A Beginners Guide to Ayurveda

VAIDYA RAJESH KOTECHA BAMS, MD (Kayachikitsa) is the Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Ayurved University, a center of global attraction for learning Ayurved where once he was a student. He is the recipient of "Padmashri" Award which is the 4th Highest Civilian Award declared by the President of India. He is widely recognized across the world for his role in disseminating potential of Ayurveda and other traditional healing approaches like Yoga in global healthcare. He is the adviser and visiting faculty with several international bodies. He has a vast academic, research, administrative & Corporate experience. He is also a leading resource person for Panchakarma training program for different Indian and foreign schools of Ayurveda education. He has delivered lectures and held a workshops on Ayurveda in over 20 countries. He is frequently invited for consultancy, lectures and interactions in different countries like Germany, USA, UK, France, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Canada and Netherlands.

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha went to Chitrakoot Gramodaya University with his wife Vaidya Mita Kotecha on the call of Late Shri Nanaji Deshmukh, a renowned social worker & was instrumental to the academic and infrastructure developments as a head of faculty of Ayurveda. He also rendered his Services as Director of Research, JRD Tata Foundation for Research in Ayurveda & Yogic Sciences. He had been the chief physician and executive director of Chakrapani Ayurveda Center which has received ISO 9001:2008 & ISO 22000:2005 quality certifications & also Director of Chakrapani Global Center for Training and Research. He was instrumental in managing more than 72 high ranking websites related to Ayurveda. A good number of scientific papers and a book entitled "Concept of Attatvabhinivesha in Ayurveda" are to his credit. He is the recipient ofnumerous awards. and honors including Global Ayurveda Physician Award in 2007 & Ayurveda Ratna Award in 2008.

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha is the Trustee member of many governing bodies and research committees. He is the Advisor, Vijnana Bharati & World Ayurveda Foundation. He is the Member of Governing Body, CCRAS & Rashtriya Ayurved Vidyapith, Expert Member, Advisory Committee, Department of AYUSH, Government of Rajasthan. He played a pivotal role as a member of 12" Five Year Plan AYUSH Steering Group. He is patron for "AYU" which is most respected peer reviewed indexed journal being published by Gujarat Ayurved University.

VAIDYA MITA KOTECHA, BAMS, MD (Dravyaguna), Ph.D (Dravyaguna) is the Professor and Head of Department of Dravyaguna at National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur (An autonomous Institute of Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India). She went to Chitrakoot Gramodaya University with her husband Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha on the call of Late Shri Nanaji Deshmukh, a renowned social worker.There, she worked as the Head of Department of Dravyaguna, P.G. Institue of Ayurveda of the University. She has completed projects on "Conservation and Propagation of Medicinal Plants" and "Specialty clinics of herbal beauty care and dietetics" successfully. With several published research papers in her name, she is also the author of 2 books. She has arranged several workshops, presented papers and delivered expert lectures at various renowned institutes.

She is the Subject Expert for Central Council of Indian Medicine and Subject Expert and Examiner in different Universities. She was the Member of "VISION 2015" committee of NIA; Member of Committee for preparing good IEC material on Ayurveda for AYUSH; Member of committee to prepare "Standard Treatment Guidelines" as advised by AYUSH; Ex Member of Academic Council, Pt. Radhakrishnan Rajasthan Ayurveda University, Jodhpur. She has guided 24 M.D. (Ayurveda) scholars for their thesis and she was co-guide for 3 such projects. She is also guiding 5 ongoing projects of M. D. Ayurveda. She was guide of 5 Ph.D. scholars who were awarded the degree and she is guiding 5 Ph.D. works at the moment.

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The unified code of co-existence of human with the universe /eco-system, is the core fundamental of Ayurveda- "The Science & Art of Life. Human origin/life on this earth is not a sudden or miracle phenomenon "rather there in a systematic process of creation by union of super power with eco-system. An uncomparable definition of life i.e. "Contract of body senses, mind and spirit" and health ie. "Homeostasis of body humours digestion/metabolism. Body tissues, excretory processes & sensual, mental and spiritual happiness" is a unique contribution of this holistic health care system. Such a beautiful description of origin universe, life and Health as per Ayurveda concept is elaborated in very simple & explicit manner in this book by Vd. Mita Kotecha and Vd. Rajesh Kotecha.

Ayurveda, the first systematically evolved medical science emphasize on maintaining equilibrium of physical, physiological, psychological, spiritual, and social health of an individual. The concept of this system are simple and approachable that provide insight to break pathologies at different levels. Healing concepts of this system like theories of Panchamahabhuta, Tridosha, Prakriti, Rasayana etc. are unique those have enable the science to gain popularity among the people. Ayurvedic system of medicine provides a health promotive, disease preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care with main emphasis on disease prevention.

