Sri Sri AYURVEDA - Amérique du Nord
http://srisriayurveda.ca/formationEn.htmlAyurveda according to Dr Varma
Program The program was introduced by Maggie Gold who also introduced the guest speaker, Dr. Sivakumar Varma. Dr. Varma is an Ayurvedic Physician trained in India. He is certified as a Mind/Body Educator by the Chopra Center for Well-Being and is a certified Yoga Therapist as well. Dr. Varma is an international speaker, has assisted in organizing two World Holistic Health Conferences, and is a pioneer in setting up Ayurvedic Spas and retreat centres around the world. Pacific
Institute
Dr. Varma began by explaining that Ayurveda is one of the world’s oldest recorded systems of medicine. “Ayu” means “life.” “Veda” means “knowledge.” So Ayurveda is “Knowledge of Life.” It is sometimes called the “Source of Life.” Ayurveda is “a supreme symphony of nature and knowledge.” Knowledge in Ayurveda is knowledge of the Laws of Nature. Ayurveda is “a holistic union of body, mind and soul.” There are 8 branches of Ayurveda:
Each branch has many sub-branches. Ayurvedic medicine is receiving increased attention in western societies. For example, the US government has given $2.5 million for the study of Ayurvedic medicine to the Govt. of India. In western medicine there is an emphasis on antibiotics, but this is focused on disease care. Health care is completely different. Health care is prevention based on probiotics, the opposite of antibiotics. Probiotics gives alkaline content, e.g. probiotic wine is an alkaline wine with no alcohol content. Dr. Varma has these products in his centre. For ages the 8 branches of Ayurvedic medicine as holistic therapy listed above have catered to the most specialized health needs of people. The same instruments have been used for thousands of years. This system is based on 5 great elements or principles. Each has an icon. Iconography is a science of colours and graphics. One icon is a whole book. The 5 elements are:
These elements continuously transmute into each other to create atoms, molecules, minerals, food, and life forms. These 5 great elements come to 3 body types:
All the imbalances or disease a human body can have can be brought down to three simple things.
The body has built in mechanisms to balance these sources of imbalance. We can help this process. If the imbalance is due to dryness, try to balance with essential fatty acids or water. If the imbalance is acidity related, try to follow an alkaline diet. If it is mucus or fat related, try to reduce that. Dryness is specifically related to the body type Vada and to the principle of movement. If a plant is dry you will see it first at the tips of the leaves. Similarly, with the human body the first thing you will notice is a dryness of the lips. Women are more sensitive to dryness than men. They will try to solve the problem by using lipstick or wetting the lips, but this will not solve the problem. It is like putting a drop of water on the tips of the leaves of the plant. But the plant wants water on its roots. If a person is dry it affects their mobility. They become clumsy. They feel light headed. They talk fast. There are 84 different diseases that fall under the category of dryness. The body type Pitta is the principle of transformation and is related to the element of Fire. So the person with this body type is extremely hot. The person will feel moist, fluid, light, pungent, intense, sour. The first thing you will see is an oily skin, but not due to too much oil, but to an acid imbalance. In North America almost everyone has an acid imbalance due to the food we eat. We need a more alkaline diet. Acid imbalance comes from 2 main sources. One is that you take in acid food. Another is due to yeast. In this case the body has too much candida and the body wants to kill it and produces acid. Also yeast fermenting in the gut produces alcohol. On top of that people are drinking alcohol. This suggests we should be paying more attention to creating probiotics. A lot of work is now happening regarding that. The Kapha body type is related to the principle of cohesion and is characterized by high fat or mucus. The person with this body type feels very lethargic. With acidity the person is aggressive and combative, but in Kapha it is just the opposite. The person has trouble getting up in the morning. The solution is not an alarm clock, but a timer connected to a heater to raise the heat of the room. Then the person will get up when the room becomes too hot. Dr. Varma showed several short media clips of Ayurvedic treatments. There are 10 million different treatments. Dr. Varma is documenting these treatments. In India not enough people are still studying Ayurvedic medicine, so Dr. Varma is recording treatments so the information will not be lost. According to Ayurveda, we have 5 bodies.
Aryuveda has articulated 16 principles of creative intelligence:
When you understand the 16 principles, the main 3 body types, and the 5 layers of the body, you can look at how to nourish each of them. The food for the Energy body is companionship. This is more refined than relationship. It can come from the joy of work. Balance is key. The Mental body is nourished by peace, harmony, laughter and love. Does your activity give you these? The body continuously checks. Anger works against the Mental body. The body clears out the negatives at night. You need to work with this natural process. You need to ask yourself: Are my activities giving me peace, harmony laughter and love? What are the thoughts I am having? How are they affecting me? The Intelligent body is connected with desires. There are 3 ways to fulfill desires.
