Ayurvedic Healing

Trusting the interplay between the balancing and healing essence of herbs, plants, minerals and our body’s intelligence to receive and interact with it.

I was trained in Ayurvedic therapy in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, by a wonderful Vaidya from Kerala. He taught me much. This included insight into the importance of trusting the intrinsic wisdom and communication that lies in the basic interplay between a body needing balance and healing, and herbs, plants, seeds, roots, leaves, berries, fruit and minerals that carry the healing power and intelligence within them.

Generally speaking, the modern mind cannot really grasp the concept or idea of communication existing between cells of the human body (receptors) and the healing and balancing capacity and intelligence that lie in plants. Plant and body speak to each other and know what is needed and simply get on with it.

One of the most complicated aspects of practicing Ayurveda here in the West is dealing with the logical mind that wants to know the how and why of healing. To some extent explanations at that level can be given by speaking of the biochemical/physiological effects of the active ingredients found in certain plants and the way they inhibit the proliferation of for instance micro-organisms like bacteria, viruses and fungi. But, this is only part of the story of Ayurvedic healing. Much of the healing lies in a much deeper wisdom about the interplay between body cells and plant essence. That we can only feel and trust.

I often remember my childhood visits to India when, invariably, I would develop some ailment or the other that required medical attention. I was usually taken to see an Ayurvedic doctor. I remember joining the long queue of patients waiting to have their pulse felt by the Vaidya. He would quietly feel, closing his eyes for a few minutes. Then he would either write something on a piece of paper or say something to his assistants. Subsequently, the patients would be given various herbs and pastes and powders to take. The Vaidya rarely spoke to his patients, no one asked questions, and everyone took the medication prescribed and went home. There was intrinsic trust in the proceedings and in the healing that would result. Without knowing what the diagnosis was and what the herbs were for, exactly.

When I was studying, my teacher told me never to tell the patient what was wrong and what the treatment was for. Only in the most general terms (was I) to provide some satisfaction to the inquisitive and worried mind. When I questioned him about whether this was fair, and whether it was right not to explain matters he said that all that knowingness would interfere with the healing because the logical mind would get in the way. By not giving detailed information the possibility of trust would be given a chance to unfold. My findings over the years of practice show that this is indeed the case.

Of course, for those who need or want to know the how and the why: Ayurvedic medicine and plant healing is extensively and meticulously documented and can be found in various written and unwritten sources.

Author – Suman Natarajan