So, What is Health? What are we striving for? The Sanskrit word for health is Svastha, which translates to "established in the self." Ayurveda describes Svastha as someone whose body, mind and soul are one. For someone to be healthy, it is directly related to proper lifestyle and state of mind. We are looking for a “whole being well being.” Furthermore, we can balance our unique make-up (doshic balance, our constitution) with the world around us and chose to interact with the environment in a way that is harmonious with our constitution.
To be healthy, we need to be established in lower self, which is our ego, or sense of individual self and is disconnected to the whole as divine. We can relate this to our physical body, as in healthy development of bodily tissues (dhatus), healthy digestion (agni), healthy elimination of waste (malas), and balanced doshas. Emotionally, this would be considered a healthy self esteem.
We also need to be established in our higher Self, which is always one with the divine, and is our spiritual awareness. This is where a person can steer away from the immediate pleasures of the senses, leading to disharmonious acts and eventually causing disease on some level. The higher self is also where one connects with their purpose in life (dharma).
According to Ayurveda one must be established in both their self and Self. We can learn how to keep our physical bodies healthy by learning about our constitutions, and applying this knowledge to live in a harmonious way with nature around us. We can learn to connect with our higher Self through self reflection and listening to our intuition. Meditation helps us quiet the mind and connect with the powerful energy all around us.