Ayurveda is India's ancient science of life, health, and longevity. It is thought of by many scholars to be the oldest form of health care in the world. It originated in India over 5000 years ago, and was taught for thousands of years in an oral tradition from accomplished masters to their disciples.

The purpose of Ayurveda is to heal, to maintain a high quality of life, and to increase the longevity of the individual. It is an art of daily living that has evolved from practical, philosophical, and spiritual insight. Even though they have been used for thousands of years, Ayurvedic principles have never changed, since they derive from universal laws of nature that are eternally true.

In Sanskrit, Ayurveda (Ayur - Veda) means "Science of Life," where life is understood as the integration of body, mind and consciousness as a whole. Ayurveda places great emphasis on prevention and encourages the maintenance of health through a positive attitude, a diet and lifestyle in accordance with the individual, yoga and meditation practices, the use of medicinal herbs, as well as specialized Ayurvedic cleansing and and rejuvenating therapies.

Ayurveda is a science of self-understanding. By understanding our unique constitution or prakruti we can begin to understand how we interact with our environment and thus make choices that can lead us toward greater health. Ayurveda defines disease as the natural end result of living out of harmony with the original constitution. Therefore, the Ayurvedic approach is very individualized, since the path to optimal health is different for each person, depending upon their unique constitution and environment.

The Ayurvedic system believes that the individual constitution is recorded at the time of conception and birth as a genetic code that can be expressed physically and mentally as disease proneness and emotional response. This constitution is determined by vata, pitta and kapha, which are the three main doshas, or psycho-physiological dynamic principles that govern our responses to life situations, and may trigger the disease process when out of balance.

Many factors, both internal and external, can disturb this balance and bring about changes in the original constitution that may lead to disorders and disease. Some of these factors include emotional and physical stress, improper food combinations and choices, physical trauma, negative thought patterns, and seasonal and weather changes. Once we understand how these factors affect us on a constitutional level, we can take appropriate actions to nullify or minimize their effects and eliminate the causes of imbalance.

The science of understanding our constitution is the science of tridosha. Tridosha defines the three fundamental doshas or principles that govern the function of our bodies on the physical, mental, and emotional levels. Each person has a unique balance of all three of the doshas. These dynamic principles can be related to the basic biology of the body, as well as to the different seasons and times of day.

Vata is the energy of movement; pitta is the energy of transformation, digestion and metabolism; and kapha is the energy of lubrication and structure. Everyone has the qualities of vata, pitta and kapha, but one is usually primary or predominant, one is secondary and the third is usually the least predominant.

Ayurveda believes that the constitution predetermines disease: Vata people are prone to vata disorders (such as neuromuscular and musculoskeletal problems), pitta people are prone to pitta disorders (inflammatory infections, hives, rashes, urticaria), and kapha people to kapha disorders (congestive and metabolic disorders, obesity, high triglycerides, high cholesterol, diabetes). This does not mean that a vata person will necessarily get a vata disease, if the cause is, say, excess pitta due to excessive pitta provoking foods in the diet. If an individual has a kapha provoking diet with excess cheese, wheat and dairy products, that will make him prone to kapha disorders. And again, eating only cereals and raw vegetables, or eating in a hurry can aggravate vata in anyone.

Ayurveda also states that like increases like. For example, the summer has attributes similar to those of pitta ?hot, liquid, light, mobile, and penetrating. Therefore, in the summer pitta in the body tends to be increased. Vata is light, subtle, dry, mobile, rough, and cold. So in the fall, which also exhibits these attributes, vata will tend to be increased in the body. Kapha is liquid, heavy, cold, sticky, and cloudy. In the winter, when these characteristics predominate in the external environment, internal kapha tends to be increased.

An Ayurvedic regime and lifestyle, along with dinacharya (healthy daily routines), can enable any person to gain more awareness and control over their environment and to reach their optimal state of health and well being.

The key to optimal health is to help the body eliminate toxins and reestablish the constitutional balance of the doshas. For such purpose, Ayurveda offers diet and lifestyle guidelines, herbal preparations, and cleansing and rejuvenating programs such as panchakarma and various therapies to restore and maintain health.

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