{"id":69,"date":"2016-06-07T09:58:43","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T13:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.qatoqi.com\/ayurveda\/blog\/?p=69"},"modified":"2023-07-29T16:08:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-29T20:08:00","slug":"ayurveda-what-it-is-and-isnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatoqi.com\/ayurveda\/blog\/ayurveda-what-it-is-and-isnt\/","title":{"rendered":"Ayurveda: What it Is and Isn\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ayurveda is Medicine not Alternative<\/em> Medicine. It reflects the source from which all healing practices have emerged as a spontaneous expression of Natural Law\u2014a gift of the Creator.<\/p>\n

Ayurveda is the original owner\u2019s manual for the human body. It offers a framework for understanding our individual differences and how to harmonize with them to maintain balance in an ever-changing world in order to protect health, increase vitality and maximize longevity. In short, Ayurveda encourages us to enjoy bliss and avoid suffering.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ayurveda is commonly associated with India. This is largely an historical accident. Ayurveda transcends that country and culture. It originally manifested as an oral tradition during the Vedic Age, millennia before the classic Ayurvedic texts were compiled. It thereby took on the character of that time and place. On the great strength of that tradition, Ayurvedic practice has best been sustained there. Even so, much of Indian cuisine does not conform to Ayurvedic ideals.<\/p>\n

Ayurveda was likely the dominant source for ancient medical practice in China, Greece (Hippocrates) and the Middle East (ibn Sina aka Avicenna). Its influence was still visible in western medicine and surgery even at the time I trained.<\/p>\n

Ayurveda is not a cure-all. In the face of serious, life-threatening conditions, modern medicine is superior. But in the post-acute phase, Ayurveda still has much to offer to help mitigate side effects, restore a semblance of balance, and to the extent possible, correct the underlying imbalances that gave rise to the crisis.<\/p>\n

For all these reasons, Ayurveda has become the guiding light by which I understand, interpret and evaluate practices of other healing traditions including \u201cmodern\u201d medicine and the fads that sweep popular culture.<\/p>\n

Here are some uniquely-Ayurvedic ideas:<\/p>\n