How to Use the Encyclopedia

The ancient Ayurvedic art of healing deals with every individual’s life as a whole. To the Ayurvedic vaidya (physician), every individual is an indivisible, complete, unique being. At the same time, Vedic philosophy teaches that there is a concurrent and inherent relationship between the macrocosm (the universe) and the microcosm (the individual). The individual is constantly exposed to environmental changes, seasonal changes, changes in diet, lifestyle, emotions, job, financial status, and relationships. These changes are constantly bombarding every human being. To remain healthy or to regain health, all these factors have to be taken into consideration.

As you have learned, when the body’s doshic balance of vata–pitta–kapha is disturbed, illness may result. The purpose of Ayurvedic healing is not just to relieve the symptoms of a specific illness but to bring the out-of-balance factors back into harmony.

Thus, the purpose of Ayurvedic remedies, whether they be herbal medications, dietary and nutritional changes, yoga postures, cleansing procedures, or breathing exercises, is to eradicate the underlying causes of the disease, not merely to remove the symptoms. Of course one must deal directly with emergency or life-threatening symptoms, such as wheezing in asthma, heart pain in heart conditions, or high fever in infections. But if the fundamental causes of the illness are not dealt with, the problem will manifest again in the same or another form.

Components of Ayurvedic Healing

The Ayurvedic approach to restoring health is known as chikitsa (disease management) and traditionally consists of eight components. If you glance at the accompanying box, you will note that chikitsa is a complete healing program that begins with identifying and eliminating the underlying cause of the illness, proceeds by purifying the body and reestablishing balance, and ends with strengthening and revitalizing the affected organs, tissues, and systems so that the disease will not recur.

If you become sick, your illness is not likely to become completely healed unless you change the behaviors that gave rise to it. Dietary indiscretions, a stressful lifestyle, unresolved emotions, insufficient exercise—these are some of the factors that are at the root of most illness. Identifying and eliminating these causal factors are essential components of the healing process. If you take some of the recommended herbal formulas but allow unhealthy lifestyle habits to continue unabated, it’s not likely that you will experience lasting or significant improvement.

That is why, for each condition, I have suggested not only medications but numerous other measures you can use for healing, such as specific yoga postures and breathing exercises, foods to favor or avoid, massage oils, teas, healing pastes, and many other ways to promote healing. In addition, Part II of the book provides suggestions for your diet and daily routine that can get you established in a healthy way of living in harmony with nature. Please make use of these recommendations as part of your own personal holistic program for creating and supporting health.

Your body’s innate healing mechanisms are always at work, striving to maintain or restore total health and balance. The recommendations offered here will support the body in its natural process of healing.

The following points will help you to make best use of this encyclopedia of Ayurvedic healing.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Ayurvedic first-aid treatments are effective if you first do a careful, discriminating diagnosis to determine whether the condition is vata, pitta, or kapha in nature. A specific treatment, for a specific type of condition, will be beneficial.

On the other hand, if you do not take the time to diagnose carefully, the treatment may not be appropriate, and consequently you will not get the desired result. So before deciding on an Ayurvedic line of treatment, look carefully at the physical signs and symptoms that will help you determine whether it is a vata, pitta, or kapha illness or condition. Then choose the recommended treatment.

On the few occasions when it is not mentioned whether a condition is vata, pitta, or kapha, you can feel comfortable using any general treatment suggestions made for that condition.

A NOTE ABOUT HERBAL MEDICATIONS. The pharmacopoeia of Ayurveda is vast, including literally thousands of medicines, many of them herbal preparations. For each condition listed here, I have tried to include several very simple remedies, utilizing common kitchen herbs or household strategies such as taking a warm bath. I also recommend some common Ayurvedic herbs, most of which are easily obtained from various sources (see Resources). For guidelines on how to prepare your own herbal formulas, how to take herbs, how to make ghee, and other important information, please see appendix 2.

SEE WHAT WORKS. For each condition, several suggestions are made. No one expects you to use all of them. Try what sounds good to you, and observe how it works. If it solves the problem, you don’t need to try any others. If it doesn’t seem to work, then try a different approach. Each person is different and will react differently to these remedies.

DON’T BE DISCOURAGED IF A REMEDY DOESN’T WORK. In self-treatment using Ayurvedic principles and remedies, keep in mind a fundamental therapeutic guideline. If you diagnose your problem to be, for example, a vata disorder and embark on a treatment to reduce vata, then find that the treatment is not working or appears to be exacerbating the problem, this indicates that your diagnosis was not entirely correct.

This does not mean you should give up on Ayurvedic remedies! Simply try using the treatment recommended for either pitta or kapha, whichever makes more sense to you considering your symptoms. If you are untrained in Ayurvedic diagnosis, you may simply have made a mistake. So use your best judgment and try again.

