Hello dear friends! I’m thrilled to say the last article about the Ayurvedic perspective on what being healthy means and the need to address imbalance by change, has got you thinking and debating. Disease doesn’t just happen because you are unlucky. Disease and indeed any imbalance occur due to a build up of a number of factors. It can take days, weeks, months but usually years to unfold and emerge as a symptom or symptoms. Often by the time you see your doctor, the patterns of bad habits or destructive attitudes have taken their toll. The pain and discomfort you are experiencing are almost certainly the tip of the iceberg…they are the consequences of a chain reaction that has been allowed to build up until they reach a crescendo.
Some have said to me what about the common cold? They say surely colds just happen, they must be due to a bit of bad luck, having a cold has got nothing to do with my lifestyle or how happy I am. I say I disagree because simple changes; lifestyle choices can also boost our immunity and help to prevent us from catching a cold. The happier we are, the better we tend to eat and the better we tend to sleep - so the less likely we are to get a cold. It’s true there are zillions of bugs out there, and there is an element of luck or rather risk, but why don’t we get all of these bugs all of the time?
Ayurveda first establishes your natural body constitution which is called dosha (that is your individual genetic type) and examine where the imbalance lies. We then look at the factors which led to that imbalance. So if you have a sore throat for example, Ayurveda also asks what were the steps or circumstances that led to that cold and why were your immunity levels particular low at that time? Were you overstretched at work or doing too much at home? Were you cramming too much in each day without proper food and rest? Were you talking too much? What sort of stress were you under? Have you been happy with your relationships? Is anything or has anything been upsetting you, are you suppressing your emotions? Are you an environment such as high pollution areas, or living/working in a stuffy environment with air conditioning and poor air flow which can breed bugs? Do you not wash your hands regularly especially before eating food? Has the weather changed suddenly? Going back in time, were you breast fed as a baby (and so did you get all the right nutrients to kick start fighting infections from the moment you were born)? These are just a few questions we consider. There are many factors that lead you towards having the cold. So it is your choices that you make moment-to-moment that led to the cold. Ayurveda advises you of what positive choices you can make right now to prevent you from getting colds and other serious conditions in the first place. It is this increased awareness which makes us more in tune with our bodies and therefore better able to listen to its needs.
I remember this point being illustrated perfectly when I was on a wonderful aromatherapy study trip in the South of France. One of my beautiful, funny, amazing friends had worried that laryngitis would curtail her adventures and she would be too ill to enjoy the trip. She was in quite a bad way and had the courage to take the flight. A wonderful charismatic French naturopathic doctor explained to her and all of us that it was a chain reaction of events and emotions that led to this poor throat. A busy mum she had been running around, getting everything ready to go away and as a result she was pretty exhausted. In France, doctors can prescribe and supervise essential oils to be taken internally (this is not the case in the UK where such a practice is against the law). He gave her an essential oil to gargle and within days her throat was cleared. Now as in Ayurveda, this fabulous doctor recognised that particular doshas or genetic types have a predisposition to certain ailments and therefore also tailored his choice of essential oil to suit this particular woman and her condition.
This brings me nicely on to another point many of you have raised with me. What about our genetic makeup? Surely if you have a hereditary illness or a defective gene there is nothing that can be done about it? I say, it is certainly correct our genetic blueprint predetermines what ailments we are likely to suffer from. However we are not powerless in these situations. We can choose to live a lifestyle and adopt other practices as advised by Ayurveda which will maximise the quality of our life, minimise the risk and therefore prevent the onset or severity of the condition. Take myself, for example. I am at some point going to have to wear glasses for reading and eventually glasses to correct my sight. Both my parents (including my late mother) required glasses and my ayurvedic dosha (genetic type) is pitha/vata. It means I am a very visual communicator (for you fans of Neurolinguistic programming or NLP out there) and I am prone to get eye problems and skin irritations when out of balance. My poor food combining choices of liking to eat cheese and apple together and banana milkshake affects my digestive system. My body cannot digest this combination, the food curdles in my stomach and these undigested foods become a poison in my body and wreak havoc eventually passing through the blood stream and settling in to tissues they shouldn’t go. This ultimately gives me sensitive skin and can lead to blood shot eyes (especially after drinking alcohol). Pitha dominant people like me tend to be intellectuals; we love reading and can be too analytical at times. All the reading, watching television, and watching the world around me – along with poor food combining in my diet leads to tired eyes. The tiny muscles which move the eyes will eventually wear away –as some become weaker than others it leads to a change of the natural shape of the lens in my eyes. This ultimately will lead to me needing glasses. So the beauty of Ayurveda is it looks at the individual and shows how the individual can best prolong the onset of their genetic condition, how to slow down the progress of the disease or keep it under control. For me, simply cutting out poor food choices, making sure I read in good light, watching less television, meditating, doing pranayama are simple ways I have applied in my daily life to prevent the onset of wearing glasses. (I have also had my eyes bathed in medicated ghee – which had helped to reverse the deterioration in my eyes. That is another story. Another wonder of Ayurveda and how we can decrease the number of the lenses people wear through simple non-invasive detoxification techniques which are part of a branch of Ayurvedic medicine called panchakarma.)
There are some obvious factors we can all relate to as causing ill health. Take a long-term smoker for example, who has become so addicted with this lifestyle choice that even when he is in hospital with a stroke or collapsed lung, he continues to smoke. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to advise him that he must change, must engage his willpower or the Healing God Within, to somehow break the cycle and stop smoking in order to turn his life around for the better.
Other factors such as emotions are often the hidden factor behind many illnesses, especially terminal conditions such as cancer. The West finds this concept difficult to accept. It is well known nowadays that stress plays havoc with our bodies and minds. I say our emotions can even be responsible for allowing the common cold to set in. Emotions are the result of thoughts and feelings which trigger chemical messages to and from the brain. When unhealthy emotions are suppressed their chemical messengers or neuropeptides tend to accumulate in certain tissues and organs. According to Ayurveda different negative emotions collect in different spaces in the body. For example, the emotions of fear, anxiety and insecurity particularly find a home in the kidneys if suppressed. Over time kidney problems will result. Any one who has had a broken heart, like me, will know that the negative emotion of rejection along with that of dishonour lies in the heart. (When I was a journalist I made an error which led to a big fine, although I fought my case and the fine was later overturned by the courts – I was deeply hurt that I had unintentionally upset a young man I felt great empathy for).
It leads me to once again to sing the praises of pranayama and return to my pranayama classes. Pranayama breathing exercises can reach the deeper parts of your soul where no medicine or counselling can reach. Pranayama liberates these toxic emotions and cleanses them away. Pranayama flushes out all impurities and boosts your immunity. Pranayama brings freedom and joy; freedom of disease; freedom that is pure awareness, freedom to observe your thoughts with innocent observation, freedom to celebrate who you are - right here, right now – this very moment. You are special, you are unique, you are wonderful.
It's great to ask questions. I live in the academic city of Cambridge where great minds are constantly asking questions. For just a moment, let go, be ruled by your heart, your intuition, seek the natural intelligence which is contained in every cell in your body, in every particle in space. Allow yourself to stop for a few moments...stop asking, start doing...just long enough to try this amazing series of breathing techniques and experience the wide ranging benefits for yourself.
To remind you once again, my pranayama workshop starts soon. There are many other good pranayama classes to be found near you. www.loveandwisdom.net
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