Wednesday, January 23, 2008

EIGHT BRACHES OF AYURVEDA

These eight branches of Ayurveda are also called Ashthanga:

  • Internal medicine - Kayachikitsa
  • Surgery - Shalya Tantra
  • Ears, eyes, nose and throat - Shalakya tantra
  • Pediatrics - Kaumarabhritya Tantra
  • Toxicology - Agada Tantra
  • Purification of the genetic organs - Bajikarana (or Vajikarana) Tantra
  • Health and Longevity - Rasayana Tantra
  • Spiritual Healing/Psychiatry - Bhuta Vidya

Monday, January 21, 2008

Ayurveda in 20th Century

All physicians (Ayurvedic) are began to organize or unite into professional associations and to promote their case for national recognition and funding. This began to become a reality after Indian independence in 1947.

Ayurveda is now a statutory, recognised medical system of health care like other medical systems existing in India. The Central Council of Indian Medicine {CCIM} governs and recommends policies for the research and development of the system. An Encyclopedia on Ayurveda - Ayushveda.com been developed to promote the knowledge of Ayurveda worldwide.

In India, practitioners in Ayurveda undergo 5 and 1/2 years of training including 1 year of internship in select Ayurveda Medical Schools wherein they earn the professional doctorate degree of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery[B.A.M.S.]. A Bachelor's degree with a major in Science [Physics, Chemistry, Biology] and a minor in Sanskrit is desirable for candidates interested in taking up the course.

Select institutions like the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, offer higher doctorates and postgraduate training such as MD [Ayurveda] which includes a 3 year residency and a dissertation similar to the MD/MS degrees in modern systems of medicine.

Institutes and practitioners

Practitioners of Ayurveda have been appointed as Honorary Ayurvedic Physician to the President of India. Every year on the occasion of Dhanvantari jayanti, a prestigious Dhanvantari Award is conferred on a famous personality of Medical Sciences including Ayurveda. Kerala is the leading state in India that promotes research and practices of Ayurveda. This has been attributed to Kerala's well established Ayurveda centers, Ayurveda pharmaceutical companies, and Ayurveda medical colleges. For example, there are many Ayurvedic centers (known as Vaidya shalas) all over Kerala. Besides Kerala, others also promoting Ayurveda are Gujarat, Maharastra, and Karnataka.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

AYURVEDIC MASSAGE AND PANCHKARMA

PANCHKARMA (the five actions or modalities) is a collection of purification techniques that Ayurveda prescribes for some diseases and for periodic cleansing. A course of Pancharkarma typically includes a short-term dietary prescription, massage, herbs, and may include purgatives, sweat baths, medicated enemas, and nasal cleansing.

Ayurvedic massage is a form of treatment for various age related and other common disorders. Some of the advantages which can be cited are pain relief, improved circulation, stress relief, better sleep, flexibility, athletic performance and emotional benefit. Massage therapy can soothe pain, relax stiff muscles, and reduce the swelling that accompanies arthritis. Advocates claim that, with ayurvedic massage, deep-seated toxins in the joints and tissues are loosened and released into the system for elimination through natural toxin-release processes. There are several different types of ayurvedic treatments such as panchakarma, marma massage and abhyangam. Ayurvedic massage is especially developed in Sri Lanka and the Indian state of Kerala.

TRIDOSHA SYSTEM

The central concept of Ayurvedic medicine is the theory that health exists when there is a balance between three fundamental bodily humours or doshas called Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
  • Vata is the impulse principle necessary to mobilize the function of the nervous system
  • Pitta is the energy principle which uses bile to direct digestion and hence metabolism into the venous system.
  • Kapha is the body fluid principle which relates to mucous, lubrication and the carrier of nutrients into the arterial system.

All Ayurvedic physicians believe that these ancient ideas, based in the knowledge discovered by the Rishis and Munis, exist in harmony with physical reality. These Ayurvedic concepts allow physicians to examine the homeostasis of the whole system. People may be of a predominant dosha or constitution, but all doshas have the basic elements within them.

