Ayurveda in Kerala

Ayurveda explained

Anyone who’s had a good day ruined by a testy work email or a post-lunch headache will understand how our physical and mental wellbeing can get nudged towards the unhealthy end of the spectrum very easily. Ayurveda recognises how the balance that all humans need to thrive can be thrown off whack, by both internal and external factors: thoughts, food choices, the seasons and weather, physical trauma, work and family relationships. Ill health and disease are the ultimate expression of this imbalance and disorder. Ayurveda looks to identify what’s causing this imbalance and then works to nullify its effects, restoring a healthy constitution.

Far from a one-size-fits-all approach to health, Ayurvedic teaching suggests that each individual has a unique combination of physical, mental and emotional characteristics which make up their constitution. It also identifies three basic types of energy – the doshas – present in everyone and everything, known as vata, pitta and kapha. Each individual has a dominant, primary energy (they may be more vata than pitta, for instance), and any major deficiencies in these energies can cause disease and affect how we respond to life.

So, if your vata, the energy associated with movement, is out of balance, this can lead to anxiety, but when it’s perfectly balanced it promotes creativity and flexibility. When kapha, the energy that relates to the body’s structure – bones, muscles, tendons – is in balance, individuals are calm and loving, but when out of balance they can be greedy and needy. And when pitta, which relates to the body’s metabolism, is in perfect balance you are understanding and thoughtful, but once this balance is lost it can lead to anger and jealousy. The crucial difference between Ayurveda and Western medicine is that it does not focus on symptoms and disease, it concentrates on wellness and health to prevent disease. Get the balance of energy right, and each individual’s body is more than equipped to defend against illness.