At some point in time, Ayurveda must have piqued your curiosity. Be it through the media’s doting attention to Ayurvedic healing or perhaps a friend who couldn’t stop raving about this holistic healing practice. Ayurveda has no doubt become a buzzword today. The fact that something so natural can cure almost any type of malady without taking a toll on your body is nothing short of magic.

But Ayurveda isn’t magic. It’s an evidence-based science!

The Sanskrit term Ayurveda translates to “knowledge of life,” and at its core, the principles of this ancient wisdom remind us that the mind, body and spirit have to be in harmony to attain balance in life. In a nutshell, the art and science of Ayurveda work to harmonize our internal and external world.

Ayurveda considers that every individual is made up of a unique combination of the five elements of ether, air, fire, water, and earth. These elements are grouped into three basic types of energy and functional principles that are present in everybody and everything. And since there are no particular words in English to describe these principles; we use the Sanskrit words Vata (space and air), Pitta (fire and water), and Kapha (water and earth) to describe their combinations.

Each dosha then has its own physical, emotional and mental characteristics that are expressed in our being. While all of us have some aspects of each dosha, one or two tend to dominate, informing everything from our digestion to our emotions and body rhythms. The foundation of Ayurvedic treatment relies upon recognizing when these doshas have become excessive or deficient, as this is known to cause doshic imbalance and may lead to disease.

The most important idea to understand is Ayurveda does not endorse instant solutions to maladies, but promotes a holistic process of wellbeing. This is attained through a balanced diet, herbal infusions and remedies, massage therapy, yoga, and meditation.