The knowledge about life

Ayurveda, may seem like a somewhat unclear name but the word has a meaning behind it that describes what the ancient Eastern teaching is about. It can be said that Ayurveda, which originated in India, actually speaks a universal language, because regardless of which language one speaks, everyone can understand this knowledge of life. It tells us about nature itself, how our world works and why. What kind of energetic functions are the basis of this world, which surrounds us at every moment and which are also the basis of how our own body works.

An ancient teaching

Ayurveda comes from the ancient Vedic scriptures originally written in Sanskrit. Yoga also originates from here, therefore Ayurveda and yoga are often called sister sciences, they are two branches from the same tree. Ayurveda is a compound word that consists of two different Sanskrit words, the word ayu meaning life, and veda meaning knowledge, wisdom or knowing. Therefore, in English, people have often chosen to translate ayurveda to “the knowledge of life”, which is exactly what the ayurvedic teaching presents to us. Knowledge of life here on earth and how nature works both inside of us and in this world.

A tradition in all the old teachings has always been to pass on knowledge from teacher to student. To walk beside someone who has gained more wisdom and life experience, to learn from those who have walked further along the path. Therefore, it is difficult to know how long these ancient teachings have actually existed, how long have they been passed on before they were written down? It is said that the Ayurvedic knowledge has existed for at least 5000 years, which makes it one of the world’s oldest preserved healing systems of this day and age. Which is one of Ayurveda’s main goals – to heal people. Of course, healing is easier when you understand human nature from its basis and core.

Ayurveda not only gives us words and names for the underlying energies that operates in nature and are the basic structure of this planet, but it also gives us a deeper understanding and a new way to look at the world. A broader view that looks at the reason behind the problem, so that you can begin to understand yourself and do not have to get stuck in blindly staring at symptoms that are on the surface, because the basis of the problem is often hidden on a deeper level. By changing our worldview about life here on this earth, we can begin to make changes in our own lives that not only benefit ourselves but also the whole. When we no longer contribute to unhealthy and destructive choices we impose on ourselves, we can instead contribute to good changes in the world through the positive choices we make in our own day to day life. Our health does not only include physical health, but we also need to protect and take care of our mental, emotional and spiritual health.

Two aspects that has been important to me

There is much that is wonderful about Ayurveda, but two parts of this ancient teaching have for me been like a first step in understanding myself and my own journey towards well-being and health. The first is that Ayurveda sees that each person’s body is unique and individual in its structure, therefore one person is different from another in the way the body both looks and behaves. Which means that two people may need different things to feel good. Thus, our personal differences and individual needs are taken into consideration and the guidance and advice are given on the basis of this. Secondly, Ayurveda talks about the course of the disease in a completely different way than Western medicine, it sees the course of the disease in 6 different stages, where Western medicine often discovers that something is not right in the body only in the fifth or sixth stage, this is when the disease often already have had time to manifest in the body. Instead of curing individual symptoms, Ayurveda tries to look at the underlying factor why the symptoms arose in the first place and can get a hold of imbalances that exist in the body long before a disease has time to take its root. You don’t have to be seriously ill to use Ayurveda because Ayurveda has also always been used as a preventive knowledge. If you want to live a life that is more reasonable with your true nature and closer to the body’s natural state, Ayurveda can give you the guidance you need to get there.

With the help of this very ancient wisdom, we can get to know our body better and learn to listen to the signals it is trying to give us.

An important key in Ayurveda is the understanding of the five basic elements; space, air, fire, water and earth. These five elements exist everywhere, in our bodies and in nature. If we take a closer look at the qualities the elements carry, we can understand how they are operative in everything. From the seasons various changeability to the food we eat and even in the different forms of lifestyles. The elements are underlying energies and is the foundation of this planet and are therefore constantly present here. We can see or feel them more clearly in their physical manifestation of the external we experience around us, but also our body, which belongs to this physical plane, carries these elements as its foundation.