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Ancient secrets from Maharishi Ayurveda for radiating a positive personality Students and young adults, just entering college or a new career, often consider how to create a positive, attractive impression. Every individual is uniquely different, and yet there also seem to be some general traits that elicit a positive response from one’s environment. Self-confidence, cheerfulness, enthusiasm, contentment, courage, dignity, alertness and clear thinking, mental stability, patience, affection, and generosity are some traits that stand out. Can these qualities be cultivated naturally without contriving or straining and without losing one’s own unique personality? Maharishi Ayurveda offers some interesting clues. This ancient system of health care offers a way to maintain balance, mentally and physically. When one’s mind and body enjoy a state of balanced, good health, one naturally also enjoys an energetic, positive personality. An ancient system of prevention-oriented health care Maharishi Ayurveda has its roots in the ancient system of health, known as Ayurveda, which is Sanskrit for 'science of life'. This ancient knowledge of health, kept alive in India, comes from the ancient Vedic texts and offers sophisticated knowledge of the body and consciousness. His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, working with experts in Ayurveda, has revived this science of health in its completeness. Now through the application of Maharishi Ayurveda, one can direct one’s life towards good mental and physical health—radiating vitality, positivity, and strength. This ancient system of health care offers a precise understanding of the body and mind. It emphasizes prevention-oriented health care and focuses on creating balance naturally. By studying Maharishi Ayurveda, one learns how to maintain a balanced physiology, often simply by eating foods and, in some cases, herbal supplements that are right for one’s body-type, and by following some simple general guidelines for one’s daily and seasonal routine. Maharishi Ayurveda aims at prevention of disease by enlivening the body’s own intelligence. If illness does occur, Maharishi Ayurveda offers a number of effective, natural procedures for the return to health. Promoting health by focusing on the body’s intelligence Here are a few basics about Maharishi Ayurveda, as presented by Drs Clark and Sharma in their book Contemporary Ayurveda: Maharishi Ayurveda focuses on promoting perfect health through understanding and influencing the underlying intelligence of the body. Whereas modern medicine takes a primarily physical approach, focusing primarily on disease and targeting physiological symptoms, Maharishi Ayurveda approaches health from the perspective of consciousness and focuses on creating positive health, as well as treating disease. Therefore, the first essential aspect of Maharishi Ayurveda is the unfoldment of the full potential of consciousness through the practice of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation technique and an advanced programme, the TM-Sidhi Programme, including Yogic Flying. By developing higher states of consciousness, a person enjoys integration of mind and body and the enlivenment of all the laws of Nature for a problem-free life of the whole individual—body, mind, and emotions. Maharishi Ayurveda analyzes the underlying intelligence of the body and focuses on creating balance in the three major functions of the body’s intelligence. These three major functions are known in Sanskrit as the doshas. Drs Clark and Sharma describe how balancing the doshas leads not only to a state of good health, but also to balanced, attractive personalities. If we look around at friends, families, and co-workers, it becomes clear that there are certain general body types and personalities. Some people are thin and active with quick, alert intelligence; others have medium weight and are intelligent, focused achievers; still others may have sturdier physiologies and more weight and tend to be more relaxed and slow-moving. These people may take more time to learn but tend to retain what they learn much longer than those who learn more quickly. Modern western medicine usually disregards the fact that people have different body types. Maharishi Ayurveda acknowledges that there are different physical body-types, based on the predominance of one or more doshas. Maharishi Ayurveda focuses on preventing disease by creating balance of the three doshas. When each major body type is balanced, it will still uphold the characteristic differences of that body type. For example, Drs Clark and Sharma list the three major body types of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha and describe some of their balanced characteristics. In addition, Drs Clark and Sharma list four other body types with mixed doshas. Creating health by balancing the three doshas The dosha concept in the body and personality is elegantly simple, while also covering the entire complexity of diverse human physiologies and personalities. To summarize briefly, there are three major doshas, each with particular functions and characteristics in the physiology. The functions of the three doshas fit roughly into the concepts of motion, (vata dosha), energy metabolism (pitta dosha), and structure (kapha dosha). Drs Clark and Sharma explain, ‘All natural systems, however else they differ, include at least three functions: motion, energy production, and structure…. Our bodies, for example, have their motion systems: the impulses travelling through the nerves, the circulation of the blood, and the progress of food through the digestive tract. They also have their energy component: the metabolic processes, the enzymes that digest the food and extract energy from it, and the cells’ energy-producing chemical reactions. And finally, they have their solid physical structure: the bones, muscles, fat, and flesh. These three basic factors—motion, energy, and structure—are not exact translations, but provide a good place to begin understanding the three doshas.’ Drs Clark and Sharma outline the three doshas Vata—the dosha expressed in all motion (including locomotor system, blood circulation, motion of the heart and lungs, intestinal motion, and all motion in the cell walls, DNA, etc.)
