Ayurveda & The Elements
Ayurveda: A holistic healing practice from India
You have probably heard the term Ayurveda in recent years. This ancient form of healing has been around for at least 5 thousand years.
It is an individual-based, personalized system that treats the underlying cause of illness.
Ayurvedic beliefs are similar to those of ancient Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
For instance: the elements are in everything. They are dynamic & interact w/ one another.
Vital energy is called chi in TCM.
In Ayurveda, it is referred to as prana.
Sankhya’s Philosophy of creation or manifestation
In order to understand how this philosophy is connected to health and homeostasis in the human body, you must try to keep an open mind.
Although it may be difficult to fully comprehend at first, here is a basic overview of this philosophy so we can then understand how the elements come into play.
Ayurveda states that Creation leads into 2 pathways:
- Pure awareness- is in a constant loop
- Primordial energy- can be further broken down
After primordial energy, there is cosmic consciousness, which leads to inner wisdom.
Inner wisdom leads us to ahamkara, your sense of “i-ness”.
Ahamkara is then categorized into Rajas, the force and energy of movement.
Rajas
- Tie together the objective and subjective worlds
- Is broken down into Tamas & Sattva
Tamas
- Objective, involves the elements in your environment
- Breaks down into 5 subtle and 5 dense elements
Sattva
- Subjective, involves your body’s organs
- Breaks down into 5 sense and 5 motor organs
According to Ayurveda, there is a direct link between the elements and your body’s organs
Ayurveda: 5 interconnected groups of 5
Lets take a closer look at the subjective or Sattva.
Each sense organ has a corresponding motor organ.
These 5 sense organs each have a designated function, which the equivalent motor organ carries out.
Here’s where the 2 objective, or tamas elements come into play:
–Subtle elements–> our 5 senses
–Dense elements–>the 5 elements that surround us
| Dense Element | Subtle Element | Sense Organ | Motor Organ | Function |
| Ether | Sound | Ears | Vocal Chords | Speaking |
| Air | Touch | Skin | Hands | Grasping |
| Fire | Sight | Eyes | Feet | Moving |
| Water | Taste | Tongue | Genitals | Procreating |
| Earth | Smell | Nose | Anus | Excreting |
Swipe/scroll to view entire table.
Note that in place of the element WOOD, is ETHER.
In Chinese elemental theory, wood is the 5thelement.
Check out my feng shui post – jump to the ‘5 Elements’ section to learn more.
Ayurveda: The Great Elements simplified
Lets take a closer look at the Dense Elements and their basic characteristics:
Akash Ether– size/space
Vayu Air– Gas
Agni/Tej Fire– change/ transform, movement
Jala Water– shapeless, movement
Prithvi Earth– heaviness/hardness, slight movement
Pancha Mahabhoot theory
Everything in the universe is interconnected.
For instance: the universe and the human body are both comprised of Pancha Mahabhuta or The Great Elements.
There is a constant flow between all 5- what effects one will change the other 4
Each element has the following qualities:
| Ether | Air | Fire | Water | Earth |
| Minuteness | Mobility | Hotness | Coldness | Stability |
| —————- | Lightness | Lightness | Softness | Heaviness |
| —————- | Roughness | Sharpness | Smoothness | ————- |
| —————- | ————- | Liquidity | Liquidity | Solidity |
Swipe/scroll to view entire table.
In the body, each element represents:
Ether- All cavities
Air- movement, breath
Fire- Enzymes, hormones
Water- Liquid tissues
Earth- Solid tissues
Ayurveda: Tridosha Theory
There are 3 doshas in Ayurveda which are comprised of 2 elements. These Doshas work in harmony to create equilibrium in the body.
| Dosha | Primary | Secondary |
| Vata | Air | Ether |
| Pitta | Fire | Water |
| Kapha | Water | Earth |
Until next time..
Thanks for stopping by! Please feel free to leave any questions and comments below. Stay tuned for another Ayurveda piece, where I will go into more detail regarding each Dosha.
