What is Ayurveda? An Honest, Down to Earth Introduction to the World's Oldest Wellness System

Kimber Jones
Apr 21
4 min read

Kimber- ayurveda teacher in asheville, nc sitting contemplatively with a cup of tea

What Is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda (eye-yer-VEY-duh) Is a sanskrit word that translates to “the science of life,” and honestly… it lives up to the hype.

It’s a 5,000-year-old system of medicine that originated in India—and it’s still practiced because it works. Unlike modern medicine, which tends to zero in on symptoms and label them with hard-to-pronounce Latin names, Ayurveda zooms out. Way out.

It sees you as a whole person—body, mind, and spirit—interacting with the world around you. It doesn’t separate you from your food, your seasons, your sleep, or your stress. Ayurveda sees it all as connected.

And the best part? It’s practical. Personalized. And rooted in rhythm.

Ayurveda teaches you how to live in harmony with your own unique nature (hello doshas! See below!), the seasons, and daily cycles. It’s the owner’s manual for your body that you never got—and it’s so much more than a detox or diet trend.

Ayurveda is:

Holistic- treats you as what you are- a whole person. Not just a collection of symptoms, and not referring you to a specialist for every organ system. Ayurveda recognizes you can’t separate your mind, body, and spirit from each other when you are healing
Preventative- instead of slapping a band-aid on the symptoms, as western medicine is prone to do, Ayurveda wants to address and heal the root cause of imbalance. Why deal with the symptoms when you can prevent them from ever occurring in the first place?
Individualized- What can be medicine for one person can be poison for someone else and vice versa. By understanding your dosha (see below) you unlock Ayurveda’s personalized health recommendations
Based in the idea that digestion is the root of all health- In Ayurveda we say you are only as old as your digestion and only as healthy as your digestion. Regardless of what a client comes to see me with, we always end up addressing digestion. Gas, bloating, and constipation are common, but that doesn’t mean they are normal. Popping tums like they are candy and IBS symptoms are not just part of the game- they are optional!
The last wellness advice you’ll need- Ayurveda is truly a one stop shop for all things wellness- it has personalized recommendations for diet, sleep, exercise, daily routine, work, sex, self-care, you name it and Ayurveda has your answer for it. No more frantic googling. No more following health fads and trends. Just ancient wisdom.

Meet the Doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha

Let’s talk doshas. These are the energetic forces that make up everything in the natural world—including your body and mind. Every one of us has all three, but in different proportions.

Understanding your dosha is like learning your body’s native language, and it’s what unlocked the individualized nature of Ayurveda. Let’s break it down:

🌬 Vata Dosha

Elements: Air + Ether In the Body: Vata governs movement—think circulation, breathing, elimination, nerve impulses. Folks with a lot of vata are taller, thin, might have dry/frizzy/curly hair, a long face or feature, small eyes, prominent joints In the Mind: Creativity, quick thinking, adaptability, spontaneous, high energy.

In Balance: Energetic, imaginative, clear communication, light on their feet (literally and emotionally). Out of Balance: Anxiety, insomnia, gas, bloating, dry skin, cracking joints, overwhelm, scattered thinking. How to Balance: Warm, cooked foods; grounding routines; rest; oil massage (abhyanga) Think: warm, moist, grounded

🔥 Pitta Dosha

Elements: Fire + Water In the Body: Digestion, metabolism, energy production. These folks are a medium build, maybe with a lighter complexion prone to redness, or maybe have red hair, freckles. It’s easy for them to put on muscle. In the Mind: Sharp focus, ambition, leadership, organization, determination, drive, hard workers.

In Balance: Driven, strong, radiant, mentally clear, confident. Out of Balance: Irritability, acid reflux, inflammation, work-aholic, hyper competitive, migraines, rashes and skin stuff, perfectionism, burnout. How to Balance: Cooling foods, less screen time, walks in nature, play, and regular meal times. Think: chill the fire without losing the spark.

🌿 Kapha Dosha

Elements: Earth + Water In the Body: Structure, stability, lubrication, immunity. Big boned humans who just take up some space- broad shoulders. Big, inviting eyes, thick, luscious, maybe oily hair. Calm, cool, skin. Stable. Grounded. In the Mind: Patience, empathy, loyalty, calmness.

In Balance: Grounded, loving, compassionate, steady, radiant skin and strong immunity. Out of Balance: Sluggishness, weight gain, mucus buildup, water retention, congestion, oversleeping, depression, resistance to change. How to Balance: Movement, lighter meals, spices, invigorating activities, and accountability. Think: Light, bright, and pungent!

Prakruti & Vikruti: Your Constitution vs. Your Current State

Your Prakruti is your Ayurvedic birth blueprint—the dosha combo you were born with. It’s your natural state of balance.

Your Vikruti is your current state of imbalance. This is the version of you who’s tired all the time, gassy by 3pm, can’t poop regularly, or snaps at people for asking simple questions 🙃

The magic of Ayurveda lies in the difference between those two. Once we know what’s out of whack, we can bring it back into balance. I like to think of the analogy of 3 buckets- a vata bucket, pitta bucket, and kapha bucket. Each bucket is filled to a different level- that our unique ratio- our prakruti or our constitution. When we say we want to “balance the doshas”- we are trying to get your buckets back to their factory default settings. So we’re not trying to empty the buckets, we’re not trying to get all 3 buckets to an even level, and we’re not trying to pour from one bucket into another. When one of our buckets is overflowing- it’s out of balance. We use diet, lifestyle, herbs, and self care to pour out some of the excess and get that bucket right back where it is supposed to be for you specifically.

Ready to Really Learn This Stuff?

If you’re nodding along and thinking “Why did no one ever teach me this before?”—you’re my kind of person.

That’s why I created my 90-minute Intro to Ayurveda workshop. It’s warm, welcoming, and jam-packed with everything I wish someone had taught me when I was first trying to figure all this out. And for a limited time- it’s FREE

Inside the workshop you’ll learn: