Calistoga Ayurveda

Health Spa Napa Valley

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a wholistic system of medicine from India that uses a constitutional model. Its aim is to provide guidance regarding food and lifestyle so that healthy people can stay healthy and folks with health challenges can improve their health.

History

Ayurveda literally means the "science of life." This comprehensive medical system has withstood the test of time, since it has been used for thousands of years and formed the basis for many other medical systems that grew from it. The original knowledge of Ayurveda is said to have come from divine revelation. The wisdom of Ayurveda was categorized into eight branches of medicine around 1500 B.C. by two main schools of Ayurveda - Atreya (school of physicians) and Dhanvantari (school of surgeons). Since it existed before the advent of writing, the knowledge of it was originally passed on verbally from generation to generation. The oral traditions were placed in written form more than 2,000 years ago. The tenets of Ayurveda were laid down in two of the Vedas - Rik Veda and Atharva Veda, in hymn form.

This knowledge was reorganized more than 1,200 years ago and compiled into two ancient texts that are still used today. The Charak Samhita grew from the Atreya school of physicians. It covers physiology, anatomy, etiology, pathogenesis, symptoms and signs of disease, methodology of diagnosis, treatment and prescription of patients, prevention and longevity. The Sushrut Samhita grew from the Dhanvantari school of surgeons. It covers surgical equipment, classification of abscesses, burns, fractures, wounds, amputation, plastic surgery, and rectal surgery. It includes anatomical discussions of bones, joints, nerves, organs, blood vessels, and major human systems. MindXpansion