Ayurveda For Dummies E-Book

Angela Hope Murray

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 357

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Rebalance your mind, body and spirit—the natural way!

Ayurveda is an ancient system of prevention and treatment of illness by maintaining balance in the body, mind, and spirit according to your individual body type.

Ayurveda For Dummies provides you with a comprehensive introduction to this area of complementary medicine, considering the origins and history of Ayurveda as well as practical guidance on utilizing the correct balance of nutrition and exercise, herbal remedies, yoga, and Ayurvedic massage to treat ailments and maintain a healthy, happy lifestyle.

• Helps you develop a diet based on your body type
• Advises you on ways to optimize your health by exercising to suit your body type
• Gives you trusted info on stretching your body with Yoga

This hands-on, friendly guide helps you understand your body type and restore balance to your life using the principles of Ayurveda.

Leseprobe

Ayurveda For Dummies®

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, LtdThe AtriumSouthern GateChichesterWest SussexPO19 8SQEnglandwww.wiley.com

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ISBN 978-1-118-30670-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-30667-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-30668-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-30669-7 (ebk)

Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

Ayurveda For Dummies®

Visit www.dummies.com/ayurvedauk to view this book's cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organised

Part I: Getting Started with Ayurveda

Part II: Living in Harmony with Ayurveda: Promoting Good Health

Part III: Appetising Approaches to a Healthy Diet

Part IV: Fitting Ways to Enhance Healing

Part V: The Part of Tens

Part VI: Appendices

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Getting Started with Ayurveda

