In studying alternative medicine can someone tell me what Ayurveda is and how it!

Ayrurveda is very complex to explain. Some websites can help you understand it better. Look at the Western approach not India (even though that is where Ayruveda first started).

Here is a link http://www.chopra.com/ayurveda

I studied Ayurveda in college and it was very complex. I studied it, I did not focus on it to make it a specialty of my practice.

Some Chiropractic Schools offer it as well as Massage Schools that offer a degree.
In Chicago you can get credited and trained in it at the Soma School.

I do know in some states you need to be a licensed Massage Therapist or Chiropractor to attend an Ayruveda training workshop where you earn a certification. To become top in this because it is so complex you need to attend several session to become a master in this field.

Not sure where you live...here is a list of schools for Ayruveda. There is more out there but you just have to try to find one in your state. You can also get on a mailing list as well.
http://www.naturalhealers.com/feat-ayurv…

Personal Experience

Ayurvedic is a traditional or folk medicine with its origins in India. It is extremely dubious considering it uses herbal drugs that are known to contain dangerous quantities of heavy metals, including lead, mercury, thallium and arsenic; not just as contaminants, they are added deliberately in order to supposedly return the body to health by rebalancing allegedly essential minerals.

It’s underlying concepts include ‘life forces’, ether, air, water and fire as elements which control basic body functions such as cell division and immune response. Of course this is pseudoscientific nonsense and shows they have no basic concept about how the human body works.

Typical of most 'alternative' medicines, clinical trials of Ayurvedic have been small, badly designed, lacked appropriate control groups, or had other issues that affected how meaningful the results were. There is no valid evidence that Ayurvedic medicine works for any condition.

From Wikipedia (you can check the sources):

"Safety (Ayurvedic)
Rasa shastra, the practice of adding metals, minerals or gems to herbs, is a source of toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic.[77] Adverse reactions to herbs due to their pharmacology are described in traditional ayurvedic texts, but ayurvedic practitioners are reluctant to admit that herbs could be toxic and the reliable information on herbal toxicity is not readily available.[78]

A 2008 study of more than 230 products found that approximately 20% of remedies (and 40% of rasa shastra medicines) purchased over the Internet from both US and Indian suppliers contained lead, mercury or arsenic.[77][80][81]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurvedic#S…

Last year, the New South Wales (Australia) government issued a safety warning for Ayurvedic, after a man died from lead poisoning:
“According to the Public Health Unit Director of Sydney South West Area Health Service, Dr Stephen Conaty, testing of a sample of the Ayurvedic medicine showed that it contained high levels of mercury, arsenic and especially high levels of lead. The medicine contained 2.3% lead by weight.”


Probably best that you pass on learning Ayurveda...

It's a system of traditional medicine that originated in India. It combines nutritional counselling with herbal remedies to balance and enhance a person's health. It's a holistic system that treats the whole person as opposed to managed disease care that you find with conventional medicine.
There are independent schools that teach and certify practitioners and associations that establish practice guidelines and educational standards that are prerequisites for membership.
http://www.ayurveda-nama.org/

Everything you need to know about ayurveda:

http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEduc…