How does illness arise? What is health?
He whose doshas are in balance, whose appetite is good, whose dhatus are functioning normally, whose malas are in balance and whose self, mind, and senses, remain full of bliss, is called a healthy person.
Sushruta, Su XV, 38
This famous quote is from the Indian doctor Sushruta. It is more than 2500 years old. It is as true now as it was back then. It serves as the foundation of Maharishi Ayurveda that we practice at our Centre here in Bad Ems.
Health = balance + purity = bliss
Is disease automatically created when we are not in a state of bliss and balance? Does it start long before we notice it?
Not entirely, because our marvelous body functions with their countless chemical reactions strive each second of our life to sustain this balance – our “inner doctor” is always active.
However, if this control mechanism is disrupted through external influences (sometimes beyond our control) and doesn’t work properly, imbalances and disease can get a foothold, and it starts to happen long before we notice it. This is the first step of disease. What can we do?
Six stages of disease
We may be feeling weak or somehow not up to par and don’t really know why. We visit the doctor. Ayurveda identifies six stages of the development of a disease. Modern medicine can only detect disease once it reaches “stage five” – but the imbalance actually had its subtle beginnings earlier. The Ayurvedic doctor can, through pulse diagnosis, detect symptoms of disease at stage one – and therefore intervene at the earliest possible start of the disease.
The way of Maharishi Ayurveda
All the procedures that we practise at the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Centre Bad Ems support the strengthening of the inherent self-healing mechanisms of our physiology. By taking advantage of these procedures, each person can have a way to prevent the development of disease and help diminish symptoms effectively.