Chapter 1: Introducing Ayurveda: The Science of Life

Living Well and Maintaining Health

Surveying the Scope of Ayurveda

Locating the Practice and the Evidence

Chapter 2: Focusing on the Fundamental Principles

Fixing on the Three States of Energy and the Five Elements

Ether

Air

Fire

Water

Earth

Examining the Twenty Qualities

Differentiating the Doshas

Vata

Pitta

Kapha

Navigating Your Body’s Networks: The Srotas

Looking at srota states

Getting to know the srotas

Chapter 3: Uncovering the Subtle Energy Systems

Pinpointing Three Essential Forces

Outling ojas

Targeting tejas

Promoting prana

Navigating the Nadis: Surveying the Subtle Nervous System

Discovering the Dhatus: Building Blocks of Your Body

Working with the Wheels of Power: The Chakras

Placing the Pancha Koshas: The Invisible Coverings

Chapter 4: Determining Your Constitution

Evaluating Your Constitution Type

Checking your physical type

Looking at physiological traits

Assessing your mental state

Determining Your Dosha

Part II: Living in Harmony with Ayurveda: Promoting Good Health

Chapter 5: Ease and Disease: Health According to Ayurveda

Discovering Ama: Its Journey through the Body

The effect of vata dosha

The symptoms of ama accumulation

Tracing the Path of Disease

Accumulation: The start of discomfort

Aggravation: Things not quite right

Overflow: Circulation through the system

Relocation: Finding a new home

Manifestation: Symptoms brought forth

Diversification/specification: How complications set in

Knowing the Importance of Lifestyle for Your Health

Failure to acknowledge your inner wisdom

The effects of time

Sensory indiscretions

Finding Great Tips for Enhancing Your Senses

Nurturing your hearing

Seeing your world clearly

Being good to your skin

Keeping your nose in order

Bringing general health to your sense of taste and diet

Chapter 6: The Rules of the Day: Dinacharya and Staying in Balance

The Right Side of the Bed: Starting the Day with Energy

Reflecting before you start the day

Putting your best foot forward

Cleansing your body

Meditation: The Way to Nirvana and the Light in the Heart

Moving into meditation

Using a mantra

Being patient with difficulties

Looking After the Senses

Refreshing your eyes

Caring for teeth and gums

Tongue and mouth maintenance

Snehana: Loving the Body with Oil Massage

Selecting the best oils for your body type

Oil application to the ears: Karna purna

Oil application for the nostrils: Nasya

Adorning Your Body with Clothes and Perfumes

Choosing clothes for comfort

Co-ordinating colours with the doshas

Putting your best foot forward with comfortable shoes

Perfumes and oils

Time to Step Outside

Chapter 7: Seeking Union with Yoga

Understanding Yoga

Going with the Flow – Understanding Body Energy or Prana

Introducing a Simple Yoga Posture for Each Constitution

Trikonasana: A vata-pacifying posture

Ardha matsyendra: Posture for pitta management

Ardha matsyasana for the kapha constitution

Easing Disease with Yoga

Alleviating arthritis pain with natraj asana

Dealing with digestive problems with vatayanasana

Beating obesity with bhujangasana

Looking at yoga for your eyes

Roaring through the lion pose to destroy disease

Practising Simple Routines for Every Constitution

Saluting the sun

Moving with the moon: Chandra namaskar

Easing into Relaxation with Corpse and Waterfall Postures

Lying down for the corpse pose

Becoming a waterfall

Chapter 8: Night-time Rituals for Sound Sleepand Fertility

Explaining the Different Types of Sleep

Considering Causes of – and Cures for – Insomnia

Getting acquainted with the Ayurvedic types of insomnia

Finding ways to get a good night’s sleep

Connecting Eating and Sleeping

Creating Beautiful Babies instead of Sleeping

Selecting foods for good reproductive tissue

Evaluating the uses of alcohol

Chapter 9: Changing Your Diet with the Seasons

The Smooth Rhythms of the Body

Staying in Tune with the Seasons

Introducing the two parts of the year: Adana and Visarga

Matching your physical condition to the seasons

Adjusting Your Digestion in Autumn

Looking at the conditions

Eating the right foods

Warming Winter Foods

Cleansing Spring Foods

Cooling Summer Foods

Part III: Appetising Approaches to a Healthy Diet

Chapter 10: Stimulating the Palate: A Taste of Things to Come

Rasa: Discovering the Six Essential Flavours

Selecting sweet (madhura)

Savouring sour (amla)

Securing salt (lavana)

Broaching bitter (tikta)

Promoting pungent (katu)

Appreciating astringent (kashaya)

Looking at the Six Stages of Digestion

The Second Course: When Food Leaves the Mouth

Effect during digestion: Releasing energy with virya

Effect after digestion: Vipaka

Prabhava

Introducing Agni: The Fuel for Life

Examining Your Digestion

Chapter 11: Selecting the Right Diet for Your Type

The Effect of Flavour on Your Emotions

Food and the Three States of Energy

Eating to Enhance Your Digestion

Identifying Incompatible Food Combinations

Matching Diet to Dosha

Eating for kapha

Preparing foods for pitta

Choosing wisely if you’re vata

Chapter 12: Optimising Your Diet: A Recipe for Success

Highlighting High-Energy Foods to Include in Your Day

Basmati rice

Almond milk

Honey

Bee pollen

Improving Your Digestion with Lassi

Vata lassi

Pitta lassi

Kapha lassi

Fasting for General Health

Understanding the benefits of fasting

Knowing which fast is right for you

Lightening your diet with kicheree

Introducing Ghee, the Cream of the Milk

Discovering ghee’s benefits

Making delicious ghee

Making special ghees

Bread of Heaven: Wheat-free Recipes for an Excellent Loaf

Crafting Super Spice Mixes for Everyday Use

Adding Herbs to Your Diet

Quenching Thirst with Pure Water

Part IV: Fitting Ways to Enhance Healing

Chapter 13: Stoking the Fire: Caring for Your Digestive System

Cool Approaches to Hyperacidity

Eating to reduce acidity

Applying cooling herbs

Looking at hot emotions

Fit to Burst: Relief from Flatulence and Bloating

Preventing gas

Relieving wind with herbs

Moving Things Along: Coping with Constipation

Strategies for lightening the load

Introducing triphala

Taking the Weight off Your Feet: Digestive Tips to Fight the Flab

Understanding the set point

Lightening your diet

Herbal help to encourage weight loss

Gut Reaction: Taking Care of Your Bowels

Caring for the colon and alimentary canal

Improving intestinal health with friendly bacteria

Chapter 14: The Respiratory System: Breathing Life into Your Body

Introducing Pranayama and the Benefits of Breathing

Energising your digestion with agni sara breathing

Breathing through alternate nostrils

Creating cool sounds with sitkari

Shining your skull with kapilabharti breath

Cleansing Your Nose with a Neti Pot

Caring for Your Lungs

Defending yourself with chyavanprash

Taking tulsi

Snuffing out a cold with spices

Strengthening with pippali milk

Chapter 15: Flexible Approaches for Your Musculoskeletal System

Maintaining Mobility with Simple Stretches

Coping with Cramp

Addressing Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Looking at dietary principles and arthritis

