Ayurveda also recognises the subtle layers of reality – the energies that cannot be seen but that affect our entire existence. Sound and vibration play an important role in Ayurvedic philosophy. Mantras, sound therapy and sound medicine are used not only for meditation but also for healing, as sound is considered to be able to affect both the body's energy fields and the frequencies of internal organs. This is in line with the Vedic understanding that the world is ultimately built of vibration – Nada Brahma, “The world is sound”.

Ayurvedic Doctors – More Than Just Tradition

Contrary to popular belief, Ayurveda is not an ”alternative” system outside of academic medicine. Ayurvedic physicians (called Vaidyas) are trained in many countries, particularly in India, through several years of academic education. This training covers the same foundational medical subjects as Western medical programmes – anatomy, physiology, pathology, surgery, pharmacology – but goes even deeper by also including Sanskrit studies and in-depth study of classical Ayurvedic texts such as the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita.

This means that an Ayurvedic doctor studies three times as much as a conventional medical student. They are trained in both modern scientific methods and millennia-old Vedic wisdom – a combination that makes them uniquely qualified to understand both the body's biology and the subtle language of the soul.

Ayurveda – the ancient mother of surgery

It is also worth mentioning that many of the medical disciplines we today consider “modern” have their roots in Ayurveda. Surgery, for example, was documented as early as the Sushruta Samhita, a text from around 600 BC. Sushruta, often called the father of surgery, described hundreds of surgical instruments and techniques for operations ranging from cataracts to bone fractures.

So Ayurveda is not an opposite to conventional medicine – but rather its ancient origin.

A path to balance

Ayurveda is not just about curing illness – but about living in harmony with one's inner nature and with the nature around us. Through daily routines (dinacharya), diet adapted to one's dosha, herbs, breathing techniques, mantra, sound, oil massage (abhyanga), detox methods (panchakarma) and spiritual discipline, Ayurveda aims to restore the body's inner intelligence – ojas, the life force – so that health and vitality can flow freely.