Ayurveda psychology

Happy with your own constitution

"A person's basic constitution is a permanent component. Understanding and taking it into account helps us to go through life calmly and joyfully."

Many aspects shape our personality: in addition to upbringing, education and early childhood experiences in the family environment, the greatest influence on our character formation, according to Ayurveda, comes from our physical and mental constitution. Specifically, this means that the decision about who we are and how we shape our lives depends on how the doshas (vata, pitta, kapha) and the gunas (tamas, rajas, sattva) manifest themselves. The imprints of the basic constitution (deha-prakrti), which are formed by the doshas, are unchangeable, while the mental constitution (manas-prakrti) is subject to our direct influence.

"Knowing the resilience of your own constitution is a great help when it comes to coping with the daily challenges of life," Kerstin Rosenberg encourages her participants in the psychology seminars.

We can think of the constellation of doshas as the hardware of a computer, which contributes to optimal functionality via basic physical structures and mechanisms.

Hardware supports software

The software, on the other hand, is provided by the mental constitution, which is responsible for the subtle processing and interpretation of data. The more stable and healthy our physical constitution (hardware) is, the better we can absorb mental disruptive factors (software). This is because the physical and mental immune system reacts to excessive demands and stress according to type and is therefore vulnerable on different levels.

The classical Ayurveda texts impressively describe that every mental illness is preceded by a lack of ojas (vital life energy) and that good digestion and an active cell metabolism are the basis for every psycho-mental therapy. Simple regenerative measures such as foods rich in vital substances, spices and medicinal herbs help to rebuild the lost ojas.

However, it is more difficult to treat the subtle causes of ojas loss. These usually lie at the subtle level of the emotional field. The most common "ojas killers" are painful or unresolved past experiences, suppressed emotions and mental stress. All of this creates an excess of rajas in the mental constitution and prepares the ground for all psychological complaints.

Personality imprints that we cannot change

Many people try to find new solutions to their personal, professional or health problems through personality modification. We all know how difficult this is! Because according to our individual constitution, we have unique qualities that shape our body, our psyche and our behavior. Physical characteristics such as height, face shape, skin or hair texture are just as difficult to change as our psychological constitutional characteristics.

Type-related character traits such as ambition, creativity, vanity or helpfulness are constitutionally determined and can only be acquired with difficulty by other means. In this sense, efforts to change a personality are often doomed to failure from the outset. So our parents could have saved themselves the trouble of constantly nagging us.

Kerstin Rosenberg, Head of Psychology Training at the European Academy of Ayurveda, can still hear her mother scolding her sister today: "Don't always be so stubborn!" If she had known then what she knows now and told her: "Mom, Heike can't help it, she's just a Pitta type and therefore finds it hard to admit mistakes", the family could have spared themselves many a bitter row. And her grandmother, who always said to her father: "Child, be content", would have worried much less about her son's well-being if she had realized that a Vata type is constantly plagued by inner doubts and quickly feels an inner emptiness that constantly produces new spirals of thought.

It all depends on the interpretation

As many personality traits are an integral part of the basic constitution (Deha-Prakrti), they shape our life path in all phases of development from childhood to old age. However, how these fundamental character traits are expressed can vary greatly.

"We are not victims of all the whims and fads of the prakrti, but the quality of our thoughts and emotions determines the happiness or unhappiness with which we experience each day."

The aim of all psycho-mental interventions in Ayurveda is to develop as much sattva-guna as possible and thus overcome the disruptive factors of tamas and rajas. Through a sattvic mindset, we transform negative constitutional characteristics and show ourselves from our best side: the sensitive Vata mind receives spiritual and creative inspiration (sattva) instead of nervous overstimulation (rajas) or lethargy (tamas). Similarly, the degree of sattva determines whether a Kapha type becomes a philanthropist or a miser, or whether Pitta's ability to act serves the productive good of all or leads to aggressive destruction.

Ayurvedic psychology cites the classical techniques of yoga as the best methods for strengthening sattvic personality expression. In particular, the purifying breathing exercises of pranayama and the centering concentration exercises of silent meditation act like a mental burning glass and are used as optimal prevention to ward off mental disorders. However, if mental or psychosomatic complaints are already present, then in addition to a daily yoga and meditation practice, a tailor-made mixture of dosha-balancing measures (diet, massage, medicinal herbs) and psychological counseling sessions are needed to strengthen Sattva effectively and sustainably. The mantra recitations then work particularly well as a way of singing against the inner bastard and practicing loving self-reflection during meditation.

Ayurveda psychology - learn to see with your heart

Discover exciting seminars

How can Ayurvedic psychology positively influence the mind? At the European Academy of Ayurveda you will receive an intensive introduction to Ayurvedic psychology. Understand yourself and others better!

With your knowledge, you will support people in living a fulfilled life - in line with their psychological constitution and free from stress.

Seeing with the heart - Ayurvedic psychology according to type

In this seminar you will learn how to explore your own potential as well as how to accompany other people therapeutically.

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