Ancient
healing for today's woman
Ayurvedic Healing for
Women by Atreya
reviewed by Helen Thomas
Ayurveda is an ancient
system of healthcare that was developed during
the golden period of civilization in India,
which is enjoying a revival in the West today.
Woman's health was treated with care and
respect. Within the system lies the concepts,
practices and daily routines of living with the
cycles and the imbalances as all of natures
expressions. From infancy to the end of our
lives ayurveda gives ways in which to respond to
the body. Ayurvedic Healing for Women by
Atreya covers the subject from anatomy to
physiology both from a western look and
ayurvedic perspective. Women have a dynamic body
with significant changes all month long. These
changes are directly influenced by our diet,
lifestyle, thoughts, and emotions. Ayurveda
helps us cope with and balance all these factors
and the author has carefully and clearly
presented many explanations, herbal remedies and
case histories to teach us how to apply ayurveda
to our cyclic nature.
In order to understand
the cycles women evolve through from an
Ayurvedic point of view, one must start with the
simple but powerful concept of constitutional
body type. This book covers the concept well and
expands to the deeper understanding of the
doshas and how they express imbalances.
The word dosha is a key term in the
Ayurvedic system. It literally means imbalance.
A practical application of the word would be
extreme energy imbalance. For example, vata
dosha would mean an imbalance of ether and
air. The nervous system is the function in the
body that is similar to the qualities of light,
fast and continual movement. So if you have a
Vata imbalance it means you have a
electricity imbalance in the body. Or, if you
have a lot of Vata characteristics then
you are light, fast, dry and run on nerves.
This is critical,
because having the ability to categorize one's
unique imbalance and how that is affecting one's
particular body type provides one with
information on how to pick the exact herbs,
diet, yoga, aromatherapy, and light therapy to
make changes rather than having a general tonic
for all women and hormonal imbalances in
general. As an example, in Chapter Seven there
are several different herbal teas for either
cooling for hot flashes (Pitta
imbalances) or flushing for water retention
(Kapha imbalances) or for anxiety and
mood swings (Vata imbalances).
In Chapter Three, the
anatomy is skillfully explained, breaking down
the aspects of doshas and relating them back to
the Western approach to anatomy and giving the
reader a clear understanding of the advantage of
including the Ayurvedic perceptive of how the
body works and how the cycles of a woman's
changes affects other physiological
changes.
"According to Ayurveda ,
all menstrual difficulties are related in some
way to an imbalance in the vata dosha."
Chapter Nine, the chapter on Premenstrual and
Menstrual Difficulties, is a thorough treatment
of the Ayurvedic way of diagnosis and treatment
for general balance with the monthly cycle. It
includes easy to read explanations on headaches,
cramps, pain, no bleeding and difficult bleeds.
There are case histories with appropriate herbal
remedies so that we can relate our common
experiences to understand what we are
experiencing.
I was impressed with the
author's explanations of pre menopause,
menopause and post menopause. Basically, in
Ayurveda these are treated as changes not
diseases. We get a complete symptom list from
hot flashes to weight gain and many more. He
carefully gives general body type herbal
formulas and specific vata, pitta
and kapha formulas. I have used these
same herbs in my practice for these very body
types with these conditions very successfully. I
endorse his formulations.
In discussing cysts,
fibroids and tumors, Atreya, the author, states
"It is now estimated that 20-40 percent of all
women will have fibroids at least once in their
life. Fibroids are now so common that they are
considered "normal" in the United States." I
find this fact extremely disturbing. Could this
be due to the widespread use of birth control
pills from an early age? I wonder. Chapter
Twelve is complete in explaining the Western and
Ayurvedic explanation of the problem and gives
sound suggestions for naturally resolving and
preventing such problems. In my own practice I
have successfully treated fibroids with
Ayurvedic diet, herbs and yoga
routines.
In sum, I would
recommend this book to women who are looking to
understand their bodies from a holistic
approach. It is both instructive and practical.
Every practitioner and student of Ayurveda will
find this book essential.
Order this book from Powell's
Independent Bookstore
Ayurvedic
Healing for Women
by Atreya, Samuel Weiser Inc., York Beach,
Maine, 1999.
Other books on healing
for women:
Balance
Hormones Naturally
by Kate Neil and Patrick Holford (Freedom: The
Crossing Press, 1999) is a readable little guide
to understanding the female life cycle and
taking care of your hormonal needs.
Life
Changes with the Energy of the
Chakras by
Ambika Wauters (Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press,
1999)looks at the role the chakras play in our
important life transitions.
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