Ayurveda: A Beginner's Guide to Ayurvedic Healing

By Lauren Lingard

AYURVEDA

The biggest difference between Ayurveda and other healthcare systems you may be more used to is that Ayurvedic healing focuses on healing the whole person. That means when it comes to working out what's going on and what may be causing troubling symptom

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ingram Publishing
• Release date: Mar 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781761038136

Book preview

Introduction

This book is an introduction to Ayurveda for those who know nothing or very little about this ancient system of natural healing that comes from India. You will learn the basic principles of Ayurveda and discover, from the very first chapter, how this healing tradition works with energy and treats the body, mind, and soul.

The biggest difference between this and other healthcare systems you may be more used to is that Ayurvedic healing focuses on healing the whole person. That means when it comes to working out what’s going on and what may be causing troubling symptoms, your personality, your lifestyle preferences, and even your spiritual beliefs are just as important as your medical history and genetic inheritance.

One way to think of Ayurveda is as a tried-and-tested system of healing that has been designed to keep all of you healthy and happy.

If you bought a brand-new car, you wouldn’t leave it to chance to keep it up and running; you would make sure you use the correct fuel, book the car in for regular servicing, check the tire pressure and oil levels, and do everything in your power to protect your investment and, most importantly, keep yourself safe when driving.

Ayurveda takes the same approach, giving prevention as much emphasis as cure and working on all aspects of you to promote and maintain optimum health and wellbeing. Nothing is left to chance, and everything is given the care and attention it needs for you to be well and stay that way.

Everything we recommend in this book is safe for you to do at home, and where there is even the slightest potential risk, we will highlight them so you can rest assured that you have nothing to fear or feel anxious about.

This holistic approach to health and healing means Ayurvedic healing is a wise choice if you want to get well and stay well, but of course, if you are in need of acute medical attention, you must seek it. You can then use the Ayurvedic system to help your body and your psyche slowly heal after any treatment you have undergone.

If you find after reading this book that you feel inspired to deepen your commitment to this clever and intuitive system of healing, you can go on to learn more and further integrate this new approach to your wellbeing with the help of a trained Ayurvedic practitioner.

More than anything, if you do choose to integrate Ayurveda practices into your life, what we can promise you is that this will be a life-long journey of discovery because you and your health change in response to what is going on in your life, what you are eating, and how you are living.

Ayurveda offers us the chance to integrate a serious and daily focus on our health and wellbeing, and the rewards of that include a happier, healthier, and longer life and the promise of one where you will stay well enough to enjoy all the adventures that come your way.

Chapter One:  What Is Ayurveda

Ayurveda will be known as the most supremely evolved system of perfect health—from both points of view, prevention and cure.

―Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Ayurveda Treats the Cause Not the Symptoms

In the ancient and holy Indian language of Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda means The Science of Life, so you can think of the Ayurveda system of healing as a tried-and-tested tradition that treats the symptoms of a disease or ailment by finding the root cause and treating the whole person; body, mind, and soul.

Often described as the oldest-known system of healing, few people realise Ayurveda is actually part of the yogic tradition, so just like yoga, it has mysterious roots in healthy practices and ways of thinking that are over 5,000 years old.

It is a similar approach to other traditional systems of healing, like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and taking this holistic approach to healing the whole person can feel different if you have only ever experienced conventional or allopathic medicine, which tends to treat your symptoms and usually uses drugs to do that.

How many times in your life have you consulted a doctor only to talk about the symptoms that led to you making your appointment?

In other words, you will have turned up for your appointment with a body that needed some expert attention—like taking your car to the garage for the mechanic to make a diagnosis—and you probably left