Terms Explained

Āyur means Life

Veda means Knowledge

Āyurveda is "the knowledge of life".   

I like to say it is a “roadmap to our mind and body” as it truly gives us a detailed description of patterns and conditions and how to work with them. Āyurveda is an ancient system of medicine, dating back over five thousand years from India. It is a natural system that is based on simple energetics, common sense and natural therapies like food, plants, aromas, colors and daily and seasonal routines. It is considered a “sister science” to yoga.

On this page you will find some common concepts that we may address in our counseling sessions to assist you in understanding yourself and working towards balance utilizing the tools this system has to offer. 

Āyurveda is based on the five great elements – Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. These are the basic building blocks of everything in nature, including our body and mind. They combine in different ways to create different effects.

Ether – refers to the etheric principle of space

Air – refers to the gaseous principle of movement

Fire – refers to the luminous principle of light

Water – refers to the fluid principle of cohesion

Earth – refers to solidity and the principle of density

We all have a certain balance of elements in our being that makes up our physiology. When the elements get out of balance we suffer. Read about the Doshas to learn more. 

  The five elements combine in certain ways to create three main types, or constitutions, called Doshas. While the literal translation of the word “dosha” is described as meaning “fault” or “blemish” it is hard to accurately translate the breadth of meaning of the word “dosha”. You can think of it as a set of tendencies, or a set of characteristics, or the biological humors that effect the structure and function of our mind, emotions and body. 

While there are three doshas, we are really made up of a combination of all the doshas, with one or two most predominant. Due to lifestyle factors, stress and trauma the doshas (and elements) can go out of balance and cause us pain and suffering. Part of our healing work is to bring the doshas and elements back into a comfortable balance.

Vāta 

Vāta is a combination of the ether and air elements. This makes it light, subtle, dry, mobile and cold. When Vāta is increased in our body these elements will show as a feeling of being ungrounded, indecisive, anxious and unable to sleep. We may startle easily and have trouble focusing. We may be hypersensitive and have changeable moods. In our physical body we may be very cold, dry and constipated. 

Pitta

Pitta is a combination of the fire and water elements. It is hot, sharp, light, oily, liquid and mobile. The fire and water can create a hot steam when out of balance – this can lead to anger and irritation, a very judgmental mind, being overly critical or perfectionistic. In our physical body we can experience inflammation, infections, red-skin conditions, hyperacidity, and diarrhea or other “hot” conditions. 

Kapha

Kapha is a combination of earth and water. It is heavy, cold, moist, sticky, dull and stable. When these elements are out of balance we may feel lethargic, stuck and attached. We may struggle to let go of the past and have little motivation or desire to make positive changes. We may experience depression and want to sleep all day, or indulge in emotional eating. Physically we may have excess mucous, swelling of tissues, slow digestion and weight gain.

We are born with a particular constitution but these qualities can increase or decrease based on the geography and climate of our living environment, the diet we favor, the lifestyle routines we follow, the work we do, what type of exercise we practice, how we handle stress and what traumas we have experienced. If we are struggling with challenges in how we feel, or with what is happening with our mental health and emotional stability, it is imperative that we consider the entire picture of our lives and make changes accordingly. Even if it seems our problems are coming from outside of us - like a relationship partner, or a work situation, sometimes our inner balance is off, and once reestablished we can see the outer situations more clearly. The process of Ayurvedic counseling can assist in finding this balance again. 

    These are subtle forms of Vata, Pitta and Kapha that influence our vitality in life. 

Prāna, referred to as “chi” in traditional Chinese medicine, is the basic life force. It allows us energy, creativity and movement in our lives. It is the subtle air element. 

Tejas is a subtle form of the fire element which affords us insight, clarity, inspiration and motivation. It allows us to perceive clearly and have good judgement. 

Ojas is likened to the subtle immune system in the body, or the deep energy reserve. When healthy and full it affords us a strong immune system and a stableness in our mind. We need strong ojas to live a healthy life, but often it is depleted from lifestyle choices, stress, or trauma. It can also get burnt up by high tejas or dried out by excess prāna. 

These are very important subtle energies for healing. 

  These are qualities that exist in nature and are necessary for life and creation. 

Sattva is the pure essence of consciousnesses, intelligence, peace and light. It is harmony, clarity, and purity. We are living in a Sattvic way when we are aligned with our higher purpose are living a clean, balanced life. Our Sattvic quality of consciousness must be nurtured on a regular basis, as the world can easily pull us into the realm of the other gunas. 

Rajas is the principle of action, movement and energy. It is dynamic and can even be agitating. We are living a rajasic life when we are busy all of the time, constantly moving from one thing to the next and always keeping our mind occupied. Some of this is necessary for life to continue, but we have to have it in the right proportion. Too much rajas is disturbing to our mind. 

Tamas is the principle of heaviness, lethargy, darkness and resistance. It is part of the necessity of life – so do not judge tamas as bad. Tamas is important at times, like in sleep or deep rest. But, we can also get stuck in tamas and not move forward. 

Out of Tamas is born Rajas, and out of Rajas we cultivate Sattva. This means learning to live in harmony with ourselves, our environment, with others and finding more peace, clarity and contentment in our mind. We learn to cultivate the qualities that lead us to maintain balance and equilibrium. 

