Ayurveda or how to be healthy and live long

For over 5,000 years Ayurveda has been showing us how we can be healthy and live long. This ancient science from India is a complete lifestyle system and for it the avoidance of diseases is more important than curing them.

 

If a person lives healthy, they will not need treatments. But if they cause the harm themselves through food and different activities in their everyday life, even if they were healed, they will return to sickness again.

 

Ayurveda itselfheals all diseases – there is no illness which it cannot tackle. However, there are also requirements and rules both during the treatment and for the patient’s life after being healed.

 

Therеfоre, for example at the Ayurveda clinic Sofia after careful diagnosis, the patient will not only receive medication, but also be provided with guidance on changes in their lifestyle.

 

These recommendations from the Indian Ayurveda doctor include general advice but mostly specific to the patient according to their disease, their body type, general condition, age, etc.

 

A major point of Ayurveda treatment is the cleansing of the body from toxins because they are the cause of disease. And Ayurveda targets not only the given illness but also the removal of the cause for the disease.

 

The cleansing is done through external and internal procedures and the environmentally friendly methods Purvakarma and Panchakarma. They are combined the external procedures being transitional in order to prepare the body for the internal detoxifying.

 

Purvakarma is a combination of massages with herbs, oils, herbal soaps and baths. Panchakarma applies laxative and cleansing therapies. How exactly to combine the two methods is decided by the Ayurveda doctor.

 

This cleansing is done together with a diet because toxins are formed precisely from unhealthy food or from the incorrect eating and usually both go hand in hand.

 

The full treatment also includes yoga, relaxation, some healing practices such as special breathing exercises, and so on.

 

For Ayurveda healthy food is especially important. It is equally important, however, how we eat it. The incorrect way of eating can take away the valuable energy of healthy food. In this way, its usefulness could not only be made pointless but the food could also become harmful.

 

For the Ayurveda principles, there are two aspects that can be pointed out on how to eat a meal. One of them is related to the belief that everything in nature is created according to the laws of the Universe and harmony, it has “taken a piece of breath” from the Universal energy of living.

 

Through food, one does not just take protein, carbohydrates, fats, but receives from the living energy of nature, from its power. Food also affects the body, the mind and the brain; it contributes to the overall balance between the physiological and the spiritual in a person.

 

This also explains why we speak of “live food”. Ayurveda rejects semi-finished and preserved foods; meals have to be made of fresh produces and be consumed up to three hours after preparation, etc.  

 

The other aspect is self respect – that a person should love themselves and take care of their body and spirit. Eating is an essential part of these cares and has to be given special attention.

 

A certain association can be made with prayer in Western culture although in Ayurveda “the ritual” continues during the meal itself. Thoughts should not be engaged with anything else but the food.

 

This means that a person has relaxed their spirit, has no strong emotions that direct their thoughts somewhere else. No side activities are performed. Each bite is chewed 32 times (as the number of teeth), it is felt as a delight of taste and an influx of light energy for the body.

Food selection in Ayurveda is not only connected to the optimal influx of energy charge. The way and timing of assimilation of each food is also taken into account. This is important when determining the type and order of consumption.

 

There are types of food that are beneficial in themselves, but combined, because of their different degradation during digestion, they can slow it down and from there also upset the assimilation of the food. This means to slow down the “feeding” of each cell.

 

Poor digestion carries the risk of toxins forming in the body even when the meals are in conformity with nature. Because it can get stagnant, rot and lead to inflammations.

 

Inflammations allow for toxins to go directly into the blood and through it they are transferred to different organs including the brain. Thus they can persist permanently in the body and harm it through its organs and systems.

 

In general the body is created as an excellent bio machine able to cleanse. In order to dispose of what’s unnecessary, it takes between 12 and 24 hours.

 

However, the simultaneous consumption of incompatible foods or say, overeating, violates these processes. Incorrectly made, the menu can cause allergies or slow down the metabolism.

 

For each body structure there are specific appropriate types of food. But there are also generally incompatible combinations. For example, meat, fish and cheese are not compatible with yoghurt. This would be surprising to many people who drink ayran (a cold yoghurt beverage with salt) together with the meal.

 

Actually, it’s not a good idea to drink liquids during meals because our gastric juices are diluted and the digestive capacity is reduced. This applies especially to cold liquids.

 

Eggs are also incompatible with some foods and for example an omelette with ham and cheese is not a good combination. Neither is sunny-side up eggs covered with yoghurt Watermelons have to be eaten alone; their combination with cheese is not healthy either.

 

Ayurveda can predict upcoming diseases for which there are no symptoms yet.

 

When the symptoms appear it means the disease has already started. By reading the energy imbalance in the body, the Ayurveda doctor can determine what the disease is. The imbalance, however, can also show soon-to-come diseases for which there are no symptoms yet.

 

The Ayurveda diagnostics examination combines different methods. One of them is a detailed inspection of the body and specific “signals” of it. This includes specific measurement of the pulse of the two wrists, assessment of the posture and gait, the general appearance of the face, eyes, tongue, skin, nails, hair, voice strength, etc. The condition of tendons and muscles is also important and it is checked by touching.

 

In addition to this, the doctor inquires about the pre-history: what is the daily regimen of the patient, what is the way of eating, what is their profession and many other factors which have an impact on the psychological and physiological state.

 

Measurement of the pulse, superficial and in depth, provides information not only for blood circulation but also about the energy flows that pass with the blood through the heart, brain, kidneys, etc. Thus, the doctor receives data not only for the general construction but also for individual organs.

 

Tongue also provides detailed information both about the general condition and about specific health problems such as abdominal ones. The qualified specialist can obtain data from the color, shape, moisture, furrowing and edges.

 

The coatings on different locations, for example, point to different bowel problems, a curved line in the middle indicates damage to the spine, etc.

 

The eyes can indicate heart, kidney or liver problems. The nails are indicative of whether they are soft, brittle, hard, and so on. Longitudinal lines, for example, point to nutritional deficiency.

 

All this information about the energy imbalances occurring in the body makes it possible not only to take measures against the given disease but also to foresee the development that will lead to new diseases.

 

After the diagnostics the doctor decides what Ayurvedic treatment to apply for the body and the spiritual imbalance.