Life has four characteristics: it exists, evolves, expresses and extinguishes. For this, it depends on five elements: earth, water, air, ether and fire. To make it easier to understand we can bring in the five senses and its objects: sight, smell, taste, sound and touch.
According to Ayurveda, life or existence is not a rigid compartment, but a harmonious flow. Even the five elements that make up the whole universe are not tight compartments of defined objects. They flow into one another; each one of the elements contains the other four.
The subtlest in us is space, the element the mind is made of, and the grossest is the earth element, which makes our bones, marrow, skin and the structure. This is further divided into the three Doshas - Vata, Pitta and Kapha .
Ayurveda is a way to understand the characteristics of human physiology, its reflection on the mind.
When an illness arises, it comes first in the thought form, the subtlest aspect, then the sound form, and then the light form, or the aura. It is only then that illness manifests in the body. Simple symptoms arise in the fluid form, which can be eradicated, and then it manifests in the grossest form, where it needs medication.
In treatments such as aromatherapy, an illness can be cured through fragrance. It is mostly focused on preventive treatment. The holistic approach of Ayurveda includes exercise, breath and meditation. It is very interesting to notice the relationship between breath and the different Doshas in the body, namely Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These three Doshas affect certain parts of the body more than the others.
For example, Vata Dosha is predominant in the lower part of the body such as the stomach and intestine. Diseases of the digestive system and joints are caused from Vata imbalance. Kapha dosha is predominant in the middle part of the body. Cough is mainly a result of Kapha imbalance. (Perhaps the word cough has come from the sanskrit word Kapha). Pitta, affects the upper part of the body ie, the head. Short temper is a sign of Pitta.
Yoga, breathing techniques like Sudarshan Kriya (The Art Of Living Healing Breath Technique) and three-stage pranayama (used to channel Prana or life force to different parts of the body) all affect these three Doshas.
Among the different pranayamas and breathing techniques, are specific breathing exercises for the lower, middle and the upper parts of the body. These help bring balance to respective areas of the body.
How do we bring good health to our system? First, by attending to the ether element - the mind. If your mind is bogged down with too many impressions and thoughts, your resistance is drained and your body is prone to illness. If the mind is clear, calm, meditative, and pleasant, resistance in the body will increase and prevent illness from entering the body.
The first remedy is to calm the mind. This comes from ether, the subtlest aspect of Creation. The air element, or breathing is the next way to keep the body strong. Aromatherapy falls into this category. Color therapy is a way to use the light element to strengthen the system. Before an illness manifests in the body you can see it in the aura of a person. By energizing our system with prana or life energy one can clear the aura and prevent illness. Water is the next element. Fasting with water or purifying the system with water can bring a lot of balance within the system.
That is what yoga does. The purpose of yoga is to stop the sorrow before it arises; yoga burns the seed of sorrow before it sprouts. When all else fails, or we neglect these other steps, the final recourse is medicinal herbs, medicines, and surgery.
Our breath holds a lot of secrets. For every emotion in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath. Each rhythm physically affects certain parts of the body. You only need to observe it to feel it. For instance, we feel a sense of expansion when we are happy and a sense of contraction when we are miserable. Though we feel both the happiness or misery and the sensation of contraction and expansion, we often fail to notice the connection.
Knowledge is knowing that which expands. What is that? This knowledge, this enquiry is the study of consciousness, is the study of life, that is the study of prana, the study of Ayurveda. Have you ever counted how many times you breath in a minute? Breathing is the first act of life and it is the last act of life. In between, the whole life we are breathing in and out, but not attending to the breath.
Ninety percent of the impurities in the body go out through the breath because we are breathing twenty-four hours a day. However, we are using only thirty percent of our lung capacity. We are not breathing efficiently enough.
The mind is like a kite and the breath, like a thread. For the mind to go high the breath needs to be longer. You do not have to take Prozac if you can attend to the breath.
In one minute we breathe nearly sixteen to seventeen times.
If you are upset it may go up to twenty, if you are extremely tense and angry, it could total twenty-five per minute. Ten if you are very calm and happy, two to three breaths if you are in meditation. Deep meditation can reduce the number of breaths you take.
If you observe an infant, you will be amazed at how balanced they breathe. They breathe from all three sections of the body. As they breathe in their belly comes out, as they breathe out their belly moves in. You breathe in the reverse direction the more nervous and tense you are. When you breathe out your tummy will come out and when you breathe in, it goes in.
With a sharp mind, such lessons can learnt by observation, without teaching. But our mind is so preoccupied with infinite thoughts, judgments, opinions, and impressions that we are unable to observe or perceive the refined phenomena in nature.
This is why we need to study. The yoga asanas are something that everyone has done as a child. Have you seen a six-month-old baby lying on its back with its legs up? She kicks her legs and head up, almost like what you do with the abdominal machine. Then it rolls on its back and does the 'cobra' posture in yoga. If you observe a sleeping child, its thumb and the index finger slightly touch, a formation called the 'Chin mudra.'
Go to a zoo and observe the monkeys. Even they do many of the asanas to keep themselves healthy. These are the things that coordinate body, breath, mind and spirit. Ayurveda attends to this holistic approach. There are so many points in the body which correspond with different sensations; these are reflections of something which is beyond all this. What is that something? That is the source of life.
