essential ayurveda
OceanofPDF .comessential ayurveda
what it is & what it can do for you
SHUBHRA KRISHAN
NEW WORLD LIBRARY 
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA 
www .newworldlibrary .com
OceanofPDF .comNew W orld Library  
14 Pamaron W ay 
Novato, California 94949
Copyright © 2003 by Shubhra Krishan
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmi tted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written
permission from the publisher , except by a reviewer , who may quote brief passages in a review . Edited by Geor gia A. Hughes and Katharine Farnam Conolly
Front cover design by Mary Beth Salmon
Text design and typography by T ona Pearce Myers
The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and
treatment by a qualified medical practitione r or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee as to the
effects of the use of the recommendations can be given nor liability taken. Grateful acknowledg ment is given to Gopi Eberle and Mari Gayatri Stein for use of the yoga
illustrations in chapter 12. Illustrations by Gopi Eberle from Yoga Transformations  audiocassette by
Mari Gayatri Stein. Copyright © 1984 by Mari Gayatri Stein. www .marigayatri.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Krishan, Shubhra, 1966–
Essential ayurveda : what it is & what it can do for you / by Shubhra Krishan. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-57731-234-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Medicine, A yurvedic. I. T itle. R605 .K725 2003  
615.5’3—dc21
2002014135
First Printing, February 2003
ISBN 978-1-57731-234-5
Printed in Canada on acid-free, partially recycled paper
Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group W est
10 9 8 7 6 5
OceanofPDF .comdedication
This work is dedicated to two of the most important people in my life: one
who made me, and one who made it possible for me to realize my dream. To my father , an ocean of insigh t. I stroll on the wind-washed shores of
his memories, drinking in the knowledge and love he left me. And, to Anandj i, a mountain of inspiration, who will always tower on
the horizon of my consciousness. OceanofPDF .comCONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction  
The Lunch That Changed My Life
Chapter 1  
Ayurveda Is a V erb
Chapter 2  
Ayurveda Spells Health B-A-L-A-N-C-E
Chapter 3  
How A yurvedic Healing W orks
Chapter 4  
“Elementary” A yurveda
Chapter 5  
Learning the Language of the Elements
Chapter 6  
Routine Matters — and How! Chapter 7  
The Delicious Route to HealingChapter 8  
The When-What-How-and-Why of Food
Chapter 9  
Fresh, Flavorsome, Fulfilling A yurvedic Recipes
Chapter 10  
Be A yurveda Beautiful
Chapter 1 1 
Simply Stress-Free
Chapter 12  
Yoga: An Exercise in Bliss
Chapter 13  
Living A yurveda, Giving A yurveda
Chapter 14  
Surfing the A yurvedic Ocean
Appendix  
Dosha-W ise Food Guide
Glossary
Resource List
Index
About the Author
OceanofPDF .comFacknowledgments
irst and foremost, I have my mother to thank for raising me to believe in
myself and always putting my needs before her own. How truly she
lives up to her name “Mamta,” which means “motherly love.”
I am also deepl y grateful to my brother , Sachin, for his you’d -better -
write-a-book admonitions that finally worked; my husband, Hemant, for
being my friend and unflatteri ng critic; my son, Harshvardhan, and my
dearest friends, Shirin, Chetna, Bena, Prita, and Sylvia, for filling my life
with their affection; Vasu Nargundkar for her tips, advice, guidance, and
tremendous support throughout the writing of this book; Vaidya Ramakant
Mishra for sharing with me his infinite Ayurvedic wisdom; Bob Rose for
his insig hts on yoga, and his generosity with resource mater ial; Geor gia
Hughes for lifting my proposal of f the slush pile, giving me this chance, and
encouraging me throughout the writing of this book; and Katie Farnam
Conolly for her incisive editing, kind words, and infinite patience.OceanofPDF .comAINTRODUCTION
the lunch that 
changed my life
It’s a helluva start, being able to r ecognize what makes you happy . — Lucille Ball, June 22, 1993
Boeing 747 rises off the runway  at London’ s Gatwick Airport. Gazing
down at the rapidly diminishing carpet of cool green meadows , I feel
my eyes mist over. It has been an exhilarating English summer, spent
among beloved friends. By contrast, walking through the hallway of New Delhi’ s Indira Gandhi
International Airport is like swim ming through a custard of melted sun. The
heat threatens to liquefy my eyeballs inside their sockets. Every nerve in my
skull is dissolving. But, ah, it is so good to be back home. In the airport lounge, my mothe r wraps her soft arms around me, and I
can smell musta rd oil and curry leaves in her hair. Curry and rice — yum! My stomach rumbles happily in anticipation of the wond erful lunch
awaiting me at my mother ’s home.Each time I think back to that lunch, my heart fills with gratitude. Of
course it was delicious, warm, welcoming. But what made it unforgettable
was that it changed my life. We had just sat down to lunch when the doorbell rang. An elderly man
stood at the door, wearing a cotton kurta-pajama and an affable smile. My
father introduced  him as Vaidya Divakar Sharma, our new neigh bor. Vaidya
Sharma had stopped by to give my mother an herbal formulation for her
cough, but at our insistence he stayed for lunch. I was, of course, familiar with the word vaidya. It comes from the
Sanskrit word vid, or “knowledge,” and means “one who knows.” I knew
that Ayurvedic physicians were called vaidyas, but I had never met one
before. Over lunch, the vaidya remarked  I looked more than exhausted from my
journey; I looked unwell. “You look like you need some hydration therapy”
were his exact words. “Really ,” I smiled politely , helping mysel f to another
ladleful of curry . By evening, I was decidedly ill: fever , shivering, abdominal cramps, and
a horrib le burni ng sensation in my urine. I rushed to the nearest hospital,
and they diagnosed me with acute urinary tract infection. The doctor advised me to stay off coffee and spices, and to start a
seven-day course of Norfloxacin. And, yes, “Drink lots of water ,” he said. Water. Hydration. The vaidya’ s words floated back into my
consciousness. How had he known? The next morning, I downed my first dose of antibiotic and phoned
Vaidya Sharma for a formal appointment. Sitting in his verandah-turned-clinic, the vaidya wore starched snow-
white clothes reminiscent of the Ganges-bathing, mantra-chanting sadhus of
the Himalayan foothills. His wife, pleasant and petite, brought me a tall
glass of cool rose-water sherbet. I opened my mouth to tell the vaidya about my condition, but his hand
waved me into silence. Sitting close to me, he placed three delicate fingers
on my wrist, supporting it with the ball of his thumb. Then he leaned back
and closed his eyes. It was as if, in that one silent minute, he was drawing
on his lifetime of training to hear the inside story of my body .When Vaidya Divakar Sharm a opened his eyes, he asked me an
unexpected question: “Have you had persistent throat problems?” I nodded,
stunned. He was right, but how could holding my wrist tell him about my
throat? And weren’t we supposed to be addressing a totally different region
anyway? As his fingers pressed slightly harder , his questions began to come more
rapidly: “Do you tend to clench your teeth?” “Do you often miss lunch?”
Then, most curiously — and accurately — “Do you have a tendency to
suppress your real feelings most of the time?” I remember thinking what a
Sherlock Holme s–like situation this was; here was a man I had barely met,
piecing together  fragments of my personality from clues I had no idea I was
giving out. Vaidya Sharma caught the questions as they darted from my eyes. Holmes would have chided Watson for his lack of perception. The vaidya
only smiled. “It’s really quite  simple. The human pulse is intimately
communicative, and we vaidya s are trained to pick up its signals, both
superficial and deep. Ah, the things your pulse can tell me — and even your
face, your skin, your eyes! Some day , I shall sit and talk to you about it all.”
