What is Ayurvedic Health
How Ayurveda Works
Ayurveda has a lot to do with how to live your life in harmony with nature. It is the original circadian medicine, meaning that through ayurveda, you may align your body clock with nature’s circadian rhythm. For example, you may eat a larger lunch and smaller dinner, allowing proper digestion to take place before and while you sleep. Ayurveda is a complex system with many facets, but in short, here are the basic tenants and how they might apply to overall health and wellness..
The Ayurvedic Elements
Air
Water
Space or ether
Earth
Fire
The Ayurvedic Humors
A combination of these ayurvedic elements make up what are known as the three humors, also called constitutions or energies, of the body. Constitution varies by individual, and per ayurvedic philosophy, it may influence how well your body functions during specific times of the year.
Vata dosha (air and space) is associated with the cold, dry winter.
Pitta dosha (fire) is associated with summer.
Kapha dosha (earth and water) is associated with wet, rainy, muddy spring and fall.
Doshas
Kapha dosha (earth and water) is associated with wet, rainy, muddy spring and fall.
“Each of us have [components of] all three [doshas], but we have our own unique makeup: The primary energy is considered the dominant dosha,” says Carlson. Ideally, for the best health, you have a balance of all three, but an imbalance is believed to lead to ill health and disease. Through ayurvedic medicine, you can better understand your constitution and may then make conscious changes to improve the balance of your doshas, thus potentially improving your overall health.
For example, if vata is your dominant dosha, you may naturally feel colder, which might increase anxiety levels and lead to poor sleep. Someone with a dominant pitta dosha may often feel hot and be more competitive and driven, but they may also be vulnerable to inflammation. Someone with a dominant kapha dosha tends to be easygoing, calm, and approachable but is potentially more prone to congestion and weight gain.
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You might have an equally strong combination of two or three doshas, which means you could be dual or tri-doshic. A certified ayurvedic practitioner can help you identify your individual constitution to formulate an ayurvedic wellness routine catered to you.
Possible Benefits of Ayurveda
While there are many possible benefits of practicing ayurvedic medicine, it’s important to keep in mind that though it has been around for thousands of years, there are few clinical trials published in Western journals to show its efficacy, per the NCCIH. Still, the following are potential health perks of the ayurvedic approach.
May Foster Stress Resilience
Through the use of diet, lifestyle changes, exercise and movement, as well as yoga and breath work, ayurveda enhances your body’s resilience against stress. The goal is to create an inner experience of composure and confidence that allows you to be able to handle stress like water rolling off your back. The ayurvedic lifestyle allows you to go through the day preventing stress in lieu of the alternative, which is breaking your body down and then recovering. Ultimately, this mental and emotional work can take on a spiritual component for some, fostering inner peace and self awareness.
May Promote a General Sense of Well-Being
One popular and more well-researched ayurvedic herb in the United States is ashwagandha, a shrub that’s used as an adaptogen, which are plants that improve your body’s response to stress, anxiety, and fatigue, per Cleveland Clinic.
In one study, college students who took 700 milligrams of ashwagandha root for 30 days reported more energy, mental clarity, and better sleep compared with a placebo group, all of which resulted in a heightened sense of well-being.
Additionally, a systematic review and meta-analysis concluded that ashwagandha supplementation had generally positive effects on participants' physical performance variables that affected strength, power, and cardiorespiratory fitness, compared with controls.
Though it’s important to consult your doctor before taking any supplement, including ashwagandha, research has found that the extract is generally safe for healthy people. Additional potential benefits that are being explored include improvements in heart function, strength, and muscle recovery; enhanced sexual function; and even body weight management, notes the study.
Ayurveda Safety and Side Effects, and
Who Might Want to Try Ayurvedic Medicine
The basic underpinnings of ayurveda — being in balance and harmony with nature and the rhythms of nature — can be practiced by anyone. The lion’s share of ayurveda practices will focus on prevention, self-care, and daily and seasonal living routines, which are all safe,” she says.
This includes eating more foods that are in season (if available to you), going to bed earlier and waking up closer to the sunrise (if your schedule allows), and properly timing meals to support your metabolism and digestion (like a larger lunch, followed by a smaller dinner and, ideally, no snacking before bed).
