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Ayurveda is the ancient Indian health science developed through centuries long research works of sages, who were eminent scholars.
As the term 'Ayurveda' denotes to 'the knowledge of life' it's not only a system to cure disease but the system teaching us how to achieve 'Perfect Health' from diseased or abnormal conditions and how to lead our life, both physical and mental, to attain the bliss of real life

Keen observation and study of nature including all kinds of life in the world for hundreds of years could only have formulated such a life science which has a concrete basis in Indian philosophy and wide reaching applicability in life of all sorts.

Since it is holistic, it approaches man as a whole and cares man's physical mental and spiritual health. It's almost as old as mankind and at the same time so new as modern man that no disease is there which is incurable or uncontrollable unless misled too much.

According to ayurveda human body is composed of three fundamental elements called 'Doshas' - which represent the physio-chemical and physiological activities of the body, 'Dhatu' which denotes the materials entering in to the formation of a basic structure of the body cell, thereby performing some basic actions; and 'Malas', the substance which are partly used in the body and partly excreted in yet another form after serving their physiological activities.

The dynamic equilibrium of these leads to perfect health. Imbalance of any of these leads to disease. To be healthy we have only to maintain the original, natural balance of these.

The role of a physician is to understand the imbalance happened to this dynamic equilibrium and to correct or give advice as how it could be brought back to the original state, whether with medicine or with change in life style. He studies the patient; not only the disease, with some special techniques and then gives you some medicines and a lot of advice, after which you may feel healthier and no system upset.

Though 'Doshas', 'Dhatus' and 'Malas' are equally important, 'Doshas' have a bit more dominance; because human body and everything in it are influenced by doshas and maintenance of their balance will correct the defects of the other.

'Doshas' are three - Vata, Pitta and Kapha and they may not be equal and same in all. According to the dominance of each dosha every man is categorized to different types.  There can be single dosha type - 2 dosha and 3-dosha type. There is a lot of means to find out body types and it is easy for an ayurvedic doctor to recognise anyone's body type. There is a lot we can do for our better health, life style and everything can be adjusted according to our body type so that we can resist diseases well so as to attain perfect health.

So nowadays, in the age of dreadful disease the ayurvedic system of finding out of body types have unfathomable importance.

Physical and mental co-operation of the patient to make necessary changes in his life style and food habits also are essential to attain the natural dynamic balance of the dosha and once that balance is maintained the illness is gone. So ayurvedic doctor is not treating the disease, but making his patient healthy.

Ayurveda gives special emphasis on prevention of disease. Signs and symptoms by which we can foresee an illness are well described in the texts so that we can take necessary steps to avoid it or lessen the strength of it. More than that it describes how to live to avoid disease in each climate and how can perfect health be maintained throughout the life. A strict follower of these advices can enjoy an ill-less enthusiastic life with high quality physical, mental and spiritual health.

Medicine?
"You are what you eat' - according to ayurvedic principle. So much emphasis is given to the food habits and life style.

Natural herbs are widely used as medicines. In fundamental principles of Ayurveda 5 basic elements are very important. The universe, and anything in the universe is believed to be made of these 5 elements which are air, water, earth, fire and space. Quality and nature of everything varies according to the difference in the proportion of these elements. According to the dominance of these elements each plant or each mineral exhibits its own physical and chemical characters. This basic principle is made use of in the formulation of medicines in Ayurveda.

Since natural herbs being the main ingredients of the medicines, side effects or ill effects are practically nil. So it is very safe to use ayurvedic drugs in any condition. In modern medicine side effects of drugs are the most scaring nightmare these days. Powerful chemicals, used to cure simple illness usually lead us to more complicated chronic disease such as stomach ulcers, diabetes, kidney & liver problems, piles etc. This will never happen with ayurvedic drugs because of its tie with nature.

There is a branch of ayurveda where solely chemicals are used as medicine. But on every step from the purification of the chemical to the directions for the usage, special care is taken to avoid any side effects and if used in the prescribed manner these are also completely safe.

Treatment of Making you healthy
The treatment in ayurveda is classified mainly into two-'Samana' and 'Sodhana'. Samana is the pacifying way of treatment and Sodhana roots out the disease from the body. Oral therapy and easier means of treatment are prescribed under 'samana' treatment.

But 'Sodhana' treatment is extensive, time consuming procedures to change a diseased man to the original healthy man. These are widely used all over India for patients with chronic illnesses. If done with special precautions, regular checkups and extra care these type of 'Sodhana' treatments can work wonders and this is what happens in India, especially in Kerala, which attracts a lot of visitors from all over the world to this small state.

Kerala is a small state in India and this state has a special nature that it won't accept anything as such. If anything new comes, it will sow the seeds in its own soil and cultivate with its own water and air, then will reap the result and that will be used.

This happened in the case of ayurveda also. Apart from other parts of India, Kerala has a special type of treatment. Though the texts of lessons studied are same the system of treatment is entirely different and far more effective as well. These special Kerala treatments include Pizhichil (oil bath), Ilakizhi (leaf bundle massage), Navarakizhi (rice bundle massage) etc; which are widely and effectively used in the treatment of chronic severe illness such as rheumatoid arthritis, paralysis, facialpalsy, motorneuron disease, ankylosing spondylitis, acute infective poly neuritis, various spinal problems, gastric or peptic ulcers etc.

Since these intense treatments need extra care, regular checkups, specially trained persons to perform and place with enough facilities, hospitalisation is necessary where nursing care and doctor's presence give patients more confidence. Ayurveda cares for patient's physical and mental satisfaction and so these treatments are done in patients with peace of mind or they have to be made so before starting with.

Healthy mind is seen only in a healthy body - ayurveda believes. Mental aberration can lead to ill health and vice versa.

Mind - body relation is well explained in ayurveda with an example of ghee in a pot. The heat of the pot may conduct to the ghee inside and the heat of the ghee vice versa. Thus any mental aberration can lead to physical abnormalities and physical problems to mental distortions. So an ayurvedic doctor has to think always about the patient's mental status and capabilities. Otherwise all vain.

Thus the holistic approach of ayurveda is obvious in every part of this system.

Studying Ayurveda
In ancient days 'Gurukula', ie, one master system was the way to teach ayurveda. One eminent physician teach a group of selected students, accommodating all of them in his own house and they had to work for him. Thus they could gain a thorough theoretical and practical knowledge in every aspect of the system from the basic principles of different ways of management. Whenever he felt them to be fit to practice he would let them to start their own practice. This was the right and effective means to study ayurveda well. But as time changed the system started to function under various universities where ayurveda is taught now.

In South India there are a lot of ayurveda colleges now. After matriculation, interested ones can seek admission there by passing an entrance examination. The duration of the course is usually 5 years and after passing the qualifying examination they can have an internship for 6 months in hospitals attached to the college. Thus ayurvedic doctors are made now. Still after finishing studies most doctors approach skillful and renowned doctors for better practical knowledge and experience. In India we have got enough such physicians with skill and fame. This makes the thinking lot of South India to seek ayurveda for help when they have health problems.

Now it is the time for retreat. From the hypnotic sleep created by the crave for modernism, Man is waking up slowly to find his final and original shelter in his mother's lap-The Nature. So everything natural is becoming precious and here comes the importance of ayurveda - the natural way of healing physical, mental and spiritual illnesses.

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