Ayurveda is part of the Vedas. The Vedas are known as the oldest sacred texts, dating to approximately 1700-1100 BC.  The common known Vedas are Rig Veda and AvarthaVeda. From the youngest of the Vedas, the Atharva Veda, Ayurveda was developed. At the turn of the first millennium BC the treatise known as Charaka Samhita (the first and most important of all Ayurvedic texts) was written.  Around this time Ayurveda’s most famous surgical text , the Sushruta Samhita was also compiled.  The belief that exists in Ayurveda: nothing exists in the world that cannot be used as medicine.

Indian medicine found its way into Greece when Alexander the Great’s invaded northern India. In the 3rd century BC, Asoka, the emperor of northern India built charitable hospitals, surgical, obstetric and mental facilities for both human and animals throughout his kingdom.  With the spread of Buddhism, as the Buddha himself was a strong supporter of Ayurveda, the holistic practice of Ayurveda soon spread to Sri Lanka.  Two other famous texts are Ashtanga Sangraha (7th century) and AshtangaHrdaya (8th century).  These two texts are condensations of the work of Charaka and Sushruta.

With the Islamic invasion of India, Ayurveda text and libraries and universities were destroyed. The survivors who fled to Nepal and Tibet carried with them Ayurveda texts. Till today some Ayurveda text are preserved only in Tibetan language. Ayurveda survived in India. The Muslim/Arabic physicians combined Ayurveda with Greek medicine and it is called Unani.  In Southern India the traditional medicine is known as Siddha medicine. It is dedicated to the 18 Siddhas or “seers”. There are similarities between Ayurveda and Siddha but they are not entirely the same system of medicine.

Ayurveda is a fluid system of body constitution, humor, metals and mineral medicine, herbalogy, external and internal cleansing, gem therapy, astrology, Yoga, mantra, meditation and prayers.  It is an extensively developed science that gives humans the tools to live in harmony with the nature and connection with the universe.

In all branches of Indian medicine, Ayurveda or Siddha, medical treatment is divided into eight (astanga) branches.

Ayurveda treatment consists of broadly of two parts:

Samana treatment (palliative) and Sodhana treatment (radical).

Five Sodhana treatment or eliminative treatments are mentioned below. Before treatment is administered a person has to be prepared to undergo these sessions with discipline.

Watch Nasyam treatment here

Most people familiar with Ayurveda have heard of the distinct or dominant body types. While this is one minor component of Ayurveda, it is not all of Ayurveda.  The Rishis (ancient seers) recorded three forces, tridosha in the basic existence of life in human. These three forces are a condensation of the five elements.  The five elements are fire, earth, water, air and ether.  These five elements make up all matter in the universe. The human body is a microcosm of the macrocosm.  A person can be one of these elements or a combination of two or three with one of the elements dominating the other.  All these five elements are energy in different forms. The tridosha influence our state of health.

In Ayurveda, energy is never destroyed, but evolves into different levels of vibration. Energy is constantly moving, changing, gives direction, force. Depending on the levels of vibration it can transmute to light, heat and cold. All living things in Ayurveda are viewed as static or dense energy constantly evolving.  We are matter which seems solid to the naked eye but we are in actual subtle moving forces of atoms, molecules in motion.

Prana is the name for life force that inhibits all living things.  Prana is also referred to as Purusha or Primal Force.  Unlike other livings things humans are gifted with the highest form of consciousness and most important of all, the conscious will. In Chinese and Japanese medicine , prana is known as Chi  and Ki.

Dosha or biological humor is defined as impurities, decay or waste products, that arisesout of process of the body metabolism.  When doshas predominate or become out of balance, disease arise.  From the five elements arise vata from air and ether, kapha from water and earth, pitta from fire and water.  Air is the predominant factor in vata, water in kapha, and fire in pitta.

Vata is also referred to as wind or air.  It attributes are dry, light, cold, changeable, mental clarity, calmness. Vata is the most important of the three humors. It directs the other two humors.  It has the potential to affect the mental and physical self.  When aggravated or disturbed vata can cause mental agitation, insomnia, dizziness, constipation, anxiety, nervousness, depression, retard fetus growth to name a few.

Kapha is also refered to as water or phlegm.  It unites earth and water.  It supports the other two humors. It holds things together. Its attributes are coldness, dampness, denseness, soft & firm, and oily.  It has the potential to affect mobility, lubrication and stability in emotions.  When kapha is aggravated it can cause lethargy, weight gain, cough, paleness, dehydrated effect, breathing difficulties, etc.