Another layer of ayurveda involves incorporating spices and herbal teas into your diet, which is generally safe when used in normal amounts in cooking and consuming. In ayurvedic theory, you might use these to balance your doshas. For example, if you have a pitta (fire) dosha, you may use more warming spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger in the winter and less of these in the summer to avoid overheating and potentially help decrease inflammation.
The next step may be the use of herbs and supplements. Herbal preparations should only be used when recommended by a certified ayurvedic health counselor or practitioner. These herbal formulations, such as triphala, ashwagandha, and pippali, are readily available to purchase in most health-food stores but can be potent and harmful to some people depending on underlying health conditions.
Still, be cautious when taking any ayurvedic product and be sure to discuss contraindications for your specific health concerns with a certified ayurvedic practitioner. Also, find out where herbs or supplements are sourced from and verify that they're third-party tested. This helps ensure that they’re not contaminated and contain what they claim to on the label. Again, take supplements under the watch of a qualified doctor or practitioner.
Tips for Getting Started With Ayurveda
Many states do not allow for the treatment of disease through ayurveda so check the regulations where you live.
Often, ayurveda is used in collaboration with [conventional] medicine. It’s very useful to approach diet, lifestyle, and self-care from an ayurvedic perspective and then use Western surgeries and medicines for treatment.
Additionally, of course, not every ayurvedic lifestyle habit is right for everyone. These are all broad strokes, based on someone’s own individual needs, including taking into consideration their conventional medical history, medications, and active conditions or diseases, they’ll need to fine-tune their ayurvedic habits.
What’s more, these things may shift depending on the season, as well as your dosha. This is where an ayurvedic practitioner can help, particularly in helping you identify your correct dosha. Make sure you are working with one who is certified. The National Ayurvedic Medical Association offers a tool to locate a professional near you.
That said, here are some general and basic ayurvedic principles that may help you get started. These are not specific guidelines and can vary significantly based on each individual’s needs.
Self-Care Practices
Lifestyle-based ayurvedic practices and routines like rinsing your sinuses with a neti pot, using a tongue scraper, dry brushing or massaging oil into your skin, and oil pulling are a good place to explore the practices, suggests Hall Carlson.
Ayurvedic Diet
Eating more seasonal, fresh, local foods and avoiding processed foods may help enhance and regulate your digestion. For example, if you're following an ayurvedic diet, after breakfast, you may eat a larger lunch and a smaller, earlier dinner with minimal snacking to support the body’s natural rhythms of digestion. Hall Carlson recommends sitting down and eating slowly and mindfully, which may help relieve gas, bloating, and reflux caused by big, fatty meals eaten quickly in a distracted frame of mind.
Sleep Hygiene
If your schedule allows, ayurvedic philosophy recommends that you sleep more during winter when nights are longer and less in summer when nights are shorter. In line with nature, aim to wake up just before sunrise, “when birds and squirrels are running around,” says Hall Carlson, and go to bed around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. In general, the ayurvedic rule of thumb is to sleep when it’s dark and rise when it’s light, she notes.
Exercise
Do stronger exercise in the morning, like strength workouts or high-intensity interval training, and save restorative movement, like walking, gentle yoga, or tai chi, for the afternoon, says Hall Carlson. This may prevent you from getting too hyped up before bedtime, when it’s time to wind down for sleep.
May Enhance Overall Wellness
Ayurveda may help counteract today’s busy lifestyle in impactful ways. The system prioritizes peacefulness, balance, and tranquility. Often, this includes reconnecting with nature through walks and hikes, sitting in the park, stargazing, and swimming in natural bodies of water.
Per research, exposure to nature has been shown to improve cognitive function, brain activity, mental health, blood pressure, and sleep. It’s posited that spending time in nature may indeed counteract the mental fatigue of modern life, as well as activate the “rest and digest” parasympathetic nervous system and encourage more physical activity.
“Zooming out and connecting to the weather, sky, trees, and flowers and breathing fresh air is really needed in modern times,” she says.
Additionally, researchers evaluated the effects of several ayurvedic interventions delivered to participants via wellness retreat-style courses with a mind-body-spirit focus. Those enrolled reported improved psychosocial well-being during and after, compared with a vacation control group.
