Emotional Balance: The Ayurvedic Approach



Emotional Balance: The Ayurvedic Approach
The experts of Ayurveda have long understood the importance of emotional health. This science of natural health offers a variety of strategies and specific recommendations to keep emotions in balance throughout a lifetime.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, emotional ill-health is caused by lack of coordination between an individual’s senses, emotions and thoughts.

In the Ayurvedic view, the heart and mind are intimately connected. When that connection is weakened, problems arise. Interestingly, in Ayurveda the heart is considered the “seat” of consciousness. The master Ayurvedic source text, the Charaka Samhita states, “hridaye chetana sthanam.” Translated it means, “the seat of consciousness is in the heart.”
The Ayurvedic texts also describe the heart as “Hrdaya.” This Sanskrit word consists of three parts — each with its own meaning: Hr means to receive, Da to give, and Ya to move. The essential qualities of the heart are contained within this Sanskrit name – receiving, giving and moving. It is further described as Mahata – great, and Artha – serving all purposes, meaning in Ayurveda that it is an organ with a variety of important functions. The texts of Charaka go on to describe the heart as, “indispensable for all mental and physical activities,” because the entire sense perception, in total, depends on the heart. It is further described as Pranayatana — the seat of consciousness and the mind. So important is the heart in Ayurveda that it is considered like the main support beam in a house; without that support, the house collapses.