He then asked me to pull out a piece of paper and a pen. “Write down
your prescription,” he said. I opened my mouth to ask how I could write my own prescription, but
decided against voicing the question. After all, nothing in this session was
going quite conventionally . The prescription V aidya Sharma dictated to me read as follows:
•  Give yourself a warm sesam e-oil full-body massage befor e your
daily bath. •  Drink a cup of warm water every half hour . •  Make generous use of coarsely pounded coriander seeds in cooking. •  Eat a spoonful of rose-petal preserve at noon. •  Practice twenty minutes of quiet reflection every morning and
evening.I hesitated, then asked, “And the medicines?” He smiled. “My dear girl,
your pulse tells me you are blessed with very strong immunity . I feel certain
that my prescrip tion will heal your infection quite easily . But to make sure
you don’t encounter these minor illnesses, use the medicines that are sitting
on your spice rack, and those that are waiting inside your heart.”
The good vaidya’ s words kindled in me a keen curiosity about
Ayurveda. How I wished he would take the day off and talk to me about his
methods, but his next patient was already at the door. I decided that my
next-best source  of information on this system of healing would be a good
book. So off I went to the neares t public library , and fished out all the books
on alternative healing that I could find. I soon noticed a pattern: in most books, Ayurveda was sandwiched
between aromatherapy and Chinese herbalism and defined as “a 5,000-year -
old healing system from India that believes all human beings are
combinations of three doshas  — vata, pitta,  and kapha  — whose
harmonious functioning is the key to good health.” The dosha charts looked
like this:
VATA: thin build, dry skin, rough nails, restless movements, volatile
nature
PITT A: strong pulse, hot urine, reddish skin, loud voice, exag gerated
emotions
KAPHA: strong  build, soft skin, thick and greasy hair, slow digestion,
relaxed nature
My meeting with Vaidya Sharma had led me to expect something
different — something simpler . These unfamiliar terms jarred. Anyway , I
attempted a What’ s-Your-Dosha quiz from one of the books. Yes, I was
prone to rashes but, no, I didn’ t love hot weather . Yes, I was generally calm
but, no, I didn’ t suffer frequent coughs and colds. So what did that make
me? A jumbled mix of vata, pitta, and kapha. And armed with this
extremely helpfu l information about myself, what was I suppo sed to do? I
was clueless. It was time to see V aidya Sharma again. He heard me out, then shook his head. “Ah, yes, the doshas. It is true
that you could call them the keystone of Ayurvedic healing. But
unfortunately , in these impatie nt times, learning about the doshas hasbecome a shortcut to understanding Ayurveda. I find that people quickly
identify themselves as certain dosha types, then start treating their problems
according to fixed dosha-balanc ing charts. But that is as unfair as watching
the first few scenes of a film to write a complete review . Ayurveda is much
more than the doshas, just as psychology is much more than Freud. That is
why I don’t introduce people to the doshas right away; I urge them to live
their lives the A yurveda way .”
And what, I queried, was the Ayurveda way? “Learning how intimately
your body and mind are connected, knowing what will make them work in
harmony , and doing what you can to create that harmony . That is all there is
to it.”
With those words, Vaidya Sharma invited me to dip my toes into the
Ayurvedic ocean. For the next fourteen years, I plumbed its fascinating
depths. Today , I emer ge — refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to share with
you the golden nuggets I found. ayurveda: fascinating facts
1. How old is A yurveda? No one really knows, but perhaps it is the
oldest system of healing in the world. The Rig-V eda, India’ s
oldest philosophical text, descr ibes Ayurvedic theory in great
detail in its verses; it was written somewhere between 4500 and
1600 B.C. 2. Ayurvedic theory in its entirety was recorded as an upveda
(subtext) of the Yajur-Veda, one of the four ancient
philosophical texts (Rig-V eda, Sama-V eda, Atharva-V eda, and
Yajur-Veda) of India. It was authored sometime between 3000
and 2000 B.C. In keeping with the vedic tradition, the Ayurvedic
text is written in verse form and is not the original work of any
one person. Instead, it is the codification of health traditions
passed down orally over the centuries. 3. How did Ayurveda originate? As ill-health grew in the ancient
world, the sages of that time became concerned. To seek a deep
understanding of human health and well-being, they held aconvocation. Their chief, Sage Bharadwaj, sought the answers
while the rest of the group sat deep in meditation. Together , the
syner gy of these great minds created a sublime moment of
revelation that Sage Bharadwaj recognized as the very essence
of Ayurveda. This is the story of Ayurveda as recorded in the
ancient vedic texts. 4. Lege nd apart, it is Sage Charaka who is widely credited as
being Ayurveda’ s founding father. He is said to have been the
world’ s first physician to describe multiple sclerosis,
Alzheimer ’s disease, myasthenia gravis, Parkinson’ s disease,
and many other well-known conditions. 5. Sage Susruta, said to be the world’ s first surgeon, is credited as
being one of Ayurveda’ s principal healers along with Charaka. He described the month-by-month development of the fetus in
the wom b. His knowledge was corroborated many centuries
later by mode rn science using state-of-the-art diagnostic
instruments. For instance, Susruta says, “During the third
month of pregnancy , all the sense organs and all the limbs
emer ge simultaneously . When the sense or gans manifest and the
latent mind activates, there is a throbbing sensation in the
heart.” Modern science now knows this is true. OceanofPDF .comNCHAPTER 1
ayurveda is a verb
Aristotle: T o be is to do. Voltair e: To do is to be. Frank Sinatra: Doobedoobedoobedoo
athaniel Hawtho rne once wrote, “Happiness is a butterfly which, when
pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit
down quietly , may alight upon you.”
Beautiful words. But if an Ayurvedic healer were to substitute “health” for “hap piness”
here, I am certain he would put it like this: “Health is NOT a butterfly that
will come and sit on your shou lder quietly . But give it a good chase, and
you will have it in your grasp.”
This, to me, is the sum and substance of Ayurveda. It sees good health
not as an elusive lifelong quest , but as a duty you have to yourself every
living moment. Remember the unusual prescription Vaidya Sharma gave me (see
introduction)? Let’s look at it once more, this time with some of the wordsin bold print:
•  Give  yourself a warm sesame-oil massage before your daily bath. •  Drink  a cup of warm water every half hour . •  Make  generous use of coarsely pounded coriander seeds in cooking. •  Eat  a spoonful of rose-petal preserve at noon. •  Practice  twenty minutes of quiet reflection every morning and
evening. See? Each of the words highlighted is a verb. That is why, although Ayurveda  is rightly listed in the dictionary as a
noun, I call it a verb. And that is why this book will tell you not only what
Ayurveda can do for you, but how you can do A yurveda. So what exactly does the practice of Ayurveda ask you to do? Perform
your dharma  (religious duty), pursue artha  (wealth and security), seek
kama  (pleasure), and strive for moksha  (pursuit of liberation from earthly
miseries) — the four efforts toward happiness as described  in Hindu
philosophy? Or reset your consc iousness in order to drink from the fountain
of eternal youth? Or contemplat e the deeper reality of life while standing on
your head? Happily , the answer is “None of the above.”
