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An Integrated View of Health and Well-Being Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology 5 Series Editor: Antonella Delle Fave Antonio Morandi A.N. Narayanan Nambi Editors An Integrated View of Health and Well-being Bridging Indian and Western Knowledge An Integrated View of Health and Well-being Cross-Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology Volume 5 Series Editor: ANTONELLA DELLE FAVE Università degli studi di Milano, Italy Editorial Board: MARTIN E.P. SELIGMAN ALAN WATERMAN Positive Psychology Center, University of The College of New Jersey, USA Pennsylvania, USA ROBERT A. EMMONS MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI University of California, Davis, USA Quality of Life Research Center, Claremont Graduate University, USA BARBARA L. FREDRICKSON University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA The aim of the Cross Cultural Advancements in Positive Psychology book series is to spread a universal and culture-fair perspective on good life promotion. The series will advance a deeper understanding of the cross-cultural differences in well-being conceptualization. A deeper understanding can affect psychological theories, interventions and social policies in various domains, from health to education, from work to leisure. Books in the series will investigate such issues as enhanced mobility of people across nations, ethnic confl icts and the challenges faced by traditional communities due to the pervasive spreading of modernization trends. New instruments and models will be proposed to identify the crucial components of well-being in the process of acculturation. This series will also explore dimensions and components of happiness that are currently overlooked because happiness research is grounded in the Western tradition, and these dimensions do not belong to the Western cultural frame of mind and values. For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/8420 Antonio Morandi • A.N. Narayanan Nambi Editors An Integrated View of Health and Well-being Bridging Indian and Western Knowledge Editors Antonio Morandi A.N. Narayanan Nambi Ayurvedic Point SNA Oushadhasala Pvt. Ltd Milano, Italy Thrissur, Kerala, India ISSN 2210-5417 ISSN 2210-5425 (electronic) ISBN 978-94-007-6688-4 ISBN 978-94-007-6689-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-6689-1 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London Library of Congress Control Number: 2013939611 © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifi cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Introduction Antonio Morandi and A. N. Narayanan Nambi Health, health care, and well-being promotion are pillars of any human social system. However, the social representations of the body, the mind, and their pathologies are strongly infl uenced by cultural norms and beliefs. The culture of India is a melting pot of diverse philosophical visions translated in practical terms. Historically, Indian tradition comprises nine main philosophical systems, or Dharshana , which were formalized between the tenth century BC and the fourth century AD. In spite of their differences, these systems of thought pragmatically coexisted in the foundation and building of Indian culture, sharing a common core that is the realization of the self in the society. The traditional health system of India – Āyurveda – has been elaborated and formalized throughout the centuries as a practical application of the Dharshana to the observation of human nature and behavior. Āyurveda conceptualizes health, disease, and well-being as multidimensional aspects of life, bringing philosophical principles into practice. Its approach to health is basically integrated: in order to attain an optimal adaptation, individuals should preserve a balance at the biological and psychological level, as well at the level of their interaction with environmental demands. This balance is dynamic, and it is based on the interplay between the specifi c individual biopsychic constitution on the one hand and the ceaseless solicitations derived from the natural and social context on the other hand. The harmonization of individuals’ needs and growth tendencies with the environmental requirements fosters health and well-being. This approach is remarkably close to the conceptualization of well-being proposed by the most recent advancements in psychology, in particular to the eudaemonic A. Morandi () Ayurvedic Point, Milano , Italy e-mail: [email protected] A. N. Narayanan Nambi SNA Oushadhasala Pvt. Ltd , Thrissur , Kerala , India e-mail: [email protected] v vi Introduction approach developed within positive psychology. Moreover, the basic tenets of Āyurveda are deeply consistent with the latest acquisitions in modern physics, which stresses the substantial interconnectedness among natural phenomena and their substrates. Finally, the growing emphasis of Western medicine on the bio-psycho- social dimensions of health and the increasing claim for an integrated approach to the treatment of chronic and degenerative diseases make the exploration of synergies and complementarities among different healing systems a necessary step. This book shows how the approach to health developed in Āyurveda can be useful and fruitfully integrated in a general, global model of health and well-being encompassing cultural and ideological boundaries. In particular, the conceptualization of health as an optimal and mindful interaction between individuals and their environment will be discussed as the core of a new paradigm of healthy life and behavior. The book is articulated into four parts. The reader will be guided in a conceptual journey that, moving from the Western perspective, will cross the immense land of Indian knowledge, reaching a crossroad where an integration of the two approaches will be proposed. The classical Ayurvedic texts cited and referred to in the chapters of the second part comprise three main works: Ćaraka Saṃhitā , Suśruta Saṃhitā , and Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdaya . These treatises, which were composed between the seventh century BC and the sixth century AD, are considered the pillars of Āyurveda teach- ings and practice. Part I: Health and Well-Being in the Western Tradition Corey L. M. Keyes and Kate Cartwright open the book with “Well-Being in the West: Hygieia Before and After the Demographic Transition ” (Chap. 1 ), an overview of the historical and social factors that led to the current Western conceptualization of health and disease. The Western culture inherited from ancient Greeks a dual view of health – as the absence of illness (the pathogenic view, Panacea) and as a positive event referred to as well-being (the salutogenic view, Hygieia). The modifi - cations in fertility-mortality ratios that occurred throughout time, and the associated economic changes, generated a swinging cycle of pathogenic and salutogenic views of health. The increased citizens’ expectations related to a longer life expectancy favor a growing attention to the identifi cation of the causes of disease. At the same time, the phenomenon of population aging, with its burden of chronic and age-related problems, orients researchers’ interest and governments’ investments toward prevention practices and quality of life improvement. Western society is in fact facing the inappropriateness of the Panacea, disease-focused approach. Moreover, the steadily increasing costs of health care make the switch to the salutogenic approach mandatory. These considerations point to a broader conceptualization of health, encompassing social and economic factors, as well as psychological dimen- sions and their interplay with physical health. Nicoletta Sonino and Giovanni A. Fava in “The Psychosomatic View” (Chap. 2 ) describe one of the most rigorous approaches developed in the West to promote the salutogenic view of health. Psychosomatic medicine takes into account the Introduction vii multifactorial determinants
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