By Elizabeth Herman ┃Posted: August 24, 2018

The approach of western doctors often fights against symptoms, rather than causes, of disease. While many medications kill harmful bacteria, they destroy helpful bacteria at the same time. How can you go beyond the reactive methods of modern medicine to nurture a deep foundation for real health within you?

For another way of doing things in the medical field, you need look no further than the ancient vedic way of healing, known as Ayurveda. Today, natural healing offers relief from the side effects of modern medications, and goes directly to the root cause of health problems, rather than focusing on the surface symptoms for treating discomfort and disease.

Thousands of years before modern medicine, the sages of ancient India developed Ayurveda, one of the world’s oldest healing systems. In this podcast, Dr. Marc Halpern, president of the California College for Ayurveda, and Dr. Smita Naram, a renowned Ayurvedic physician, share how you can understand your unique body type, specific dietary and lifestyle needs, and a simple detoxification diet that can be cleansing and nourishing for everyone.

Basic principles

In his introduction to this discussion, Michael Fischman says, “Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word that literally translates as ‘wisdom of life.’ Ayurvedic medicine views health as much more than the absence of disease. It’s based on one guiding principle: address the root cause of any ailment, rather than its symptoms.

Ayurveda treats every individual as one of a kind, with a unique blueprint for health. The underlying prescription of Ayurvedic medicine is quite simple: recognize the power of self-healing within, and you’ll become your own greatest doctor. Today’s show is about understanding some of the basic principles of Ayurveda.”

What’s right for you?

Mark Halpern, President and founder of the California College of Ayurveda, the very first state approved college of Ayurveda in the United States, says, “Ayurveda is based on the idea that nothing is right for everyone, but everything is right for someone, and ayurveda is the path of understanding what’s right for you. When I say what’s right for you, I mean what you take in through your five senses. So, diet through your sense of taste, smell through your nose, sights and colors through your eyes, sound through your ears and touch through your skin.

Nothing is right for everyone; everything is right for someone. Some people thrive on a vegetarian diet, some people may need some meat. Other people thrive on a raw foods diet, for others that would cause them irritable digestion. What’s right for you is different than what’s right for me.

What is your constitution? This is your unique balance of energy that’s determined at the moment of conception. Doshas govern the physiology of your body. We all have motion (vata), metabolism (pitta), and structure (kapha) but we have them in different proportions. Some people are very mobile, some are very metabolic and some are very highly structured and have more density to their bodies. Your constitution is the balance of these three.”

The buildup of ama

Dr. Smita Naram, an ayurvedic physician and herbalist based in Mumbai, India, is a highly accomplished pulse master and the co-founder of Ayur Shakti Ayurvedic Herbal products. She has established more than 100 residential panchakarma detoxification clinics in India.

She says, “Imagine, you take the best and most nutritious food in the world, but if it doesn’t digest, it’s not going anywhere in your body at all. It has to digest first. It will either pass through the stool or stay in your body in a state that we call ama toxins. We don’t need these ama toxins at all because the body doesn’t know what to do with these half digested foods. Wherever they get piled up, they cause blockages...

At least once in three months, because we have to admit we are not living the best lifestyle, we should detoxify our systems.”

Here is a link to Ayurveda 101, the 3rd podcast on the Back to the Source website. The website has many other podcasts as well.

You also can listen on on iTunes podcasts or Google Play.

By Elizabeth Herman - PhD in English, with concentrations in Rhetoric and Composition, and Literature, she offers writing support to clients, teaches locally, and lives in Boone, NC. With a longtime keen interest in Yoga and Ayurveda, she recently completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training with Sri Sri School of Yoga.