“Doing” Ayurveda does not require conquering complicated Sanskrit
terms, memorizing mantras, mastering body contortions, or struggling with
religious beliefs . It requires nothing except that you commit your time and
energy to your own supreme well-being. What’ s more, it asks that you do
this in as relaxe d a manner as you like, step by baby step — a simple,
friendly , and — yes — fun way to be 100 percent healthy! In concrete terms, to “do” Ayurveda is to make healthy choices in daily
life. These choices can be as simple as choosing fresh fruit over a donut,
choosing a health magazine over a horror novel, choosing to sleep instead
of watching a late-night film. I promise this is what Ayurveda is really
about, even though you might have heard or read differently before picking
up this book. Because Ayurveda is about lifestyle, it follows that the most important
element in following its princip les is . . . you! From this moment onward,
think of physicians as mere guides in your journey toward perfect health.Resolve to slowly wean yourself from your dependence on them. Revel in
the heady knowledge that you can go the distance alone. Respect your own
potential to heal and be whole, such self-respect is the essence of A yurveda. The A yurvedic route to great health involves two simple steps:
1. Doing less;
2. Being more. Before you set out toward your destination, keep one thing in mind: this
is going to be a journey with a difference. Here, one step doesn’ t follow the
other; you take both simultaneously . doing less, being more
Picture this: You have just emerged from a meeting with the boss, and for
the next two hours you worry about the furrow on her brow , the grimace at
the corner of her lips, the tone of her voice. Determined to win her smile by
the end of the day, you immerse yourself in a sea of files. In doing this, you
ignore your dry throat, your stale breath, your aching eyes, your strained
neck, your throbbing wrist, your parched skin, and your stretched nerves. Later , at home, it’s the spouse, kids, and dogs waiting for you to give them
time, attention, and dinner . All the time, in every way possible, other people are deciding the course
of our actions. We are listening  to them so hard, trying so desperately to
please them, that we can no longer listen to ourselves. In “doing” all the
time, we for get to just “be.”
Ironically , over time, the more we “do,” the less we achieve. All that
effort takes its toll on our physical, mental, and emotional health. It
disconnects us from our deeper needs, leaving us empty and dull. In rural
India we have a saying: “If you keep drawing from it, even the deepest well
will dry up one day .” That is just what eventually happens; we dry up. Now imagine a different, more  pleasant scenario. You come to work
determined to win your own smile at the end of the day. That is, you
remember to log off your computer , take a short walk, drink  a glass of
water , and moisturize your skin every thirty minutes. Instead of “grabbing”an indifferent lunch, you bring fresh fruit, yogurt, and a whole-grain
sandwich from home. You don’t take coffee breaks, you take exercise
breaks. Just one day of treating yourself well is sure to set off a chain of happy
events. You return to your desk humming after your short break, and
suddenly the solution to a niggling little problem pops into your head. Even
if nothing so dramatic happens, you find yourself being nice to your
coworkers. Inste ad of the usual post-lunch slump, you feel a post-lunch
kick. Back home, you want to make a good dinner instead of warming
yesterday’ s meal. In treati ng yourself well for a day, you achieved both doing less and
being more. In the literal sense, you still “did” things; you did not sit idle. But what you did was gloriously different from what you had been doing
for so long. You let yourself slow down instead of driving yourself hard. You did not misuse your body and you did not pressure your mind. You
began the process of healing. You lived A yurveda today . being more, bite by healthful bite
Surprising, isn’t it, that a system of healing so ancient should seem so
completely commonsense and user-friendly? It is, it is! What’ s more, the
Ayurvedic love of harmony also extends to how you progress. The vaidya
will always tell you that trying too hard to change old habits is in itself an
enemy of harmony; it creates stress, and stress is the enemy of health. Let
me tell you an interesting India n folk tale that will bring home this point
very nicely . Before setting out to till the soil in her fields, a village woman called to
her daughter: “Listen carefully , child. I shall return in the afternoon, so you
can go out and play with your friends until then. But before you leave, I
want you to sweep and mop the floors, make the beds, prepare bread, cook
the lentils, clean the dishes, milk the cows, and fetch water from the well.”Overwhelmed by this torrent of instructions, the little girl could bring
herself to do nothing but sit and weep. Just then, her father emerged from
his morning prayer . When he heard the reason for his daughter ’s tears, he
said, “I wish I could help you with your chores, little one. But I have to
clean out the pigsty and chop a heap of wood. Don’ t worry , though. I’ll
make your job easy . Here: take this broom and start by sweeping the floor .”
The girl set to work. When she had swept the floor , her father  handed
her the mop. After she was through mopping, he told her to go make the
beds. And so on, step-by-step, until all her work was done before lunch-
time. “There, was that so hard?” inquired the father , his eyes twinkling. The
girl shook her head happily and went out to play with her friends. The moral of the story: Attack your goal of great health in bite-sized
chunks, and you’ll get there without overstepping your comfort zone. Don’ t
kill yourself to live better! awaken the doctor within you
Slowly , your new habit of doing less and being more will yield an excellent
side benefit: you will be able to hear yourself better . (The great thing about
Ayurveda is that its treatments always yield side benefits, not side ef fects.) I will illustrate this notion of “hearing yourself better” by recounting an
interesting incident. We were driving from Colorado to California on a
family vacation, and I was quizzing my son on world geograp hy. The FM
radio station played softly in the background. Suddenly , my husband
switched of f the radio and said, “Shhh! I can hear a sound in the car .”
“What sound?” I asked, after straining to hear it. All I could hear was
the steady purr of the engine. “There is a “clink” sound somewhere — and it comes about every thirty
seconds,” he insisted. I listened  again — and couldn’ t catch any clinking. “Much ado abou t nothing,” I muttered. But by this time, my husband was
already pulling over .Minutes later, he had his finger on the problem. “See this? The bearings
on this wheel have worn off,” he pointed out triumphantly . “We need to
have them replaced as soon as we hit the next big town.”
See what I’m getting at? My husband could catch the faint “clink”
because he knew the normal sounds of his car intimately . Just like that, you
can catch the of f-key signals of your body when you learn to be in tune with
it. As a result, if and when a tune-up is needed, you will not need to wait for
a doctor to diagnose where the discordant note is coming from. Speaking of doctors, another occasion comes to mind. Under attack
from a particularly bad flu while reporting on television for the general
election in India, I succumbed to the urge for quick relief and went to the
nearest doctor I could find. He asked me to describe my symptoms, and I
said, “My nose is completely blocked. My eyebrows and cheeks hurt. I
think I have maxillofacial sinusitis.”
