Every disease has a beginning. It doesn’t suddenly pop out of nowhere; it doesn’t strike you down like lightning out of the blue.

Yet people treat illness as “bad luck”, as something that has visited them from the outside – usually by means of a germ, a virus, or an allergen. Even medical doctors fall for this erroneous, illogical way of perceiving illness. They look at the symptoms of the full-blown disease, try to treat them, and move on to the next patient without seeking the root of the disease, or how it could be prevented. This is a tragic shame, because it is such a superficial approach – and it is often done too late to easily restore the body to its previous health.

For thousands of years, Ayurveda – like other traditional systems of medicine – has concerned itself with the causes of disease, right from the first state of imbalance. In fact, Ayurveda identifies six stages of disease, of which only the fifth – the full-blown disease – is currently recognised by medical doctors.

By trying to understand the initial stages of disease, we can then take steps to prevent its development. We can adjust the diet or lifestyle factors that are causing the imbalance; we can take gentle herbs or spices to steer the body back to balance; we can take responsibility and control over our health; and we then have the opportunity to strive for optimum, dynamic health.

You can only do this if you take responsibility, if you develop self-awareness, and if you have a set of tools and concepts with which to work. Ayurveda, helped by Yoga, can give you this.

It starts by identifying your predominant qualities, and classifying them into the doshas of Vata, Pitta or Kapha. Knowing about Vata, Pitta and Kapha gives you a language with which to analyse the ebb and flow of your natural qualities.

If you are Vata, you can observe the rise and fall of the Air element, and its qualities of lightness, coolness, dryness, erratic movement, and roughness. If you are Pitta, you can monitor the rise and fall of the Fire element, with its qualities of hotness and sharpness. If you are Kapha, you can watch the goings on of the Water and Earth elements, with their qualities of inertia, denseness, weight, stickiness and steadiness.

By observing yourself with your increasing self-awareness, you watch the cycles of the qualities, knowing when to balance them by applying the opposite qualities.

If Vata rises, think of increasing warm and grounding qualities, for example with warm winter foods. If Pitta rises, the keyword is “cooling” – in foods, lifestyle habits, even the colours that you wear. If Kapha increases, think of lightening and heating actions, such as the use of hot spices, vigorous exercise, or saunas.

When we sail from one port to another, we set a course to follow. It is practically impossible to always be exactly on course – all sailors continually make small adjustments, because they are continually off course. Likewise, with our health, we are continually exposed to factors that alter our balance. So, if we have the awareness, we can continually make decisions and choices that gently help restore balance.

Staying healthy is a lifelong commitment. It is not a yearly medical checkup. It is not a weekly salad or round of golf. It is the choices you make at every moment, guided by constant self-awareness. This is not an onerous chore, it is a real experience of the constant play of life. You get in touch with your vitality, the buzz that keeps you alive from moment to moment. You are your own navigator!

You will no longer ignore the discomforts that signal imbalance. You will no longer put off the natural urges of the body, such as the need to sleep, to yawn, to eat, to belch, to go to the toilet. You will no longer put up with the discomfort of overeating, or of having eaten the wrong foods. Like a wild animal, you will respond to natural instinct. As a human, you will additionally use your discernment and judgement to make clear, correct decisions that positively affect your health.

Over the next few weeks, I will share practical ways of fine-tuning your health through diet, lifestyle choices, daily routines, herbs, body therapies and Yoga.

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