What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda [ah-yer-vey-duh] is a 5,000-year-old wisdom science that originated in India alongside Yoga. Ayurveda is a holistic mind-body medical system still alive and flourishing today. This living body of knowledge uses many different methods of healing which include using food as medicine, lifestyle changes, yoga, meditation, herbs and bodywork. Ayurveda seeks to help you develop a relationship with the natural world around you as well as within you. It teaches you to live in harmony; a balanced state for your mind, body and spirit where all aspects of your being are accounted and cared for.

Ayurveda originated when the wisest individuals of society sat on mountaintops, meditating on the very question of our existence: 'what does it mean to be alive?' The answers they received, reflect a better understanding of ourselves. They help us become better, wiser, more compassionate human beings. They help us live a more fulfilling, joyful, and present life.

They recognized the world around us and the world within us are created of the same materials and are reflections of one another. Both are created by five elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth. These five elements create our ability to have spaciousness, movement, transformation, fluidity and stability. If we have a predominance in one area, we may display similar characteristics in the way we interact with our world, and in our internal processes. This theoretical philosophy sets the foundation for a practical healing system. Through this system we learn about our Doshas, or individualized constitutions, and how this affects patterns in our lives through diet, lifestyle, emotions and physical characteristics.