ayurveda

Ayurveda is widely recognized as the sister science of Yoga and literally means "the science of life." Both traditions stem from Samkhya philosophy in the ancient Hindu texts called The Vedas, and thus have a similar foundation. 

Ayurveda upholds the understanding that we each exist as our own, unique & individual creation, and thus one person's medicine is another's poison. Ayurveda teaches its students how to become one's own healer and treat imbalances in the body at their source. 

The system of Ayurveda is based on an understanding of the five elements - earth, water, fire, air & ether. Each of these elements is inanimate on their own, despite their individual characteristics. Thus, relationships must be formed for there to be activity in the universe! These relationships are called doshas and all of Ayurvedic wisdom focuses on balancing these doshas in your life.

The three main doshas are Kapha (earth + water), Pitta (fire + water) and Vata (air + ether). Each of us is born with a distinct portion of each dosha in our constitutions (called prakriti), and over time we move away from our given portions (called vikriti) due to internal or external factors. Ayurveda is all about coming back to that balance of doshas we experienced at birth so as to live a life free from dis-ease.