The study of life is Ayurveda . 'Veda' means knowledge - To know. 'Ayu' is life.

Life has Four Characteristics. It exists, evolves, expresses and extinguishes. And for it to exist, evolve, express and extinguish it depends on the five elements : the earth, water, air, ether and fire. To make it easier to understand you can say the five senses and its objects. Sight, smell, taste, sound and touch.

Even this five elements of which the whole universe is made up of is not tight compartments of defined objects. They flow into one another. Each one of the elements contain the remaining four. So the approach of Ayurveda towards life is holistic - the sum total. The subtlest element is space of which the mind is made up of and the gross is the earth element of which our bones , marrow, skin and structure is made up of. It is further divided into 3 doshas - Vata, Pittta and kapha - the way to understand the physiology, its characteristics and its reflection on the mind.

The holistic approach of Ayurveda includes exercises, breathing and meditation. Breath is synonymous to life. Our life is our breath and breath is our life. you can say that for all practical purposes. Some one is not breathing, that is the sign that there is no life there.

The Three Doshas

Vata, pitta and kapha - these three doshas affects certain parts of the body more than other parts. Like vata dosha is predominant in the lower part of the body. Stomach, intestine - gas and joint-ache are all due to vata. Kapha affects the middle part of the body : cough, perhaps the word cough has come out of the word kapha. And pitta affects the higher part of the body : our head. Short temper is the sign of pitta. So the vatta, pitta and kapha are predominant in three different parts of the body.The three stage pranayama(breathing technique taught in AOL part I course) has an effect on these three doshas. After doing pranayama , the doshas in the body are altered/ changed. Pranayama brings that balance in the system.

Three doshas are connected to the definite part of the body and to definite rhythms on the basis of breathing patterns. Correcting the doshas brings balance in to life.

how do we bring good health to our system? Just by attending to the mind. If the mind is blocked with too many impressions, too many thoughts it is drains the resistance power. If the mind is clear, calm, meditative and pleasant that much resistance within it- it will not allow the illness to come into the body. The first remedy is calming down the mind. Coming from the subtlest aspect of creation, the ether.

Next is the air element- The breathing- where aroma therapy comes in. Before an illness manifests in the body you can see that in the aura of a person. Some physicians have done research on that with the help of "aura photography"- especially for ulcers, cancer, diabetics. They have taken the photography even six months before they could manifest in the body and they could find the spots. By energising our system with the prana/breath we can clear the aura and prevent the illness before it comes. That is what yoga does. the purpose of yoga is - 'Heyam dhukham anahatam' - i.e stopping the sorrow before it arises - To burn its seed before it sprouts.

Purifying the system with water can bring lot of balance in the system. The final recourse is with different herbs and medicines and surgery. If we neglect the other steps, then it is inevitable we have to go through these last recourses.

There are different types of situation in which the mind is affected. When the pitta level is high, so many thoughts come. When there is vata imbalance, we become jittery. With kapha imbalance, we feel like sleeping, mind is lethargic. So these are the three imbalance that can happen to us. So when there is pitta imbalance, we avoid spicy food which aggravates the pitta. Milk, amla, sweets are are pitta pacifying.

Significance of Neem, Lemon and Tulsi

They both sustain life and they destroy enemies. Neem destroys all the bacteria in the system which are harmful to the system. Neem has that power/ energy, antibacterial and it destroys only those bacteria which are not congenial to human system. Neem leaves never destroy the useful bacteria which are in the system. Whereas any antibiotics you take, it destroy the good and bad bacteria, everything. That is the difference. Antibiotics destroy all the friendly bacteria in the intestine where absorption, digestion, everything is happening. Whereas neem chooses, picks only the harmful bacteria.

Ayurvedic Food

When we eat heavy food, it sits in the stomach. If we eat pranic food like fruits, immediately it is digested. Because there is prana in the fruits, salad and there is prana in the body. So they mix like water mixing in the mud . But when you eat cooked food it takes some time for it to absorb. And when we put our attention to that food, even that food also becomes energising.

The advantages of Ayurveda

Ayurveda had stood the test of time. In last century, people did not care for Ayurveda so much. The whole focus was in allopathic medicine. Now people are turning back to nature cures. Ayurveda is the harmless, nature supported medicine. Ayurveda treats a person holistically- not just one part. Ayurveda is not just to repair one part and another part is affected.

We have to take Ayurveda to villages and to every nuke and corner of the planet. Homeopathy is also good, Homeopathy Ayurveda, Unani are all nature cures. Only thing in Ayurveda is that we need to have little more patience. In Ayurveda we have to attend to our diet also.

Role of Ayurveda to promote health

Definition of Health in Sanskrit is swastha , Swa means self, one who is established in the self. Usually Ayurveda is a part of yoga, meditation. Once upon a time in a village they had a vaidya (village doctor), but today it all disappeared. Now in villages you don’t find a single Ayurvedic physician. This is the state of affairs in the short time of 50 years. If we just leave it, Ayurveda will just disappear from the planet. In rural areas, health and well being need to be developed and promoted through ayurveda.

Sri Sri Ayurveda

Sri Sri Ayurveda is a world class organization founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, with the global vision of bringing the best of Ayurveda to the world. This is being achieved by developing high quality Ayurvedic medicines, personal care products, food supplements, ancient and rare ayurvedic treatments, medical camps, awareness programs as well as Herbal gardens cultivation. The medicines are prepared by certified doctors and pharmacists who understand the role of a sound mind in a sound body, and implement it by practicing the AOLF's Sudarshan Kriya and meditation techniques everyday before starting the stringently efficient process of preparing the various medicines and conducting treatments.

Different treatments performed by our trained therapists include Panchakarma, meru chikitsa and Marma therapy.