independent parts with no inter-relationship.
You might experience an issue with digestion, but the root cause could be mind-based. Everything affects everything else and imbalance in one area is likely being influenced by another.
An Ayurvedic consultation looks at the whole picture, taking into account the interconnectedness of mind, body and spirit. Then we work to heal all layers with diet, lifestyle, practices, herbs and other treatments.
Ayurveda is a deep, rich and complex natural healing science that puts you at the centre and invites you to reclaim your health, and take a proactive approach. It’s also immensely joyful – those who embrace Ayurveda often marvel at how lovely and enjoyable its practices are. Rather than being about restriction, dis-empowerment and being stuck with our lot in life, Ayurveda offers a profound means of coming back to your innate health, happiness and vitality.