What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda translates as wisdom of life. Ayurveda originates from India and is more than 5000 years old. Often referred to as sister science of Yoga. While Yoga focuses on connecting with spirit (amongst many other things), Ayurveda focuses mostly on the physical body and living on this planet at this time. It gives us a system or model to assess our health that is very different from Western medicine and can give us new insights or perspective into imbalance and disease (physical and mental). Plus it provides lifestyle, diet and herbal practices to prevent or eradicate imbalances and disease in the early stages. Ayurveda is great to practice alongside Western medicine to create balance and health in your life!
Gunas - Qualities of Nature
Ayurveda encourages us to connect back to nature, because we are part of nature and we sometimes forget this. The language of Ayurveda comes directly from nature in the form of the five (5) elements; ether, air, fire, water and earth and is used to assess the state of being of our body and mind. Gunas are made up of the element and are 10 pairs of opposites. This is Ayurveda's (nature's) way to give words to feelings and sensations in the body and can give an ocean of information about your current state.
The 10 pairs of opposites are (20 gunas):
heavy - light cold - hot dull (slow) - sharp (fast) oily - dry dense - liquid soft - hard stable - mobile cloudy - clear.
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Learning about even the first 8 gunas can give you a language to describe how you are feeling, plus you can describe everything around you with these words. This can give you a start on the journey towards assessing and understanding your own health and body.
Doshas - Body type
Doshas is another system of Ayurveda used to assess a person's state of physique. Doshas are made up of elements and therefor gunas. You can say they are a compilation of gunas. There are three (3) doshas and we all have all three in us. But there are several (7) variations on these, one could be more of one type, or more of two types or maybe even have an equal amount of all three. To determine your dosha you can do a quiz on the internet, but better yet work with an Ayurvedic Counsellor to get an accurate assessment. An Ayurvedic Counsellor (Practitioner) assess your body type at birth as well as your current state of being, physically and mentally. With this information they will guide you towards better balance and health with diet and lifestyle practices.
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Below is a short overview of the doshas.
Vata
A Vata person can be taller or shorter, usually light in weight with darker features (eyes, hair, tanned skin). They are creative beings with many ideas and are easy to get excited and love to travel and try out new things. They tend to run cold and have dry skin. They struggle to keep a routined and structured life and are not the best with money. (struggling artists) Vata's imbalances can look like constipation, gas and bloating, dry skin, ringing in the ears, prone to anxiety and worry. They spend their energy quickly and their life's challenge is proper self-care.
Pitta
A Pitta person has average height, average build and symmetrical features. They tend to have fair skin with red tones. They tend to run hot and oily. They are focused, ambitious and great managers. They can be competitive, and can get quickly irritated, angry and over-controlling. Their imbalances can look like skin disorders (eczema or acne) and they are more prone to loser stools and inflammation in the body. They struggle with slowing down and relaxing. Why have fun when you can work! They are better with money, but love to spend it on luxuries. Pitta's life challenge is to chill out and have fun.
Kapha
A Kapha person is steady and stable. Their physique reflects this, they tend to be more stocky, muscular and on the heavier side. (not necessarily overweight) They are very caring and loving and always looking out for everyone. They tend to stay in jobs for a long time or live in the same place for their whole life. They struggle with change and like to keep things the same. They can over-worry about relationships and can get attached and greedy. Their imbalances look like weight gain, mucus in the lungs or sinuses, water retention (edema), feeling sluggish and unmotivated. Kapha's life challenge is to get going! Get motivated!