Ayurveda
A 5000+ year-old Vedic system of rhythmic healing based on harmonizing the five elements:
Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is a 5000+ year-old Vedic system of cyclical healing based on balancing the five great elements: Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. These elements are grouped to form the three doshas (archetypes): Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Of these doshas the twenty gunas (qualities) emerge. It is through perceiving the twenty qualities that we can understand how to balance the elements to come into our original wholeness.
At the time of birth, each person has a unique makeup of these elements creating your individual prakruti (constitution). This is your personal state of harmony. As life happens, these elements get vitiated, increase or decrease, creating vikruti (imbalance). If we notice imbalances early, it is easy to bring them back to balance. If they are not tended to, disease starts to take form.
Ayurveda teaches us how to know ourselves and the world around us through their qualities. The doorways to experience the world is through the senses. As we accurately perceive our outer and inner worlds, we can gently tune our daily practices to come into right harmony for ourselves.
Lineage of Ayurveda
Brahma smrtvayuso vedam prajapatim ajigrahat |
So’svinau tau sahasraksam so’triputradikan munin ||
Te’gnivesadi kams te tu prthak tantrani te nire |
Va. Su. 1
Brahma, remembering Ayurveda, taught it to Prajapati. He taught it to Asvins, they taught it to Indra. Indra taught it to Atri’s son and other sages. They taught it to Agnivesa and other. And they each composed their own treaties (on Ayurveda).
Evam maya srutam …
This is what I heard … Dr. Lad say that if we are here curious about Ayurveda, then we must have learned it in the past. We see in this sutra on the Lineage of Ayurveda from the Ashtanga Hridayam that Brahma remembered Ayurveda. To remember this ancient wisdom is possible for all of us. At Clear Light Ayurveda, it is our mission to walk this journey of remembering and awakening together.
The golden rule of Ayurveda is “like increases like” and “opposites balance.”
Let’s explore together how to apply these principles and bring awareness to our body, mind, and heart to come into harmony with ourselves.
How do we apply the principles of Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is a lens to view the world to bring ourselves back the natural rhythms and cycles of life. Our breath expands and contracts, the tides ebb and flow, the moon wanes and waxes, the sun illuminates and darkens. We are meant to be alive with the flow of life. Wellness is not a static state or the same for everyone.
Ayurveda looks at the individual's elemental make-up at the time of conception to see their natural state of being. It is from here that Ayurveda gives clarity and direction of how to come back into right rhythm based on your digestive fire, current conditions and environment.
What is Health?
Ayurveda is not disease care but the art of living well and prevention of sickness through daily harmonizing practices. One of the three main Ayurvedic sages, Susruta defines health as:
The one who is established in Self, who has balanced dosas (combination of elements), balanced agni (digestive fire), properly formed dhatus (tissues), proper elimination of malas (feces, urine and sweat), properly functioning bodily processes, and whose mind, soul, and senses are quiet and content, is called a healthy person.
Su. Su 15
To be well situated in the Self. This is the key to bring us back to our wholeness. It reminds us that to be in health is to be in full expression of Ourselves.
At Clear Light Ayurveda, we will first determine what well-being is for you. And together co-create a plan toward seasonal and daily routines in combination with nourishment guidelines and herbal protocol to align with the natural rhythms of your inner and outer worlds.