Ayurveda:
the healing answer to a full and healthy life
As we
contemplate our New Year resolutions, do they include - combating stress and / addiction?
Loosing weight? Accepting a current relationship isn’t working and it is this
that is getting in the way of you being your best self? Well, I’m not a huge
fan of New Year resolutions as for the most, you set yourself up for failure. A
well documented fact, any change in your life takes time to adjust to and
commit to that behavior; hence it would be far more effective to think of how
you can use this opportunity to set your mind on ways to live a full and
healthy life. So … here is where my sage advice comes in - what I’ve done here with Ayurveda is apply aspects
of this ancient knowledge system to our modern day dilemmas, things we may be
contemplating as we move into a new and exciting year, and detailed, through
hard work and commitment, the kind of results you may achieve.
Breaking the cycle of addiction
Your
current life path is full of negativity, rather than positivity – you feel anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies and false pride. You
abuse a substance hoping to recreate a high, make yourself happier, or solve
your problems, only to find yourself in the same place, or even a worse one, as
all the times before. You feel tension and are
constantly stuck, unable to break free from the grasp of your
dependency.
Ayurveda promotes
positive thinking but also acknowledges the battle that goes on inside people.
Why do we keep repeating a cycle that always ends poorly? Why does the insanity
of addiction have such a hold on us? The exact answers to those questions will
differ from person to person, but there are some fundamental Ayurvedic
principles that explain what fuels addiction.
Sage wisdom is to help
you acknowledge that addiction is a chronic yet treatable disorder, whether
this is focusing on your emotional quotidian (EQ) or brain function. Each time
you engage in an abusive experience, you lower the life energy (prana) within
your body. The healing process can be very long and painful.
Modern day example:
Someone who has spoken candidly about heroin, abstinence and addiction is
Russell Brand. A recovering drug addict, it is 10 years since he used drugs or
drank alcohol and he himself says his life has immeasurably improved, “I have a
job, a house, a cat, good friendships and generally a bright outlook.”
My Ayurvedic diagnosis:
From an environmental and psychological point of view, I’d say Russell is a
true ‘vata’ – the most vulnerable to addiction and stress. Composed of half
ether and half air, vata is known as the governor because it moves everything
in your body – all nerve impulses, the movement of food in your digestive tract,
muscle contractions, heartbeats and so on, would be impossible without
it.
Why do vatas have these issues? Vata is located mostly in your colon and when
working well, gives your nervous system the ability to exchange messages and
enables your body to digest food and eliminate your bodily wastes. But when it
is disturbed, the senses are deprived of energy, which over time leads to
toxicity in the body. Unremitting stress leads to severe agitation and if you
continue down this path, it can lead to high cholesterol, hypertension and
heart disease.
Sage advice Keep
grounded, working with various holistic health modalities, such as yoga and
light forms of meditation. More people would learn from their mistakes if we
weren't so busy denying them, and embrace joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and
faith!
Try considering this: When vata is out of balance, it
leads to derangement of the mind. This individual finds it difficult to pull on
their own internal wisdom and judgment, and they get easily swayed by desire
and excess. Vata dosha has the attributes of the wind and can, like the wind,
be increased, decreased, deviated or obstructed.
Longing for a relationship that lasts
You settled with the
one that wasn’t really meant to work out, and you keep your hopes up that
things will change for the better. Then there is the one that got away! And the
one who taught you all you need to know about love, but didn’t want to stay
put.
Ayurveda promotes the
idea that there is a ‘lesson’ in all our experiences. It also teaches that
sexual desire is ultimately a yearning for an unconditional loving relationship
between ourselves and the divine: a spiritual connection that will satiate all
our desires.
Sage wisdom is to first
take you back to positive images of love and the expression of a thirst for
intimacy, touch and tenderness. It is borne out of a need to feel loved
unconditionally, as a baby is loved. Then to look at the independent values we
seek for a meaningful loving union. Moving you to the understanding of bonding
that true satiation arises from the union of emotions, body and soul.
Modern day example: Myleene
Klass and Graham Quinn
Why can’t celebrity love go the distance? Not a week
goes by without a celebrity split, and I’m sure it must be hard to maintain a
relationship in the limelight. I think of grueling work schedules and the
pressures of being under the microscope. A recent case is that of Myleene and
Graham Quinn. They'd been dating 11 years and had two children together before
they married in October last year. But, after just seven months as husband and
wife, the pair split and things turned nasty.
