AYURVEDA: THE ART OF BEING, written and directed by Pan Nalin, takes viewers on a documentary journey through the history of this holistic from of health care and natural well-being. Partially based in methods of healing that identify incongruence in the body's energy, Ayurveda has roots in India, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Tibet, China, Russia, and Japan. Brahamand Swamigal is one of the central figures in the film, an Indian practitioner of Ayurveda who explains its basic principles. As he treats a patient by placing three fingers on the patient's wrist, then checking the patient's palm, he talks about the three doshas: Vata, Pitti, and Kapha. These three elements are representative of the body's energy and its balance of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space. Swamigal explains that when one or more of the doshas is imbalanced, the body is not healthy. Later in the film Swamigal reveals the workings of his private medicine-making practice, where he harvests plants from surrounding hills, combines them and cooks them, then has his assistants grind them into brightly colored powders. When the charismatic Swamigal is not on screen, the film introduces other doctors and patients, showing methods of diagnosis and treatment, some of which involve mud baths, head wraps, oil massage, and pouring liquid in the eyes and nose. Ayurvedic doctors explain their cures for cancer, diabetes, blindness, and paralysis, and share stories of sick Westerners who have sought their help after having failed to be cured by Western medicine. Throughout the film the delightfully soothing sounds of Cyril Morin's music plays and the dramatic photography by Serge Guez shows a beautiful natural land where the earth and its magic are considered sacred, united with human health and well-being.
