Ayurveda: Maximizing The
Potential For Healing
by Dr. Marc Halpern, D.C., C.A.S., P.K.S.
Ayurveda is the ancient and
traditional medicine of India. A holistic form of medicine, Ayurveda
focuses on creating an optimal environment within the body for
healing to take place. The goal of Ayurveda is to support the
body’s internal healing capability.
The science of Ayurveda views
the human being as a dynamic, life affirming organism that in
its natural state is healthy, free from disease and at peace
with life. Optimum health occurs when the natural process of
the body are not interfered with. This happens without effort
when the human being is living a harmonious life.
Disharmony of any kind, physical,
mental, emotional or spiritual is the cause of disease from an
Ayurvedic perspective. Disharmony occurs when a person is out
of tune with the environment or other people. In order to maximize
the healing capability of the body, the Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist
(C.A.S.) helps their clients reestablish harmony through learning
to follow a healthy lifestyle.
The five senses are portals
or gateways into the body, mind and consciousness. Through them,
impressions from the environment
are absorbed. When healthy impressions (healthy foods, visual
impressions, sounds, smells and touch) are taken in, the body
responds by reaching its full potential. When low quality impressions
are taken in, the body responds with less than optimum function
and becomes susceptible to disease.
Western Medicine acknowledges
two principles in the onset of disease. One is the role of virulence
or the strength of a pathogen
such as a bacteria or virus. The second is resistance or the
ability of the host (the person) to ward off the disease. This
second component is called immunity. It is the function of Ayurveda
to maximize immunity and defend against disease. These principles
are also true on the mental level. Mentally and emotionally,
stress is the pathogen. A person’s ability to resist stress
is the “immune system” of the mind. Ayurveda not
only attempts to maximize physical immunity but also mental immunity.
While Ayurveda is excellent
preventative medicine, it also supports the capacity of the body
to heal. Hence, Clinical Ayurvedic Specialists
routinely work with sick clients. However, the focus of their
healthcare is not on the eradication of the disease but rather
on the underlying causes of the disease. By eliminating the underlying
causes, the body heals itself. This self – healing model
is paramount to understanding the benefits to Ayurveda. While
mechanistic models of well being view the patient as a machine
with parts to be replaced and chemicals to be added or subtracted
to get the right balance, Ayurveda is a vitalistic system of
well being respecting the life affirming energy of the body.
Ayurveda views the body as intelligent down to the cellular level
and even the subatomic level. The role of Ayurveda is simply
to support the work of the innate intelligence.
The Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist
counsels clients to create a lifestyle of harmony through the
five senses. Using dietary,
herbal, color, aroma and massage therapies along with yoga and
deep relaxation, Ayurvedic practitioners help their clients understand
how their current lifestyle may be creating disease and offers
suggestions and support to create a newer, healthier lifestyle.
Each change made reduces stress and increases the healing capacity
of the body.
Is what is right for one person,
right for everyone? Not according to Ayurveda. Ayurveda views
each person as unique with individual
needs. We may all be human but we have slightly different physiologies
and emotional tendencies. Ayurveda teaches that for this reason,
each person’s path toward optimal health is also unique.
Nothing is right for everyone and everything is right for someone.
Ayurveda resists the temptation to sell one program to every
person. Rather, Ayurveda emphasizes an individualized approach
to lifestyle. Some people thrive as vegetarians and others as
meat eaters. Some thrive on spicy food and others on bland food.
Some do well with raw foods and other better with cooked foods.
Ayurveda is a path of understand what is right for the individual,
not the masses. Ayurveda is neither a statistical form of medicine
or a health fad, it is a science, based upon understanding individualized
needs and meeting those needs to bring about the best a person
can be.
Dr. Halpern is founder and
director of the California College of Ayurveda and Ayurveda Healthcare
Center located at 1117A East
Main in Grass Valley, where students are trained to become
Clinical Ayurvedic Specialists.
