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Spafanatics have asked to know more about
Ayurveda, so I called upon the wisdom of Madhu, my yoga teacher, to shed
light on the subject.
Madhu, what does Ayurveda mean and how did it
begin?
Response:
The literal meaning of Ayurveda (a
Sanskrit word written in Sanskrit script that we can only attempt to
spell "correctly") comes from the two Sanskrit words of which
it is comprised, Ayu and Veda. Ayu literally means life and Veda means
knowledge or science. Together they form the word Ayurveda, "the
science of life".
Ayurveda is an age old science from India.
Although the exact chronology cannot be stated, various texts of
5000-6000 years old have referred to the science. The science is part (a
peripheral part) of the vast body of literature and scriptures that
comprise the veda; that part of the larger body of science that addressed
the human body. Its content addresses two things A) the way a healthy
person could remain healthy and B) the way a person in dis-ease could
remedy that dis-ease.
A deeply holistic system, Ayurveda
believes that humans are a part of the universe, health being understood
from the perspective of balance and peace of body, mind and soul.
Why do you think it is so popular now in the
mainstream spa world?
Response:
As we understand through experience
that "well being" is an integrated body-mind state we embrace
those systems that lead us there. From the perspective of spa and
spa-visitor, where one of the aims of the experience is toward unwinding,
destressing, feeling greater at peace and balance and harmony, a science
like Ayurveda that works from this integrated body-mind awareness would
be a natural system to gravitate toward and incorporate into the greater
spa experience.
Can you benefit from these treatments without
knowing all about the process? Can they help a casual participant?
Response:
Absolutely! A casual participant
would benefit from Ayurvedic treatments. An immediate impact can be felt
at various levels: from physical ease to emotional ease and this in turn
leading to an overall feeling of well-being. Once the experience of
well-being is felt, the mind, too, engages and eases. Body, mind,
emotions and psyche all pull in the same direction with little or no
conflict, thereby experiencing the aim of holistic well-being.
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