Diagnosis beyond the Doshas - thinking in terms of qualities

When you are travelling, it is helpful to know in which direction your destination is located - at least you will not go completely in the wrong direction! The doshas have a similar significance in Ayurveda diagnostics: as practical guides they provide general orientation for the choice of therapy. But just as one needs more precise information to find a geographical destination, an individual Ayurveda therapy requires a multitude of further diagnostic parameters.

The three doshas are ultimately only summaries of seven properties (guna) each. Deciphering them opens up a fascinating approach which is the core of classical Ayurvedic thinking and which can be applied to all phenomena of the inner and outer world. With the help of the property model, symptoms and therapeutic methods can be brought into a relationship by balancing excess properties with therapeutic measures of opposite properties. Let us take dryness as an example: Arthrosis is ultimately a "drying out" of the cartilage surfaces, which leads to degeneration of the joint tissue. Ayurveda counteracts the disease with "moisturising" measures such as oil massages or the intake of fat-based medicines and foods. Especially in nutritional therapy this approach is of great clinical benefit and represents a real alternative to the molecular-biological thinking of modern natural sciences. In addition, this way of thinking is also easy to understand for laymen, so that, for example, the patient can quickly be given the opportunity to be independent in the choice of food.

In this workshop we will briefly show the background and sources of "thinking in terms of properties". As a practical diagnostic training we will apply it to our everyday experience, especially by means of handy examples, build a bridge to Ayurvedic diagnostics and use it for a differentiated nutritional therapy with the help of short case studies.