Ayurveda and Ayurvedic

Ayurveda and ayurvedic medicine does not have the profile in Australia of other traditional natural therapies but is consistently growing in popularity.   This ancient form of healing follows traditional teachings going back thousands of years offering preparations proven as effective in the treatment of disease for hundreds and hundreds of years.  Ayurveda requires a knowledgeable and highly trained practitioner who follows the ayurvedic philosophy in life, not merely trained a therapist.

Ayurveda is believed to have originated as a form of medicine for and from the gods.  Even in the Ramayana (writings said to be thousands of years old), it states how the Sanjivani herb tois used to revive Lakshmana, who was mortally wounded in the battlefield at Lanka.  Ayurveda was brought from the realms of the gods to the human race by Charaka, who wrote the Ayurvedic treatise, Charaka Samhita, which is regarded very highly still. Sushruta (believed to be the first surgeon in the world in India) later wrote a compendium of his own, Sushruta Samhita, which has several amendments over the methods detailed in the Charaka Samhita.

Ayurveda can be seen as mostly herbal science.  Using a wealth of more than four thousand herbs of which about one thousand are very commonly used in regular prescriptions it uses the proven medicinal properties of herbs to bring about health.   The healing effects of herbs are enhanced by maturing them in several ways including roasting them in ghee, fermenting them to make wines, and preparing their concentrated powder extracts. Depending on their preparation herbs are named bhasmas, lehyas, vatis, choornas, rasas, asavas, and several others.  Ayurveda is not dictated only by herbs but also includes other therapies including mineral preparations and massage.