Health is: a disease-free body, quiver-free breath, stress-free mind, inhibition-free intellect, obsession-free memory, ego that includes all, and a Soul which is free from sorrow.
According to Ayurveda, life or existence is not a rigid compartment, but a harmonious flow. Even the five elements that make up the whole universe are not tight compartments of defined objects. They flow into one another; each one of the elements contains the other four.
The subtlest in us is space, the element the mind is made of, and the grossest is the earth element, which makes our bones, marrow, skin and the structure. This is further divided into the three Doshas - Vata, Pitta and Kapha .
Ayurveda is a way to understand the characteristics of human physiology, its reflection on the mind.
When an illness arises, it comes first in the thought form, the subtlest aspect, then the sound form, and then the light form, or the aura. It is only then that illness manifests in the body. Simple symptoms arise in the fluid form, which can be eradicated, and then it manifests in the grossest form, where it needs medication.
In treatments such as aromatherapy, an illness can be cured through fragrance. It is mostly focused on preventive treatment. The holistic approach of Ayurveda includes exercise, breath and meditation. It is very interesting to notice the relationship between breath and the different Doshas in the body, namely Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These three Doshas affect certain parts of the body more than the others.
For example, Vata Dosha is predominant in the lower part of the body such as the stomach and intestine. Diseases of the digestive system and joints are caused from Vata imbalance. Kapha dosha is predominant in the middle part of the body. Cough is mainly a result of Kapha imbalance. (Perhaps the word cough has come from the sanskrit word Kapha). Pitta, affects the upper part of the body ie, the head. Short temper is a sign of Pitta.
Yoga, breathing techniques like Sudarshan Kriya (The Art Of Living Healing Breath Technique) and three-stage pranayama (used to channel Prana or life force to different parts of the body) all affect these three Doshas.
Among the different pranayamas and breathing techniques, are specific breathing exercises for the lower, middle and the upper parts of the body. These help bring balance to respective areas of the body.
How do we bring good health to our system? First, by attending to the ether element - the mind. If your mind is bogged down with too many impressions and thoughts, your resistance is drained and your body is prone to illness. If the mind is clear, calm, meditative, and pleasant, resistance in the body will increase and prevent illness from entering the body.
The first remedy is to calm the mind. This comes from ether, the subtlest aspect of Creation. The air element, or breathing is the next way to keep the body strong. Aromatherapy falls into this category. Color therapy is a way to use the light element to strengthen the system. Before an illness manifests in the body you can see it in the aura of a person. By energizing our system with prana or life energy one can clear the aura and prevent illness. Water is the next element. Fasting with water or purifying the system with water can bring a lot of balance within the system.
That is what yoga does. The purpose of yoga is to stop the sorrow before it arises; yoga burns the seed of sorrow before it sprouts. When all else fails, or we neglect these other steps, the final recourse is medicinal herbs, medicines, and surgery.
Our breath holds a lot of secrets. For every emotion in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath. Each rhythm physically affects certain parts of the body. You only need to observe it to feel it. For instance, we feel a sense of expansion when we are happy and a sense of contraction when we are miserable. Though we feel both the happiness or misery and the sensation of contraction and expansion, we often fail to notice the connection.
Knowledge is knowing that which expands. What is that? This knowledge, this enquiry is the study of consciousness, is the study of life, that is the study of prana, the study of Ayurveda. Have you ever counted how many times you breath in a minute? Breathing is the first act of life and it is the last act of life. In between, the whole life we are breathing in and out, but not attending to the breath.
Ninety percent of the impurities in the body go out through the breath because we are breathing twenty-four hours a day. However, we are using only thirty percent of our lung capacity. We are not breathing efficiently enough.
The mind is like a kite and the breath, like a thread. For the mind to go high the breath needs to be longer. You do not have to take Prozac if you can attend to the breath.
In one minute we breathe nearly sixteen to seventeen times.
If you are upset it may go up to twenty, if you are extremely tense and angry, it could total twenty-five per minute. Ten if you are very calm and happy, two to three breaths if you are in meditation. Deep meditation can reduce the number of breaths you take.
If you observe an infant, you will be amazed at how balanced they breathe. They breathe from all three sections of the body. As they breathe in their belly comes out, as they breathe out their belly moves in. You breathe in the reverse direction the more nervous and tense you are. When you breathe out your tummy will come out and when you breathe in, it goes in.
With a sharp mind, such lessons can learnt by observation, without teaching. But our mind is so preoccupied with infinite thoughts, judgments, opinions, and impressions that we are unable to observe or perceive the refined phenomena in nature.
This is why we need to study. The yoga asanas are something that everyone has done as a child. Have you seen a six-month-old baby lying on its back with its legs up? She kicks her legs and head up, almost like what you do with the abdominal machine. Then it rolls on its back and does the 'cobra' posture in yoga. If you observe a sleeping child, its thumb and the index finger slightly touch, a formation called the 'Chin mudra.'
Go to a zoo and observe the monkeys. Even they do many of the asanas to keep themselves healthy. These are the things that coordinate body, breath, mind and spirit. Ayurveda attends to this holistic approach. There are so many points in the body which correspond with different sensations; these are reflections of something which is beyond all this. What is that something? That is the source of life.
Health is: a disease-free body, quiver-free breath, stress-free mind, inhibition-free intellect, obsession-free memory, ego that includes all, and a Soul which is free from sorrow.
