Ayurvedic Consultations

Do you know that if a ship sails around the world, changing its coordinates by just one degree will change the destination by 500 miles? We can use the same analogy in Ayurveda: when we find the root cause of a disease or imbalance and make a few, sometimes small changes, we can bring your life to a new destination without disease and suffering.
It is never late to change the course of the ship (your unique combination of the body, mind and spirit) towards your happy and healthier Self.

Ayurveda views health and disease as the end result of how we interact with our environment. Harmonious interactions lead to health, while disharmonious interactions lead to disease. Ayurveda is the science of developing greater harmony with our environment through all of our senses. Ayurveda focuses on living in harmony with the rhythms of nature, which include age, climate, season, and the rhythm of a day. Each one expresses its own qualities.
The fundamental and pretty simple Ayurvedic idea of how to bring balance back to the body is to take in opposite qualities to reduce the influence of a quality that is causing an imbalance. It's like when you burn your hand, you immediately want to have cold water pouring on the burned place.
Understanding the five fundamental elements and their qualities and principles gives us the opportunity to work on the problems that we have, and it is more powerful from a long-term perspective than taking pills.

Ayurveda is built around the five elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth) and how the unique combinations of the elements come together to make up the doshas—the biological energies of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. When in balance, the doshas maintain the proper functioning of systems of the body; when one or more of the doshas increase due to certain diet and lifestyle habits, they create imbalance, which might lead to disease.
There are three biological energies (doshas) in every human body: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. However, everyone has their own unique combination of these three energies, and this makes us what we are—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
The combination of the doshas gives us our specific body. Knowing how these energies work, what causes them to be out of balance, and how can we bring them back, allows us to be healthy.
Let me now shed light on the doshas.

It is important to let you know that it happens very often that a person with a primary constitution of one dosha (let’s say Pitta) has another primary dosha imbalance (let’s say Vata). So, be careful with self-prescribing herbs or diet for Pitta after getting results from quizzes—which you can find on many websites—that are based on face and body features; the result will show you your Prakruti, not your Vikruti. Using the above Pitta Prakruti / Vata Vikruti case, someone might prescribe themselves food, herbs and other practices for Pitta, not for Vata, and this might actually aggravate their imbalance.
Our body has the ability to balance the internal environment, but when we go out of rhythm for longer periods of time, we develop various illnesses. Therefore, understanding the fundamental principles of Ayurveda and implementing them daily will help the body to maintain the balance of doshas to be in good health.

Ayurveda targets the root cause or underlying culprit that is causing the health problem. Ayurveda is a holistic healing system developed in India thousands of years ago. Since then, it has been in practice and helping millions of people. Ayurveda is unlike other forms of modern medicine, which often suppresses symptoms and also gives rise to other potentially dangerous side effects. Unlike some other medical systems, Ayurveda emphasizes promoting a foundation for good health instead of fighting disease.

An Ayurvedic doctor believes that your physical health and wellness are actually dependent upon the balance in your body, mind, and spirit.
You can find a lot of information about Ayurveda on the Internet, but be careful with self-prescribing herbs and diet based entirely on an online quiz. Why is that? A dosha quiz evaluates Prakruti (constitution) only, and your constitution never changes. It is easy to get confused between Prakruti (your constitution given at the time of conception) and Vikruti (the current state of your doshas).

For example, someone who is overweight, which is a Kapha imbalance, may be Vata Prakruti with Kapha Vikruti. This means that this person should be careful about self-prescribing strong Kapha-reducing practices and diets, which might aggravate the condition and create other imbalances. The other reason is that your perception about yourself may not be objective. Having an outside opinion provides helpful neutrality.

While it is highly encouraged that everyone learns Ayurveda, deep knowledge is required to create a long-term recommendation plan.

With any client, an Ayurvedic doctor provides a personalized plan because there is no concept of one-size-fits-all solutions.

Ayurvedic doctors use unique protocols for each and every client. These protocols are based on the clients' health history, physical and psychological makeup, and the results of pulse, tongue and abdominal examinations. In addition, an Ayurvedic doctor will observe the clients' tissues, including their skin, sclera, hair, nails and teeth. By taking these factors into account, the Ayurvedic Doctor can gain a deeper understanding of the clients' body imbalances and provide more precise recommendations. This can also help establish better communication with Western medical doctors if needed.

I received my Ayurvedic Doctorate from California College of Ayurveda. This program was the first among other Ayurvedic institutes that have been approved by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. The duration of the program was more than 4000 hours. During this advanced program, we as students attended classes as well as seeing clients. What was most important for me was that we were taught how to integrate and understand aspects of Western medicine and create a bridge between Western and Ayurvedic knowledge in order to gain a deep understanding of each client’s condition, and speak a language understandable to everyone.

Nina Fine, Ayurvedic Doctor, is not a medical doctor nor is she a licensed health professional in any state.  She is not trained in Western diagnosis or treatment and may not make suggestions about altering your medical care. If you are suffering from a disease or symptom that has not been evaluated by a Medical Doctor or another licensed health care professional, Nina Fine will recommend that you receive a proper evaluation from a medical doctor and may provide you with a referral form. Nina Fine won't recommend altering medical prescriptions. Ayurveda is a complementary and alternative health care system. Care from Ayurvedic Doctor Nina Fine may be utilized as a complement to your current health care program.