Ayurveda

By David Crow, L.Ac.

Published in Light on Ayurveda, September ‘07

Traditional medical systems such as Ayurveda and Chinese medicine (TCM) are fundamentally systems of eco-physiology, which describe the functioning of the human body using terms and concepts derived from observing the elements and energetic patterns of planetary biospheric physiology. If students contemplate these principles deeply, they begin to develop a kind of macro-thinking that reveals not just the basic elemental correspondences taught in Ayurvedic and TCM colleges, but vast patterns of interrelationships between living beings and the underlying commonalities of biological functions. When this type of synthetic and integrative thinking is combined with an understanding, even rudimentary, of botany, physiology, and chemistry, a truly holistic vision of life emerges. A holistic vision of life awakens a sense of reverence for the intelligence operating within every aspect of nature, and this awakening in turn is the foundation of spiritual wisdom.

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By David Crow, L.Ac.

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The objective of this article is twofold. The first is to introduce the fifteen sub-doshas as described by Ayurvedic medicine, which are the anatomical and physiological subdivisions of the three primary doshas of vata, pitta, and kapha. The second is to describe the categories of essential oils that are related to each of the sub-doshas. By describing the functions of each sub-dosha and then correlating essential oils that have direct therapeutic effects on that sub-dosha, we gain an understanding of how the oils affect interrelated systems of organs, channels, and tissues, and therefore know the strengths and weaknesses of using aromatherapy and aromatic plants for different conditions.

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