FROM THE MOMENT a child is born, there is a tender openness that will grow and flourish in direct harmony with the ways they are supported and the spirit with which they are nurtured.
Ayurveda underscores childhood as being the most essential period for shaping and developing a healthy, balanced human being in a person’s lifetime, which extraordinarily mirrors the same unconscious, instinctive view of care every parent desires to give their child in support of their physical, mental, and emotional development. Parents intuitively know these are not separate aspects of development, and many are in search of an integrated wellness blueprint that backs them in being fully conscious parents. The principles of Ayurveda are thus more relevant today than ever before.
The Parent’s Complete Guide to Ayurveda provides parents with daily lifestyle tools and routines that empower a practical approach to the wellness of their child’s body, mind, and spirit. Renowned and beloved scholar of Ayurvedic medicine Dr. Jayarajan Kodikannath explains the step-by-step lifestyle routines and benefits of Ayurveda, allowing the modern-day family to share in individually tailored wellness practices. Dr. J, as he is affectionately known, sets up this first complete guidebook to Ayurveda for children in a most graspable and adaptable way, drawing from decades of clinical experience and earnestly representing a lineage of Ayurvedic practitioners from Kerala, India—Ayurveda’s motherland.
Today’s parents have the unique ability to endlessly amass information—which often results in feeling overwhelmed and uncertain at times when it comes to making simple lifestyle choices for their families. Dr. J undertakes this unique, collective dilemma of the modern age and addresses parents’ everyday questions as well as Ayurvedic perspectives on the critical pandemics of childhood illness in the twenty-first century that parents face today such as ADHD, anxiety, diabetes, and obesity.
So what is Ayurveda? Ayurveda is a natural, holistic life science from ancient India spanning more than five thousand years of history built on natural principles and a philosophy that identifies whole beings and nature as one. Ayurveda considers all aspects of existence including the physical, or structural; the energetic, or functional; and the spiritual, or consciousness—the life within every being. Mind falls under the functional, or energetic, layer of our existence. The Sanskrit term Ayurveda comes from two smaller words: Ayur meaning “life” and Veda meaning “wisdom or science,” marking Ayurveda as the science of life and beautifully encompassing the idea of this life as a period of time in which our physical bodies, sense organs, mind, and soul join together for a journey that is perfectly facilitated by nature.
The ancient Ayurvedic texts define this natural, scientific healing system in eight clinical branches: Kayacikitsa (general medicine), Salya Tantra (surgery), Shalakya Tantra (ear, nose, throat, and eye diseases), Kaumarabhritya (pediatrics), Agada Tantra (toxicology), Bhuta Vidya (psychiatry), Rasayana Tantra (the science of rejuvenation), and Vajikarana (reproductive medicine).
Kaumarabhritya, Sanskrit for “pediatrics,” is considered the most important branch and is devoted to supporting the rapid period of growth and development in early childhood that constitutes the building blocks of every child’s future as well as an uninterrupted transition to healthy adulthood. The principles of Kaumarabhritya illuminate the ways parents can nurture and maintain positive health for their child both in the present and for the future to ensure a harmonious life whose unique purpose can be fully accomplished. The Parent’s Complete Guide to Ayurveda clearly explains these principles wholly extracted from the root texts and offers parents guidelines that are both preventive and corrective in nature, focused on children three to sixteen years old.
As Ayurveda gains popularity around the globe, more and more parents are recognizing different ways the guidance and principles resonate with their own inner wisdom, making it a true and valuable companion for every parent’s journey regardless of age, race, or circumstance. Much like parenting, the science of Ayurveda is intuitive and profoundly considers the physical, mental, and emotional development of a child as on par with one another. Ayurveda looks carefully at both a child’s exposures to external influences and how those inputs are metabolized and expressed for a true view of the whole child. Perfectly in-step with the demands of the modern world, Ayurveda recognizes inputs beyond just diet and lifestyle practices, weighing various sensory stimuli and what is happening on a day-to-day basis in a child’s environment as instrumental in influencing their physical, mental, behavioral, and social health and well-being.
