Main description:

Concepts like Health and Well-being are not exclusive products of the Western culture. Research has widely demonstrated that the representation of the body and of its pathologies, as well as treatment and healing practices vary across cultures in relation to social norms and beliefs.The culture of India is a melting pot of nine main Darshanas, or philosophical systems, that share the common core of a realization of the self in society. India's traditional health system, Ayurveda, is a result of the practical application of the Darshanas to the observation of human nature and behavior. Ayurveda conceptualizes health, disease and well-being as multidimensional aspects of life, and it seeks to preserve a balance in individuals among their biological features, their psychological features and their environmental demands. The Ayurveda approach to health is remarkably similar to the eudaimonic conceptualization of well-being proposed by positive psychology, and the basic tenets of Ayurveda are deeply consistent with the latest developments of modern physics, which stresses the substantial interconnectedness among natural phenomena and their substrates. This text shows how the approach to health developed in Ayurveda can be fruitfully integrated in a general view of health and well-being that encompasses cultural and ideological boundaries. Specifically, it details the conceptualization of health as an optimal and mindful interaction between individuals and their environment.

Contents:

Introduction.- Part I. Health and Well-Being in the Western Tradition.- Chapter 1. Well-Being in the West: Hygeia Before and After the Demographic Transition; Corey L.M. Keyes.- Chapter 2.
The Psychosomatic View; Giovannni Fava.- Part II. Health and Well-Being in Indian Traditions.- Chapter 3. The Perspectives on Reality in Indian Traditions and their Implications for Health and Well-Being; Kiran Kumar K. Salagame.- Chapter 4. Concepts of Health and the Paradigm of Ayurveda; P. Ram Manohar.- Chapter 5. The Determinants of Health and Well-Being; A.N. Narayanan Nambi.- Chapter 6. The Role of Social Rituals in Well-Being; P.R. Krishnakumar.- Chapter 7. Health and Well-Being in Indian Local Health Traditions; Unnikrishnan Payyapallimana.- Part III. Bridging the Worlds.- Chapter 8. Quantum Logic in Ayurveda; Rama Jayasundar.- Chapter 9. The Psychological Roots of Health Promotion; Antonella Delle Fave.- Chapter 10. The Emergence of Health in Complex Adaptive Systems: A Common Ground for Ayurveda and Western Science; Antonio Morandi and Antonella Delle Fave.- Conclusions; joining Knowledge Traditions: Towards an Integrated Approach to Health and Well-Being; Antonio Morandi, A.N. Narayanan Nambi, and Antonella Delle Fave.- Notes.- Index.