Ayurveda is one of the many terms that we associate with natural healing methods, alternative lifestyles and Far Eastern wisdom. We see and hear in adverts, doctors' surgeries, pharmacies and magazines that this or that form of treatment, remedy or herbal preparation is based on the Ayurvedic tradition.
However, most people do not realise exactly what this means, because our understanding of these healing methods is still too vague.
Ayurveda comes from India and is very widespread there today as a treatment method or medical theory, i.e. a large part of the population in India is treated according to this medicine.
Ayurveda uses various methods of application to carry out a treatment, it is based on the administration of herbal preparations with healing powers, yoga, meditation, massages, fasting cures, baths and purification.
However, treatment begins with a diagnosis. It is based on the person's condition and the state of their energy centres, the so-called doshas. There are three doshas in the human body, Vata, Pitta and Kapha, and these need to be harmonised, as this is the only way a person can be and remain healthy.
The three doshas were derived from the five elements t, earth, water, fire, air and cosmic space, which determine all processes in the world and give rise to all rules and laws.
Diseases in the human body arise from the incorrect interaction of its physical elements and from ignoring the signals that the body sends out when imbalances are present. Ayurveda teaches how to change wrong lifestyles and heal damage that has already occurred, always with the aim of harmonising all important areas of life.
If a dosha is weakened, the body is no longer able to break down toxins on its own and therefore needs to balance the dosha on the one hand and remove the toxins using a method that is foreign to the body on the other. Hence the treatment methods that focus precisely on this.
The treating doctor can use a finger pressure analysis to determine where problem areas have formed in the body, but he also uses his own senses of hearing, smell and sight to make the diagnosis. Furthermore, the diagnosis always involves a detailed discussion with the patient.
Even astrological aspects can be included, this practice is called "Prakriti" analysis in Ayurveda and reveals certain aspects from birth that are no longer changeable.
In India, Ayurveda is used for all medical conditions, regardless of the medical field, for adults as well as for children.
In Europe, people have not yet developed the same confidence in the possibilities of Ayurveda, which is why only harmless complaints are usually treated with these methods, with massages, aromatherapy and herbal preparations being used.