Ayurveda is the longest continually practiced medical science in the world. The oldest texts date back approximately 5000 years. Like many ancient traditions, kowledge was passed orally, thus placing the begining of Ayurveda to an unknown date, some say as many as 10,000 years. Originating from Vedic scriptures in what is now India, Ayurveda is based on the eternal patterns of nature, recognizing the human body as a microcosm of the universal macrocosm. When we learn to live and eat as nature intended us to - what is natural for us as individuals - we can attain perfect health. A state of perfect health according to ayurveda addresses the body, mind, spirit and senses.
Each person is born with his or her own individual constitution, meaning that homeostasis, a state of balance, will look different for each of us. Three doshas - vata, pitta and kapha - comprise the body in different combinations for each person. Ayurveda seeks to find what our state of balance is, and adjust our diet and lifestyle to promote that balance. When one knows how to maintain balance within, illness will cease to develop.