We need to do each of these age-related roles properly. We should not suppress them. If a child is not allowed to play with toys, he never grows out of being a child. In the Bliss body, people can be givers (positive) or takers (negative). There is so much potential on Earth, but we do not see it all. If we do we know people can change from negative to positive. Dr. Varma closed his presentation with the following mantra: May all be blessed with well-being, Discussion, Questions and Comments The participants held a discussion period following Dr. Varma’s presentation out of which came the following questions and comments. Q: What is the Institute for Holistic
Living? Q: What is being done to bring this information
to more people? Q: Why is there more awareness in our
society of Chinese medicine than Aryuvedic medicine? Q: What are some books to read about Ayurveda? Conclusion In thanking Dr. Varma for his presentation, Maggie Gold stressed the interest of the Institute in promoting complementary medical practice for the benefit of all. We will certainly do what we can to include Ayurveda medicine in that process. Next Meeting This was the final meeting for 2003. The next meeting on January 26, 2004 marks the start of our new year of hosting mini-conferences to build towards Connections III in February 2005. The Mini-Conference on January 26, 2004 is “Creating Safe and Caring Schools in Safe and Caring Communities.” As this event will be promoted widely, Members, Friends and Guests planning to attend should confirm their place as soon as possible. We wish everyone all the best for the holiday season and look forward to seeing you again in the New Year. |
From:
http://www.ethicalleadership.com/MeetingHighlights/031124.htmAll Ayurveda: Origin & Principles
Ayurveda
is the oldest surviving complete medical system in the world. Derived
from its ancient Sanskrit roots - ‘ayus' (life)
and ‘ved' (knowledge) – and offering a rich,
comprehensive outlook to a healthy life, its origins go back nearly
5000 years. To when it was expounded and practiced by the same spiritual
rishis, who laid the foundations of the Vedic
civilisation in India, by organising the fundamentals of life into
proper systems.
The main source of knowledge in this field therefore remain the Vedas, the divine books of knowledge they propounded, and more specifically the fourth of the series, namely Atharvavedathat dates back to around 1000 BC.Of the few other treatises on Ayurveda that have survived from around the same time, the most famous areCharaka Samhitaand theSushruta Samhita which concentrate on internal medicine and surgery respectively. The Astanga Hridayam is a more concise compilation of earlier texts that was created about a thousand years ago. These between them forming a greater part of the knowledge base on Ayurveda as it is practiced today.
The art of Ayurveda had spread around in the 6th century BC to Tibet, China, Mongolia, Korea and Sri Lanka, carried over by the Buddhist monks travelling to those lands. Although not much of it survives in original form, its effects can be seen in the various new age concepts that have originated from there.
No philosophy has had greater influence on Ayurveda than Sankhaya’s philosophy of creation and manifestation. Which professes that behind all creation there is a state of pure existence or awareness, which is beyond time and space, has no beginning or end, and no qualities. Within pure existence, there arises a desire to experience itself, which results in disequilibrium and causes the manifestation of the primordial physical energy. And the two unite to make the "dance of creation" come alive.
Imponderable, indescribable and extremely subtle, this primordial energy – which and all that flows from it existing only in pure existence – is the creative force of all action, a source of form that has qualities. Matter and energy are so closely related that when energy takes form, we tend to think of it in terms of matter only. And much modified, it ultimately leads to the manifestation of our familiar mental and physical worlds.
It also gives rise to cosmic consciousness, which is the universal order that prevades all life. Individual intelligence, as distinct from the everyday intellectual mind, is derived from and is part of this consciousness. It is the inner wisdom, the part of individuality that remains unswayed by the demands of daily life, or by Ahamkara, the sense of `I-ness’.
A Sanskrit word with no exact translation, Ahamkara, is a concept not quite understood by everyone as it is often misleadingly equated to `ego’. Embracing much more than just that, it is in essence that part of ‘me’ which knows which parts of the universal creation are ‘me’. Since ‘I’ am not separate from the universal consciousness, but ‘I’ has an identity that differentiates and defines the boundaries of `me’. All creations therefore have Ahamkara, not just human beings.
There arises from Ahamkaraa two-fold creation. The first is Satwa, the subjective world, which is able to perceive and manipulate matter. It comprises the subtle body (the mind), the capacity of the five sense organs to hear, feel, see, taste and smell, and for the five organs of action to speak, grasp, move, procreate and excrete. The mind and the subtle organs providing the bridge between the body, the Ahamkara and the inner wisdom, which three together is considered the essential nature of humans.
The second is Tamas, the objective world of the five elements of sound, touch, vision, taste and smell – the five subtle elements that give rise to the dense elements of ether or space, air, fire, water and the earth – from which all matter of the physical world is derived. And it is Rajas, the force or the energy of movement, which brings together parts of these two worlds.