The doctor couldn’ t hide his astonishment. Then he pulled himself
together and said, “Don’ t talk like a book.” He proceeded to make the same
diagnosis in pointedly medical terms, and wrote a prescriptio n for some
strong antibiotic s (which blocked my nose even more thoroughly , but that is
another story). At first it struck me as strange that the doctor reacted negatively to my
self-diagnosis. It was as if he found it absurd that a layperson should know
the term “maxillofacial sinusit is.” But thinking back, I realize that the
doctor ’s attitude was no mystery . Doctors are conditioned to see most of
their patients as clueless people desperately seeking remedies. And they are
justified in that assumption, because that is exactly what happ ens in most
cases; we don’ t understand our maladies because we don’ t even try . Try — and you will know . According to Ayurvedic principles, that’s the
way nature intended it. To those of us who have been brought up to trust no one but the doctor ,
the pharmacist, and the medicines — and that covers most of us, I guess —
this new idea of consulting ourselves can seem unrealistic and
unconvincing at first. Therefore , I suggest that we examine this Ayurvedic
belief system from the root upward.the importance of action
Ayurvedic healers believe that you are not a mortal package of bone,
muscle, and blood, but a part of the universe itself. They are convinced that
you can be as rhythmic as the seasons, as powerful as any star, as ageless as
time — because they believe that you are made up of the same dynamic
elements that compose the cosm os. That is why they respect and trust you
deeply . Thousands of years ago, when Ayurveda was in its formative years, its
sages had no microscopes, scalpels, or medical texts. The earth was their
laboratory , and the wondrous universe their subject. While today it is nearly
impossible for us to think of human biology without using terms like
“organs,” “tissue s,” and “genes,” back then none of this vocabul ary existed. Therefore, the sages slowly made their own connections and noted their
own findings — using no other reference than life as they saw it. I wonder when and how the idea first emer ged that human beings were
one with their universe, but emerge it did. Sometime during those long-
gone centuries, the sages made the fascinating observation that the fire that
burned in volcanoes also burned inside the human belly; the earth that bore
life was also a constituent eleme nt of human physiology; and the boundless
space all around was a vital part of the human body and mind. From these basic observations flowed a series of conclusions: If human
beings were indeed compact forms of the universe itself, then all the laws
that governed the universe also governed them. This meant that the same
unseen natural intelligence that controlled the rhythm of the seasons also
regulated human  digestion, respiration, circulation, and reprod uction. And
the intelligence that told a seed to send forth a giant tree also taught a
broken bone to heal itself. And yet, in spite of this suprem e intelligence, disease struck. Men and
women fell violently ill — or simply aged and died. The sages never
stopped questioning why. Then they unlocked another importan t secret: the
“intelligence” we possess has a “flow” that can be interrupted. They called
this flow prana,  or vital life force.Impurities, imbalances, immoderation — one by one the enemies of
flow emerged. What the sages now needed was to find the friend who could
restore the flow of natural intelligence, thus defeating disease . Again and
again, their attention was drawn to one and only one person: the sufferer
himself. This was the person, Ayurvedic healers reasoned, who played host
to both the intelligence and the interruption of flow . Yes! The sick knew exactly where their discomfort lay. They alone
could tell what made them feel better . Who better qualified than the
suffering, the healers reasoned, to be the friends they were searching for? In other words, the answer to each human disease and disorder lay
within the individual human being. When Vaidya Divakar Sharma first explained this theory to me, I was
skeptical. After all, I argued, how can I be a better doctor to myself than an
actual, medical-degree-holding doctor who knows the human body inside
and out? The vaidya calmly pointed out that a doctor does know  the human
body better , but he can never know my body better than me. That made perfect sense. And, to bring this chapter full circle, it
convinces me that A yurveda is, above everything else, a verb. OceanofPDF .comICHAPTER 2
ayurveda spells health 
b-a-l-a-n-c-e
The same str eam of life that runs thr ough my veins night and day runs
through the world and dances in r hythmic measur es. It is the same life that
is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow . — Rabindranath T agore
magine a tripod with one leg missing. Can you see it standing  straight? According to Ayurveda, just as a tripod cannot stand on two legs, you
cannot be in perfect health if any one of these three elements is not in
balance:
•  body
•  mind
•  soul
We expe rience the truth of this statement all the time: a bad day at work
may trigger bodily aches and pains; a toothach e could result in depression;
the loss of a loved one can lead to a stroke.Yet practitioners of modern medicine insist on addressing body and
mind as separate  entities; a heart specialist asks you about your cholesterol
level, not about your love life. As a consequence, you have dif ferent doctors
for dif ferent parts: bone specialists, urologists, cardiologists, therapists. An Ayurvedic physician, howev er, is always a vaidya. Period. A vaidya
is trained to treat you as a whole being, complete with your bone, muscle,
kidneys, skin type, likes and dislikes, habits, thoughts, and feelings. And,
interestingly , whatever your symptom and however chronic your problem,
the diagnosis is always the same: imbalance. This imbalance can be in your
physiology , your psychology , or your very spirit. But an imbalance it
always is. So, with apologies to John Keats, I would sum up the Ayurvedic
definition of health thus: “Balan ce is health, and health balanc e: that is all
ye know on earth and all ye need ever know .”
Now , balance may seem to be an abstract thing. So is it possible to set
about achieving it the way you would, say, a monthly sales goal? Or does it
mean straying into the realm of heart, soul, and such abstract things? The answer lies somewhere in between. That is because part of good
health can be quantified (blood-pressure readings, cholesterol count, heart
rate), but an equal part of it can only be judged by quality (calm, optimism,
equanimity). Therefore, I suggest that you start by thinking of your quest for balance
as an endeavor to learn an art. I like to think of it as working with clay;
healing and making pottery echo each other beautifully . Have you ever seen a master potter at work? How magically the potter ,
with delicate fingers and a light touch, turns shapeless clay into a perfect,
symmetrical teapot in seconds. But if you have ever tried your hand at
pottery , you know what those fingers are doing while the fragile clay spins
furiously on the wheel. In those few seconds, they are shaping, steadying,
lifting, pressing, pulling, centering, dimpling, raising, and leveling the clay . I got a firsthand idea of the master potter ’s job three years ago at a
pottery workshop, where I tried my hand at “throwing” a pot. Having
watched the instructor turn out two perfect pots in two minutes,  I felt that it
would be child’ s play. How mistaken I was! I tried to make a pot six times,but each time — at the crucial shaping stage when I slowly lifted the neck
— the clay would spin out of control and break into a miserabl e, shapeless
lump. It was terribly frustrating. The instructor knew exactly where I was going wrong. “Try to balance
your pot,” he said. “When you cup that clay between your palms, feel for
the slightest lump and the faintest bump. Any protrusion or dent that
manages to hide in those tender  walls will cause them to lose balance, and
the weakest spot will tear .”
Those words exactly reflect the Ayurvedic view of perfect health. In
Ayurvedic terms, all illness begins with the tiniest chink or dent in the
human vessel. That is why I invite you to put yourself in the role of a potter
in love with the clay of your being. Take your body , your thoughts, and
your emotions as the malleable clay spinning on the wheel of time, and
mold them into a perfectly balanced work of art: a vessel free of lumps,
bumps, and dents. Thus balance d, you will be a living embodiment of the
Ayurvedic word for “healthy”: swastha . (swa:  self, stha:  established/steady
— “established in the self“). How does it feel to be balanced? I am sure you have known that feeling
on days when you sing while cooking breakfast, lavish someone with
compliments, or pirouette around the house for no reason at all. In those
rare moments, without even realizing it, you have achieved perfect balance
among the following elements:
•  your own body , mind, and heart;
•  yourself and other people;
•  yourself and your surroundings. For many of us, such moments  of complete balance are but pleasant
interludes in the tense drama of life. But once you understand and follow
Ayurveda, it need not be this way. You can make sure that imbalance, not
balance, is the exception in your life. What’ s more, with Ayurveda as your
road map, you can take the scenic route to balance. And now, let’s get down to the brass tacks of the journey . What’ s the
first thing you do before you start on a coast-to-coast trip? You tune in to
weather and road conditions, check for possible delays, and fix your vehiclefor the trip. Similarly , before you set out to re-create balance in your own
being, you need to figure out where the lumps and bumps lie. identifying your imbalances
According to the Ayurvedic approach, there are two key causes of
imbalance:
1. external factors (for examp le, change of season, pollution, and
infection);
2. internal causes (chiefly the accumulation of toxic matter inside us). The external enemies of balance find it easy to gatecrash when our inner
defenses are down. Also, they are more or less beyond our control. The
internal enemy — toxic pileu p — is one we can combat and defeat. Therefore, our focus should be on cleaning out these toxins. What exactly
are these toxins and how do they af fect us? Toxins are easy to understand if you look at the human body as a
network of channels; think of them as specialized courier services that
receive and deliver packages. Men have thirteen such channels — called
shrotas in Ayurveda — while women have fifteen, including the
reproductive channels. Package Couriers
Air heart, lungs, abdomen
Food stomach, intestines
Water palate, pancreas, skin, kidneys, bladder
Plasma heart, blood vessels, lymphatic system
Blood liver, spleen, blood vessels, arteries, capillaries
Muscle nutrients ligaments, tendons, skin
Fat fatty tissue, arteriesBone nutrients teeth, hips, joints
Bone marrow marrow , nerve tissue
Ovum/sperm testes, ovaries
Urine kidneys, bladder
Feces colon, rectum
Sweat fatty tissue, hair follicles
Menses uterus (only in women)
Milk breasts (only in women)
Similarly , the mind and the heart are couriers of thought and emotion. Try to imagine a traf fic jam in any one department, and you can see how
easy it is to create chaos and breakdown in the entire channel network. Take
the exam ple of blood pooling in the veins of the lower foot — something
that happens to many people. To begin with, poor circulation results in poor
distribution of nutrients across the cells and tissues. It also reduces the flow
of oxygen to and from the body , causing irregular heartbeat, dizziness, and
fatigue. The feet swell up and the blood can form clots. In serious cases a
clot can travel to the lungs, becoming a potentially fatal pulmonary
embolism. In fact, the root of most mino r and major illnesses is some kind of
blockage: a tooth pocket filled with plaque, mucus-choked sinuses,
accumulated fat, a stone blocking the gall bladder , a clogged artery . At the stage when toxins are still building up, we sense discomfort,
pain, and restlessness. When the jam becomes crippling, we give the
resulting disease a name: cystitis, arthritis, diabetes, depression, heart
disease, cancer . Until I began studying Ayurve da, I didn’ t realize how easy it is to
collect toxins on an average day without even trying. My daily toxin pile
accumulates from small acts of neglect: eating a late dinner , omitting to
moisturize my skin, breathing shallowly all day, sitting hunched for hours
over my computer , hurting over an insensitive comment.On a rushed day, I go on my toxin-collecting spree more system atically . I work late into the night, depriving my body and mind of the rest they
need. I wake up irritable and groggy , with little appetite for breakfast. Whatever appetite I have, I dous e with three continuous cups of coffee. I go
to work  and plunge straightaway into the waiting files. I make careless
mistakes, then simmer when they’re pointed out. Just before a crucial
meeting, I find I have gone completely blank. How do these acts of neglect
translate into actual physical toxins? They generate such substances as acid,
bile, cholesterol, and adrenaline. In moderate amounts, these are essential to
life. But produced in excess, they overwhelm the body , compromising its
ability to perform the routine  functions of metabolism and digestion
normally . Thus burdened on the home front, the body finds it increasingly difficult
to keep away the enemies straining at its barriers — smoke, dust, nitrates,
pesticides — and the agents of disease begin to stroll in. In this stage of
weakened immunity , the body becomes what vaidyas call a beej-bhoomi,  or
“breeding ground” (beej means “seed,” and bhoomi  is Sanskrit for “earth”),
for disease to take root. It is a seedbed for disease to thrive in, fed with the
manure of toxins by a self-destructive gardener . Not a pretty image, but alas
true. In Ayurveda, these toxins are called ama (pronou nced “aa-ma”). This
deceptively sweet-sounding Sanskrit word literally means “unripe,
immature, undigested.” All undigested, toxic matter inside you is ama —
whether in the form of food, bile, acid, or negative thoughts. ama up close
Because the Ayurvedic perspec tive encompasses the total picture, it takes
into account toxins that germinate in both body and mind. Ama, therefore,
is both physical and mental. If ignored for too long, it can even seep into the
soul. Physical AmaAma in the body  almost always begins with inefficient digestion. When
your lifestyle is at odds with the needs of your constitution — you skip
meals, eat foods that are not right for you, and eat at the wrong time — your
body’ s vital digestive fire, which  vaidyas call jatharagni,  dims. As a result,
food fails to be totally digested and properly absorbed. Undigested food, or ama, sits in the stomach and putrefies, releasing
toxic chemicals. Slowly , it clogs the intestines and prevents the colon from
assimilating nutrients from digested food. In Ayurveda, this kind of ama is described as a sticky , white, foul-
smelling substan ce that blocks arteries and capillaries. It jams the tissues
and cells of the body . This, in turn, inhibits the free flow of water , blood,
wastes, nutrients, and air in the system. If neglected, ama spreads and
lodges in the tiniest circulatory channels of your body , causing a plethora of
symptoms ranging from unease and bloating to heaviness and pain. These symptoms are your body’ s SOS signals, telling you that ama has
weakened your innate capacity to heal yourself. Your body is asking you for
help. Why not help your body before it is forced to ask for assistance? It’s
easy to do. From  time to time, check for ama buildup by asking yourself
some basic questions:
•   Is my breathing slow and steady , deep and unrestricted? •   Is my appetite keen? •  Do I experience thirst at regular intervals? •  Is my waste (urine, stool, sweat) output normal? (Healthy urine is
light-colored and odor-free, occurring without obstruction or
urgency; healthy stool occurs once or twice a day, floats in water ,
and does not smell foul; sweat should be free of strong odor—  and
not be either profuse or insuf ficient.) •  Are my five senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell)
performing well? •  Is my skin lustrous and supple? •  Am I generally free of ulcers, lumps, and bumps? •  Do I feel active and ener getic? •  Is my breath fresh and are my teeth strong?•  Are my joints well-lubricated and healthy? •  Is my sexual ur ge normal? •  Do I sleep well? Do you notice the common thread that runs through these seemingly
diverse questions? That thread is blockage. You’re checking for obstruction
in all areas of your body — from hunger and vision to elimination and
energy. Your answers should give you a fair idea of your ama levels while
also pinpointing the trouble spots. I strongly recommend paying attention to
the clues you receive from this test. Small discomforts and complaints —
whether slight trouble focusing on faraway objects or a recurrent muscle
twitch — indicate that disorder is still at an elementary stage and can be
turned around with positive ef fort. One obvious sign of ama in your system is a coated, “furry” tongue. That is why vaidyas ask you to open your mouth and stick out your tongue;
the amount and color of coating on your tongue gives them vital
information about the extent to which ama has accumulated in your system. Mental and Emotional Ama
Though you cannot see it, you can sense non-physiological ama. You
can feel it in the little irritations and anxieties that pile up durin g your day. Slowly , these negative thoughts and energies multiply , leadin g to bigger
problems such as insomnia and depression. The loss of a loved one, tension at work, divorce — these are the big
ama generators. The mind cannot easily process them and the heart cannot
easily “digest” them. A pang of jealousy or a creative block will make a
