Ayurveda - The appeal of Ayurvedic medicine in the Western world

Ayurveda - The appeal of Ayurvedic medicine in the Western world

Ayurveda is an ancient medical practice native to India that has gained traction in the Western world over the past three decades. While Ayurvedic medicine has obvious appeal in the Western world, one can always find skeptics who would not even consider educating themselves on the subject before rushing to judgment.

Is Ayurveda a medical practice?

No. Ayurveda is not a medical practice, which is contrary to the prevailing perception in the West. Ayurveda is related to “herbalism”. Herbalism is the ancient practice of finding natural remedies for human illnesses, dating back 60,000 years to when Neanderthals relied on nature's herbs to cure human illnesses and care for their animals' health problems.

As civilizations began to develop in China, Greece, and India, the inhabitants followed various forms of herbalism, now known in India as “Ayurveda.”

Isn’t Ayurveda based on science?

It is a common misconception in the Western world that Ayurveda, since it is considered an alternative medicine, is not scientific. Ayurveda is often viewed as an exotic practice in health spas. The Sanskrit word Ayurveda consists of two words: Ayur, meaning life, and Veda, meaning knowledge. In other words, Ayurveda is a logical and systematic arrangement of herbal knowledge; It is the science of life that includes mind, body and soul.

Ayurvedic medicine in the western world

As mentioned above, Ayurvedic medicine has become popular in the Western world over the last two or three decades. Many universities now offer courses in alternative medicine and many people have started to consider it as a mainstream career option.

The appeal of Ayurveda lies mainly in its type of treatment. There are two main goals of Ayurvedic medicine:

"It treats the symptoms of an illness and helps the individual strengthen their immune system. Ayurveda treats the body, mind and soul of a person as a whole and works on the basis that the mind and body influence each other and together can overcome illness."

In other words, Ayurvedic medicine believes in holistic healing. Unlike conventional or western medicine, which begins treatment only when a human body becomes infected with a disease, Ayurveda begins healing before diseases occur. This is preventative medicine in its purest form.

Ayurvedic herbs are found in almost every household in India. Therefore, from the very beginning, children are surrounded by the preventative nature of herbs, which reduces the intensity with which diseases are transmitted. Let's take a small example: In any western country, there is a chance that someone suffering from a cold will rush to the doctor or the nearest medical center for treatment. In Asian countries, you will rarely find people visiting the clinic just to treat the same disease. The Ayurvedic remedies for the same condition are: a pinch of turmeric mixed with a glass of milk, a teaspoon of honey and a few drops of lime juice.

It is true that people in Asian countries also suffer from major health problems, but their focus is always on holistic healing rather than short-term solutions that Western medicines offer. The preventive nature of Ayurveda, or rather its healing nature, is the main reason why Western researchers are increasingly attracted to Ayurveda.

Ancient & modern Ayurveda

Ayurveda is a transnational phenomenon in the 21st century, whose broad spectrum encompasses the economic, socio-political, anthropological, philosophical, pharmacological and biomedical responses.

In the recent past, a dichotomy has been created between classical (ancient) and modern Ayurveda. Ayurveda experts, practitioners and researchers classify the “ancient” Ayurvedic wisdom as the original. For them, “modern” Ayurveda is the same knowledge that was exported from the East to the West, where it was modified. reinterpreted and then reimported to eastern countries.

However, there are still many who believe that this is simply an ideological difference. Some would argue that the Western world, so attuned to giving meaning to things based on their “provable” value backed by scientific research, is also trying to modernize Ayurveda for the same reasons.

For any Ayurvedic practitioner, this is an unwarranted and unimportant addition to Ayurvedic medicine, as a healing system based on the natural healing processes enabled by Mother Nature herself cannot be limited to scientific proportions.

Nevertheless, the appeal of Ayurveda due to its natural and preventative healing measures remains a predominant factor in its acceptance in the Western world.