Welcome to The Simple Ayurveda Podcast! In the very first episode we discuss what exactly Ayurveda is and how you can start to incorporate it into your life today.

I also talk about the four components of life, the main principle of Ayurveda and why there will never be a one size fits all Ayurveda protocol.

Click here to listen to the full episode or subscribe to The Simple Ayurveda Podcast on iTunes.

Welcome to the Simple Ayurveda podcast. I’m Angela Perger, and this is a place where we discuss how ancient wisdom can be applied to your everyday like, so that you can be your happiest, healthiest self. 

Thank you so much for tuning in. This is Episode 1 of the Simple Ayurveda Podcast and today I will answer the question that I get most often: What is Ayurveda? But before I jump into that answer, I would just like to spend a moment to tell you who I am and why I am so excited about Ayurveda. First and foremost, I am a Mom to two little ones, ages 1 and 5, and that takes up most of my time. I’m a yoga teacher, and I have used Ayurveda and Yoga to heal my own ulcerative colitis. I do not have any symptoms nor do I take any medication, although I do see my specialist twice a year, and at my last exam he said that there are no symptoms of colitis and that whatever I’m doing is working, and that was a huge celebration for me as I have gone through many diets and protocols out there, many healing methods, and Ayurveda is what worked. And that’s why I’m so crazy to share this with you. In a future episode I will get into the specifics of the health journey. But for today, I want to go back to that question: What is Ayurveda?

It’s most commonly translated as “the knowledge of life” or “the wisdom of life” and the word Ayurveda comes from ancient texts, The Vedas. Veda means “wisdom” or “knowledge”, sometimes it is translated as “science”, and Ayur means “life”, you’ll see it spelled Ayu and Ayus as well. And basically it’s the world’s oldest wellness system, it’s been practiced for thousands of years and it has longevity because it works. So if we look at the translation, the word “ayur” is loosely translated as life, but there are actually 4 distinct things that Ayurveda says life is composed of and that is our mind, body, senses and soul. And to me, knowing all 4 pieces of this puzzle enlightens the whole practice. And basically we all know that our mind contributes to our health and well-being. So our emotions, the way that we think about things, and I know that when I do pause and take a deep breath I sneak in a few moments of gratitude in meditation my entire outlook toward life changes. And that second piece, our body, that is where the diet, the physical exercise, the habits that we cultivate all contribute to whether we feel well or we don’t. I personally consider the soul to be our higher self, and then the fourth piece, the senses. The senses I think are often overlooked as this tool to health and wellness because they are signals that let us know if something is going to take us away from our natural state of balance, or if it’s going to bring us to our natural state of balance. 

When I first stumbled across Ayurveda I found it to be confusing, and I think for the newbies it seems almost mystical talking about prakruti and vikriti, and constitution, and dosha, and really all of those words are just words for you to get to know yourself. Because Ayurveda is a living science. It doesn’t come with a set list of things that you need to eat or do for every single person. It varies according to the individual. And when you get to know yourself, when you get to know your mind, your body, your soul, your senses, then you’re able to start to understand what things bring you to balance and what things push you out of balance. And there will never be a specific Ayurveda protocol diet because that goes against what Ayurveda is. It’s a living science for the individual's well-being. 

Ayurveda is one of the three Vedic sciences. So Ayurveda covers mind, body, soul and senses. The second sister science is Jyotish, Vedic Astrology. And that’s all about the alignment of the planets and what was happening in the Universe on the day and the time that you were born that influenced who you are as an individual, and that is what I plan to study next. I find it fascinating but I don’t know much about it. And then lastly there is Yoga. The true purpose of Yoga is spiritual enlightenment. It’s to free ourselves from this karmic cycle. It’s a spiritual practice and it’s for our souls. So the Yoga that we most commonly practice to ease back pain, to strengthen your core, to stand up taller and have better posture, to calm down your mind and for me to have patience as a mom, that it actually all the practice of Ayurveda. That is mind and body. When your Yoga practice goes deeper, past the physical asana, the physical poses, and into the spiritual realm, that is the true practice of Yoga. 

In conclusion, Ayurveda is the wisdom of life. It is a living science that looks at everything you do and how it impacts the way you feel. It encompasses your mind, your body, your soul and your senses. And the whole purpose of the Simple Ayurveda podcast is to get into the nitty gritty details of who you are, what makes you an individual, and how you can apply these sacred teachings to feel your happiest, healthiest, most vibrant self. So thank you so much for listening today.