The Ancient Science of Ayurveda

Tree bark curing cancer.

It’s a hard concept to wrap my mind around especially when I’ve lost family to that very disease. I’m familiar with the beeping sounds of hospital machines in their cold corridors and sterile rooms with overworked nurses. 

I discovered a documentary this week on Ayurveda. It seemed to me very slow-paced and the footage grainy however those very details showed the authenticity of a foreign land.
The power of plants and talk of swallowing mercury and powdered gem stones drew me in. I saw people with very little making long lines for free medicine from men that spent their life studying the trees around them and curing others. 

I watched as a greek physician traveled to a remote village in India to confer with those that practice Ayurvedic medicine in huts along dirt roads. 

When you are very ill and doctors have dismissed you, the desperation opens your mind to nearly anything that will claim to cure you.

As a tree-hugging advocate, even I am still bewildered by the awesome power of plants. What state must a modern American be in to enter into an unknown world of ancient medicine?

I do not practice yoga nor do I worship at the shrines of other gods.

However, to believe that other cultures cannot help us redeem our health, awaken our connectivity to nature and remove the American pride that ourhealthcare is the only one that works is a limited path with an abrupt end.  

If you choose to watch the documentary, send me your thoughts. I would love to know what you think. Good health is never guaranteed, it is a gift and our responsibility to preserve it as much as it is within our control.