 Purushārthas in the Vedic system refer to the four aims of life. These are dharma, artha, kama and moksha. A well-balanced life will have adequate room for all of these aims. We want to have happiness and pleasure, we want to do work that is fulfilling to our heart and soul, we want to be adequately compensated for it, and we want to feel connected to something greater than ourselves. Sometimes we put too much energy into one of these areas at the expense of the others and this causes us pain. By bringing this to our awareness we can check in and help define the values we live by. The purushārthas are also viewed from our Jyotish chart, and can indicate what our primary motivations in this life are. 

Dharma – living with a true purpose

Artha – goals, resources

Kama – happiness and pleasure

Moksha – spiritual and emotional freedom

The Vedic system believes that we have “bodies” or “layers” around us called kośas or “sheaths”. These sheaths encase the soul, or ātman, and separate us from our true self, but they also allow us to live in the world and carry out our karmas. For the person interested in developing a more conscious awareness, we can get to know these sheaths and work with them. We can work with each layer to develop more clarity which allows us to access our higher consciousness.

Annamaya kośa – this is the physical body that is affected by diet and nutrition. This is the easiest sheath to understand as we can see and touch it. How we treat our physical body affects the additional layers. 

Prānamaya kośa – this is the energy body. It is impacted by our breath and exercises and affects our energy levels and moods. It is the bridge between our body and our mind (which is why all those breathing practices work so well to make us feel calm and centered!)

Manomaya kośa – this is our mind and sensory input system. It is affected by the information and sensory impressions we take in. It governs our actions and feelings and is affected by the food and energy sheath. 

Vijñānamay kośa – this is the level of intelligence and discernment and is affected by wisdom, right knowledge and judgment. If we are making poor choices in the lower sheaths, we will not develop proper discernment. This is affected by the choices we make in life. 

Ānandamaya kośa – this is the most subtle layer, the bliss sheath. This is the thinnest veil between us and our soul, and is a realm of pure bliss and awareness. It is affected by right relationship with ourselves and the divine. 

In the twenty years I have been encouraging individuals to have a meditation practice, the one phrase I have heard over and over again is "I can't meditate because my mind can't get quiet".   And this is always my opportunity to share that it is not our job to get the mind to be quiet. This is a misunderstanding that prevents people from working with this fabulous tool. In the Yoga Sutras, there are certain practices that come before Dhyāna, which is the Sanskrit word for meditation. The one I will discuss here is Dhārana, which means concentration. Our job is to develop our power of concentration, that's really it. We pick an object of focus (the breath, a meaningful word or mantra, an image) and we do our best to let our mind rest on it. When we notice that we've left the object and we've been rehashing a conversation with someone in our head, we simply drop that train of thought and come back to our chosen object. And we do that over, and over, and over (and over!). Over time it gets easier to build our focus, but even then we have days when it is more challenging than others. That's okay. Just work on building concentration. If you do this, meditation spontaneously happens. It is not something you have to work so hard to do. 

Just the simple act of slowing down and trying to focus the mind on one object has enormous benefits that has been well documented (do a google search for "benefits of meditation" and see for yourself!). 

One study I will share is from the Behavioral Brain Research Journal from Basso, McHale, Ende, Oberlin and Suzuki (2019) found that even 13 minutes of meditation a day, done by non-experienced individuals, for 8 weeks supported emotional regulation, increased memory and attention and decreased anxiety. That's not bad for only 13 minutes a day. 

If you want to start a meditation practice, I suggest beginning with one or two minutes a day. Set a timer on your phone so you're not worried about how long its been, sit comfortably and close your eyes. Take a deep breath in and a long exhale out. Decide if you are going to continue focusing on the breath or a simple word, like "peace" or "calm" or "om". When your mind wonders, just bring it back. No big deal. You'll be surprised how quickly that minute passes. 

Basso, J. C., McHale, A., Ende, V., Oberlin, D. J., & Suzuki, W. A. (2019). Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators. Behavioral brain research, 356, 208–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2018.08.023

It is often said that when you are upset you "should take 10 deep breaths before you act". It turns out there is a lot of wisdom in this. In his book, Ayurveda and the Mind, Dr. David Frawley says "breath is used as a rope to tie down the mind." 

The mind and the breath have an intimate connection, and the prānamaya kośa is the link between the annamaya kośa (body) and the manomayka kośa (mind). If that doesn't make sense don't worry about it - just get the general message that how you breathe greatly impacts you on all levels of your being. 

In Yoga, there are many different types of breathing practices that have various functions, but I have included instructions below for the best one to start with for anyone new to prānāyāma. 

Yogi 3 Part Breath 

(Dīrgha Prānāyāma)

Inhale deeply into the abdomen, feeling the belly expand in front of you. In the middle of the inhalation, feel the ribcage expanding out to the sides. At the end of the inhalation, bring the breath all the way to the top of the chest/collar bones. As you exhale, release the air from the belly, then from the ribcage, then from the chest. 

This practice teaches us how to breathe diaphragmatically. This stimulates the relaxation response in the Parasympathetic Nervous System, increasing our feeling of safety and stability. It also increases the power of the lungs and oxygenates the body.