Form Follows Function: Lessons From Ayurvedic Medicine
On Ayurvedic philosophy and becoming more of who we really are.
I’m writing this post as I’m in the Bay Area, watching one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen in recent years - I’m on the top of what you might call a mountain, watching the sun dip behind the horizon, the blue turn to gorgeous orange hues, the fog roll in across the water, the city below me twinkles as the trees and streets grow darker. I can feel this sunset in my chest — an expansive yet overwhelming feeling — that I get to watch mr. sun disappear as he signals the close of another day, and that I get to be in this life to see something so beautiful.
One of the main topics in the Bhagavad Gita is Prakriti, nature or the primordial substance that creates everything in the universe. When I first began studying Ayurvedic medicine informally 10 years ago and again, formally, 3 years ago, I continued to be fascinated by Prakriti (pra - original and kruti - creation) and it’s opposite, Vikruti (vi - after and kruti - creation).
These are two foundational words in Ayurvedic philosophy and to me, they also speak to the foundation of the question, “how do I live a good and well life?”. This makes sense because the word Ayurveda literally means life wisdom (ayur - life and veda - wisdom).
When I was a teenager and as a young adult, I was perpetually uncomfortable in my body. I felt bloated, I had cystic acne into my 20’s, and I’d frequently feel an uncomfortable sensation in my vaginal vulva area (to name just a few things).
So much started to click when I started to learn about Ayurveda after my first Panchakarma in India when I was 23.
My dad likes to call our bodies high maintenance and I say “our” because both of our bodies have required a lot of upkeep with most of our issues being related to the gut. When my body was cleansed for the first time during Panchakarma, it felt like both a physical and spiritual experience. I had never experienced such clarity of mind.
Form follows function.
Form is the structural basis of life and the flow is the functional basis of life.
In essence, form provides the foundation or scaffolding for life, while flow enables the essential processes and functions that keep life active and operational. Both are interdependent: without form, flow cannot occur; and without flow, form would be lifeless.
Prakriti can also be described as flow, it is creation, and described as having a feminine quality. In Ayurveda, Prakruti is an individual’s natural state from the time of their birth up until they die. Each individual has a unique composition of elements and the balance of this unique composition is the natural state we aim to return to throughout our lives. Just as the universe is created from these five elements, so are we.
(Side note: the elements also called the panchamahabhutas (the five great that exists) are akasa - ether, vayu - air, tejas - fire, aap - water, and prthvi - earth)
Vikruti is our current state, it is the state of imbalance, the state in which our body comes to as a result of environmental conditions and experiences throughout our lives. As our bodies move closer to Prakruti, our natural state, we are moving closer to who we’ve always been both physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
In the cultural zeitgeist, we talk about “being your true self” or “living authentically”. We also talk a lot about healing our bodies and balancing our hormones. The reason I love Ayurveda is because moving towards our Prakriti doesn’t just mean returning to our natural physical state, it can also mean returning to who we’ve always been in all areas of our lives. And through the process of returning to our body’s natural physical functioning, or as our bodies begin to become who they’ve always been, the other areas follow.
As I’ve practiced Ayurveda (and additional healing and movement modalities like therapy, somatic therapy, psychedelics, yoga, pilates), I’ve noticed my body return to it’s natural state while also noticing myself come back home to who I am both physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.
This internal functioning impacts the other forms in our lives - the decisions we make around which environment to live in, the types of people we surround ourselves with, and the work and activities we engage in.
One of the first things we learn about in Ayurveda is that we need to look at a patient’s mind, body, spirit, and senses. In western medicine, there’s a focus on the physical body. In psychology, there’s a focus on the mind. In Ayurveda, we cover all four because they are so deeply interconnected. To heal one, you have to heal the others.
What we see, feel, taste, hear (sound, touch, vision, taste, smell) impacts the internal structures and their functioning. When I was in India, my Ayurvedic doctor told me that 85% of the healing that takes place there is getting people out of their normal environment - it’s cutting off access to the internet, the people they surround themselves with, and placing them in an environment surrounded by prayer, somewhere they can consume good thoughts, and live amongst the trees and birds.
I sometimes forget my body is a vessel and information flows through it. Our prakriti is always present, constantly communicating with us through signals even in the midst of the imbalance.
The sky is a dark, dark blue, the city sparkles below me, and in the distance, just beyond the horizon, I can see the faintest orange glow — a reminder that the day was here and now it’s gone. It’s mr. sun giving us permission to rest, to disappear with the darkness, so we can welcome another day.
Well written, thanks
Love this piece rinni!!