So, what is Ayurveda...?

Yes, you’re quite right, this piece ought to have appeared a month ago so that you’d not be wondering what this blog was all about, and then the posts would follow in a nice orderly, logical sequence like well-planned chapters of a book. Well, I wanted to get my head round it myself, and today I had the added benefit of a long chat with the yoga master. And he’s an interesting chap: trained as a conventional pharmacist then drawn into yoga initially through curiosity and a bit of family background (he’s a Brahmin – the caste of the priesthood.) Then he went to an Ashram to study yoga and now spends some of his working day quietly balanced on his head.

The Ayurveda texts – the Vedas – are written in Sanskrit, a language where nouns and verbs can carry intensely complex nuances of interpretation, making it difficult for anyone not a Sanskrit scholar even to begin to study Ayurveda. The word itself comes from Ayur - Life, and Veda – Knowledge, so the phrase the science of life gives a pretty good steer as to what Ayurveda is all about. It’s not a branch of medicine, and it’s not a religion. The best description would be that Ayurveda is a treatise on how to live. Its origins are, predictably, shrouded in the mists of time. The artists’ impressions that illustrate the stories of the history of Ayurveda show Indian gurus meeting blue-faced strangers at a sort of convention in the foothills of the Himalayas, five thousand years ago. This is manna from heaven for New-Age hippies like me, [- They came down to Earth to visit us and share their wisdom.] For the sceptics, the short answer is that nobody knows how the gurus gained access to this knowledge, and the fact that modern scientific knowledge is showing more and more of Ayurvedic concepts to be right on the money, makes the whole thing another of those spooky mysteries.

So, if it’s not a health-care philosophy, why do people come here to Kerala in search of  – for want of a better word – a cure? The answer is that the central principle of Ayurveda is that healthy life comes from achieving a balance between the three Doshas or universal elements of life. These are firstly Kapha [Water & Earth] – the physical body, secondly there’s Vata [Air & Space] – to move and transport, and thirdly there’s Pitta [Fire] - to digest and convert into energy. Ayurveda teaches that life goes along smoothly when these three elements are in balance and that all kinds of illnesses are signs that they are not in balance.
Yoga fits into Ayurveda naturally because of its emphasis on breathing and balance, and the clear parallel between physical balance and mental balance. So, in short, people come here to clean it all out and get some equilibrium back into their lives.
Another teaching is that there are three levels of human awareness. The lowest is closed and seeing nothing; the middle level is active, busy and preoccupied; the highest level is attentiveness, seeing things as they really are and not being drawn into being so busy that you don’t get the bigger picture. People often move up the scale in the course of their lives, gradually becoming more aware. In simple terms, to use a phrase I learned on one of my Personal Development courses – it’s the difference between a Human Being and a Human Doing. Many of us spend most of our lives as Human Doings... and never realise our potential as Human Beings.

For anyone who wants to explore Ayurveda there is a great deal to learn. There are detailed teachings about interpreting the workings of the body (the doctors here demand graphic details of my bowel movements every day.) Then there are relationships. Ayurveda considers a solitary existence to be abnormal and places a heavy emphasis on achieving emotional stability through a settled relationship with a long-term partner.

While some of the methods may seem whacky, obscure or even downright ridiculous, the results are there to experience. As an example, I’ve had one minor medical problem for years, and my doctors both in Kent and in Italy have shrugged their shoulders in ignorance and told me I’d have to live with it. Here in Kerala, it took less than 10 days for the problem to be eradicated – hopefully once and for all.

The best diet uses fresh, local produce

What happens next...?

Of course, it’s one thing to follow a truly healthy routine here in rural Kerala, but it will be a challenge to create something similar that will effectively continue the treatment back home in Italy. Fortunately, diet will not be a major problem as the doctors were lecturing on this last week and explained that every country has developed a national diet that is appropriate to its climate and agricultural potential. Vegetarianism is appropriate to Kerala, it may well not be appropriate in many parts of Europe. Curries with rice and chapattis are not compulsory; they are the local version of combining carbohydrate with vitamins and protein. Every cuisine has its local variation, so pasta can replace rice for carbohydrates, and olives replace coconuts for oil. At home, fruit and vegetables are trucked up from the South every Sunday to the local market, so everything is seasonal and delicious. As far as meat and fish are concerned, I was getting to dislike the tasteless battery chickens, and look forward to experimenting with more Adriatic fish on the menu as well as the chick-peas and beans for which the region is famous.

But what shall I do about coffee? At home in Italy I have grown to love my caffe corretto dark, black, strong and laced with a dash of Grappa all for the sum of just one Euro. Well, one a day won’t be excessive and – as the vedic texts insist – what’s important is to keep everything in balance.