With increasing awareness about Ayurveda among people across the globe and it is likely that many more people are willing to take advantage of this ancient sciences of healing to lead a healthy and happy life. In such scenario; there is an acute need of disseminating classical concepts of Ayurveda and therapeutic potentialities in a systematic way. This will generate awareness about the concepts of Ayurveda in common, further helping in globalization of the science in its true spirit.

Vaidya Mita Kotecha & Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha has made meticulous efforts on placing all concepts of Ayurveda systematically in the form of a book that will become handy & understandable to all. This work is expected to provide an insight to assume the utility of such measures in various pathologies and help students, teachers and all other scholars of Ayurveda. I congratulate them for their sincere & tiring efforts to bring this book out and wish them all success in their life.

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Ayurveda system of health is one of the world’s oldest holistic systems of healthcare that has its origin in India. The unique healing process of Ayurveda science has enabled it to gain popularity gradually among people in the recent years. Growing modernization, changing lifestyles and increase in variety of diseases has driven people towards finding a natural way of healing.

To maintain health throughout life, one has to keep healthy everyday. It is important to eat healthy food, follow a regular routine, exercise, and sleep, regulated sex, maintain personal hygiene, etc. for perfect physical and mental health. The benefits of these simple but profound regimens are elaborated in the Ayurveda texts.

Ayurveda principles are based on the universal law of nature. Ayurveda system of health provides a health promotive, disease preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care with main emphasis on disease prevention. Just like the warrior needs shield to protect him in a war, Ayurveda approach provides shield / protection from diseases.

With increasing awareness about Ayurveda among people across the globe, it is likely that many more people are willing to take advantage of this ancient science of healing to lead a healthy and happy life. Ayurveda principles can be applied to all aspects of life.

This book is a beginner’s guide to Ayurveda, which is of immense value to students, health care professionals, Ayurveda practitioners and general public. This book presents a detailed description of principles of Ayurveda, which one can put into practice in day-to-day life to keep self and friends / family members healthy. One can get an insight of the Panchamahabhutas (Five universal elements), three Doshas, Prakriti or body constitutions, Daily regimen & Seasonal regimen, Ayurveda principles of diagnosis and treatment, pharmacology, dietetics, Ayurveda approach to mind, Panchakarma therapies or detoxification procedures through this book.

There is ample literature available about Ayurveda now a day. The question arises that why one more book? There is a reason. The available resources are either written looking at the benefit of common people that provides very basic understanding of the science or some of the available books are exclusive for health practitioners who have deep exposure to the knowledge of this science. The very purpose of writing this book is to provide important resource for the people sitting in the middle of above two extremes. So many schools are offering courses on Ayurveda across the Globe. They are doing wonderful job of introducing Ayurveda in the lives of those students and subsequently into the community around. Those students look for more knowledge from the land of the origin of this science. So many certified practitioners find it difficult to apply the knowledge due to lack of right resource. This book is a humble effort to bridge this gap. It will be equally helpful to the beginner as well as to an advance learner.

There is one more genuine concern. So many (not all) authors have written the books on Ayurveda keeping western readers in mind. That way, those resources became very - very structured or some times, the knowledge is presented by adding mysticism. It is like 7 steps to lose weight kind of thing or, all knowledge coming from India should have mysticism kind of things. We want to convey the knowledge in its most original and genuine form. That is also one of the purposes of writing this book.

We made sincere efforts towards enabling the reader to understand Ayurvedic principles clearly in simple words. We have added a special section on Ayurveda self help remedies for common ailments for those who want to stay healthy in a natural way. May this book encourage and help in proper understanding and application of Ayurveda.

We can not forget mentioning our mentors for this work and dear friends — Prof. Abhimanyu Kumar, Director All India Institute of Ayurveda, Delhi; Prof. Pawan Kumar Godatwar, National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur; Vaidya Manoj Nesari, Advisor, Ayurveda, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, Delhi and Prof. Tanuja Nesari, Additional Director (Academics), CBP Ayurveda Charak Sansthan, Delhi. We sincerely thank Vaidya Pranit Ambulkar and Vaidya Swati Ambulkar for their passionate help in final editing of this book.

We also affectionately appreciate help from Vaidya Parvathy Rajeev, Vaidya Lakshmi Anoop, Vaidya Aditi Nanchahal Monga, Vaidya Suman Preet Kaur, Vaidya Darpan Gangil, Shri Manish Ojha, Shri Atul & Jayshri Kotecha, Dr. Ramin Mobasseri of Germany, Mr. Oscar Viljakainen of Finland and team Chakrapani Ayurveda for whole hearted help in finalizing the contents of this book.

We cannot forget mentioning blessings of our father Shri Ramesh Chandra Kotecha and wholehearted support from our sons Vaidya Nachiket and Kinshuk for writing this book.

We explicitly express our gratitude to Prof. Vd. K.S. Dhiman, Director General, Central Council for Research in Ayurveda, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India who has kindly written the foreword of this book.

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