What Is Ayurveda?

An Excerpt from The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda by Michelle S. Fondin

Ayurveda is mind-body medicine that originated in India at least five thousand years ago. The name Ayurveda comes from two Sanskrit (an ancient language of India) words: ayus, meaning “life,” and veda, which means “science” or “knowledge.” So the name literally means the “science of life.” Ayurveda is a complete medical system or science that includes observation; diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease; detoxification and rejuvenation of the body; surgery; and herbal medicine. Ayurveda is called a consciousness-based system of medicine because the practitioner seeks to understand the patient fully before recommending or administering treatment, and because the practitioner works not only on observation but also on intuition. The Ayurvedic practitioner knows that the patient is not simply flesh and bones but a dynamic being with a mind, a body, emotions, a soul, and a spirit. As the Charaka Samhita states, the physician needs to enter the heart of the patient “with the flame of love.” If she does not, she cannot help him. I believe this statement points to what has ...

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