EUROPEAN AYURVEDA ASSOCIATION EUAA DEFINITION
Ayurveda is a comprehensive system of holistic health care that originated in India several thousand years ago. Even though the earliest literary references to Ayurveda as a medical science are datable to only around 200 BC, many of the fundamental healing principles, which Ayurveda is based upon, had already been mentioned much earlier in various sacred texts of ancient India.Ayurveda is derived from two Sanskrit words: 'ayus' meaning life and 'vid' meaning knowledge. The 'science of life', Ayurveda, is as much concerned with enhancing the quality of life and the prevention of ill-health as it is with treatment of disease. Ayurvedic theory states that all disease begins with an imbalance or stress in the individual's consciousness. The eight branches of Ayurveda cover the whole physical, mental and spiritual understanding of the creation within a single consistent system.
Ayurveda's holistic spectrum makes use of diverse therapies and associated sciences which include remedies, body work, psychology, yoga, architecture, astrology gemology.
The underlying philosophy of Ayurveda is to treat each individual as a unique being and to facilitate the return to a normal balance from an abnormal balance of health.
MEDICAL DICTIONARY DEFINITION
Ayurvedic medicine is a system of healing that originated in ancient India. In Sanskrit, ayur means life or living, and veda means knowledge, so Ayurveda has been defined as the "knowledge of living" or the "science of longevity". Ayurvedic medicine utilizes diet, detoxification and purification techniques, herbal and mineral remedies, yoga, breathing exercises, meditation, and massage therapy as holistic healing methods. Ayurvedic medicine is widely practiced in modern India and has been steadily gaining followers in the West.
According to the original texts, the goal of Ayurveda is prevention as well as promotion of the body's own capacity for maintenance and balance. Ayurvedic treatment is non-invasive and non-toxic, so it can be used safely as an alternative therapy or along-side conventional therapies.
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