What is Ayurveda?

AYURVEDA” an age old science originating from combination of Ayus, meaning “long life” and veda meaning “knowledge”, thus summarized as “Science of long life”.

Today, Ayurveda operates on the precept that various materials of vegetable, animal, and mineral origin have some medicinal value. The medicinal properties of these materials have been documented by the practitioners and have been used for centuries to cure illness and/or help maintain good health. Ayurvedic medicaments are made from herbs or mixtures of herbs, either alone or in combination with minerals, metals and other ingredients of animal origin. The metals, animals and minerals are purified by individual processes before being used for medicinal purposes.

Ayurvedic clothing is made from organic cotton fabric that has been permeated with special herbs and oils through micro-encapsulation technology that embeds tiny capsules into clothing fabrics. When these tiny micro-capsules come into contact with body heat and wear, they slowly release their chemical payloads which can contain fragrances or skincare lotions or other chemicals which might have some topical beauty or medicinal value to the skin that comes into contact with the micro-encapsulated fabric.

Ayurvastra cloth is used by Ayurveda health clinics in the treatment of a broad range of diseases such as diabetes, skin infections, eczema, psoriasis, hypertension and high blood pressure, asthma, arthritis, rheumatism, and even some forms of cancer. Ayurvastra clothing is believed to help restore balance within the body’s systems and strengthen the immune system. Ayur vastra cloth is completely free of synthetic chemicals and toxic irritants and is totally organic, sustainable and biodegradable.

However, like any other branch of medical science it is also scientifically guided as every step in the preparation of the clothing needs to be carefully and precisely controlled. It begins with cultivation of 100% organic cotton through use of biological methods and control (no chemical fertilizers, pesticides); that has been hand loomed (no machine processing), without use of chemical additives to prepare the cotton fibers for spinning and weaving, (and no chemical finishes). The organic cotton yarn or fabric is then dyed in a carefully controlled mixture of herbal dyes depending upon the disease or ailment being treated.

Dyes for Ayurvastra cloth typically contain between 40 and 60 specifically blended and carefully prepared medicinal herbs, plants, flowers, roots and barks. The temperatures of the dyes, the duration and number of the dye soaks, the blend of herbs, and even the equipment used are carefully controlled.

The new initiative of Ayurvastra has also received a lot of support by the Directorate of Handloom, Department of Industries and Commerce and the Department of Dravyaguna Vijnan, Government Ayurveda College. Further the Handloom Weavers’ Development Society in India is exporting Ayurvastra cloth and clothing into the US, Italy, Germany, UK, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. National government ministries and state governments within India see Ayurvedic Clothing as a way to revitalize and increase the market for their handloom industries and to create a niche for their eco-friendly handloom fabrics.

By coming in contact with Ayurvastra, the body loses toxins and its metabolism is enhanced.” The most effective time to wear Ayurvastra clothing is when the body is most at rest such as during sleep or meditating because this is when the body is naturally healing and reestablishing balance. This is why ayur vastra cloth is often used for sleepwear, bed sheets, towels, and meditation clothes dyed with Ayurvedic herbs to heal skin diseases, arthritis, diabetes, and rheumatism.

Though, it is at clinical stages for certain kind of products, it has another positive side effect, it can bring back work to the many unemployed weavers.

Globally, as many countries have been enforcing a ban on textiles that have been colored using chemical dyes, this had been a body blow to the handloom industry.

At the same time, textiles dyed using natural vegetable dyes, especially medicinal plants, have been commanding a huge market due to their obvious advantages.

The advantages of the dyes extracted from the medicinal plants o: origin from renewable resources, limited chemical reactions involved in their preparation, Biodegradable properties, health curing properties, and harmony with nature.

Thus, Ayurvedic Clothing is the new way to live a natural and healthy life!