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Mykaihla Sternick

Dr. Freymiller

Rhetoric and Civic Life

2 November 2016

Science of Life

We are not simply an accident or a design of chemistry but an expression of a living

consciousness that is universal in nature - which is inherently wise and which has the power to

balance and transform itself once its nature is understood (Frawley & Ranade 3). If this is true,

why should we treat ourselves and our bodies as if they are as one dimensional as it sometimes

seems we are doing when we simply take a drug to mask the symptoms. That is only a temporary

fix. The western medicine we see today that is reliant on chemicals and technology is not the

way healing originally was. Life as humans is an unending perplexity, and we will never know

too much about our beings and our health. But, just as this is true, it seems to be that the best

place to start is by rewinding five thousand years, to the ancient subcontinent of India. Here, is

where Ayurveda began, which is, fittingly known as the science of not just the body or health,

but life. To analyze the paradigm shift of Ayurveda and yoga into the modern medical field, the

process must begin in the roots of science, and how the body has been perceived differently

through each stage of medicines development. Ayurveda means life and longevity; ayus means

age, life, and longevity, and veda is knowledge in the ancient language of Sanskrit. It is

comprehensive. It explains life. It is whole and undeniably true.Ayurveda defines health

as:Abnormality (disorder) is disequilibrium of the dhatus and their equilibrium is normalcy

(health) . Health is known as happiness while disorder is unhappiness (Singh Wassir). The
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paradigm shift of the resilient nature of Ayurveda and yoga can't be ignored, as it is the basis of

modern medicine and brings us back to our roots as wholesome people, and just what our bodies

are capable of.

VEDIC PERIOD (4000 - 2000 BCE)

The origins date back to the beginning of cosmic creation, because it is such a

fundamental and rudimentary science that once you know about it, you wonder why we never

thought of this before. It is real and it is obvious when you study it. All it requires is to listen to

your body, because it will always tell you what to do. It set the groundwork for all sages and

yogis of India built this practice. These Vedic seers say that it originated in the Brahma and

Prana. The Brahma is the creative intelligence behind the universe (Frawley and Ranade 3).

The Prana is the life force behind creation. The Seers reveled Ayurveda as a way to alleviate the

suffering that man was feeling. Together, Vedic and Yogic knowledge were created to cope

mentally and physically. They say they it is all deep within, the power of healing, but it is up to

us to understand it and access it. The Supreme Being, whatever that may be, gave humanity the

Vedas. With their guidance, mankind was taught what harmony is. Here, with the Vedas in the

Vedic Sarasrati culture is where the beginnings of healing and medical methods began. The

mantras and herbs that were native and taught were the drugs.

END OF SARASVATI (2000 BCE- AD)

The paradigm shift continues after the Sarasvati culture moves on. The ideas were

beginning to become more complex and logical, and transformed out of the purely spiritual.
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Scholars were beginning to study this as a science, and it became the basis for experimental

studies although it is still hundreds of years before Christ (Frawley & Ranade 6). In its original

state, Ayurveda did not have the concept of anatomy; but it purely relied on organs and

channels that moved the vital fluids through out the body, with the heart being the center (Cerulli

43). Ayurveda can be broken down into 8 areas of study, but they are interdependent; they are all

integral parts of a whole. The first is Internal Medicine (Kayachikitsa), which is psychosomatic.

Second is Surgery, which was founded by the father of surgery, Sushruta, in the Sushruta

Samhita, a collection of information such as anatomy, fractures, wounds, burns, pathogenesis of

disease, herbs, and the importance of theoretical as well as logical knowledge. All of Sushrutas

ideas were steadfast to impressively hold true today. The third aspect is Shalakya tantra which

deals with ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology (eyes, head, and throat). The fourth is very

crucial- Pediatrics (Kaumarabhritya). In Ayurveda, the health of their children in what represents

the overall wellbeing of the society. The final pieces are toxicology (agahatantra), rejuvenation

(Rasayana), science of Aphrodisiacs (Vajikarana) and Psychology, (Bhutavidy). The root of

Bhutavidy is Bhuta, which is the influence of the past karma on mental processes, so it uses not

just physical methods but also yogic methods for the cure here.

AD (BEGINNING OF AD ERA-1900)

The continuing shift was gaining speed going in to the AD era. Ayurveda was beginning

to become available to all people, and people were traveling from Rome, Greece, Persia and

China to learn it. Here is where the shift takes the turn that was detrimental for a period of time.

People were focusing on Rasakriya, which is the Ayurvedic pharmaceutical chemistry. During
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the decline of Ayurveda from 1000-1750, this chemistry was all that was of interest. The Muslim

invasion of India was detrimental to the Indian culture. People came into India like a bull in a

China shop, causing the havoc that resulted in the burial of Ayurvedic and yogic harmony. Most

of those who were practicing Ayurveda retreated to the Himalayas. The British rule in India only

continued the devastation to the practice. Universities and Temples were destroyed. Schools were

closed, and Ayurveda was seen as superstitious. This was Ayurvedas first contact with

allopathy and homeopathy. From the mid 1700s until the early 1900s Ayurvedic and yogic

healing were all but forgotten, in the developed world. But, the sages and yogis that still

practiced these lifestyles kept them alive.

