Role of Ayurveda and Yoga for Management of Stress and Mindful Living

Together, ayurveda and yoga remain two of the most ancient living traditions that help people bring balance and health to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. These two traditional sciences were developed on the basis of philosophy of nature to promote the quality of life and management of disease in a holistic fashion. Ayurveda, a 5,000 year old traditional healing system, focuses mainly on the patients rather than disease. Ancient Tradition of Yoga is over 4,000 years old and mainly aims to promote overall well-being of an individual, physically and emotionally. In the modern times stress stands as single and most influential cause for a wide arena of diseases. Several studies have been published on the benefits of yoga and ayurveda for alleviating mood and anxiety symptoms. Ancient Ayurvedic masters had developed dietary, herbal and therapeutic measures for managing the stress and to achieve the well-balanced life. Ayurveda, the science of life, takes into consideration of the whole body, mind, and spirit while dealing with stress management. The role of relaxation to achieve a state of mental calmness has been supported with various research studies. In yogic literature, various practices have been mentioned to achieve relaxation of this state of mind. Asanas (body poses) and breathing techniques explained in the yoga practices have been shown to provide tremendous improvement in stress management as well as developing mindful awareness. This paper provides a comprehensive overview on the roles of yoga and ayurveda for management of stress and mindful living from classical text books as well as evidence based literature.