Ayurveda, as the meaning of this Sanskrit word stands, is the Knowledge of Life. In this modern hectic rat-race of life, most of us have lost awareness of our body. We are no longer sure what good health really mean! More and more, health tends to be more about how we look – about how our skin, hair, figure looks. Whilst this can be an indication of good health, the most important is to have a body that enables us to do all the things that we need to do on a daily basis: walk, sit, stand, eat, go to the toilet, sleep, etc, without discomfort or pain and to feel centred and balanced from within. This is what Ayurveda provides: a body and mind that can function to its full potential – a body that is not an obstacle to the mind to obtain self actualisation.
This is done using a holistic lifestyle of right nutrition, right movement of the body, being in close contact with nature, practice of mindfulness and avoiding over stimulation of the bodily senses and the mind. When the body or mind is out of balance, we become unwell. Then the balance is regained by reintroducing the above whilst administering detoxing procedures followed by right nourishments in the form of herbal/natural ayurvedic oils, medicines and herbal supplements.
Can science prove that Ayurveda really works?
In early days, some of the Ayurveda wisdom was incorporated in to what is now modern medicine. During the colonial period, scientists travelled to India/Sri Lanka to learn about Ayurveda and brought this knowledge back to the West. The ancient Ayurvedic texts Sushrutha and Charaka Samhitha (believed to be over 3000 years old) were brought to the UK and some aspects of it were incorporated into what is now modern medicine. Some of the original texts are held at the Welcome Museum in London, UK. Sushrutha is still called the father of surgery with detailed surgical procedures including plastic surgery found in his texts, which has led to modern plastic surgery. To-date scientist continue to conduct research on Ayurveda showing promising results for a range of health concerns such as cardiovascular conditions, skin diseases, digestive disorders and other physiological conditions. A few recent research studies we found interesting:
- Emerging and alternative therapies for Parkinson disease. Kabra A, Sharma R, Kabra R, Baghel US, Aug 2018
- Role of Complementary and Alternative Therapies in Infectious Disease. Penn State University College of Medicine, USA July 2018
- Urine therapy in Ayurveda: Ancient insights to modern discoveries for cancer regression. Vaidya ADB, Sept 2017
- Triphala: current applications and new perspectives on the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Medical University of Lodz, Poland, July 2018
- Combination of Ayurveda and Yoga therapy reduces pain intensity and improves quality of life in patients with migraine headache. Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University Budapest, Hungary, May 2018
- Ayurveda medicine-a meaningful supplement to psychiatric treatment? Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychotherapie und Präventivmedizin, LWL-Universitätsklinikum Bochum der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Deutschland, June 2018
- Ayurveda and yoga in cardiovascular diseases. Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, New York Medical College, USA
How can one find good Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is increasingly becoming commercialised and adopted in various ways across the world causing much confusion on what is true Ayurveda. Additionally, we have our need to control everything – even our Ayurvedic treatment process, whilst self diagnosing or assessing treatments based on information found through a variety of sources causing even more confusion and stress.
Best advice we can give is to find a good ayurvedic centre or a doctor and read about it (but stick to books or research by recognised authors rather than pieces of information from the internet or here-say). Most importantly, be open to a different approach to health and life. Our modern lives have moved a long way from the ancient wisdom on how we should live. But all our technological advances and modern development have resulted in a lot of us feeling unhappy or unfulfilled with life – or atleast feeling there must be something else, a life better out there for which we must strive. Ayurvedic lifestyle is very different to the lifestyle we practice now. So surrender yourself to the expert Ayurvedic doctor or centre you chose, embrace the change and watch with patience and awareness the impact on your own body, knowing that Ayurveda is not magic and one needs time and consistent practice to see results and that our mind plays a huge role in our health and wellbeing.
How does Plantation Villa practice Ayurveda?If you want to embark on our Ayurveda programs, you will be first consulted by our doctor who will assess the balances of your doshas and through consultation develop a treatment plan for you. Your plan will include ayurvedic treatments to detox and cleanse the body, and herbal medicines to refuel the body to help gain its balance and you will be required to relax and reconnect with yourself through the practice of Yoga and meditation. During your stay our doctors will have social discussions about Ayurveda and its methods. We also have a number of books in our library for your use during your stay. A number of these books relate to Ayurveda, Yoga and Buddhist principles. You are also encouraged to spend time in our gardens amongst nature, walk in the village and join in our nature preservation and community development activities. We are one of the best and most authentic Ayurveda Resorts in Sri Lanka. Our doctors and therapists have experience of working with a wide range of patients both foreign and local. Our treatments range include all Ayurveda treatments and full panchakarma.