Healing herbs

Using oils, inside and out

Introducing castor oil

Regaining Stability: Strategies for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Diagnosing CFS

Coping with CFS: Herbal remedies

Chapter 16: The Secrets of Healthy Skin and Hair

Saving Your Skin with a Simple Massage Routine

Identifying Foods Your Skin Will Love

Balancing the Scales: Helpful Ways to Settle Psoriasis and Eczema

Stepping Out with Chicken Soup for the Soles

Simple solutions for corns

Coping with a callus

Fixtures for fissures

Managing ingrown toenails

Reducing the pain of heel spurs

Heading in the Right Direction with Scalp Massage

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 17: Ten Herbs for Maintaining Health

Ashwaghanda (Withania somnifera) Winter Cherry

Bala (Sida cordifolia) Country Mallow

Vacha (Calamus) Sweet Flag

Pippali (Piper longum) Long Pepper

Haritaki (Chebulic myrobalan) Indian Gall Nut

Amalaki (Emblic myrobalan) Indian Gooseberry

Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) Moonseed

Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) Wild Asparagus

Brahmi (Hydrocotyl asiatica/Bacopa monnieri) Indian Pennywort

Kumari (Aloe vera indica) Indian Aloe

Chapter 18: Ten Super Spices for Your Kitchen

Turmeric

Cinnamon

Black Pepper

Mustard Seed

Ginger

Cumin

Coriander

Cardamom

Clove

Nutmeg

Part VI: Appendices

Appendix A: Sanskrit Glossary

Appendix B: Botanical Index

Appendix C: Suppliers

About the Author

Cheat Sheet

Introduction

My search for a medical system that truly encompassed the whole being began when I was 19 years old and studying the biomechanics of the lower limb at podiatry school. A sense of deep unease was growing within me because I realised that a problem in the knee, for example, may be related to the whole of the skeletal structure and not just to the part of the body we were allowed to take care of. Alongside this was the realisation that a disease entity can present a very different picture in people with differing constitutions.

Help arrived for me in 1986 when a doctor came to the hospital to give a talk on Ayurveda, called the mother of all healing systems. Dawn broke for me and shone a light on a system of healing that is so elegant yet so simple in its formation.

Coming from at least 5,000 years of human experience, Ayurveda really is the ‘prima materia’ (first matter) of all medical modalities. Ayurveda is a system in which the healers have a responsibility to keep themselves well, along with their patients. Encompassing wellness of body, mind and spirit, Ayurveda encourages vitalisation that extends into your every cell.

I hope this book fuels in you the enthusiasm to try Ayurveda for yourself and incorporate it into your daily life, which will benefit and be enhanced by it.

About This Book

Ayurveda For Dummies gives you the tools to comprehend the basic building blocks of Ayurveda. Use it as a basis to progress on the journey to well-being using simple instructions and interventions, which you can implement immediately into your daily routine. I give you tools for recognising problems as early as possible and treating them with both diet and herbs. I provide a lot of general information for maintaining your well-being. Everyone deserves better health.

Conventions Used in This Book

To help you get the most from this book, I follow a few conventions:

Italic is used for emphasis and to highlight new words or terms that I define.

Web addresses may split over two lines – if so, ignore the hyphen that links them when you’re typing the address into a search engine. If you’re reading this on an enabled device, the web addresses are hyperlinked and will take you straight to the site in question.

Bold shows the action part of numbered steps.

What You’re Not to Read

Of course, I hope that you’ll read the entire book, but in some cases I offer information that you may find interesting but that’s not essential to your understanding. Sidebars (shaded boxes of text) are an example of this kind of text and may include anecdotes, history or other titbits that I find juicy but you may not! And when I go deeper into the principles or science of Ayurveda, I use the Technical Stuff icon to let you know you’re perfectly welcome to skip that paragraph.

Foolish Assumptions

To generate this book, I made a few assumptions about you:

You’re keen to learn more about Ayurveda but don’t know exactly what it is and how to practise it.

You’re very busy and you want a simple, clear understanding of the fundamentals of Ayurveda.

You’ve already delved into other types of complimentary therapies and would like to expand your knowledge.

