Positive health implies perfect functioning of
body and mind in a given society. Health is a state of physical, mental and
social wellbeing, not merely an absence of disease or infirmity. Really
speaking, health is not a state but a continuous adjustment to the changing
demands of life and the environment. Ayurveda defines health as ‘svasthya’—to
be one’s highest spiritual self. It is the state of equilibrium of the three
doshas or mind-body energies that govern our external and internal
environment―vata (wind); pitta (bile); and kapha (phlegm), along with a
contented state of the senses, mind and soul.
All the ancients believed that no attempt should
be made to cure the body without treating the mind and soul. To be healthy is
to have the ability, despite an occasional bout of illness, to live with full
use of your faculties and to be vigorous, alert and having a joie de vivre,
even in old age. This concept of operational health has been termed ‘wellness’.
It is a sense of all-round wellbeing.
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