Ayurveda Overview

­

­More than 150 colleges in India teach Ayurveda, where students study ancient texts like the "Charaka Samhita" and "Susruta Samhita" during the five years it takes to get a bachelor's degree in Ayurvedic medicine. They can also continue their education to get a doctorate [source: NCCAM].

The prevalence of these programs is no surprise considering that 80 percent of the Indian population uses Ayurvedic remedies, either exclusively or in conjunction with Western treatments [source: NCCAM]. Although the practice of Ayurvedic medicine in India was largely suppressed during the centuries of British colonial rule, it made a comeback in the early 20th century after the country gained independence [source: Svoboda]. In 1970, the Indian parliament passed a law standardizing the requirements for accreditation. A year later, Ayurvedic medicine became an official part of the country's health care system, which had previously been based exclusively on Western medicine [source: Callender].

The first generation of Ayurvedic practitioners in America was trained in India. One of these pioneers was Scott Gerson, who founded the National Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine in 1982. Gerson, the only American to earn both a conventional medical degree and a doctorate in Ayurveda, founded the institute in Brewster, N.Y., 70 miles (112.5 km) north of Manhattan, where he practices and runs a three-year Ayurvedic training program [source: National Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine]. The institute, located on nearly 7 acres (2.83 hectares), serves as a detoxification retreat center as well as a research and educational facility. It has one of the largest collections of Ayurvedic literature and a garden in which it grows medicinal herbs used to treat patients.

In 1984, Vasant Lad, a former medical director and professor of Ayurvedic medicine in Pune, India, founded the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M. The institute has a detoxification center and offers a two-year training program that replicates the curriculum at India's Ayurvedic colleges [source: Ayurvedic Institute].

Other training institutes in the United States include the American Institute for Vedic Studies, founded by David Frawley in 1988, and the Ayurveda Institute of America, which opened in 1999 [source: Callender].

But unlike in India, Ayurveda in the U.S. is not an officially recognized form of medicine and is not regulated by the government [source: NCCAM]. In 2000, the National Ayurvedic Medical Association was founded in Santa Cruz, Calif., to establish standards for the profession. But for now, Ayurvedic medicine remains an unlicensed profession with no national standard for training or certifying these practitioners, so take caution if you choose to be treated in this route.

Next up: what you can expect during an Ayurvedic treatment.

­When you go to see an Ayurvedic practitioner, the first thing he or she will do is establish your dosha by asking you questions about your diet, habits and recent illnesses, and by checking your teeth, tongue, skin, eyes and body composition [source: Callender].The practitioner might also check your urine, stool, speech, voice and pulse.

Once the practitioner has established your dosha and reviewed your symptoms, he will tailor his recommendations for things like diet, exercise, meditation and stretching to your dosha.

According to the Ayurvedic tradition, certain foods promote inner harmony for certain doshas while others can create imbalance. Similarly, each dosha has its recommended exercise regimen. The lively vata, for example, will be advised to do calmer forms of exercise like walking or low-impact jogging whereas sluggish kaphas may be told to take up tennis or racquetball [source: Ayurveda for You]. Your practitioner may also prescribe one of the more than 600 herbal formulas used in Ayurvedic medicine.

­Besides recommending changes in your diet, lifestyle and habits, your practitioner may also recommend you undergo a five-part cleanse called a panchakarma to rid your body of toxins. To prepare the body, you'd get a daily oil massage called a snehan to move toxins toward the gastrointestinal tract followed by a svedana, or sweating, in a medicated steam room.

After three to seven days of that, you'd start the panchakama, which could include one or more of the following five procedures:

But before all this talk of enemas and bloodletting scares you off, read on about one treatment you're almost guaranteed to enjoy -- Ayurvedic massage.

­

­Oils? Dim lights? Soft music? Ahhhh ... now you're talking.

In Ayurvedic medicine, massage is a vital component to restoring energy balance in the body, a practice that can soften tissues, nourish the skin and stimulate the inner organs [source: Welch].

Like all treatments in this tradition, massage styles differ according to the dominant dosha in a person's constitution. For a vata, who is typically thin, has dry skin and tends to get cold easily, the practitioner would likely use a rich, warming oil like sesame oil and use soothing, gentle strokes.

For pitta, who typically have oily skin and warmer body temperatures, the practitioner would apply a lighter sunflower or coconut oil and use deeper, slower strokes. This would calm the pitta's tendency toward fiery emotions.

In Kaphas, who are heavier in build and generally calm, mustard or sesame oil can help stimulate their sluggish metabolism, along with vigorous strokes to jump start their circulation [source: Gougeon].

Other varieties of Ayurvedic massage include:

If you want to learn even more about Ayurveda, visit the links on the next page.