I’ve always been a bit eye roll about Ayurveda – the ancient Indian system of alternative medicine that originated more than 5,000 years ago. That sounds sacrilegious being Indian, but it’s just that I’ve had it thrust upon me since birth – having gone to multiple Ayurvedic spas over the last few decades for family holidays in India. As a teenager it just felt too hippie and actually just too Indian.

And at that time (growing up in not-very-diverse south Wales in the Nineties) I just wanted to be like ‘everyone else’, including taking a dose of Night Nurse when I was ill – rather than having to down cups of cumin water or a spoonful of chyawanprash (vile-tasting fruit and spice supplement).

But while I was busy rejecting my heritage, the rest of the world caught up – turmeric lattes are available with relative ease in big cities, there’s a yoga centre on every high street and meditation is this year’s health buzzword – all core Ayurvedic practices. As is the spiritual connection to our health; ‘ayur’ literally means life, ‘veda’ means knowledge or science. And in Ayurveda that manifests as two main principles, firstly that the mind and body are interlinked and secondly, that the mind has the ability to heal the body through a balance of three ‘doshas’ (which are unique to each individual).

While it’s not so much a cure, rather a continuous way of living, in our current stress-addled climate it does seem like it could hold some elements of healing self-discovery.

This alternative Indian medicine technique can reduce your stress