The philosophy of Ayurveda

The emergence of different schools of Sanskrit philosophy like Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Vedanta and Mimamsa was another landmark in the history of Indian medicine. The principles expounded in these philosophies facilitated the development within Ayurveda of its theory of humoral pathology which propounds that the human body is composed of Tridoshas, the three humors – Vata, Pitta and Kapha. When these are in equilibrium they are called the Tridhatus. The body in which these three humors are in a state of equilibrium enjoys perfect health; their disequilibrium causes ill health.

Disease management in Ayurveda

The principles of Ayurvedic pharmacology are fundamentally different from those of other systems of medicine, especially evidence-based medicine. Most Ayurvedic medicines are prepared form herbs.

Shamana and Shodhana are the two concepts of disease management in Ayurveda. Shamana means alleviation. Shamana methods mitigate the disease and its symptoms. Shodhana means elimination and Shodhana methods aim at the elimination of the basic cause of disease.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Uniqueness of Maharishi Ayurveda

For past several decades Maharishi Foundation (MFI) and other affiliate Maharishi Organizations have held many International conferences and have conducted studies, research and development work with the foremost experts in various branches of Ayurveda and developed a comprehensive, holistic, scientific and systematic health care system known as Maharishi Ayurveda. It involved revival of ancient precious knowledge and technology of health care. By systematizing this knowledge in form of various teaching and training courses, western medical doctors and technicians can be taught and trained in Maharishi Ayurveda, and its fundamental theoretical principles and practice. Similarly all the applied and practical aspects are systematized and packaged in a comprehensive system. Following are some examples: 1) Panchakarma and its uniqueness in Maharishi Ayurveda One of the aspects of Maharishi Ayurveda on which a very detailed and extensive research and developmental work was taken up is called Panchakarma. These are five broad groups of different physical procedures of Ayurveda. The effects of the individual therapies systematically build upon and complement each other. This achieves a long-term and profound purification of the body. The steps of treatment systematically eliminate toxins and harmful substances from the body. These toxins accumulate as a result of improper lifestyle, diet, environmental toxins and wrong thinking. Health improves as a whole and in the case of chronic disorders this frequently leads to relief from the actual complaints. For healthy people, there is a clear increase in zest, vitality, and performance. Courses have been systematized and developed. Maharishi Foundation imparts this scientific systematic knowledge and its theories and applications, its procedures and techniques to medical doctors and health professionals. Maharishi Foundation also trains technicians in the unique, fine and detailed art of these procedures. Panchakarma was generally not used for preventive purposes in India. It is only recently, since Panchakarma has been made so popular by Maharishi Ayurveda in the West, that within India and Sri Lanka people are opening Panchakarma centres for wellness purposes. The techniques used by the trained technicians in Maharishi Ayurveda have been developed and refined over the years with leading Indian Ayurvedic experts and western doctors and massage therapists. These techniques are different and much more thorough in their fineness and details from what is commonly practised in India and other Ayurvedic schools in the west. Pulse diagnosis and its uniqueness in Maharishi Ayurveda: Another major revival that was taken up by Maharishi Ayurveda was the ancient science of pulse diagnosis. This is a very extensive and deep science and art, which deals with analysing the fine impulses of movements and qualities in the pulse on a person’s wrist. Pulse diagnosis examines a person’s natural body type and the balances and imbalances present at various levels of physiology with respect to his metabolism, body tissues, organs, digestion of food, behaviour and such characteristics. A detailed, systematic and scientific theoretical knowledge with practical training has been developed in this field. MFI trains physicians, health professionals in this. This kind of pulse analysis is absent in what is usually taught in Indian Ayurvedic colleges. The technique how the pulse is felt and analyzed in its refinement and depth is totally different and the knowledge of the physiology being derived from it is completely unique. The technique for self-pulse reading has also been developed which was not known before. Uniqueness of Maharishi Ayurveda Products: Another area that has been developed over years with great care and detail in Maharishi Ayurveda, is the standardization of the collection of herbal plants, standardization of the formulations of products and the system of producing herbal food supplements, herbal massage oils, herbal teas, beauty care products etc. These products are formulated under the guidance of a council of renowned Ayurvedic experts. They are produced strictly according to traditional Ayurvedic guidelines. Production of these preparations is carried at facilities that meet international hygienic conditions and quality control standards. Doctors trained in Maharishi Ayurveda are also trained in the use and applications of these herbal preparations. Training in Maharishi Ayurveda: Concise and comprehensive training courses for western doctors and health professionals have been developed over years in collaboration with several leading Ayurveda scholars and western trained physicians. The same is also true for technicians’ training in Panchakarma procedures and massage techniques. MFI has been conducting these courses and trainings and even updating the knowledge and practice of Maharishi Ayurveda from time to time. Maharishi Ayurveda on Diet, digestion, nutrition, daily and seasonal routines: A very important knowledge that is standardized in Maharishi Ayurveda concerns a healthy and balanced diet that cares for individual needs, for improved digestion, nutrition and metabolism. Doctors are trained in the holistic understanding of a diet that will help pacify imbalances of the body and promote good health and long life. The doctors are trained to give personalised proper advice in this area. They are also trained in Ayurvedic advice regarding people’s daily and seasonal routines and behavioural norms. Neuromuscular integration through Yoga Asanas and Pranayam: Another area for which refined and standardized knowledge has been developed in Maharishi Ayurveda is neuromuscular integration through yoga asanas. This involves Vedic exercises to enliven the mind-body coordination. Neuromuscular integration through Pranayam involves Vedic exercises pertaining to the physiology of breathing to restore integrated functioning at all levels of life.

