By Madison Madden, AD
The word Ayurveda translates to the “science of life.” While its chief objective is to preserve health and prevent disease, Ayurveda also offers sophisticated healing and curative practices informed by an understanding of the laws of nature and the symbiotic relationship between human health and our environment.
This ancient wisdom is waiting for us to seize it at a time when we are wrestling with global health crises, climate-related catastrophes, and many other challenges. Ayurveda understands all of these hardships as symptoms states of dis-ease. The Charaka Samhita,[1] one of Ayurveda’s four main texts, uses the term Jana Pada Udwansa, translated as a “disaster of a community of people,” to characterize four such states of dis-ease:
When a region gets denatured (Desha)
When water becomes toxic (Jala)
When air becomes polluted (Vayu)
When cycles of time become irregular (Kala)
When we look at the realities of our day, we see that we are not just experiencing one or two of these phenomena, but all four at once.
Animal habitats have been denatured by urban encroachment. Water in parts of both the developing and developed world has become toxic. This past fall, the U.S. West Coast had the worst air quality in the world, and on a typical day in Delhi, the sun is not even visible. Cycles of seasons are changing around the globe due to rising temperatures and extreme weather patterns. These climate changes pose great danger: A landmark 2019 UN Climate Report estimates that about one million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction, more than ever before in human history.
So, what insight does Ayurveda offer regarding these afflictions, our planetary dis-eases? Ayurveda teaches us that a root cause of our societal problems is a disconnection from nature.
To put it simply, human beings on the whole attempt to dominate nature rather than live in harmony with it. Failure to adequately care for and protect our planet, unsustainable practices, and overconsumption are contributing to the breakdown of ecosystems and the extinction of species.
In our systemic disconnection from nature, we have lost touch with ways of living with and caring for the natural world that were passed down generation after generation in societies and cultures around the globe. This ancient wisdom is invaluable in navigating our way back to a life that dwells within the bounds and bounties of nature.
Cultivating Sattva
According to Ayurveda, the remedy to our global crises is sattva, one of the three gunas, the prime qualities of nature. Sattva embodies harmony, wholesomeness, and virtue.
The other two gunas, rajas, often translated as action or agitation, and tamas, commonly translated as inertia, are also natural aspects of life. Disease, however, manifests only in rajasic and tamasic states.
For example, constantly competing with others, which leads to stress, is a form of rajas. Overconsumption of heavily processed foods results in tamas. Both can contribute to chronic disease.
Healing occurs primarily through sattva, which is why Ayurveda practitioners emphasize sattvic lifestyles. Just as nature expresses itself differently in various parts of the world, each individual must learn to live in harmony with their own nature and local surroundings. Such lifestyles comprise practices and diets that calm the mind, nourish rather than deplete or toxify the body and the environment, and recognize the interdependence between the individual and community.
Moving Clients toward Sattva
Here are five examples of how you can help your clients live a more sattvic lifestyle.
Introduce them to the concept of matching their nature to Nature. Point out the similarities between the cycles of their bodies to the cycles of nature, and help them to live in greater connection. Examples include rising and setting with the sun, eating to the rhythm of agni (digestive fire), adjusting routines in keeping with the change of seasons, and easing into new stages of life. The wheel of the doshas (kapha, pitta, and vata) can be seen in all of nature. This is a wonderful way of teaching clients about the doshas without overwhelming them.
Encourage them to discover a sense of purpose. Help your clients widen their gaze beyond the stresses of their individual circumstances and look toward how they can find ways to serve others. Help them connect with what brings light to their lives and what gifts they may have silenced. Finding purpose opens a pathway out of rajasticand tamasic dis-ease patterns.
Teach them how to reduce stress and nourish their minds and bodies through their breath. Guide your clients to experience how the quality of their breath can transform their mindset, improve health, and increase their ability to respond meaningfully to others.
Help them embrace a sattvic diet. Teach them about the impact of their food choices. Help them transition to more plant-based and seasonal diets, as well as foods and beverages that are suited to their particular constitution. Suggest solutions to their cravings for sugar and simple carbohydrate comfort foods that honor their rituals but replace tamasic choices with sattvic ones.
Educate them about the benefits of panchakarma. Charaka notes that panchakarma detoxification therapy is an outstanding method for a person afflicted with the four forms of Jana Pada Udwansa. Panchakarma can lead to a true paradigm shift in mind and body.
Looking Inward at Your Own Practice: Three Questions to Ask Yourself
Teaching and healing by example are fundamental qualities of a revered Ayurvedic practitioner. I urge you to ask yourself three difficult but vital questions:
How can I live a more sattvic lifestyle?
Where do I sacrifice sattva for short-term or material gains?
How can I help create more sustainable, local, and seasonal resources for my practice and community?
Listen carefully to your answers. Our inward gaze can help us move from blaming others and finger pointing to cultivating the sattva we need to help ourselves and others heal from the Jana Pada Udwansa, the disaster of a community of people.
About the Author
Madison is a NAMA-recognized Ayurvedic Doctor, Writer, Environmental Educator, and Activist. She is the Co-founder of Pacific Coast Ayurveda and the International Institute of Tantric and Vedic Sciences, as well as a founding member of Mendonoma Climate Action Group, who hosted the largest regional event for Global Climate Strike Day in September 2019. Passionate about the vital intersection of health and environment, she can be found at livewiseheal.com.
[1] See Chapter 3, Vimanastana.