My Ayurvedic diagnosis: From
the outside, it seems to me they are both pittas – the flames of passion
overwhelm the pitta couple! An intelligent, ambitious and opinionated force
together, the pitta couple is just as passionate in the boardroom as they are
in the bedroom. To keep their force strong, it’s best they are both on the same
team. But could Graham have been threatened by Myleene's success? Did they
marry to try and save their relationship?
Why to pitas have these issues: During the aggravation stage,
pitta fills up the seat of pitta – the digestive tract – which leads to
constant irritability and excessive body heat.
Sage advice Self-respect
and liking oneself are the most important ingredients for any good
relationship. If these are in short supply you may consider counseling to
address them. Any relationship that diminishes a person's self-esteem should
be examined closely.
Try considering this: Self-respect and liking oneself are
the most important ingredients for any good relationship. If these are in short
supply you may consider counseling to address them. Any relationship that
diminishes a person's self-esteem should
be examined closely. In these relationships, each partner’s central role
is either as a parasite or as a victim. However, these roles can switch
periodically if an emotionally charged situation arises like a biting argument.
When this happens, the aggravated pitta, which is a repressed sick part in an
individual, can come shooting out like red-hot lava from an angry volcano!
Fighting for the perfect figure?
You beat yourself up at the gym and feel at
war with your figure. You have tried every diet. You spend on health and
fitness gurus (instructors) for zero result? And you still want to have a
perfect body without the terrible diets and exhausting exercise?
Ayurveda, first and foremost,
teaches us how to love ourselves and accept our genetic ‘prakruti’. We are each
born with a unique constitution, technically known as a dosha, of vata, pitta
or kapha. Trying to change this generally takes us away from the positive
feelings we get from feeling in ‘tune’ with ourselves.
Sage wisdom is to encourage you to focus on recognising and changing
what you believe about yourself. Teaching you to learn to love your body. This
is an internal job. It is a decision to be kind to yourself. In this state,
you’ll then be able to follow a workable diet to help you shed the excess
pounds and get that sexy, confident appeal back.
Modern day example: Rob
Kardashian. Rob admits his ballooning weight gain is down to food addiction,
which has made him depressed and embarrassed about his efforts of getting into
the fashion industry.
My Ayurvedic diagnosis: kapha
imbalance. If your primary dosha is kapha, you’re probably laid back and easy
going. You have strong bones and good teeth. Your skin is pale and thick, so
you don’t wrinkle easily. But you are prone to weight gain and you have a job
to shift it. Because of your natural tendency to not move much, your metabolism
is slow, along with your ability to digest both ideas and food. Nonetheless,
your strength is legendary, and you are capable of hard work.
Why do Kaphas have these issues? These individuals include those of us who are naturally rounded and
curvaceous – more Kate Winslet than Kate Moss. Their metabolism is slow which
means any calorie intake takes a long time to shift. Kaphas are also naturally
kind and loving, and when they feel lonely or low, they find solace in food –
and with a sweet tooth, they are drawn to highly calorific foods, which can
have the effect of building adipose tissue.
Sage advice is to help
you with attachment and greed and pacify your cravings for sweet and salty
tastes. Part of the chemistry behind taking control of the kapha demons is to
understand how hormone leptin stimulates the hypothalamus (the brains centre of
appetite and metabolic rate). This process goes wrong when leptin resistance
steps in. The body loses its natural intelligence (known as tejas) and the
kapha constitution piles on the pounds.
Try considering this:
to put a stop to leptin resistance, develop a diet plan which avoids certain
foods and aids digestion. The main foody culprits are starchy carbohydrates
found in pasta and bread. Consider also introducing some lifestyle changes as
your mood swings may be due feeling the urge to eat all the time, having the
effect of then making you feel drained. It is beneficial to get up early in the
morning and go for a long walk or light paced run. This will get your energy
moving and reduce the stomach fire (jathar agni).
Wishing you a joyous new year, a new beginning, full
of things that have never been ... ideally your new chapter that has just begun!
Love Sunita
x
