Change is in the air...

Change is in the air.

I can feel it. I am certain that if you pause a moment and just breathe you will feel it too. Change is a topic that’s been on my mind a lot lately. I was recently asked to speak to an audience of Ayurvedic colleagues and teachers, and chose to address this topic then as well and feel the need to expound further.

2020 was written in the stars as a “defining year for humanity,” the end of the Piscean Age and when the infamous Age of Aquarius will actually begin. We were told 2020 would usher in necessary changes; it would be a year of transition from old ways to new. Well, we can all agree that the events and changes this year have been historic.

In adapting to the trauma, stress and uncertainty - such ever-changing circumstances - Ayurveda and yoga teach us that we are not alone in these struggles and that change is both necessary and inevitable. According to my teacher, Baba Hari Dass, “Life is not a burden, but we make it one when we refuse to accept things as they are.” This includes the inevitability of change. Physicists define time as the progression of events from the past to the present into the future. Basically, if a system is unchanging, it is time-less. Thus time is change, and change is time. We can’t avoid either so we must adapt to change, as welcomed or as uncomfortable as it may be.

During such an acute time of change, we are especially vulnerable to the causes of disease, both physically and mentally. Babaji also wrote, “The body is a boat that carries the soul in the ocean of the world. If it is not strong, or it has a hole, then it cannot cross the ocean, so the first duty is to fix the boat.” I’ve mentioned before how the energetic principles of Vata, Pitta and Kapha move with the seasons, with time and with Nature, and how we must adapt our lifestyle and diet accordingly to stay in balance. I’ve also mentioned how Ayurveda focuses on a balance between mind, body and spirit, for this balance is vital to health. As time ushers in the new season of Fall (Vata season), it’s classically time to adjust, time to cleanse and prepare for change lest it bring imbalance to our systems. As we face such uncertain and threatening times personally and globally, we must adjust mentally and take extra time to care for ourselves physically lest we become increasingly vulnerable to illness.

2020 has proven to be a hurricane on the ocean of the world, bringing many challenges to our wellbeing. We cannot cross this ocean if we are not strong, if our “boat” has a “hole” so to speak. Our first duty is to fix the boat and Ayurveda offers the tools in this time when we need it most.