Understanding Life from the Ayurvedic Perspective

Bamboo House held its 5th Holistic Wellness meetup last Monday evening,
and I was very delighted to have some time to sit in
for an enriching session conducted by
Ms Vasanthi Pillay (Founder of Ayurveda Association of Singapore)

Vasanthi is a yogist and naturopath
passionate about Ayurveda which can be translated as
"Life Science" (Ayu = Life; Veda = knowledge)
-- from the ancient Indian perspective.

Vasanthi pointed out in the beginning of the lecture,
Ayurveda is the science of how to live well
starting as early from the conception in mother's womb
to the end journey of a person.

Ayurveda covers not only the dietetic segment of one's life,
but also lifestyle, environment, seasons/climate, mind and soul.
A truly holistic life science.

A few important remarks that I picked up in the lecture:

1. Before healing our body, we should first understand our soul and mind.
It's not possible to heal properly without knowing who we ourselves are.

2. Like the Yin-Yang and the 5-Element theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
Ayurveda also segregates all universal elements into 5 groups
namely,
Space+Air      (with Vata function);
Fire                (with Pitta function);
Earth+Water (with Kapha function)

3. The way we live should pacify (or harmonise) with the 3 functions
by keeping  Vata/Pitta/Kapha in balance
through what we eat, the timing we eat, the lifestyle we lead, the region we live in etc,
in regards of our own body types and personality.

- This is why without knowing our own body type/personality, it's difficult to eat right and live right.

In a macro sense,
knowing our own body type/personality can be interpreted as
the pursuance of awareness.

If we would like to solve a problem (be it health, social, financial or environmental)
it's natural that we should first be aware of
the situation, our positioning, the system and the big picture,
before taking any action.


During the meetup,
Vasanthi also introduced to participants
a very tasty herbal drink
which pacifies all 3 Vata/Pitta/Kapha
(ie suitable for all body types in general):


Pegaga - Red Date Beverage

*benefits: good for memory, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral/bacterial

Ingredients:

Pegaga ...................... 100g (ground/blended without water into paste)
Dried Red Dates ....... 500g (or to taste)
Water ........................ 2L

Methods:

- boil red dates in water till the volume reduce by half, mix in pegaga paste, stir and boil for another 5 min. Sieve and serve immediately.


Hope you enjoy both food for thought and gut =)


With metta,
Kee Yew
pureland2012-at-gmail.com


. Ayurveda-Pegaga

{Learning Holistic Wellness for Wisdom and Compassion}