The World's Oldest Herbal Healing System Is More User-Friendly Than It First Appears
Ayurveda is a system of healing originating in India approximately 4000 years ago. Ayurveda is a Sanskrit word derived from two roots, "ayur, which means long life or life cycle, and "ved," which means knowledge. Ayurveda is a medical system that promotes longevity through knowledge of natural cycles - the knowledge of life. In this article we'll explore just one of the basics of Ayurvedic thinking, the pancha mahabhutas, or the Five Great Elements, but from the perspective of the busy, pragmatic, Westerner seeking Ayurvedic insight into everyday health.
According to the sages of ancient Indian medicine, in the beginning, the world existed only as undivided life-force. Out of that unified state, the primordial word Aum created the Five Great Elements, space, fire, air, water, and earth. Human beings, existing as an image of the universal creative force, contain all five elements-but could this ancient theory have any relevance to a modern consumer seeking health on the go?
The short answer is, yes it can. Every cell in the human body, for instance, uses energy (fire) to organize molecules (earth) in structures made possible by water. Healthy living cells organize water in space into exquisite lattices of function and information, building a beautiful lattice of subcellular structures. These tiny centers of structure and function are held in place by submicroscopic distributions of electrical charge. Electrical charges move back and forth across the membranes of the cell with the energy derived from the respiration of oxygen from the air.
Modern science gives us a dynamic understanding of the interactions of the five elements in the cell. The universally familiar H2O arranges its three atoms into the shape of a wing. The asymmetric distribution of charge in the water molecule makes it "polar." Polar molecules of water can bond to each other without forming a new compound. The concentration of positive charge on the hydrogen of one molecule of water can be linked to the concentration of negative on the oxygen of another molecule of water. Other positively charged particles (sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, for example) and negative charged particles (amino acids and sugars) surrounding the water affect the distance between the water molecules and influence the shape of the lattice work of the ultramicroscopic structures of the cell.
In turn, the foods you eat, and the times you eat them, control the supply of the ions and molecules that either support or destroy the fine structure of the cell. Physicians and healers as diverse as Max Gerson, Deepak Chopra, and Demetrio Sodi-Pallares have used the insight of Ayurveda to develop food therapies to treat disease as diverse as pancreatic cancer, congestive heart failure, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, brain injuries, and even stretch marks. You might be surprised to learn that there are over 12,000 documented cases recognized in the mainstream medical literature concerning the use of Ayurvedic approaches for treating congestive heart failure alone, and that the majority of these treatments were conducted not in India, but in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. Future articles will discuss the nutritional approach of Ayurveda in greater depth and specificity for all of these conditions. In the meantime, feel free to contact us with any questions about Ayurveda.
