Soundarya Chikitsa
(Ayurvedic Beauty Rituals)
Since ancient times men and women have turned to the healing powers of nature to turn back the effects of time on the body, improve health and enhance beauty. In Ayurveda, the science of Rasayana or rejuvenation is given such importance that it is included as one of the most extensive of the 8 branches of Ayurvedic medicine. The goal of Ayurveda is to achieve and maintain perfect health, beauty and experience bliss at all stages of life. The Ayurvedic approach to health and beauty is one of the most important in the world of beauty therapies. Ayurvedic beauty care emphasizes the holistic principle that true beauty is reflected mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually regardless of a person’s body shape or proportions. Ayurveda emphasizes beauty as being a product of a combination of knowledge of self, positive environment and the development of positive routines and habits. Here, inner and outer beauties are intimately related. The more we nurture ourselves, the more radiant we become physically and expressively. This nurturing includes appropriate diet, lifestyle, herbs, seasonal cleansing, spiritual practice and daily massage and beauty rituals.
Ayurveda’s secret to retaining youth and beauty is ensuring the proper circulation of vital life fluids and the appropriate discharge of waste materials. This concept applies perfectly to the body’s largest organ of absorption and elimination, the skin. The skin has the role of both eliminating excess toxins in the lymphatic and circulatory systems via the sebaceous glands, and the job of protecting the deeper tissues of the body from dangerous toxins while metabolizing and ingesting nutrients entering into the lymphatic and circulatory systems via the sebaceous glands.
Unfortunately, in today’s world where most skin care products contain many toxic and poisonous substances such as Parabens, Sulfates, Glycols, Sarcosines, Chlorides, Surfactants, Paraffins, Artificial Preservatives, Colours and other harmful chemical ingredients, the skin has two jobs at once and ends up working overtime. Most of the beneficial effects of the natural ingredients in many products are nullified by the presence of chemical additives. Just as a conscious person chooses wisely what she/he puts in her/his mouth, it is important to be aware of what you choose to feed your skin. The skin is like the household pet that cleans up whatever is left out, everything gets eaten, even if it’s not good and usually you don’t find out until later that it ate something bad. Unlike the food we swallow, which is broken down in the stomach and intestines before it is absorbed; whatever is applied to the skin bypasses the digestive process and goes full strength directly into the bloodstream. Like all ingested substances, they either become raw material for building new body tissue or they become harmful toxic waste. These wastes first build up in the subcutaneous tissues beneath the skin and eventually make their way into the lymphatic system and bloodstream. These accumulated toxins are known as Ama in Ayurveda and are the first step in any disease process. Whenever a skin condition occurs it can be attributed to the accumulation of Ama from either orally ingested toxins which are being excreted through the skin and/or topically ingested toxins which have built up in the skin. This is the reason that more serious skin conditions need more than only topical treatment. Symptoms depend on the predominant Doshas of the person. Ayurveda considers beauty products as food. If you can’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin, this is the Ayurvedic standard for pure and natural skin care. Ayurveda holistically nourishes each individual’s different elemental balance by addressing symptoms and characteristics of the three Doshas to achieve balance.
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