Ayurveda is a 5000 yr. old universal truth

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It believes that diseases are caused when man tries to out do nature since the natural state is health and imbalance is ill health. Ayurveda focuses on bringing back health or rather maintaining balance.
Ayu is health.
Veda is knowledge.
So Ayurveda is knowledge of life. The dissatisfaction and malaise we feel in life is essentially due to our distance from nature. Ayurveda nullifies this using diet, exercise meditation and activities that nourish us.
Ayurveda works on body mind and soul principle.
Branches in Ayurveda.
Kaya chikitsa internal medicine
Shalakya tantra ENT and Ophthalmology
Shalya tantra surgery
Agada tantra toxicology
Bhuta vidya psychiatry
Kaumara vidya pediatrics
Vajikarna reproduction and procreation
Rasayana rejuvenation.
Ayurveda essentially has two arms.
· Maintenance of health
· Cure disease.
Health is maintained by specific diet and nutrition, life style and stabilizing techniques.
Curative aspect deals with body mind and soul. Which makes man a purusha. The cause diagnosis remedies and therapies to cure and prevent relapse of illness. The treatment is not suppression but elimination of cause of symptoms. Hence physical psychological and emotional components are important.
As per the Hindu thinking earth and everything on it is the combination of 5 basic elements. Prithvi, jala, akasha, Agni, and vayu.
These term s are used to classify and recognize various objects like:
Agni fire combustible, warm, hot
Jalap water moist cool
Prithvi earth heavy, solid, and stable.
These are not established in a laboratory but by what the 5 basic senses perceive. This may sound a little simplistic but to this basic classification, the age, environment season growth spurt all contribute.
E.g.: when perceived through the physiologic cycle we have:
Childhood growth focus water and earth
Adult activity focus Agni (fire)
Old age weakening space and air.

Just as the macrocosm is made of 5 elements the human body is made of 5 elements making it the microcosm. The elements present themselves as:
Space akasha nose, mouth, and other body orifices.
Air vayu lung, stomach, and other viscera
Fire Agni metabolism, vision, intelligence
Water jala plasma, mucous, saliva etc. body fluid
Earth prithvi muscle, skin.fat.
Health in terms of Ayurveda becomes the balance of these elements.
Imbalance is set right by using minerals, herbs or herbo-mineral components. Excess of one element is nullified by taking the opposite element like excess of water is nullified by using the opposite i.e. fire.
The five elements present themselves in the macrocosm as,
· With reference of season – e.g.—summer is essentially fire
· With reference to geography—e.g.—marshy land becomes water dominated, while mountains represent the wind component.
· With reference to emotions – e.g. – love would be watery and anger fiery.