Ayurvedic Methods of Assessment
We want competent holistic professionals who specialize in “living organisms.”Why read this?Because I wrote this for you. I shared this link with you because I care about your health and longevity. I read (and hear) over and over again, stories of people spending so much money on specialists and high tech treatments, only to end up where they started, and sometimes, even worse off. In this article, I aim to respectfully challenge what has become a normal view in healthcare (including holistic healthcare) because you may very well likely hold this view, and it may very well be working against you. The view is as follows:* You need a specialist.* High tech diagnostics are the best form of health analysis .The reality of blood workBlood work offers a painfully incomplete picture of your health. It does not reveal causation nor does it accurately reveal correlation between the differing aspects of your health. We’re all too familiar with this story… “Well Mrs. Jones, your blood tests came back normal,” to which she replies, “how can that be? I feel terrible.”You know that you don’t go to bed healthy and wake up with a disease. Imbalance is building in your body years before your A1C level actually qualifies you for diabetes (or even pre-diabetes) and the same is true with all the other diseases. Imbalance stacks up over many years and eventually manifests as a full scale disease.Ayurvedic methods of assessmentI share these because I want to offer you a window into the clinical sophistication of Ayurvedic medicine.Trividha Pariksha - 3 Point Examination* Darshana - observation* Sparshana - touch* Prashna - questioningAshtavidha Pariksha - 8 Point Examination* Nadi Pariksa - pulse assessment* Mala Pariksa - waste assessment* Mutra Pariksa - urine assessment* Jihva Pariksa - tongue assessment* Shabda Pariksa - voice/sound assessment* Sparsha Pariksa - visual assessment* Drik Pariksa - eye assessment* Akruit Pariksa - stature/gait/posture assessmentDashavidha Pariksha - 10 Point Examination* Prakruti - individualized constitution* Vikriti - variation from homeostasis* Sara - quality of tissues* Samhana - quality of build* Pramana - bodily measurements* Satmya - personalized habituation* Sattva - state of mind/mental strength* Ahara shakti - capacity of digestion* Vyayama shakti - capacity for physical strength/resilience* Vaya - ageWhy not a specialist?When you need your car fixed you see a mechanic, a “specialist” in cars. Thus it seems natural that if you have digestive discomfort you would see a gastroenterologist, “ a specialist” in digestion. While on the surface this seems logical, let us investigate further.The reality is that the expertise of our mechanic or “car specialist” is actually holistic. He understands cars as a whole. Alternators, batteries, cylinder block, pistons, crankshafts, timing belts, etc. He understands each part separately, and more importantly how all these parts are interconnected. A great mechanic is able to ascertain which parts are working, which are not, and thus which action to take to return the car to proper working order. Moreover a great mechanic can guide you correctly and prevent you from taking unnecessary non helpful actions.Now imagine you went to a mechanic that just had highly specialized knowledge of pistons. He knows more about pistons than any other mechanic, but then refers you elsewhere for anything else. Imagine if all mechanics were this way? How many specialists would you see before finding the right diagnosis and issue with your car? Sound familiar?? 😉As I’m sure you’ve put together by now, this is in fact our current medical paradigm. “Doctors” of different modalities and specialties, offer their expertise in hyper specialized areas of focus and refer out for anything else. Sadly, as it stands today and in a general sense, these specialized doctors have never learned the science of holistic health. They do not understand health, healing, nutrition, physiology, or disease in a comprehensive manner. Nutrition is not taught in medical schools. We all know this, but we keep going… How can you trust a medical professional who doesn’t even understand how your food affects your health?When it comes to health, we want our medical professionals to be equipped in the same manner as our mechanics. We want competent holistic professionals who specialize in “living organisms.” Just like our mechanics, we need people who ascertain what’s working, what’s not, and when & where to take action.To further dispel the notion that technological testing is the best form of diagnosis let us explore my last point. What exactly are blood tests and biomarkers supposed to tell us? They’re supposed to indicate our health right? Whether or not we’re healthy? Blood tests and biomarkers are just indicators of our natural health. But these tests are not required to ascertain the health of a person. You yourself can tell whether a person looks vibrant and healthy or sickly and weak. Let’s take anemia as an example.Modern medicine needs to run a blood test to find out if you’re anemic, but I don’t. And neither does a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner. A blood test isn’t required to see that a person is anemic. There are signs and symptoms both leading up to and in onset of anemia. According to Ayurveda, a person may appear thin, under nourished, with pale skin, lips, tongue, nails and a loss of natural skin glow. They may experience cold extremities, dryness, swelling, or headaches. They may also experience fatigue, heart palpitations, and feeling tired even after resting. Typically they experience poor digestion, absorption, indigestion, and loss of desire for eating. Mentally they may experience lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, and difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.This is just a window into it, and all of this can be ascertained through the beautiful Ayurvedic methods of assessment listed above. No testing required and what’s more, Ayurveda is much better equipped to actually treat a person with anemia. Iron supplements and iron infusions, like most modern medical treatments, do not address the root cause of the issue.In conclusion, the reason a “living organism” specialist is ideal is because they can connect the dots across all aspects of your health. Like stars in the night sky; when enough dots have been connected the constellation of your health is illuminated. This constellation presents both your current health status and roadmap to restoring balance.In my practice, I leverage the beautiful Ayurvedic science of life to support and nourish your physiological star map which is the true underlying cause of all aspects of your health and imbalance.If you feel you’d like to learn what Ayurveda can do for you, I encourage you to visit our clinic page and schedule a consultation. It is after all, backed by a satisfaction guarantee.Be bold and courageous. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit balancedalignment.substack.com