Sometimes the effect of the first remedy can give you a clue for a more beneficial treatment. For example, perhaps you thought your condition was due to excess kapha, and you decided to use a heating herb such as ginger, pepper, or trikatu to treat it. If the condition worsens and you develop symptoms of aggravated pitta, such as irritability or a skin rash, you can infer that perhaps the problem was actually related to excess pitta. Reassess the situation, and take the next step.

BE SURE TO TREAT YOUR ACTUAL CONDITION. Most imbalances and illnesses are related to constitution. As it is often said, “Prakruti indicates disease proneness.” Vata individuals are likely to have vata-related problems, pitta individuals will have primarily pitta conditions, and kaphas will have kapha illnesses.

However, in a small percentage of cases, your illness or condition may not coincide with your own constitutional type. For example, you may be predominantly a pitta type, but you may have a vata condition such as insomnia or constipation. It may be the result of any combination of vata-aggravating factors in your life, such as a vata diet, a cold dry climate, or irregular hours. So when remedies are suggested, be careful to choose options that fit the symptoms of your condition, not necessarily your body type.

HOW LONG TO TAKE A REMEDY. In general, remedies should be used until your symptoms disappear. This may be a few days, a few weeks, or a few months, depending on several important factors, such as: How severe is the disease or condition? How long have you had it? How motivated are you to get well?

First, assess your desire to get well. If you have a strong desire and are motivated to get results, the first thing you need is diligence in following the prescribed Ayurvedic regimen. Because of the law of karma (cause and effect), to a great extent you will derive benefits according to your own actions. So in addition to taking your herbs two or three times a day as recommended (no skipping, no forgetting them at home …), you also need to address the underlying causes of your condition by rethinking your diet, daily routine, exercise program, etc. Chances are that the herbal remedies alone, without some changes in your lifestyle, will not be powerful enough to override the very behavior patterns that caused the illness in the first place.

If your condition is serious, and you are diligent with your remedies and make appropriate lifestyle changes and still the symptoms persist, you need to see your doctor for help. On the other hand, if the condition is chronic, it is unrealistic to expect that something that has persisted for years is going to disappear in a week or a month.

So in deciding how long to use the recommended remedies, use your common sense. And do your best right from the start: If you don’t, and you end up not getting the results you would like, it’s human nature that you will question whether you could have done better.

Every disease process in the body, and every process of healing, has its own momentum, speed, and duration. You cannot make the mango ripen quickly; it ripens of its own accord. So in order to eradicate the disease completely, allow sufficient time, and have patience. Ayurveda is not a quick fix. Anything that is quickly fixed does not resolve the problem totally.

Cautions

CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR. Some of the conditions in this book are serious medical conditions which require the supervision of a medical doctor. Mild or preclinical cases may sometimes be completely healed using these Ayurvedic recommendations, but these remedies are not a substitute for consulting with a physician.

If you are already under a doctor’s care for a specific illness or condition, the Ayurvedic remedies suggested here may be used in conjunction with the regimen outlined by your physician. But it is only fair and proper to do so with his or her knowledge and supervision.

Ask your doctor to carefully monitor your progress. As time goes by, you may be able to minimize or eliminate your dependence on strong medications if your body’s balance can be brought to a point at which diet, exercise, herbs, and other Ayurvedic methods are sufficient to control or eliminate the condition.

DETERMINE THE SEVERITY OF THE DISEASE. The vast majority of minor injuries and illnesses can be treated at home, with such natural means as lifestyle changes, diet, herbs, and simple yoga stretching exercises. But sometimes it is absolutely crucial to get medical attention from a qualified physician or even from a trained hospital staff. This is extremely important and must always be remembered.

For example, diarrhea that lasts for a day or even a couple of days can be effectively treated at home (see “Diarrhea”). But suppose a person has profuse diarrhea that goes on for some time, so that he or she becomes severely dehydrated. This is a serious condition that requires hospitalization. It cannot be treated at home or even in the outpatient department; it needs admission to a hospital so that intravenous feeding can begin immediately.

Or suppose someone has a high fever, perhaps 104 or 105 degrees

Fahrenheit, and is babbling incoherently, appears delirious, and is losing consciousness. This is a serious situation and one has to act promptly to get help.

So always be alert to the severity, intensity, persistence, or recurrence of any disease condition, and be sure to treat it properly. And remember: If you are not a trained medical professional, you may not always know. When in doubt, see a doctor.

A WORD ABOUT LICORICE TEA. On several occasions I recommend the use of licorice tea. Individuals with hypertension (high blood pressure) may use this tea for emergencies (such as to relieve an asthma attack—see “Asthma”), but they should not use it on a regular basis; it promotes sodium retention, which may increase blood pressure.