Dense Element | Subtle Element | Sense Organ | Motor Organ | Function |
Space | Sound | Ears | Vocal Chords | Speaking |
Air | Touch | Skin | Hands | Grasping |
Fire | Sight | Eyes | Feet | Moving |
Water | Taste | Tongue | Genitals | Procreating |
Earth | Smell | Nose | Anus | Excreting |
It is worth noting that even at the stage of the dense elements the philosophy of creation –which according to Sankaya is now and in the present, without any past and any future – is still dealing with aspects of existence beyond our simple physical realms. The point of contention being that we are the first and foremost spirit experiencing existence. To use Ayurveda in daily life, one has neither to accept nor even understand this philosophy. But it does provide a deeper insight into how Ayurveda works towards betterment of your health.
| Ayurveda therefore is not simply a health care system but a form of lifestyle adopted to maintain perfect balance and harmony within the human existence, from the most abstract transcendental values to the most concrete physiological expressions. Based on the premise that life represents an intelligent co-ordination of the Atma (Soul), Mana (Mind), Indriya(Senses) and Sharira (Body). That revolves around the five dense elements that go into the making of the constitution of each individual, called Prakriti. Which in turn is determined by the vital balance of the three physical energies - Vata, Pitta, Kapha and the three mental energies - Satwa, Rajas, Tamas. |  The
Hindu God of creation revealed the science of ayurveda to
the sage Atreya |
Ayurveda
thus offers a unique blend of science and philosophy that balances
the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual components necessary
for holistic health.
From:
http://www.allayurveda.com/discover.htmAll Ayurveda: Diet Planning
Diet Planning
- The natural qualities of each food.
- How those natural qualities can get altered.
- The effects of combining foods – proper and unacceptable combinations.
- The quantity of food intake.
- Individual differences in food intake.
- The places & climate where the food is grown, prepared and consumed.
- The effects of the seasons and time of day.
- Avoidance of artificial flavors, chemicals, preservatives and colours.
Diet Composition
One other factor that has remained a matter of great debate worldwide over the ages has been the vegetarianism vs. non-vegetarianism controversy. Initially it was common belief that non-vegetarian diet is superior in that it is full of energetic ingredients and thus provides more strength and stamina. But now it has been scientifically established that vegetarian diet is more natural and useful to human nature.
Non-vegetarian
diet contains cholesterol saturated fatty acids that are the root
cause of diseases as coronary heart problems, cerebro-vascular accidents
(strokes), eye disorders & high blood pressure. With only about
60% of its contents useful for human body, the rest 40% contains
harmful toxins. In addition, such diet is usually heavy for the
stomach and produces acidity, which in turn can cause problems in
the gastrointestinal system.
Another
significantly important difference between the two is that fruits
& vegetables (cereals & grains, legumes, seedy fruits, citrus
fruits, carrot, cabbage, celery, green leafy vegetables, apples,
melons, 
peaches,
pears etc.) are rich in dietary fibers that reduces incidence of
coronary heart diseases, cancer of intestinal tract, piles, obesity,
diabetes, constipation, hiatus hernia, diverticulitis, irritable
bowel syndrome, dental caries and gallstones.
Also many disease causing organisms are transmitted through and thrive in animal protein – serious ailments as Encephalopathy and Mad Cow diseases are caused by Bovine Spongi. Similarly the Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria can be passed on through consumed eggs, causing diseases like pneumonia, bronchitis and typhoid.
Given that the body of non-vegetarian animals contains 10 times more amount of hydrochloric acid than that of vegetarian ones, and that the human body should not be having such a high concentration of hydrochloric acid, it is reasonable to assume that the fact human body is basically meant for a vegetarian diet.
From:
http://www.allayurveda.com/dietp.htmDoshic Food Planning
Diet Planning
Choice of Food
In planning the diet it is necessary to know which food to have or avoid based on ones personal doshic constitution or imbalance. For easy reference therefore some of the acceptable and avoidable items for each doshic type has been listed below :
| Fruits | |||||
| Vata | Pitta | Kapha | |||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
apples | Avocades | apples(sour) | apples(sweet) | bananas | apples |
| Dairy | |||||
| Vata | Pitta | Kapha | |||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| cheese cow’s milk powdered yogurt | dairy fresh, whole un-homogenized milk ghee little butter white meat (chicken, fish or turkey – baked or broiled) chicken broth | yogurt sour cream | fresh
ghee fresh whole un-homogenized milk
| milk clarified butter cheese | just
a little dairy goat milk and ghee in moderation
|
| Grains | |||||
| Vata | Pitta | Kapha | |||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Barley
corn cereals granola millet tapioca | white or brown basmati rice | Corn millet oat(dry) quinoa polenta | white or brown basmati rice, wheat | Bread(with
yeast) oat(cooked) wheat white rice cane | barley buckwheat cousous millet |
| Meat | |||||
| Vata | Pitta | Kapha | |||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| turkey rabbit pork lamb | white meat (chicken, fish and turkey - baked or broiled) | meat chicken ducks eggs pork salmon sardines | baked or broiled chicken, turkey or white fish in moderate amounts | beef buffalo chicken duck | fresh water fish |
| Vegetables | |||||
| Vata | Pitta | Kapha | |||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Cabbage(raw) Cauliflower(raw) Peas Potatoes Spinach Eggplant Mushroom Raddish(raw) Spinach Tomatoes(raw) | beets | Beet greens Carrots Garlic Green Chillies Onion Peppers Prickly pear Radishes Spinach Turnips | asparagus | Cucumber Olives Potato Pumpkin Spaghetti Squash Tomato(raw) | asparagus |
| Spices | |||||
| Vata | Pitta | Kapha | |||
| No | Yes | No | Yes | No | From: http://www.allayurveda.com/dietp_cfood.htm
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