Drs Clark and Sharma explain that vata is expressed in wind and the motion of water; pitta in fire; and kapha in solid structures of earth. In terms of the five elements—earth, water, fire, air, space—vata is related to the elements of space (akasha) and air (vayu). Pitta is related to fire (tejas) and also water (jala). Kapha is related to earth (prithivi) and water (jala). The dosha concept gives great insight into the body’s intelligence and how to enliven this intelligence fully for perfect health. Drs Clark and Sharma explain that if the doshas are balanced, then nature’s intelligence and organizing power permeates all levels of the physiology. If the doshas are not balanced, the body has only partial access to the inherent intelligence of nature. This imbalance slowly leads to greater imbalance and eventually disease. According to Maharishi Ayurveda, understanding the doshas is useful because the cause of most disease is either an excess of one or more dosha, or the ‘dislodging of a dosha from its normal sphere of influence’. The doshas influence both mental and physical health when they are operating in balance, and disease when they are out of balance. For example, if there is too much heat or digestive fire (pitta) in the body, a person might experience heartburn or ulcers. If there is too little, he might not be able to digest food completely and may experience indigestion. A fiery person may experience an angry temper. Maharishi Ayurveda maintains good health, mental and physical, by correcting imbalances before they blossom into disease. The Maharishi Ayurvedic doctor determines which doshas are out of balance through a questionnaire and through feeling the person’s pulse. He then prescribes diet, daily and seasonal routines, and possibly herbs to correct the imbalance. The patient may also choose to visit a Maharishi Ayurveda Health Centre and receive appropriate treatments for rebalancing the doshas. Characteristics of the three doshas in balance and imbalance To give an idea of the doshas and their balanced and imbalanced effects, Drs Clark and Sharma list the following examples. For example, a person with a balanced vata constitution is usually enthusiastic, alert, enjoys sound sleep, normal elimination, and normal formation of tissues. If vata is out of balance, his skin may be dry and rough, and he may have a tendency for insomnia, constipation, general fatigue, tension headaches, intolerance to cold, arthritis, anxiety and worry, and be underweight. In this example, one can sense the imbalance of air and motion, causing dryness, cold, and mental agitation. According to Drs Clark and Sharma, a balanced pitta person shows contentment, courage, and dignity; he has a sharp, clear intellect, normal heat and thirst mechanisms, good digestion, and a lustrous complexion. If out of balance, pitta can cause rashes, inflammatory bowel disease, visual problems, ulcers, heartburn, excessive body heat, premature greying or baldness, and hostility and anger. In this example, one can sense the excess of heat and digestive fire, causing anger and excessively fiery digestion. According to Drs Clark and Sharma, a balanced kapha person exhibits affection and generosity, is mentally stable, and has muscular strength, vitality, and normal joints. If out of balance, a kapha person may have oily skin, or may be lethargic, mentally dull, or may have sinus congestion, nasal allergies, asthma, cysts, or obesity. In this example, one can sense too much of the earth/water element, causing overweight and dullness and clogging sinuses. Easily correcting personality imbalances In these examples, one also sees the seed of personality imbalances. If a student is tense or anxious about his studies and losing sleep worrying, he can consult a Maharishi Ayurveda physician and balance his vata, regaining a calm, balanced personality. On the other hand, if he is quick to anger, he can subdue his fire with cooling foods. If he is dull and lethargic and tending to overweight, he can balance kapha, restoring his personality and physiology to vibrant alertness and vitality. Many students and young adults are now tapping into the wealth of knowledge provided by Maharishi Ayurveda to maintain balance and to enjoy the full expression of their body’s inner intelligence. When a person’s mind and body are functioning in a balanced way, they experience and radiate bliss, inner happiness, and perfect health. Copyright © 2007 Global Good News(sm) Service
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