The connection between Ayurveda and Yoga
"Ayurveda and Yoga are sisters sciences that developed together" - David Frawley
Yoga and Ayurveda are very closely related sciences born in India. I'm not going to touch a spiritual part of Yoga today. We'll talk about Yoga therapy. Traditionally it is practiced in a different way than we do nova days in the West.
What are Traditional Yoga and Ayurveda? Traditional Yoga therapy follows Ayurvedic approaches in terms of diagnosis, disease theory, and a full range of treatments. Yoga doesn't have its own diagnosis methods and uses Ayurveda for this purpose. Before prescribing we should understand the reason for the disease and its pathology. Only then do suggestions make sense. On the other hand, Ayurvedic treatments through herbs, diet, lifestyle recommendations along with Yoga therapies make the healing process comprehensive. Traditional Ayurveda uses Yoga therapy as one of the holistic healing methods. Yoga therapy is part of Traditional Ayurveda. Ayurveda uses Asanas (body postures) to deal with different types of diseases, primarily for muscles, bones, and joints issues. It uses Pranayama (breathing exercises) as a healing method for the mind-body system. It uses Mantra (sound), Dharana (concentration), and Dhyana (meditation) therapies mostly for mind-related problems.
What is the reason that Yoga and Ayurveda go separately in the West today? Yoga first came to the West starting in the late nineteenth century and was introduced before Ayurveda. It became very popular and new western schools used non-Ayurvedic models of Yoga therapy. They followed the model of western medicine. Finally, Ayurveda arrived in the West in the late twentieth century. At that time non-Ayurvedic models of Yoga therapy were already dominant.
What is the problem to use non-Ayurvedic models of Yoga therapy? Modern Yoga therapy became one of the bodywork therapy. It doesn't provide a full range of healing methods but uses as supplementary support. It doesn't look deep into the root of the problem but only works with expressions therefore after therapy problem isn't solved completely. That's why the issue can come back again. The non Personalized approach is the other problem with using non-Ayurvedic models of Yoga therapy. Misunderstanding the unique constitution of each individual can even be harmful to health. For example, too much activity and fast movements can cause depletion in some individuals and then lead to different body-mind issues such as arthritis, sciatica, insomnia, anxiety, etc.
What is Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy? As I mentioned above, Yoga and Ayurveda are connected to each other. They are part of a holistic healing system. Therefore to get all benefits of Yoga therapy it should be practiced from an Ayurvedic perspective. That is Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy. Ayurvedic Yoga therapists should be trained in the full system of Ayurveda, and understand fundamental principles of Ayurveda as well as Samprapti (pathology of the disease) and healing methods.