Most modern health sciences today focus on the singular dimension of a person’s physical body to assess health, whereas Ayurveda honors the uniqueness of every individual’s body, mind, and spirit and de-emphasizes the one-size-fits-all approach to wellness. It is the same when it comes to supporting and caring for children. Ayurveda considers the whole child and all the parameters that affect health and development, both directly and indirectly, along with various factors including age, a child’s unique nature, and how a child is expressing in the moment to help them grow and develop into their best possible self. The purpose of this book is to guide parents through a series of easy-to-follow tools and markers that allow them to customize diet and lifestyle routines tailored to their child’s individual nature as expressed in the mind-body types known as prakriti.
What will that look like? While many parenting books tailor specific guidance and advice to different ages and stages of childhood, Ayurveda guides individuals based on their unique nature. This book provides Ayurvedic principles of parenting that you can customize or tailor based on your child’s unique needs. Here is what you can expect to learn throughout this book. First, in part one, we’ll explore the concept of mind-body consciousness and different ways you can closely observe your child’s behavior to gain knowledge of their individual tendencies and needs, as well as identify your child’s body constitution along with traditional practices to support them. A quiz in this section will help you identify your child’s prakriti. Next, in part two, we’ll delve into the four inputs of life central to your child’s exposures to the world around them: food, water, breath, and perception. Part three takes us into ways to optimally structure everyday routines and create lifestyle habits that will provide children with a solid foundation to live their best day-to-day life and develop into healthy, harmonious, happy, peaceful adults. Here, we’ll cover sleep, activity, and daily routines, as well as ways the traditional Ayurvedic practices of yoga, meditation, and mantras can promote mindfulness, joy, and peace so children can thrive and live a happy, healthy life.
You’ve surely heard before that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Emphasis on prevention is a core tenet of Ayurveda, and there is no better time to emphatically focus on prevention than in childhood. The pediatric branch of Ayurveda not only explains how to ensure a child’s proper development and growth, it also sets forth principles and natural guidance for prevention and management of various pediatric health problems that can arise due to nutritional and lifestyle imbalances or environmental influences. In addition to seasonal and everyday guidelines, in part four parents will discover the etiology of many disorders according to Ayurvedic principles and learn how to incorporate simple and effective natural herbs and home remedies as both preventive health measures and to ensure the strength and balance of their child’s digestive system, immune system, and emotional health.
Children are the future of this world; a million flower buds about to bloom and disperse their fragrance and most pleasing and vibrant impressions to everything and everyone surrounding them. The Parent’s Complete Guide to Ayurveda is written for every parent and caregiver journeying alongside their child in mind, body, and spirit to nurture the expression of the highest human potential possible during a child’s life. It is our hope that the clear understanding and user-friendly format of these various components will help parents to be prepared and proactive in supporting their child throughout this pivotal period of growth and development. Our greatest wish is to empower parents everywhere to grace every child with support of body, mind, and spirit so that they may realize their innate potential and live in joy. We are grateful and humbled by the opportunity to share Dr. J’s experiences as a practitioner and transmit the Ayurvedic traditions of his lineage to you and your children.
Note
In this book, we will look at common childhood ailments and disorders as well as how to manage them and the therapeutic interventions recommended by Ayurveda. Please remember traditional therapeutic interventions should always be guided by an Ayurvedic physician, who will personalize treatment for your child based on constitution, age, and stage of the condition or disorder. While we will also recommend yoga postures as part of healthy routines for children, care should be taken when introducing these exercises to children. We recommend first learning yoga postures with a certified teacher before taking up a practice on your own.
The information provided herein is for educational purposes based on traditional Ayurvedic practices and is not intended to prescribe, treat, diagnose, or provide medical advice for any treatment or disease. Always consult with a qualified physician for any medical problem.