AyurveDO's and Dont's

Let’s talk about what kind of healing can take place with Ayurveda.

November 2019

July 2020

First, it’s not a quick fix. Lifestyle changes take commitment and time. Learning to make good choices takes understanding and a true desire for that change. Sometimes we are shocked into change due to a health scare such as a heart attack, stroke or cancer. Sometimes we simply get tired of being tired, of not feeling well or of lying to ourselves. Maybe we simply want to look better, younger, more fit. Whatever the motivation, it takes commitment to change.

Then there’s the reality of what we need to change. This to me is the trickiest part. It’s the mental aspect and it takes courage to turn the soil and start fresh. It may mean a complete change in diet and lifestyle in order to affect the physical change you want to realize: letting go of bad habits, destructive habits that are often much easier to continue than to give up. The sugar. The alcohol or smoke. The spicy foods. The sodas. The processed, refined, chemical filled “easy” foods. The screen instead of fresh air. The unhealthy relationships. We say we don’t have time or energy. We’re tired. We’re lonely. Yet we have plenty of time to commit to those unhealthy habits and exhaust much of our energy on them, only reinforcing them. We show up to that meeting on time, to work those long hours or spend the extra money on take out, and we can’t seem to commit to spending the extra few minutes per day it would take to do something healthy for ourselves. Why do you suppose that is? Because let’s be honest, we all feel better when we’re eating healthy, exercising, slowing down and relaxing…when we’re surrounded with positive, supportive friends or family. Instead we reach for empty calories or energy, empty relationships, stressful jobs. We escape through our screens or chemicals or multitasking our way through the day. Here is the simple truth: those habits make us sick.

Being stuck in a pattern of bad habits or unhealthy choices actually supports more of the same. There’s a very simple principle in Ayurveda which is like increases like. Ayurveda is all about energy: the flow of energy in our individual bodies, between living beings, in the Earth and celestial bodies. There are 5 mahabhutas or gross elements in our universe: Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. The energetics of these elements reside in literally EVERYTHING. I could write for days about the elements, but for my purpose here, it is to point out that energy is exchanged and impacts us at every moment of every day. It impacts us through the choices we make: the people with whom we associate and work, where we live, how we speak and act, when we go to bed at night and what time we get up the next morning, what we put in our bodies, our own self-talk. All of these things carry energy, and that energy impacts our health and wellbeing. If those choices carry the same qualities, then we become imbalanced in those qualities. Conversely, to balance we must seek opposite qualities. Ayurveda attributes 20 specific qualities or attributes (10 pairs of opposites) to everything in our universe, the gunas, but I’m going to speak simply in terms of positive and negative. When we surround ourselves with negative energy, be that people, actions, food, substances or even thoughts, we become weighted mentally and physically. On the other hand, who doesn’t feel better when they’ve made a good choice, when they’ve accomplished a task, have loving supportive people around or when we’ve done something positive? Like increases like.

It’s said that it takes 3 days to break a habit and anywhere from 18 to 90 days to form a new habit. This is where Ayurvedic daily routine can support your change. I spoke about the importance of routine in my first blog. It not only allows us to establish a natural rhythm (biologically) and sync to nature, but it supports lifestyle change. It is an extremely important tool in motivation, self-awareness and self-esteem. Now we’ve added the concept of qualities, and how same qualities increase and opposites qualities decrease or balance. You have the time, what you do with it is a choice. You have the energy when you are properly nourished.

The law of attraction provides for us, so when you get on the path of healing, you begin to feel better; when you begin to feel better, more effort is placed on healthy habits. Like increases like and over time, we are able to achieve balance in body, mind and spirit.

The pictures of me above were taken last November 2019 and a couple weeks ago. They illustrate the negative power that years of stress have on the body and the positive impact following a proper Ayurvedic plan can have in 8 months. I walked around like this for 2 months last fall, not understanding why my eyes were like this, why I was feeling so badly or what was happening. I was a wreck. I explored various causes with my doctors: it wasn’t allergies; it wasn’t the result of improper diet or lifestyle; I’m super health conscious and have always taken good care of myself. This was the physical manifestation of many years of intense stress finally catching up with me, and my final warning came through the obvious reaction in my eyes. What you can’t see is what was happening inside me. Tests revealed I was suddenly facing high cholesterol, high blood sugars, had inflammation and disease growing in my body which in my case was due to chronic elevation of stress hormones. Stress made me ill. Using the principles of Ayurveda, and a deep dive into my own mind and spiritual work, I’ve reduced my stress and returned to a state of balance…I feel and look better than I have in years. It has taken a commitment to daily routine, self-care rituals, pranayama and meditation, herbal supports, balancing qualities through diet, and choosing who I surround myself with, what I accept into my life and what I no longer accept.

Finding health through Ayurveda.