Ayurveda represents the ancient Indian art of healing. It's one of the three great Vedic life sciences, the other two being yoga and tantra, each having a different main perspective on human life, accepting the importance of the others at the same time. The word Ayurveda is a Sanskrit term meaning science of daily life, from two roots: Ayus meaning 'life' or 'existence' and vid meaning 'information' or 'science'.

Ayurveda is an energetic system, which educates us about the emotional and spiritual health as well as knowledge about body functions and disease processes. According to Ayurveda, three fundamental elements doshas, dhatus and malas form the basic structure of a human body:

Doshas: Oversee our biochemical and physiological activities;
Dhatus: Help in formation of all the basic structure of a cellular level;
Malas: Substances that are partly utilized in the body and partly excreted.

All three, address to what is necessary and sufficient to live a healthy life. Any disproportion in them can lead to disease and decay.

In Ayurveda, a balanced individual constitution is the key to a good health. Understanding the fundamentals of your body and surroundings, gives shape to your endeavors to improve your health. According to Ayurveda a strong constitution will give a person the ability to endure the hectic lifestyle, social and personal pressures.

Ayurveda mainly focuses on the physical aspect of life. The man has five senses through which he perceives the external world in five different ways. The sensory organs i.e., ear, nose, tongue, eyes and the skin are our doorways to assimilate the external form of energy.

The Five Elements (Pancha Mahabhutas):
The entire physical universe is divided and classified in five different ways, and they are known as five elements or pancha (five) mahabhutas:

Sky (Akasha): Can express itself as the space within which everything exists and the space(s) within everything.
Air (Vayu): Can express itself as the gaseous state of matter.
Fire (Agni): Can express itself as transformational energy.
Water (Jala): Can express itself as the liquid state of matter
Earth (Prithvi): Can express itself as the solid state of matter.

Our human body is made up of all these five elements and so it is the external world from where our body replenishes these elements. These five elements are represented in our body by doshas, dhatus and malas.

Doshas:
They are mainly of three types, which in our lives determines health or disease:

Vata: It's a composite of the elements of air and ether, is characterized by erratic, cold, active, dry, clear and subtle.
Pitta: It's a composite of the elements of fire and water, is characterized by being intense, hot, oily and sharp.
Kapha: energy is a composite of the elements of water and earth, is characterized by being calm, heavy, cool and moist.

Dhatus:
Seven dhatus are also formed from the five elements, which represent basic tissue elements in the body:

1) Rasa or chyle, including lymph
2) Rakta or the hemoglobin fraction of the blood
3) Mamsa or muscle tissue
4) Medas or fat tissue
5) Asthi or bone tissue
6) Majja or bone marrow
7) Shukra or the sperm in male and ovum in female

Malas:
They are represented by the waste products like stool, urine and sweat. Ayurveda states that for the well being of a human body it is essential that the waste products or any unnecessary cellular metabolites be elimination. Constipation causes disease not only in the gastrointestinal tract but also in other parts of the body. In diseases like lumbago, rheumatism, sciatica, paralysis, bronchitis and asthma it's essential for good bowel movement even before any Ayurveda treatment can be started. Similarly it's essential to drink enough water to pass urine atleast six times a day.

While Allopathic medicine considers body and mind as separate and independent, ayurveda looks at human beings as an essential part of the great universe, always considering disease as imbalance. Health is hence considered as a dynamic balance within a person's body, mind and spirit, and his or her environment. In recent years western cultures have also begun accepting the importance of Ayurveda in the form herbal medicine and thus giving more importance to a healthy lifestyle.