Development And Organization of Maharishi Ayurveda

At the end of the 1970s, Maharishi Organizations began an initiative to bring leading Ayurvedic physicians together in order to share their wisdom, the knowledge of the authentic texts, to integrate the tried and tested treatment procedures of the various family traditions, and to restore the fragmented areas of knowledge to their original wholeness. A number of additional therapeutic approaches recommended by the classical Vedic texts were systematically incorporated into Maharishi's Vedic Approach to Health. These included disciplines such as meditation (Transcendental Meditation), Yoga, Vedic architecture (Maharishi Sthapatya Veda) and Vedic astrology (Maharishi Jyotish and Yagya), as well as the systematic application of Vedic sounds. This pioneering work to integrate all of these different disciplines included the input from leading Vedic experts and also western doctors and scientists. This has made it possible for the integrated, holistic form of Ayurveda – Maharishi Ayurveda – to be scientifically examined.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

History of Ayurveda

The Ayurveda in their written form are almost 3,000 years old. However, like all of the 40 areas of Veda and Vedic Literature, the knowledge of Ayurveda has been passed down orally for thousands of years. This makes Ayurveda older than any other science of health. According to the Vedic rishis (seers), as expressed in the ancient text, the positive healthy behaviour of each individual combines to produce a disease-free society. In centuries past, during periods of foreign rule in India, the traditional knowledge of Ayurveda was increasingly pushed into the background. As a result, many important aspects of this holistic approach to health care were lost. Fortunately, however, various parts of this knowledge have been preserved faithfully by traditional families of India and passed on to succeeding generations. The earliest scripts would have been written on perishable materials such as Taalpatra and Bhojapatra, which could not be readily preserved. The script was later written on stone and copper sheets. Ayurvedic practices have also evolved over time, and some practices may be considered innovations upon earlier Vedic practices, such as the advances made during the Buddhist period in India. Ayurvedic practices have also evolved over time, and some practices may be considered innovations upon earlier Vedic practices, such as the advances made during the Buddhist period in India. SOME EVIDENCE The scrupulous planned cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro are pointers not only to India’s rich cultural heritage but also to its advanced systems of hygiene and health care. Taking diseases, herbs and herbal cures as a references, the four sacred Vedas were composed since between 1200 and 700 BC and the major part of composed material was from Rig Veda.

The Atharva Veda has many hymns eulogizing herbs. Many plants were worshipped as deities and invoked by incantations and they had also many Mantras (invocations) to combat jaundice, consumption and hereditary diseases among others. The Atharvan hymns chanted for the cure of diseases were known as Bhaishajyams and those for attaining longevity and prosperity were called Ayushyams. These hymns, especially the Ayushyams are considered to be the foundation for advances in later medicine.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda (ayur meaning "life" or "life principle" and veda meaning "Knowledge") means "knowledge or science of long life". The term Ayurveda refers combination of the body, sense organs, mind and soul, the factor responsible for preventing decay and death, means all the indriya (all the senses- human being have six senses). It describes a comprehensive system of natural health care, offering a range of approaches for different aspects of life. Taken together, these different approaches have the ability to create perfect health and long life.