What is Ayurveda Medicine compared to other alternative medicine types?
Ayurveda is more than a healthcare system; it’s a lifestyle that creates balance and harmony with the body and the environment it exists in. Ayurveda believes life is a combination of: soul (atma), mind (mana), body (sharira) and the senses (indriyan). These combinations work around the five elements:
- Space (akash)
- Fire (tejas)
- Earth (prithvi)
- Water (apa)
- Air (vayu)
The elements make up a person’s individual nature also known as Prakriti. When a person lives in harmony and follows natural sources, they can achieve good mental and physical health. There are times in this modern world when our lives are interfered with unnatural events or elements like; air conditioning, long hours at work, artificial light or inadequate meals. Ayurveda can offer a way to bring a balance back into life. There are some home remedies that you can use to create physical, emotional, spiritual and mental balance that is needed for holistic health.
Ayurveda Treatments
Many of the home remedies come from items that are already in your home. Many commonly used herbs and spices when blended together will cure common symptoms and even prevent aliments. Common home spices that work good are; cinnamon, black pepper, fennel, ginger, alum, onion, basil and many more. These spices and simple exercises, massages and cleansing procedures are all simple home remedies one can use to relieve an existing condition or prevent one from occurring.
Some of the symptoms addressed with herbal remedies are:
- acne and pimples
- eczema
- dandruff
- indigestion
- constipation
- piles
- arthritis
- backache
- diarrhea
- sinusitis
- cough and cold
- urinary difficulty
- obesity
- ulcers
- insomnia
- stomachache
- gout
- hypertension
- muscle cramps
- hairloss
Which Ayurvedic herbal remedies to use
Neem– This is a herbal plant that has many uses in medicine. The Neem’s greatest quality is its antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anti-diabetic nature. Neem oil can be used to cure the cough associated with asthma by putting 8 -10 drops on a betel leave and eating it. The oil can also be used to get rid of head lice by rubbing the oil into the scalp a half hour before bathing. Neem leaves boiled in water and then added to bath water can eliminate the pyorrhoea skin disorder. Another useful remedy for Neem oil is to rub it into the gums of your mouth to relieve a toothache. Burning the Neem leaf and mixing the ashes with Vasoline and then applying to pimples will get rid of acne.
Asafoetida is a very useful ayurvedic herb. It is a common Indian spice used in kitchens and is sold in small pieces. Frying small pieces in water and then drinking will cure diarrhea. This herb can also be used to eliminate the pain of gastric symptoms by dissolving it in water and drinking. Gargling with the Asafoetida water will also relive toothache symptoms.
Fitkari Alum has many uses as a home remedy. When the Alum powder is mixed with water and rubbed on the gums it will relive a toothache. Mixing 5 grams of Fitkari Alum with cow’s milk and consuming is a treatment for jaundice. The powder can also be rubbed into an external wound to heal it.
These are just a few of the herbal home remedies to use to bring a body back to good health. There are many more ways to use the natural herbs and exercises to help the body regain its balance and health.
