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| The Yogic view of health and disease highlights that the root cause of physical ailments and disorders arises out from the mind. As per Yoga, adhi (the disturbed mind) is the cause, while vyadhi (the physical disease) represents the manifested effect. In other words, a disorder evolves from psychic manifestation to psychosomatic to somatic and eventually to the organic or the physical form affecting the panchakoshas on the way.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" /> | | The Yogic view of health and disease highlights that the root cause of physical ailments and disorders arises out from the mind. As per Yoga, adhi (the disturbed mind) is the cause, while vyadhi (the physical disease) represents the manifested effect. In other words, a disorder evolves from psychic manifestation to psychosomatic to somatic and eventually to the organic or the physical form affecting the panchakoshas on the way.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" /> |
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| + | == Ayurveda: An Approach and System for Well-Being == |
| + | Originating in India, Ayurveda is one of the oldest systems of traditional medicine in the world and has been practiced in the Indian subcontinent since 5000 BC (Dasgupta 1992, Mukherjee and Wahile 2006). The term Ayurveda has its roots in the Sanskrit language and is comprised of two words Ayu (life) and Veda (knowledge) and is concerned with health and well-being (Manohar 2013; Payyappallimana and Venkatasubramanian 2016). Further, Ayurveda lays down the path of living that is directed by the three pursuits: |
| + | # Praneshana ie. desire to lead a long healthy life |
| + | # Dhaneshana ie. desire to savor financial and material security |
| + | # Paralokeshana ie. desire to attain happiness in the life hereafter (Salema et al. 2002). |
| + | It focuses on the salutary and unsalutary facets of life to promote the ways that would be beneficial to lead a happy and nurturing life. |
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| + | === Health and Well-Being in Ayurveda === |
| + | Ayurveda defines a healthy individual as <blockquote>''“One who is established in Self, who has balanced doshas, balanced agni, properly form dhatus, proper elimination of malas, well-functioning bodily processes and whose mind, soul, and senses are full of bliss, is called a healthy person”'' </blockquote>As quoted in Lad 2002: |
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| + | समदोषः समाग्निश्च समधातुमलक्रियाः । प्रसन्नात्मेन्द्रियमनः स्वस्थ इत्यभिधीयते ॥ |
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| + | Samadosha samagnischa samadhatumala kriyaha prasanna atmenindriya manaha swasthya ityabhidheeyate. (Sushruta Samhita, 15.38). |
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| + | Health as per Ayurveda is Svastha, a Sanskrit term that means "stability in the true self", a state of complete, balanced, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being (Sharma et al. 2007a, b). This is in line with United Nations’ WHO’s definition of health (1948) as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO 1946). |
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| + | As mentioned before, the salutogenic paradigm perceives health as the presence of positive human capabilities and optimal functioning. Aligned to this view, Ayurveda posits a positive view of health encompassing thoughts, feelings, and an overall state of being. It views health as a form of internal regulatory system to attain and maintain ideal health via adequate and orderly balance of the coherent collection of elements underlying the constitution of an individual. On the contrary, an illness signifies aberration in the regulatory system leading to a less than ideal state. Ayurveda also prescribes the way to health, i.e., swasthavrtta, a personalized healthy conduct appropriate to an individual that comprises of medicinal herbs, diet and nutrition, lifestyle, self-awareness, and harmony and accordance with other people and the nature. Further, Ayurveda shares its aim with salutogenesis to create positive health, where the focus is on developing positive capabilities to improve state of health and in which the existence of an illness doesn’t eliminate experiencing a state of well-being (Morandi et al. 2011). |
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| + | With its holistic orientation, early diagnosis, and personalized treatment, |
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| + | Ayurveda aims not only to cure diseases but also to prevent them, maintain health, |
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| + | and promote longevity (Frawley and Ranade 2001; Patwardhan 2014), Accordingly, |
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| + | Ayurveda seems to share substantial similarities with the innovative approach of |
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| + | predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM) (di Sarsina et al. 2012). |
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| + | Further, Ayurveda focuses on a wide spectrum of aspects, namely, biological, ecological, medical, psychological, sociocultural, spiritual, and metaphysical that constitute the determinants of health, and emphasizes the concept of relationship as the bedrock that interconnects the determinants. The mutual existence and integration of these determinants with all their complexity make way for the emergence of what is known as health. As a result, this comprehensive system aims at an individual’s whole bio-psycho-spiritual equilibrium (Morandi et al. 2011). |
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| == References == | | == References == |
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