Ayurveda is the classical system of healing of ancient India, and is the oldest, continuously practiced system of health care on the planet. Ayurveda is derived from the Sanskrit root words 'ayus' and 'veda'. Ayus refers to the life principle, not simply as some kind of homeostatic principle, but as a kind of intelligence that animates the physical stucture, and that which is bound to the body and to the cycle of birth, life and death. Veda is a term that means 'divine knowledge', referring to the ancient principles upon which Ayurveda is founded - principles that transcend that ebb and flow of the observational sciences, to yield important and transcendant principles that educate humanity as to the primary nature of reality and the universe. As such, Ayurveda is the 'divine knowledge of life'.

Using unique assessment tools the goal of Ayurvedic medicine is to understand the nature of the three doshas of vata ('wind'), pitta ('bile') and kapha ('phlegm'), and their unique interplay between in an individual's constitution ('prakriti') and their disease tendency ('vikriti'). Once this assessment is made, a highly individualized therapeutic, dietary, fitness and lifestyle regimen can be recommended.