Indian healing art at Lake Garda - Ayurveda

Ayurveda, Sanskrit for "knowledge of life", has its origins in India and goes back 3000 years. It is the oldest holistic naturopathy in the world.

Due to Ayurveda success, more and more centres are emerging outside of Asia, including in Europe where you can find slightly lighter versions of treatment. Due to the mild climate around Lake Garda, some interesting facilities and hotels offer Ayurveda treatments.

Ayurveda builds on the principle that the right balance of body and mind is the prerequisite for health based on the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and space or ether) and the resulting life energies or "doshas" Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

Stress, overwork, bad diet and bad habits can become a burden and affect the body and mind. So, to restore balance, a medical history is completed to determine the inborn dosha first. A programme for strengthening or restoring the balance is then created. The focus is on the purification of the organism, the so-called "Panchakarma". Environmental poisons and undigested food get eliminated, every single cell of the body purified and the mind cleared.

The treatment includes a personalised diet, daily exercises such as yoga, certain herbal infusions or herbal remedies, and relaxing massages such as Shirodhara (forehead oil pouring) to relieve blockages. As part of the treatment, tips can be learned to activate the self-healing powers, so that with the given "knowledge of life" even after the end of the stay, the unity of body, soul and spirit is maintained.