The Eastern medical tradition is perhaps as ancient as civilisation itself. Deeply based on the traditional wisdom of thousands of generations of people, these medical systems have profound and long term view of health.
India’s indigenous medical systems are no exception to this. While Ayurveda is world-renowned, India also has other systems of medicine such as Siddha tradition in the south, Unani medicine, and local herbal traditions unique to each region. In this list, we are not including alternative healing systems like Homeopathy, which have a western origin, despite a strong and thriving presence in India.
Apart from these, systems like Yoga, Marma and indigenous naturopathy are also medical in their application. While most people understand yoga only as a physical posture practice, yoga has deeply therapeutic applications, so much so that it can be seen as a non-invasive, drugless therapy system.
However, one central idea is common to all of these medical traditions – and that is, nourishing food and clean water is the primary medicine that the body really needs.
In the Ayurvedic tradition, the food that we consume and the water that we drink, both in quality and quantity, are considered the principal guarantors of health.
Speaking specifically about water, VPK By Maharishi Ayurveda says “Water represents soma, the nourishing, cooling quality that is associated with lunar energy. It helps with digestion, cools and balances Pitta dosha, supports Kapha, and counteracts the dryness of Vata. It nurtures, lubricates and also detoxifies when it flows out of the body as urine.”
Water in itself, as long as it is pure, fresh, is considered a medicine in itself. Adequate consumption of pure water for healing is seen as the only intervention necessary for the curing of constipation, dryness, stiff joints, a burning sensation in the eyes, and even in certain types of dehydration related headaches.
Also Read: Healing Asthma with Drinking Pure Water
To begin with, most Indian medical systems premise themselves upon the idea of “prana”, or vital energy, that is the essential factor that nourishes, protects and preserves the body.
Prana is absorbed into the body primarily through air, but water and food are also crucial sources of prana. Prana is considered to be high in fresh fruit, green vegetables, milk and freshly prepared grain foods such as cooked rice and wheat.
While all fresh water can be consumed, Ayurveda clearly details what type of water has the highest prana. For example, some texts suggest that water drawn from a well, just before sunrise, is extremely nourishing. For certain healing potions, an earthen pot of water is covered in unbleached cotton fabric, and left over night in moonlight, to be later used for medicinal preparations. Water treated in this way is referred to as “Hamsodaka”.
For routine health maintenance, Ayurveda recommends that water should be sipped in small quantities, rather than gulped at one shot. Also, water must be consumed warm, tepid or at room temperature, and never after artificial cooling such as refrigeration. It is not recommended to drink water after meals, as this slows down digestion. Dry lips and dark urine indicate dehydration, and is a call to consume more water.
Ayurveda believes that ill health is basically an imbalance of the body’s natural humours, namely vata, pitta and kapha. Clean, fresh and ample water ensures that these humours are balanced, cells and tissues are moist, joints are lubricated and enzyme secretion happens as required.
Warm to hot water is considered an excellent way to detox the body, according to Ayurveda. Toxins are termed as “ama” in Ayurveda, and can be thought of as sludge that clogs the system and keeps it from functioning properly. Hot water can dissolve “ama” from your system just as it dissolves grease from dirty dishes, and it can accomplish this gradually and comfortably, according to Everyday Ayurveda
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All this shows that starting an Ayurvedic regime can be very simple – your first and easiest step would be to start with clean, fresh and pure drinking water, and consume it optimally, appropriately and in prescribed intervals.