small but significant contribution to your reservoir of emotional ama. Here is a quick mental-ama assessment test. Before you take it, a word
of advice: Answer these questio ns when you are in a relaxed frame of mind
so that you can analyze your responses without being filled with guilt or
alarm. If you do find yourself being swamped by those feelings, remember
two things:
1. The purpose here is not to chide yourself; it is to read your slate as it
is, then decide how to wipe off the smudged portions and write a
new script on it. Just like a slow, steady hand prints neat letters, aslow and relaxed approach to rewriting your health will always work
best. 2. A good garde ner knows why leaves develop brown patches; there is
a problem at the root level. Similarly , this little quiz could guide you
to the root of your own emotional behavior . And when you start
from the depths, there’ s only one way things can go: upward. Here are the questions that will help you assess your level of mental
ama:
•  Am I happy at work? •  Do I have a stable family life and a strong support system? •  Am I happy with my partner? •  Do I have a strong relationship with my coworkers and friends? •  Is my ability to rest — both physically and mentally — adequate? •  Do I handle dif ficult situations calmly? •  Do I have enough leisure time and do I make positive use of it? •  Do I usually feel calm inside? You may not have realized it, but this test also gave you a complete self-
exam; you actually checked out how your bodily and mental channels are
performing. The more often you do this quick check, the closer you will
come to knowing your body and mind. catching ama early
The tyranny of stressful living makes it impossible to resist assault from
ama. But we can do the next best thing: slow it down and flush it out
regularly . This is where your actions count; by choosing fresh fruit over a sugar -
laden donut and by giving your lunch priority over that pendi ng file, you
can refuse to let ama accumulat e in your body . Also, by drinking plenty of
water and gettin g adequate exercise, you can eliminate ama from your body
at regular intervals. The sweepin g action of water ferries toxins to their exit
points, keeping the channels clear . I think of it as making sure a kitchen
sink always drains well inste ad of trying to unclog a choked drain.Similarly , exerc ise improves circulation, thus helping the body flush out
toxins faster . A good strategy  for keeping physical ama in check is to reassign the
roles played by your mind and your senses. It is easy and habitual to let
your senses control your actions. For instance, when you reach out for
onion rings in spite of your ulcer , you are ignoring the advice of your mind. But if you give the reins to your mind, you will pass over those onion rings
and reach for a glass of water instead. Tackling ama of the mind and heart requires a different approach. Most
of our abstract ama is generated when we pull the mind away from the
realm of tranquillity where it naturally wants to go. We chase ephemeral
material objects instead of realiz ing and fulfilling our own deep er needs. In
the bargain, all we really get is a heart full of sorrow and a mind empty of
joy. It is, therefore, as important to nourish the mind as it is to feed the body . Reading an uplifting book with your spouse, taking a sixty-second mental
vacation when you’re tired, giving more freely to others — these small
actions work like vitamins and minerals in your psyche, strengthening and
toning it. While these general guidelines work well for everyone, regar dless of
gender or nationality , each of us is unique. Therefore, your strategy for
achieving freedom from ama should be devised in accordance with your
own nature. how toxins become disease
All disease, according to Ayurvedic thought, progresses in six
steady steps:
1. Sanchaya:  the earliest stage of disease. At this point, toxic ama
starts to accumulate, hampering free circulation of the vital
energies. 2. Prakopa:  the disease enters its second phase, in which the
doshas are aggravated or excited, causing further channel
blockage.3. Prasara:  the accumulated ama moves from the digestive tract
into other organs of the body , impairing the doshas and their
energies even further . 4. Sthanasamsarya:  the moving ama settles in a localized area. 5. Vyakti:  the disease manifests itself and the sufferer feels its
symptoms. 6. Bheda:  untreated or neglected, the disease acquires chronic —
sometimes untreatable — dimensions. OceanofPDF .comHCHAPTER 3
how ayurvedic 
healing works
He has the healing touch — that magnetic thing which defies explanation or
analysis. — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
ave you ever sought a doctor ’s appointment just because you’re feeling
“sort of funny”? Has your doctor ever outlined a new food plan for you just by looking at
your tongue? Have you ever returned from seeing your doctor with the advice “take a
walk in the moonlight” on your prescription? The answer to all the above questions can be “Yes” if your doctor is an
Ayurvedic one — that is, a vaidya. meet the vaidyaA vaidy a does not go to Harvard, of course. A vaidya does not wear a white
coat, or even a blue one. A vaidya does not pull out a therm ometer or a
stethoscope, and doesn’ t write you prescriptions for drugs. So what kind of a doctor is this vaidya? A vaidy a is a fully trained holistic physician. To become a vaidya, a
person studies eight diverse branches of medicine for many laborious years. These fields of study are called:
1. Kaya Chikitsa:  internal medicine
2. Bal Chikitsa:  pediatrics
3. Graha Chikitsa:  psychiatry
4. Shalakya T antra:  eye, ear , nose, and throat treatment
5. Shalya T antra:  surgery
6. Agad T antra:  toxicology
7. Rasayan T antra:  geriatrics (the study of old age and rejuvenation)
8. Vajikarana T antra:  aphrodisiacs and fertility
Vaidyas have studied these same branches of medicine for 1,500 years. The difference between then and now is that Ayurvedic physi cians today
also learn about human anatomy , nutrition, and other aspects of modern
medicine. Thus, they combine ancient wisdom with cutting-edge medical
knowledge. In India, becoming a vaidya requires six years of study in an Ayurvedic
college or unive rsity. In addition to academic education, many vaidyas have
acquired their knowledge of A yurveda from their families. The story goes that when the Moguls invaded India, they burned down
the entire library of Ayurvedic books at the prestigious Nalanda University
in eastern India. To compensate for that loss, the vaidyas of that time
committed all of Ayurvedic knowledge to memory and passed it on to their
sons. These sons — now a select few vaidyas — received Ayurveda in their
very genes. Along with their formal training, the invaluable experience of
learning from and working with their fathers made them the best among
healers. I have the privilege of working with one of them — Vaidya
Ramakant Mishra, whose ancestors were physicians to the kings of India.the ayurvedic definition of a healer
Let us look further at the difference between the Western and Ayurvedic
approaches to healing. In the Western world, a healer is generally the doctor
or physi cian who treats you. A visit to the Western physician is usually a
formal affair. The well-appointed clinics, state-of-the-art diagnostic tools,
and often polite-but-detached advice (perhaps out of fear of lawsuits?) all
play their role in giving the modern physician the image of an automobile
mechanic. To be fair, not all Western physicians are aloof or detached, but
all too often this is the ambiance of W estern medical treatment. Writer Anatole Broyard once said, “A doctor , like a writer , must have a
voice of his own — something that conveys the timbre, the rhythm , the
diction, and the music of his humanity that compensates us for all the
speechless machines.” To my mind, Broyard’ s words draw a beautiful
picture of the Ayurvedic physician. Because a vaidya perceives  the patient
as an individual with unique characteristics and unique problems,
Ayurvedic methods of healing resonate with “the music of humanity .”
In India , vaidyas have always enjoyed a high status. In my mother ’s
village, the local vaidyaji  (ji is a suffix added as a mark of respect) was
lavished with tokens of patients’  gratitude. My mother tells me that he even
played the role of general coun selor on matters such as marriage, buying
and selling property , and forecasting the weather . This reverence dates back to a time when the vaidya was regarded as
not only a phys ician but also a sage. Knowledge of healing was said to
come directly to the vaidya by divine revelation. The erstwhile kings of
India had their own personal physicians, who not only kept the royal family
in good health but also performe d religious rites. The old treatises say that a
vaidya must possess enough knowledge, training, and experien ce to bring
the patient balance in body , mind, and soul. The leading light of Ayurveda,
Sage Charaka, ur ges the vaidya to “enter the body of a patient with the lamp
of knowledge and understanding.”
