Comprising yoga, massage, meditation and much more, Ayuverdic medicine is among the world’s oldest, and reputedly balances life and health. It originated in India more than 5,000 years ago, and is still practiced there alongside Western medicine.

Ayuverdic medicine is based on the belief that balance in life starts at birth, where a person’s innate qualities help to frame the person’s physical and mental patterns, to create the state known as praktiki. A person’s present state is known as vikruti, which is praktiki incorporating everything affecting one’s life—work, diet, hobbies and friends, for example. The closer one is to praktiki the better. Discord in life, or divergence from self, leads to dosha imbalance. Dosha refers to energy patterns.

To identify diseases, practitioners of ayurvedic medicine must evaluate what dosha is the greatest influence in the patient and seek to understand if there’s discourse between the innate and current self. Individuals can apply ayurvedic medicine to everyday situations, too. For example, dry skin may require more than lotion. One may need to look at emotions and consider how to heal emotional dryness.

An overview of ayuverdic medicine is published in the March, 2008 issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.