More than a medical system, Ayurveda is a way of life, a way of cooperating with Nature and living in harmony with nature. Health in Ayurveda means harmony, and there is really no end to the degree of harmony can achieve if you set yourself to the task. This method of living emphasizes prevention over cure. Some complain that Ayurveda works slowly, but slowness is often part of the remedy, especially today when many of us suffer from the disease of haste. Ayurveda balances and rejuvenates an organism, reducing its susceptibility and empowering its immunity to prevent new disease from developing. Ayurveda believes that every individual is a unique phenomenon. The individual is indivisible from the cosmos. Whatever is there in the macrocosm, the same thing exists in the microcosm. Every individual is a manifestation of cosmic consciousness.

We humans have not really changed much in our recorded history. Our technology is more advanced, surely, but our bodies and minds are almost identical to those of our ancestor, who suffered from the same disease and demonstrated the same admirable and despicable qualities that we do. Ayurveda’s unbroken chain of experience has much to say to us today. Its therapies, and its methods for determining the appropriate therapy for each condition, have been tested by thousands and thousands of physicians on millions and millions of patients. Its theories have stood the test of time.

In ancient days, when Ayurveda was being developed, humans were much less able to control their external environment than we can today. They had no choice but to rely on nature. Lacking fancy instruments they cultivated their intuitive abilities and because they lived in close proximity to Nature they found it easy to determine the medical effects of plants, animals and minerals. They experimented on themselves, and handed down their observations to their children. This collected medical lore was codified long ago in the form of Ayurveda.

Everyone in today’s world who wants to be healthy has a personal responsibility to learn as much as possible about the health. Ayurveda is meant to allow you to enjoy the pleasures of life up to the point that such enjoyment interferes with your Health.