Holistic healing with Ayurveda: Is it for you?

Want Holistic healing then, healing with Ayurveda Is it for you?

Ayurveda is not just about oils and massages. For those who believe in it, it is a way of life.

I woke up one morning with a terrible pain in my leg. I knew the reason too. I had never been sure-footed ever since I had fallen down during a night out on the beach a couple of years ago. The MRI scan showed some liquid formation in my knee-joint. And the doctor said that knee surgery was inevitable. But I was apprehensive. A chat with my parents decided the course of action I would take. I’d skip the surgery and opt for Ayurveda instead.

Why did I prefer Ayurveda over other streams of medicine? For me, it was because Ayurveda is a trusted alternative that is rooted in our beliefs and tradition.

Ayurveda, the science of life, believes in balance. When the elements – vata, kapha and pitta – are unbalanced, it tips the scales and we get ill. Maintaining this balance, both of the mind and the body, is what Ayurveda is all about. Ayurveda aims for a holistic cure rather than dealing only with a specific ailment. For this, it makes use of natural medicines, mainly herbs, oils and massages, and most importantly, the discipline of the mind and body.

“Would you be able to stay back for a couple of days and go through a series of treatments?”, the doctor asked after giving a cursory glance at the MRI scan I gave him. I was ready to try anything other than knee surgery to ease the pain. And that kicked off five days of intensive Ayurveda treatment. The treatment started early in the morning with a hot oil massage. They followed it up with smearing both the legs with a thick green paste which I had to keep for over an hour. After washing it off with lukewarm water, I was let free for about an hour. And then the whole cycle would repeat again. By the end of the third day, the swelling had started to subside and I was hooked to Ayurveda. And being inquisitive by nature, I learned a couple of things while I was in the hospital.

Traditionally, it is in the months of July and August (Malayalam month of Karkidakam) that Ayurveda establishments rake in most of the moolah. This is because in the good old days, it would pour cats and dogs during these months. For days on end, the sun would hide behind the clouds and people would prefer to stay indoors rather than go out. It was the time for rejuvenation –for the mind and the body. This tradition has stayed on despite temperamental rains in India over the last few years.

Specific treatments during this season will surely punch a crater-sized hole in your wallet, but there was an NRI in the room next door who had come specifically for it. And she wasn’t the only one. Mrs Padmini who is a teacher in Dubai said that it was her way of unwinding from a stressful life abroad. She also said she wouldn’t miss it even if it was expensive.

Ayurveda is not about massages and rejuvenation. It treats an entire gamut of ailments. There are specialized streams dealing with pediatrics, progeny and eye diseases, to name a few. Ayurveda is not just an alternative medicine stream; for those who believe in it, it is a way of life.