Student Blog
Jennifer Rawlings
There is a growing acceptance of herbal remedies all over the world. While both Homeopathic medicine and Ayurveda belong to complementary and alternative medicine systems, they are from very different schools of thought. Ayurveda generally believes in the philosophy that the health of a human body depends on the balance on the three key doshas vita, pitta, and kapha, and any imbalance in these three can cause diseases. Homeopathy believes in the "vitalist" philosophy. According to this belief, various external and internal causes disturb the "vital force" which negatively affects the health of a person.
Ayurveda: Derived from two words - Ayur meaning "life" and Veda meaning "knowledge" - Ayurveda means "knowledge of life." It is a holistic system with its own fundamental tenets. Ayurveda emphasizes the balance between body, mind, and soul for healthy living. Maintaining optimal health and mitigating disease by using Ayurvedic lifestyle practices. Homeopathy: The word homeopathy conjoins two words - homeo meaning "similar" and pathy meaning "science."
Homeopathic medicine is a system that stimulates our immune system to fight disease. "Principle of similar" and "principle of dilution" are the two basic principles used in Homeopathic treatments. While homeopathic practitioners rely on symptoms for diagnosis, Ayurvedic physicians make use of "pulse diagnosis" as well as symptoms. In conclusion, normal herbal preparations and diets from Ayurveda work through digestion and agni whereas Homeopathy works on a more subtle level through the mind and prana directly.
It is possible to use Homeopathy as a medical system under the overview of Ayurveda (with a larger vision and field of experience) and it is not possible to use Ayurveda under the directions of Homeopathy which are narrow and lacking the broader understanding of the life force, pathology and therapeutics.