Integrating Psychotherapy With Ayurveda
When we integrate the contemporary art of psychotherapy with the ancient science of ayurveda
, it becomes a powerful combination that I call Psycho Veda. Directly translated Ayurveda means 'The Science of Life'. It is one of the oldest forms of healing the world has known, with its origins dating back 5000 years to the Vedic sages who lived that part of the Asian subcontinent now known as India, and is one of the most profound health practices in the world. Ayurveda is a system of preventative healthcare and healing and a philosophy for living. It cures not by simply treating the symptoms but by removing the causes of disease and, critically by balancing the physical and spiritual elements of our lives. The objective is to achieve balance as an individual, as one whose emotional life, whose intake of food, whose output of energy and whose attention to the daily act of living is also extended to take in the wider concept of a harmonious universe.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was considered the Father of psychoanalysis. He established the theory that unconscious motives control much of our behaviour. Freud compared the human personality to an iceberg. The small part that shows above the surface of the water represents conscious experience; the much larger mass below the water level represents the unconscious - a storehouse of impulses, passions, and inaccessible memories that affect our thoughts and behaviour. It is this portion of the mind that Freud sought to explore with the use of free association.
Freud observed that many patients behaved according to drives and experiences of which they were not consciously aware and that the unconscious plays a major role in shaping behaviour. His work with patients led him to the understanding that the unconscious is full of memories of events from early childhood. Freud noted that if these memories were especially painful people kept them out of conscious awareness. He used the term defense mechanisms for the methods by which individuals did this. Freud believed that patients used vast amounts of what he described as libidinal energy in forming these defense mechanisms. Tying up energy in defence mechanisms could affect a person's ability to lead a productive, life causing an illness that Freud called neurosis. Freud also concluded that many unconscious childhood memories dealt with sex and sexual disturbances and that this neurosis originated from childhood.
Jung had very different beliefs to Freud, he was essentially a twentieth century man, and there can be no doubt that his work went against the grain of psychoanalytical intellectual tradition dominated by the Freudian school. For them, rational solutions existed for all problems, and those, which could not be subjected to reason, could not be real. Jung adopted a holistic approach to treating patients which was ahead of his time.
He travelled widely and observed people from many cultures. The breadth of these experiences, allied to his own beliefs, led him to conclude that an innate sense of spirituality and religiosity, together with cultural and familial influences, played a large part in how individuals felt about themselves, and he believed that a search for meaning in life underpinned the wellbeing of every individual and society. He investigated the discrepancies that existed between the strong sense of wellbeing and social cohesion in many tribal cultures, and the unhappiness and dislocation that was evident in much of European society. His patients frequently told him that their lives lacked meaning, contrasting with tribal societies, where the tribe's identity was the meaning for its members, and he tried to discover how 'civilization 'had lost its roots. Jung travelled widely from 1909 onwards, when his anthropological studies led to the formulation of his theory of a 'collective unconscious'. He understood this to be a further level of unconscious functioning in our psyche, which expresses the essential shared experience of what it is to be a human being, irrespective of culture or location.
The integration of Psycho and Veda is motivated by the complete integration of the immense but fairly contemporary view of the mind, emotions and psyche and how this performs in our lives. With the ancient view of mankind being connected to the universe and its attention to how ours bodies respond to the elements contained in all living things. How can one be separate from the other? From a purely psychotherapeutic viewpoint we know that human babies strive on the sense of 'touch' as adults we are encouraged to keep our distance. Ayurveda tells us that we cannot function without our connection to the senses and the participation of universal elements. Recent years have seen an increase in popularity for many holistic health disciplines and Ayurveda is no exception, with a steady increase in the number of practitioners, schools and opportunities for therapies but something is being ignored in many of the variations of treatments and teachings now becoming available. A core premise is in danger of being lost. As fundamental today as it was 5000 years ago is the central concept of balance and harmony between all living things. Within Ayurveda the Earth is seen to be an interrelated whole, a vast living organism. We share the same atomic and molecular structures and the same building blocks as all life forms and what happens to one part affects the whole. Our world is a wonderful living entity; the atmosphere that we live in, the oxygen, the weather systems, the natural resources, the earth and the sea, the animal and plant life are all connected. Changes to the seasons, to the natural and built environment create cross currents of influence that affect all around us. Loss of this sense of connection to our environment has led to the malaise that is damaging the planet and most human relationships. In the steady acceleration of our pace of life we have become disconnected from our sources. We have forgotten how to be aware, how to respond with intuition to our surroundings and how to take care of ourselves. We have become accustomed to taking pills and whole arsenals of chemical supplements, and we have buried the intuitive responses to health that were once central to a way of life. Searching for outside guidance has become the norm. We are losing touch with the natural rhythms and cycles of nature and with the creative act of living in harmony with these powerful forces.
The thinking mind has enabled mankind to create complex structures, systems and technologies, but is has also created war, slaughter and destruction on a grand scale. On a smaller scale we damage and inhibit ourselves and our loved ones on a daily basis through patterns of thought and behaviour that corrode wellbeing. In our technological age we see increasing evidence of downsizing and restructuring in industry, rising stress levels on workers who take on the jobs of three people with less job security. The speed of today's society seems to have increased whilst our transport systems have slowed down, national health waiting lists create anxiety in the sick - the list goes on and on. Such stresses and distractions have disconnected us from the most important aspects of life.
Integrating Psychotherapy and Vedic principles teaches us how to rediscover critical knowledge and awareness of the natural forces and rhythms that compliment and strengthen our human experience, through delicious nutrition using natural herbs and spices, through enhanced levels of self awareness, through the understanding of the psyche and what our inner experiences are and also involving practical daily activities with through attention to our total environment to bring about radical changes in our mental outlook and in physical health.
by: Linda Bretherton
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