other elements of ayurvedic healingIn addition to the vaidya, there are three other — and no less important —
components of the A yurvedic healing process. The Medicine
Ayurvedic pharmacology is called dravyaguna  (dravya  means “healing
ingredient”; guna  means “quality”). Ayurvedic medicines are prepared from
plants without isolating their active ingredients. Thus, Ayurvedic drugs
retain their natural syner gy and are lar gely free of side ef fects. Sage Charaka identified 350 species of healing plants, then divided
them into fifty groups based on the actions — preventive or curative — of
the medicines that could be extracted from them. These medicines included
tonics for the heart, analgesic s, anti-inflammatories, purgatives, fertility
enhancers, bone-setting compounds, and diuretics. In his compendium on
healing, the Charaka Samhita,  he describes a good medicin e as being
readily available , easy to administer , safe, and effective. The Samhita  also
gives precise instructions on when and how to harvest a certain healing herb
or plant, including the time of day. This is because Ayurvedic healers
believe that everything in nature — including plants — has a biological
rhythm that determines when it is at its most ef fective. Because of the purity and potency of most Ayurvedic herbs, it is
important not to self-administer them. Taken in the precise combination and
amount recommended by a vaidya, however , most Ayurvedic herbal
formulations are free of side ef fects. Often a vaidya will prescribe a formulation that is less a drug than a
food supplement. Prepared from precise blends of herbs and fruit, such
formulations heal the body-mind as a whole. They strengthen the immune
system, thus removing toxins and building up resistance to disease. Such
formulations are given the status of a rasayana  — something that supports
the body’ s essential fluids, or rasa;  specifically the blood and plasma. The Patient
Ideally , one shouldn’ t reach the stage of being a “patient,” the whole
orientation of Ayurveda being toward prevention. But, of course, people dofall ill. That is why Ayurvedic texts dwell at length on the role of the person
in the grip of a disorder . They instruct patients to describe their disease
clearly , follow the physician’ s advice carefully , and maintain a positive
attitude toward their illness. It is also the patient’ s duty to work toward recognizing an imbalance
before disease can take root. In real terms, this is how you would do it: Put
down this book, and close your eyes if it helps you concentrate better . Now
ask yourself if you are comforta ble: is the room too hot or too cold for you? Are you snug in your clothes and shoes? Did you eat a good  breakfast? How did you feel when you woke up this morning — did you spring out of
bed or did you burrow deeper into the pillow to shut out the alarm clock? These seemingly trivial questio ns — and their answers — can often help
you catch an imbalance early . The Attendant
Usually a family member , friend, or nurse, the attendant forms a vital
fourth dimension of the Ayurvedic healing process. The attendant should
possess loyalty and love for the patient, accurate knowledge of the patient’ s
disease, the skill to attend to the patient’ s needs, and the ability to keep the
patient cheerful. when should you see a vaidya? The idea of seeing a doctor if you don’t have a full-blown cold or fever can
seem somewhat strange. It’s not strange in the Ayurvedic schem e of things,
however . A vaidya is trained to catch disease at its very seed level. At that point,
toxic ama is still at a stage when it can be flushed out easily through simple
diet and lifestyle  alterations. Think of it as pulling out a young weed; give it
one light twist and it is out, root and all. Similarly , vaidyas like to weed out
disease before it gets a chance to grow . Therefore, you can see a vaidya even if your complaints are “minor” in
nature — flatulence, general tiredness, or simply not feeling your best. Thevaidya will respect your complaint and give it the attention it deserves. You
will be perceive d as a sum of your body , mind, and spirit, not as a simple
machine with an obvious part in need of repair . Once you develop an intuitive relationship with your own being, you
can begin to develop a sense of your own subtle symptoms. With practice, it
is possible to literally sniff an illness weeks before it can manife st itself just
like a meteorologist can predict a weekend snowstorm on Monday morning. I am reminded of an experience I had many years ago. Winter had just
tiptoed into New Delhi, and the evenings were nippy . Yet that night I felt
excessively thirsty . Not unwell — just very thirsty . When I poured myself a
sixth glass of water, my grandmother said, “I think you are going to be
unwell.” Sure enough, the next morning my forehead was hot. I was laid up
with viral fever for a week. My grandmother ’s prediction might seem impressive, but I know that if
a vaidya had seen me a week before I fell ill, he would have made the same
prediction at that time. How would he have been able to do this? As Vaidya
Divakar Sharma told me, every living moment the human body gives out
clues about its health, and the vaidya is trained to detect the most minute
ones. how a vaidya sees you
Thousands of years ago, Sage Charaka set forth a comprehensive ten-point
diagnostic checklist for vaidyas. Ayurvedic physicians study and follow that
list to this day . Here is what Charaka asked vaidyas to check for:
1. Prakriti:  the patient’ s basic constitutio n, which determines such
factors as susceptibility to disease, digestive efficiency , work
capacity , sleep requirement, and coping abilities. 2. Vikriti:  the patient’ s current physical and psychological imbalances,
studied against the background of his or her natural constitution. 3. Sara:  the body compo nents (skin and hair texture, complexion, luster
of the eyes, and resonance of the voice).4. Samhanana:  the physical build (bone structure, height, length of
joints, posture). 5. Pramana:  the state of development of physical features, such as
height and weight, in proportion to the patient’ s age. 6. Satmya:  the patient’ s habits, especially those that have become
second nature through repeated practice (for instance, an individual’ s
adaptation to milk, cold weather , or job stress). 7. Sattva:  the patient’s mental makeup. The more positive the person’ s
mental qualities,  the faster and better the healing process. An action-
oriented person  will respond well to the correct remedy , while a
sluggish person’ s disease can be stubborn and acute. 8. Ahara Shakti:  the patient’ s appetite and digestive capacity , which are
clues to the nature and extent of a disease. 9. Vyayama Shakti:  the patient’ s capacity to exercise or work. 10. Vaya: the relationship between the patient’ s age and disease
condition. And to think that this comprehensive range of observations is made
without the vaidya ever touching you! What’ s more, this is only the first
stage in an Ayurvedic diagnosis. In fact, the ten stages mentioned here don’t
even cover the finer points that a vaidya notices. At this first stage, called
darshana,  or observation, the Ayurvedic  physician is taking in not only
your chief physical characteris tics, but also such minute details as the
thickness of your lips, the size of your tongue, and even the number of
times you blink — all the while making pleasant small talk with you. If the elaborate nature of this diagnosis makes you wonder , suffice it to
say for now that every single one of these observations is like a nugget of
gold to a vaidya. Your posture, your gait, and your smile speak volumes
about your personality , your basic nature, and your current imbalances. That
information, as you will see, is the bedrock upon which Ayurvedic healing
rests. The next stage in Ayurvedic diagnosis is sparsha,  or touch. While a
vaidya will also palpate your abdomen, the “touch” part of the diagnosis
essentially begins with taking your pulse. From the moment the vaidya feelsthe first wave of the artery just beneath your wrist, lightning-q uick signals
from your body start being transmitted. How does this happen? The Ayurvedic belief is that the circulatory
channels — the arteries, veins, and capillaries — carry more than just vital
nutrients; they also ferry vital information about your current state of
health. There is a reason why the vaidya always uses three fingers in pulse-
diagnosis: each finger probes a specific aspect of your physiology . The first
finger feels the energy of your body’ s motion-based functions (for example,
respiration and circulation), the second finger perceives metabolic activity ,
and the third picks up signals about structural health (joints and muscles). Pressing slightly harder , the vaidya gets a sense of how your deeper
body channels (veins, capillaries, lymph) and tissues are doing. At this time,
vaidyas can even pick up vital genetic information about you. The final stage in an Ayurvedic diagnosis is prashna,  or questioning. This stage differs from the ten-point diagnosis in stage one as the latter is
based largely on observation and casual conversation while the former is
structured with a more specific line of questioning. Like a Western
physician, a vaidya will ask you questions. But a vaidya’ s line of
questioning is very different. Unlike a Western physician, a vaidya does not
ask, “When was the last time this happened?” “Where exactly do you feel
