Ayurveda. Kim Inglis

      ancient wisdoms,

       today’s practices

      At no time in the history of the planet have India’s stress-busting, all-encompassing therapies had more importance. While we strive to improve material gains, we often neglect the spiritual, the physical and the mental. However, with stressful lifestyles taking their toll, taking time out to concentrate on ourselves is no longer a treat — it’s a necessity. This is where India’s age-old traditional practices come in.

      Whether you travel to India to visit a spa, to try to “find yourself”, to experience some medical care, or to spend some relaxing time with friends or family, you are almost certain to come across some of these ancient practices. Even though the country is modernizing at a rapid rate, everyone — on some level or another — is tied to its deep-rooted traditions.

      Ancient Healing

      Many of these age-old traditions are explored in this book. We get to the core of the country’s medical systems — Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha — and explore its history of herbal healing and ancient beauty procedures. The mind, body, spirit practices of yoga, meditation and pranayama are showcased in depth, while related cultural phenomena such as temple and household habits and gemology are also considered. Some of these ideas will be familiar to readers, others will be totally new. We’ll take you through the myriad of wonders that has emerged from this extraordinary, exotic subcontinent, all the while explaining how past wisdom has relevance in today’s world.

      Ayurveda and yoga are probably the most well known of the ancient modalities outside India — and both seek to encompass much more than physical wellbeing. They are covered in depth in the ancient texts or Vedas and there are countless written instructions for both. Even though they weren’t traditionally practiced together, today they are finding synergy. “What’s interesting about India’s systems,” explains one Ayurvedic physician, “is that they often incorporate more than one regime. Methods of healing like Ayurveda include