You’re interested in optimising your health and are ready to try a few Ayurvedic suggestions.

How This Book Is Organised

I’ve organised Ayurveda For Dummies into six parts. Each part contains a variety of chapters to instruct you further on various aspects of Ayurveda.

Part I: Getting Started with Ayurveda

In this part I explain the belief system and philosophy behind Ayurveda, which can appear quite esoteric at times. Getting to grips with the basics won’t take you long and the rewards will be worth it.

You probably want to get cracking straight away with learning your constitution according to Ayurveda from the questionnaire in Chapter 4. This enables you to put the interventions that I list into practise. Armed with this information you can better navigate the rest of the book.

Part II: Living in Harmony with Ayurveda: Promoting Good Health

In this section I take you on a journey to learn how disease develops in your system according to Ayurveda. Completing the questionnaire in this part can determine how healthy your system is. You also look at the health of the senses and how time affects your well-being.

This is the core of the book where ways you can promote good health are clearly laid out. I cover the daily routine, seasonal routines and evening procedures. There is a great chapter on yoga postures for individual constitutions as well as yoga as medicine for problems you may have. I include breathing exercises from which you can gain immediate benefit if you try them for as little as ten minutes a day. You’re sure to find advice in this part to suit your lifestyle needs.

Part III: Appetising Approaches to a Healthy Diet

Diet is of utmost importance to your health. In this part I share my enthusiasm for the Ayurvedic approach to diet and I provide you with ways to improve your digestion using food. I give dietary advice for different doshas (constitutions), because we all have different dietary needs. In Chapter 12, I share ways to optimise your diet and make it more nutritious. Bon appétit!

Part IV: Fitting Ways to Enhance Healing

In this section I present you with Ayurvedic suggestions to improve common health problems such as digestive disorders, respiratory problems, musculoskeletal ailments and skin and hair issues. If you’re experiencing difficulties in any of these areas, I provide helpful prevention advice you can put into practice.

Part V: The Part of Tens

No For Dummies book is complete without the legendary Part of Tens. In this part I present bite-size chunks of information about herbs and spices, including their amazing healing properties.

Head to www.dummies.com/extras/ayurvedauk for a bonus Part of Tens chapter: 'Ten Wonderful Ways To Enhance Your Health with Ayurveda'.

Part VI: Appendices

Last but not least are three short appendices: a glossary of Sanskrit terms (Sanskrit being the language of Ayurveda), a botanical index, and a list of suppliers of all things Ayurveda.

Icons Used in This Book

Sprinkled throughout the book you’ll see various icons to guide you on your way. Icons are a For Dummies way of drawing your attention to important stuff, interesting stuff, and stuff you really need to know how to do.

This icon highlights important concepts in Ayurveda or concerning health in general.

I love science, but maybe you don’t. That’s okay – you don’t need much of it to understand how Ayurveda can help you. When I delve into specialised info, I use this icon to let you know that the material is esoteric and skippable.

When I provide a way for you to do something more quickly or easily, I use this icon.

This dangerous-looking symbol lets you know when trouble may befall you, as when an ingredient I discuss is known to cause allergies. You won’t find many of these icons, but please do heed their messages.

Where to Go from Here

I’ve written this book so that you can dip in and out of it as you please. However, if you’re new to Ayurveda, starting at the beginning is most helpful. For the rest of you, take a look at the Table of Contents and see what takes your fancy.

Head online for special bonus content at www.dummies.com/extras/ayurvedauk, and visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/ayurvedauk for the cheat sheet created specifically for this book.

I wish you a happy excursion into the world of Ayurveda, which has enough breadth and depth to satisfy those of you who are hungry for knowledge to help you improve and sustain the well-being of your body, mind and spirit.

Part I

Getting Started with Ayurveda

  For Dummies can help you get started with a huge range of subjects. Visit www.dummies.com to learn more and do more with For Dummies.

In this part . . .

Discover the incredible 5,000-year history of Ayurveda.

Identify your constitution – your type of skin, hair and body shape – so you can tailor the advice in this book for you.

Get familiar with the amazing energy systems in your body.

Meet the centres of awareness that are your chakra system.

Go to www.dummies.com/extras/ayurvedauk for online bonus content, including an extra Part of Tens chapter: 'Ten Wonderful Ways to Enhance Your Health with Ayurveda'.