it?” “How long has it been hurting?” and so on. Instead, a vaidya’ s
questions are geared toward confirming the preliminary findings. Therefore,
you can expect the vaidya to ask, “Have you been attending too many
parties lately?” “Have you been suffering from constipation?” “Are you
feeling overstressed these days?” Whereas a Western physician is likely to
ask, “How long have you had this problem?” a vaidya is likely to ask,
“Have you had this problem for the last two weeks?” The vaidya is able to
assess the duration and extent to which a person has been suffering based
on how much ama he senses in a person’ s system. Fascinating, aren’t they, the vaidya’ s subtle methods? Each time I pick
up an Agatha Christie novel, ace sleuth Hercule Poirot reminds me of the
vaidyas I have met over the years. Poirot was able to piece together the
puzzle of a murdered woman using such seemingly meaningless clues as abroken mirror , a piece of blotti ng paper , and the remains of a fire in the
grate! restoring the balance
Not only does the vaidya cull information about you as a whole,  but the line
of treatm ent is also designed toward treating you as a whole. This is why
the vaidya does not give you medicines that show results within twenty-four
hours or administer shots to take care of your flu or phlegm. What the
vaidya does is to offer you some simple, solid advice on how to live more
healthfully . A consultation with a vaidya usually consists of guidelines on
regulating your mealtimes, making changes in your diet, and getting a better
quality of sleep. In addition, you might be advised to explore the
tremendous healing powers of yoga, meditation, aromather apy, music
therapy , and home-architecture therapy (called Vastu — an older cousin of
feng shui). And,  yes, a vaidya will give you some gentle herbal medication
if that is appropriate. Vaidyas like to start by talking about your diet. Their recommendations
on good  nutritio n are often so simple that you might wonder if they are
taking your disease seriously enough. But remember: the vaidya is trying to
correct an imbalance. And most imbalances, according to Ayurvedic theory ,
originate when the digestion process is not functioning as it should. We all know how it feels when work forces us to miss or delay a meal,
or after we give in to our taste buds and indulge in a big chunk of cream
pie. Those feelings — ranging from weakness to bloatedness — are our
body’ s signals that the metabolic system is under stress. A vaidya doesn’ t
even need to ask if you’re feeling any of those things, instead perceiving
your body’s signals through observation and touch. Based on the strength of
those signals, the vaidya will tell you which aspect of your food intake you
need to improve: the quality , quantity , timing, or all of these. Yes, vaidyas do make specific recommendations about what to eat and
what to avoid. This can, unde rstandably , worry some people. As Mark
Twain said, “He had much experience of physicians, and said, ‘The only
way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’tlike, and do what you’d rather not.’” Relax. A vaidya will give you a
variety of ingredients to choo se from. If the vaidya asks you to eat
rutabagas and you don’ t relish them, just say so; there are other options. Another word of advice: Don’ t take a vaidya’ s recommendations as
absolutes. In my early days of trying Ayurvedic therapy , I went berserk
trying to get exactly the amount of fennel and coriander in my diet that the
vaidya had suggested. I soon realized, however , that Ayurveda is not about
following lists. It is designe d to awaken your body’ s own healing
intelligence by giving it positive support. Therefore, as long as I was getting
coriander in my diet and eating a regular breakfast, I was on the right track. During a consultation with a vaidya, questions are bound to occur to
you: “Why is cardamom good for me and not cloves? Why do I need to
avoid ketchup? I wonder why he asked me to cut down on my workout — I
thought working out was the best thing I could do for my health !” Don’ t be
afraid to ask questions and seek clarification. Some vaidya s are good
communicators; others might refrain from explaining the concepts of
Ayurveda becau se they don’t want to overwhelm you. But if you ask, they
will willingly explain. Sometim es language can be a barrier , too; though a
vaidya practicing in Europe or America will know basic Englis h, an accent
can be hard to understand at first.
_OceanofPDF.com_Essential_Ayurveda_-_Shubira_Krishan.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        essential ayurveda
OceanofPDF. comessential ayurveda
what it is & what it can do for you
SHUBHRA KRISHAN
NEW WORLD LIBRARY 
NOVATO, CALIFORNIA 
www. newworldlibrary. com
OceanofPDF. comNew W orld Library  
14 Pamaron W ay 
Novato, California 94949
Copyright © 2003 by Shubhra Krishan
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmi tted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written
permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Edited by Geor gia A. Hughes and Katharine Farnam Conolly
Front cover design by Mary Beth Salmon
Text design and typography by T ona Pearce Myers
The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and
treatment by a qualified medical practitione r or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee as to the
effects of the use of the recommendations can be given nor liability taken. Grateful acknowledg ment is given to Gopi Eberle and Mari Gayatri Stein for use of the yoga
illustrations in chapter 12. Illustrations by Gopi Eberle from Yoga Transformations  audiocassette by
Mari Gayatri Stein. Copyright © 1984 by Mari Gayatri Stein. www. marigayatri. com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Krishan, Shubhra, 1966–
Essential ayurveda : what it is & what it can do for you / by Shubhra Krishan. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-57731-234-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Medicine, A yurvedic. I. T itle. R605. K725 2003  
615. 5’3—dc21
2002014135
First Printing, February 2003
ISBN 978-1-57731-234-5
Printed in Canada on acid-free, partially recycled paper
Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group W est
10 9 8 7 6 5
OceanofPDF. comdedication
This work is dedicated to two of the most important people in my life: one
who made me, and one who made it possible for me to realize my dream. To my father, an ocean of insigh t. I stroll on the wind-washed shores of
his memories, drinking in the knowledge and love he left me. And, to Anandj i, a mountain of inspiration, who will always tower on
the horizon of my consciousness. OceanofPDF. comCONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction  
The Lunch That Changed My Life
Chapter 1  
Ayurveda Is a V erb
Chapter 2  
Ayurveda Spells Health B-A-L-A-N-C-E
Chapter 3  
How A yurvedic Healing W orks
Chapter 4  
“Elementary” A yurveda
Chapter 5  
Learning the Language of the Elements
Chapter 6  
Routine Matters — and How. Chapter 7  
The Delicious Route to HealingChapter 8  
The When-What-How-and-Why of Food
Chapter 9  
Fresh, Flavorsome, Fulfilling A yurvedic Recipes
Chapter 10  
Be A yurveda Beautiful
Chapter 1 1 
Simply Stress-Free
Chapter 12  
Yoga: An Exercise in Bliss
Chapter 13  
Living A yurveda, Giving A yurveda
Chapter 14  
Surfing the A yurvedic Ocean
Appendix  
Dosha-W ise Food Guide
Glossary
Resource List
Index
About the Author
OceanofPDF. comFacknowledgments
irst and foremost, I have my mother to thank for raising me to believe in
myself and always putting my needs before her own. How truly she
lives up to her name “Mamta,” which means “motherly love. ”
I am also deepl y grateful to my brother, Sachin, for his you’d -better -
write-a-book admonitions that finally worked; my husband, Hemant, for
being my friend and unflatteri ng critic; my son, Harshvardhan, and my
dearest friends, Shirin, Chetna, Bena, Prita, and Sylvia, for filling my life
with their affection; Vasu Nargundkar for her tips, advice, guidance, and
tremendous support throughout the writing of this book; Vaidya Ramakant
Mishra for sharing with me his infinite Ayurvedic wisdom; Bob Rose for
his insig hts on yoga, and his generosity with resource mater ial; Geor gia
Hughes for lifting my proposal of f the slush pile, giving me this chance, and
encouraging me throughout the writing of this book; and Katie Farnam
Conolly for her incisive editing, kind words, and infinite patience.
Ayurveda is not about following lists or recipes, but about awakening your body's own healing intelligence by giving it positive support.
What is the main focus of Ayurveda?
The Ayurvedic approach is holistic, treating the patient as a whole, and focuses on treating the root cause of the disease, not just the symptoms.
What is the Ayurvedic approach to diagnosis and treatment?
Ayurveda defines health as a state of balance among the three doshas, and the achievement of harmony between the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of a person.
What is the Ayurvedic definition of health?
The vaidya is not just a doctor who treats the symptoms, but a guide who helps the patient understand their body and mind, and provides personalized advice on diet and lifestyle.
What is the role of the Ayurvedic physician?
The vaidya's role is not only to diagnose and treat the disease, but also to educate the patient on how to maintain their health and prevent disease by making healthy lifestyle choices.
What is the purpose of an Ayurvedic consultation?