Living Ayurveda

by Shubhra Krishan (published with permission of Magical Blend, November 2001)

I used to know just as much about Ayurveda as I know or care to know about the Atlantic Ocean. But that changed, the day a vaidya took my pulse.

He placed three delicate fingers on my wrist, supporting it with the ball of his thumb. Then he leaned back and closed his eyes. It was as if in that one silent minute, he was drawing on his lifetime of training to hear the inside story of my body.

When the vaidya opened his eyes at last, he asked me an unexpected question: "Have you ever had a kidney problem?" I was stunned. I had — but how on earth could he tell? I had been in the United States less than 36 hours, having just flown in from India. I had known the vaidya less than two hours — we were dining at a mutual friend's place — and here he was, telling me something my best friend did not know.

He went on to prescribe a few unusual medicines — I was to use a lot of turmeric and coarsely pounded coriander in my cooking. The best pharmacy I could go to, he said, was my kitchen. All my medicines were there, waiting on the spice rack.

We left soon after, but the good doctor's words stayed in my mind. That meeting with Ayurvedic Expert sparked off in me a curiosity about Ayurveda I hadn't felt before. Fed up with strong medicines, I suddenly wanted to know more about herbs and healing the Ayurveda way. I visited the nearest public library, and fished out all the books on alternative healing I could find.

I soon noticed a pattern: In almost every book, Ayurveda was sandwiched between aromatherapy and Chinese herbalism and defined as a 5,000-year-old system of medicine from India that believes we are made up of three body types called doshas. The author would then go on to discuss the characteristic of each dosha, and what could be done to keep it in balance. I tried figuring out my dosha and realized I was a jumbled mix of all three -- vata, pitta and kapha. It was frustrating.

I went back to Ayurvedic Expert, and asked him to tell me my dosha so I could start healing myself. He smiled at the disappointment in my voice. "Ayurveda is not all about doshas, just as psychology is much more than Freud. What people don't seem to realize is, whatever dosha you are, there are a hundred things you can do to live healthier and longer the Ayurvedic way."

For the next two hours, I listened to what the Ayurvedic way was — and at the end of Ayurvedic Expert's talk, I realized I had just emerged from the depths of the Ayurvedic Ocean. I'd like to share with you the golden nuggets I found there.

The first thing to know about Ayurveda, says Ayurvedic Expert, is that it is about YOU. You are an individual, and just like your thumb-print, your health, too, is unique. That is why the vaidya ("one who knows") does not reach for the blood-pressure instrument or the thermometer the first time you go to him. He puts his finger on your pulse.

To change the script he has just heard, the vaidya will not pull out his pen and prescription pad. He will ask you to take notes on as he talks to you about sleeping well, eating more intelligently, and getting in touch with yourself.

This is where Ayurveda differs from the standard systems of medicine. To an allopath, your body is a machine. If a part of this machine malfunctions, he will treat it with tablets or repair it with his scalpel. A vaidya, on the other hand, will expect you to take responsibility for you. Yes, you and you alone, Ayurveda believes, can heal yourself and prolong your life. And if that seems like the ravings of ancient rishis who ate too many wild berries, then you might be more impressed to know that modern statistics strongly support this theory. A study involving 7,000 adults said to be typical of a Californian urban community found a strong correlation between various health practices and longevity. This study, published in the March 1973 issue of Preventive Medicine, was done by Nedra B. Belloc, a researcher in the Human Population Laboratory of the California State Department of Public Health at Berkeley.

Fascinated? And to think you have just dipped your toe into the waters!

Ayurveda believes that your health stands on three pillars: diet, sleep, and awareness of self. It is up to you to make sure each of these pillars stands tall and strong.

Re-Think Your Diet

Ayurveda does not talk about food as a collection of vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, and calories. It believes that food is more than that — and the "more" has to do greatly with the spirit.

The vaidya believes that each meal you eat should connect you with the spirit of the earth. No Ayurvedic recipe ever contains milled white breads, overrefined fats and oils, bleached sugar, or denatured grains. Lightly cooked and mildly spiced, food should be fresh, hot, tasty, easy to digest -- and most of all, synergized by your own intelligence and care.

Following are some Dos and Don'ts for Eating the Ayurvedic Way

DO:

DO NOT:

DO NOT:

The important thing is to realize the importance of sleep, and then work on safe and sane calming practices that work for you. And much more than anything else, says Ayurvedic Expert, it's being in harmony with your Self that will really right your rhythm of sleep. Which brings us to the third and perhaps the most important pillar of Ayurveda.

Seek Out Your Self

This is not about self-illumination, monk-style. It's about getting in touch with your mind, learning to be happy with your senses, living life to the fullest. The key to achieving this is upping your Ojas quotient. Ojas? Though it is difficult to find a literal meaning for it, says Ayurvedic Expert, it's easy to understand if you think of Ojas as your being's master coordinator — the computer cord that connects your mind, Self and body.

Here are a few ways to keep your Ojas on a high the Ayurveda way:

Inspired enough to get off that couch and start working towards the "new, improved you?" Good. And remember, in this article, I have just skimmed the surface. There's much more to discover, once you plumb the depths of the Ayurvedic Ocean.