MODERN (1900 - )

Thankfully, in the recent years, many people came to the realization that this practice

should be well known and prevalent in a healthy society. So people began to become interested

and learned Ayurveda integrated with western medicine science and terminology. The science

was recognized by the WHO in 1978 as one of the most important medical traditions necessary

for global health (Frawley and Ranade 24).

The practice of Ayurveda is being taught to hundreds of students at places like the

Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania, where Dr Carrie Demers presents and teaches as well as

practices. Dr. Carrie is a board certified Internal Physician as well integrative medicine. She also

studies massage, homeopathy, yoga, meditation, nutrition, herbal medicine, and ayurveda. In a

recent video article titled Yoga and Ayurveda's View of Heart Disease for Yoga International,

Dr Carrie explains that we are our hearts, and our brains intuitively know. When you make a
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gesture to signify me, where do you point? Yoga and Ayurveda together explain that our heart

nourishes our body, as energy flows from the heart to every extremity, but in return, we must

listen when it comes to all other parts of our being and how they affect our heart. This is what the

ancients believed. Dr. Carrie and Shari Friedrichsen explain that we must begin with healing our

own, because it is not about opening your heart, but residing in it (Demers). Dr. Demers

perfectly exemplifies the path that we are on to continue the paradigm shift of these ancient

practices, while incorporating them with the necessary modern technology and medicinal

practices. Again, Dr Carrie explains in a video article also for Yoga International, Heart Disease

is Reversible that we are able to cure what is preventable. Modern medicine says you must keep

blood pressure and sugar down, don't smoke and monitor your cholesterol. If you don't do so,

you will get heart disease and it is incurable. Treatments are how you view the cause, so why

not start at the root of these risk factors, and prevent heart disease by the lifestyle you live.

Walter Willett has proven this with many studies. Dr Carrie says this is hopeful, but not

enough, because there is more than just physical existence, as Ayurveda and Yoga express. Dr

Dean Ornish used the lifestyle with the addition to an hour a day of yoga and meditation and

stress relief, and he showed that the plaque in the arteries was reduced. This is Ayurveda in

modern medicine. By using yoga, these doctors just reversed the irreversible, and it just so

happens that it is the number one killer of all Americans. Dr. Demers teachings and studies are

part of the reason Ayurveda and yoga can live in our world. Because of her incorportaion, she

shows exactly how East and West can be united, as well as spirituality with science.

As if the science needed anymore proof, we can continue the paradigm shift into the

medical advances of Harvard on the subject. John Denninger, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical
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School, is currently conducting studies on how the practice of yoga and meditation affect genes

that are impacted by stresses. They can now use neuro-imaging and genomics technology to

monitor physiological changes more accurately. Denninger says, The kinds of things that

happen when you meditate do have effects throughout the body, not just in the brain (Kitamura).

Now, scientists are working alongside yogis and learning what they have been saying for

centuries to finally cure medicine itself.

CONCLUSION

Our world is constantly changing and evolving, and although these sciences can work

hand in hand, there are sometimes when drug therapies are still necessary. The reassurance here

is the fact that this type of medicine can still hold true for those who seek it. There is a new

revolution of awareness with these methods and lifestyles which is exploding into options like

Dr. Demers integrative options, or my mom, who is studying to be an Ayurvedic specialist. So

even though its easier to take the pill now and mask the symptoms now, wouldn't you rather heal

your whole self?

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Works Cited

Ajaya. Healing the Whole Person: Applications of Yoga Psychotherapy. Honesdale,

Himalayan Institute Press, 2008.

Cerulli, Anthony Michael. Somatic Lessons: Narrating Patienthood and Illness in

Indian Medical Literature. Albany, State U of New York P, 2012.

Demers, Carrie, Dr. "Heart Disease is Reversible." Yoga International, 4 Jan.

2014, yogainternational.com/article/view/heart-disease-is-reversible.

Demers, Carrie, Dr. "Yoga and Ayurvedas View of Heart Disease." Yoga International, 27 Jan.

2014, yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-and-ayurvedas-view-of-heart-disease.

Frawley, David, and Subhash Ranade. Ayurveda, Nature's Medicine. Twin Lakes,

Lotus, 2001.

Kitamura, Makiko. "Harvard Yoga Scientists Find Proof of Meditation Benefit."

Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-11-22/

harvard-yoga-scientists-find-proof-of-meditation-benefit. Accessed 31 Oct.

2016.

Singh Wassir, Harbans, Dr. "Ayurveda and Modern Medicine." Magazine of the Bihar

School of Yoga, www.yogamag.net/archives/1995/cmay95/modmed.shtml. Accessed

31 Oct. 2016.