Pitta is otherwise known as fire or bile.  It properties are slightly oily, digestion/heat, lustre/glow, viscosity, etc.  When pitta aggravated it can cause thirst, difficulty sleeping, yellowing of skin, eyes, stool and urine, inflammation, fever, flushed complexion.

In Ayurveda the disease is treated at the sites at which the humors reside. By treating the specific location(s) where the imbalance has accumulated the dis-ease is treated it becomes chronic. Vata is located in the brain, heart, ears, bones, lungs, thighs, and colon. Kapha is located at head, nose, mouth, joints, tongue, throat, lymph system, fat, and stomach. Pitta is at liver, spleen, sweat glands.

Types of Vata: In Ayurveda there are 5 types of vata–air or wind.  If you have practiced Yoga breath work, and the Bandras, you will be familiar with directing the different types of air through the chakras.  The five types are called Prana, Udana, Samana, Vyana, and Apana.

These are upward and down ward moving air currents within the human body.  To briefly define these five currents.  Prana is the main life force which directs all other vata. Udana is the upward moving air. Samana is the equalizing air.  Vyana is the diffusive air. Apana is the downward moving air. (Refer to Siddha Vayu chart in Siddha section). Here is a site for learning various Ayurveda  term and definition.  

Types of Kapha:  By connecting the water element of kapha to its attributes and location, the function of the five types of water will make sense to the reader. Sleshakais related to lubrication (synovial fluid) with the joints.  Tarpaka is related to contentment.  Kledaka is for moisturizing.  Bodhaka is for perception and Avalambaka is for support.

Types of Pitta: As with vata and kapha, fire also has it different functions depending where it is located. Sadhaka pitta for reality. Pachaka for fire that aids digestion. Bhrajaka governs skin glow or lustre.  Ranjaka gives color to internal organs and liquid medium in the body. Lastly, Alochaka for visual perception.

The Tridoshas influence their actions through the tissues and waste products in the body.  In Ayurveda the human body has seven Dhatus or tissue layers.  They are: rasa (plasma or liquid), rakta (blood), medas (fat), asthi (bone), majja(marrow) and shukra (semen or reproductive essence). Rasa is the nectar that bathes each cells in the body. 

Ojas is the purest or refined nectar, that the body reproduces and it resides in the bone marrow. Ojas is also connected to the sexual fluids or shukra. Ojas enhances the immune system and boost digestion and contributes to the health glow or lustre.  The aura is the external glow that permeates from a person’s complexion and radiance.

As ojas is connected to shukra (semen or reproductive essence) which is connected to sexual fluids, that is a direct link between depletion of body’s energy and sex during any illness.  When sex is initiated, the mind identifies with the sex organs, sexual excitement increases blood flow to the sexual organs.  During sex shukra is moved from its stored location, the spinal cord, depending on each person’slevel of awareness. In practice of Tantra yoga, the various meditation and/or breathing techniques are used to bring the sexual energy up the spine via the chakras to the crown to achieve a heightened state without orgasm. It is by charging the sexual energy up the spine through the chakras without ejaculations as the primarily goal of sex, if one is disciplined to achieve it. In ejaculation or orgasm, the ojas is disturbed and the shukramoves downward.  Excessive sex and /or masturbation robs the body of these energies, breaks down ojas and shukra, depletes the physical system, weakens immune system, increases vata and apana (down ward moving air). 

Ayurveda believes if an individual engages in excessive sex then one has to learn how to restore the energy by Yogic practices or satvic (pure) foods. In summary  the principles of Ayurveda/Siddha and sexual practice is rather a complex modality of health that is challenging to write in a western linear view of the human body, sexual behavior and sexual health.

In Ayurveda the various channels throughout the body nourish the tissue with nutrients or remove waste products. When these channels flow fluidly, all is in harmony. Problems arise when these channels are blocked, or there is an excessive flow, decrease flow, knotted or flow out into wrong channel.  There are a total of 16 channels.  The first three are Prana channel (Pranavah Srotas), food channel (Annavah), water (Ambhuvah).  These three are connected with nutritional intake and the environment.  The next seven channels are: rasa (Rasavah), blood(Raktavah), muscle (Mamsavah), fat (Medavaha), bone (Asthivah), marrow (Majjavaha), and reproductive (Shukravah).

The next three are connection to the external world.  They are: sweat(Svedavaha), feces (Purishavaha), and urine (Mutravah).  Two additional channels are for females; menstruation (Artavavaha) and breast milk (Stanyavaha).  The last and one of the most important channels is the Manovaha Shrotas.  This channel connects to the nervous system and reproductive system.