How Ayurveda Can Help You
By Dr. Jessica Vellela, Āyurveda Āchārya
Do you want to know how to keep yourself healthy for life?
This is what Ayurveda has to offer. One of my teachers in India always used to say: “Ayurveda is your owner’s manual for life.” Learning about yourself through the lens of Ayurveda provides the tools to make better decisions for health and happiness.
Ayurveda is the oldest, continuously practiced healthcare system with over a billion people using it worldwide today. It is the primary healthcare system in many parts of Asia and is quickly gaining popularity globally for its holistic approach that maintains health and cures disease.
What can Ayurveda offer you?
Ayurveda teaches us the what, when, where, how and why of living a healthy life for each unique individual. Its classical framework is complex, yet elegantly simple, with precise detail and scientific rules.
To get the most out of Ayurveda, first consider what you would like to achieve.
- Living a healthy, fulfilling life?
- Knowing how to care for yourself and your family?
- Supporting others in self-care?
- Providing guidance on complex health conditions?
Ayurveda can help anyone live a healthier life with basic education and regular self-care practice.
In this article, we’ll look at what Ayurveda can offer anyone who wants to live a healthy, fulfilling life.
Health Empowerment
Ayurveda provides the understanding, skills and tools to understand how life works in a simple, practical way. This knowledge provides the foundational self-awareness needed for recognizing health from disease, and all the states in between.
With this knowledge and understanding comes the ability to make the right decisions for a healthy, satisfying life.
Food, Fluids and Nourishment
Everything that goes into our bodies has the potential to influence our state of health or disease. Ayurveda looks at foods, fluids and nourishment as providing the building blocks for the dosas, which regulate all physiological functions. When the dosas are healthy, they act as a stable foundation. When they’re unhealthy or abnormal, they act as precursors to disease.
Ayurveda explains how to properly utilize foods and fluids for specific types of dosas, specific seasons, and a wide range of health conditions.
Rest and Restoration
Ayurveda views sleep as the most powerful regulator of metabolism, mental function, and overall health. Understanding individual needs for rest is based on age, physical body type, mental type, energetic demands, and progression of disease.
Ayurveda explains how to create a sleep routine and schedule to best support the dosas to maximize physical and emotional health.
Formulations and Treatments
Thousands of medicinal formulations exist in Ayurveda to support health maintenance and disease management. Many treatments are also available at Panchakarma centers around the world. Some treatments can be done at home as part of a self-care routine.
It is always safest to use formulations and treatments under supervision of a qualified Vaidya, or Ayurvedic Doctor. All of these can produce side effects when used improperly.
Supplements that Support Health
- Chyavanaprasam is a powerful herbal jam that is very famous and widely used in Ayurveda. It supports general well-being, and especially useful for colds, coughs, and minor fatigue. Balances all three of the dosas.
- Kshirabala tailam is a good choice for a daily self-massage oil and helps to relieve minor inflammation and pain related to vata and pitta disorders. Use daily before bathing.
- Nilibhringadi Coconut Hair Oil promotes healthy hair growth and prevents hair loss and dandruff. The oil can be used daily and balances both vata and pitta dosa.
- Anu tailam is a useful nasya oil for various disorders affecting the head, eyes, nose, ears, and throat. It balances all three of the dosas.
Meet the Author
Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Kottakkal Ayurveda products and this information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure, or prevention of any disease. If you have serious, acute, or chronic health problems, please consult a trained health professional. If you are seeking the medical advice of a trained Ayurvedic practitioner or doctor, call (800) 215-9934 or email us at contact@kottakkal.shop and we will provide you with one of our affiliated Ayurvedic professionals. Check with your doctor before taking herbs when pregnant or nursing.