Health & Fitness
What Is Ayurveda? + How To Incorporate Its Practices Into Your Daily Routine
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Health & Fitness
What Is Ayurveda? + How To Incorporate Its Practices Into Your Daily Routine
Ayurveda is the ancient lifestyle practice you already know about—even if you think you don't.
Even if you’ve never heard the term Ayurveda, you’re likely familiar with many of its tenets. Though Ayurveda dates back thousands of years, the Western world’s health and wellness devotees have only just started to incorporate this ancient Indian practice. “You hear about things like mindfulness and meditation, but it’s really all Ayurveda,” says Dr. Kishore Singh, a medical doctor in Burlington, Ont., who studies the practice.
Ayurveda encompasses a wealth of spiritual, philosophical, health and beauty doctrines—including yoga. Its whole-body connection to the everyday parts of life, such as what you eat in the morning and your mental health, helps practitioners paint a complete picture of an individual’s health history. Ayurvedic treatments— ranging from diet and exercise to massage— are then tailored to each person.
“Ayurveda looks at things holistically,” says Sairupa Krishnamurti, a naturopath and Ayurvedic practitioner in Toronto. “We’re not only looking at the physical body, we’re looking at the mind, the senses, what you eat and what you put on your skin.”
Here in Canada, our understanding of Ayurveda is predominantly linked to its lifestyle elements—think hair oiling or tongue scraping. But as the Western world continues to home in on physical and emotional wellbeing, Ayurveda’s integrative medicinal techniques and preventive approaches offer a complementary way to take care of our minds and bodies. Here’s how to bring the benefits of Ayurveda into your life.
What is ayurveda?
This 5,000-year-old lifestyle and health practice originated in India. Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word—“ayur” means life, and “veda” refers to science or knowledge. The custom is tied to the spiritual belief that humans are connected to five natural elements: fire, earth, air, water and space. It’s believed that each person has their own inherent nature based on a combination of three energies—also called “doshas”—determined at birth. These three energies create an individual blueprint for inner balance.
What are the ayurvedic doshas?
While you’re born with all three doshas—vata, pitta and kapha— most people have one that’s most dominant. These doshas govern both physical and mental health, and to stay in tune with your true self, you want to stay as close as possible to your baseline state. This is where Ayurveda comes in. Based on your doshas, Ayurvedic practitioners will recommend specific lifestyle practices to help keep your body balanced.
Vata: space and air
Vata is flowing, energetic and light. Those with a high level of this dosha are creative but can be easily distracted. Ayurveda suggests that vata-dominant people follow a routine, practice meditation and gravitate toward warm food and drink.
Pitta: fire and water
Fiery, vibrant and tenacious, a strong pitta dosha produces competitive and motivated leaders. To stay grounded, focus on work-life balance, practice regular low-intensity exercise and avoid extreme heat, from foods to weather.
Kapha: water and earth
Kapha is the glue of the doshas. Those with increased amounts of this dosha are steady, caring and supportive. Stimulating practices, including cardio training and eating warming spices like ginger can help balance kapha dosha.
how does ayurvedic treatment work?
If our doshas stray too far from our natural state, the practice deems that we are more susceptible to illness.
“I started referring patients who hadn’t benefitted from Western interventions to Ayurvedic practitioners,” says Dr. Singh. These were patients struggling with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and obesity— all conditions that Ayurveda seeks to alleviate.
In an Ayurvedic assessment, a practitioner might perform a pulse diagnosis to look for subtle changes in your pulse, analyze your tongue, and observe your eyes and skin. In addition to a thorough questionnaire about your overall health, the assessment helps determine your dosha and therefore the direction of your treatment plan.
“The patients started seeing good results with Ayurvedic treatment,” says Dr. Singh. Tailored food and drink recommendations, movement plans and medicinal herbs helped fill in the gaps that Western medicine was leaving. “My patients were getting better both physically and mentally, with lifestyle changes and minimal medication.”
Ayurveda addresses the root causes of a condition, but isn’t a replacement for modern medicine— both Krishnamurti and Dr. Singh are clear about that. “Ayurveda doesn’t work in acute phases,” says Dr. Singh. “For example, if I have a heart attack right now, I need to go to a Western doctor for life-saving treatment,” he says. “But after that heart attack, an Ayurvedic practitioner might be able to recommend diet and exercise habits to help my body heal.”
Krishnamurti was drawn to Ayurveda after struggling with eczema throughout her life. Her practitioner talked to her about her diet, skin care and mental health, setting her on a path to healing her skin.
“A dermatologist might only prescribe hydrocortisone cream for eczema,” says Krishnamurti. “This bandage solution can be a wonderful tool when it’s needed, but being able to treat the root cause— which could be, say, a heightened immune response that can be supported through a change in diet—can provide a lot of healing.”
Many Ayurvedic lifestyle treatments are closely linked to naturopathic medicine, which emphasizes natural remedies. While much of the scientific evidence behind Ayurvedic health claims continues to be studied, we can use it as a successful complementary practice, says Dr. Singh, as long as these treatments are from qualified practitioners and used in conjunction with Western medicine. “Ayurveda and Western medicine complement each other,” he says. “It works because we keep the patient at the centre of the conversation.”
4 common at-home ayurvedic practices
These common practices—some of which you may already do—have their roots in ayurveda.
1. Drinking warm water in the morning
Like starting off your day with a mug of warm water? If so, you’re aligning with a common Ayurvedic practice. “Ayurveda holds that it doesn’t take your body as much energy to absorb that warm water, so it encourages eliminating toxins and clearing the body,” says Krishnamurti. The warm temperature is thought to stimulate the digestive tract, keeping things moving.
2. oil cleansing
Oiling practices, from moisturizing your body, face, scalp and hair to dry brushing, are pillars of Ayurveda. Double-cleansing— using oil before a traditional cleanser to remove makeup and buildup—is another way to add oiling to your routine.
3. meditation
Ayurveda is known as the “sister science” of yoga. To find inner emotional and spiritual balance, consider engaging in relaxing yoga practices and breathing exercises, called pranayama.
4. tongue scraping
“The oldest scriptures in Ayurveda say to scrape from the back of your tongue to the front 10 times every morning,” says Krishnamurti. By doing so, it’s believed that you’re gently detoxing your body and supporting its detox mechanisms. As a bonus, it helps keep your breath smelling good!
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