Can Ayurveda Truly Heal Us?

BY Indu Aroa3 min read • June 8, 2026

Ayurveda is a body of knowledge that supports our well-being in three different ways

First thing’s first: Ayurveda is NOT sickness care. It is complete health care.

In many cases, “sickness care” is a reactive approach: There is sickness, there is discomfort, there is disease; now, I'm reacting, thinking about what I should do about it. 

On the other hand, complete health care is something Ayurveda provides to us. It is a body of knowledge that supports our well-being in three different ways:

1. Prevention: Prevent that which can be prevented.
2. Maintenance: Maintain that which can be maintained.
3. Healing: Heal that which cannot be prevented or that which could not be maintained. 

One important distinction that we make in Ayurveda is that we do not treat—we heal. 

How Ayurveda Helps Us Heal 

When we use the word treatment, we’re often tackling an isolated aspect of ourselves. We’re treating our headache. We’re treating the kidney, or the colon. 

Now, I’m NOT advising anyone to skip their appointments with their Western doctor. I’m simply sharing the wisdom of an ancient system that was explored, embodied, and passed down to us. When you start deploying its philosophy in your day-to-day life, you’ll see there’s something to it.

In Ayurveda, our imbalance has to be understood in a holistic sense: What’s going on within the being, the person, the conditions, the emotional context, the mental context, the stress levels. It all has to be taken into account, together. 

There is an understanding that every layer of our being—the physical body, pranic body, mental body, emotional body, bliss body, spiritual body—work together. We also look at the macro—how the rhythms of the day, phases of the moon, or season are impacting our well-being. Even the aspect of karma is explored. 

Once you understand the rhythms through Ayurveda, you have more tools at your disposal to bring your entire system into equilibrium.

I’m sharing these tools and practices in my upcoming 50-hr online training, Essential Ayurveda for Yoga Practitioners. It starts July 16. (Save $150 with Early Bird pricing till June 15.) Learn more and save your spot here!