Day 12 - Ayurvedic Journey
“Cherish the solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of coming back. Say no when you don’t want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out what you’re doing here. ”
Yoga Practice
Yoga postures are designed to do much more than increase the flexibility of the physical body. The postures help to release and move stagnant energies and impurities that have accumulated in our bodies. Start or deepen your practice today. 14-Day Free Trail for Stone Wave on-demand studio.
The Seven Stages of Imbalance
Why do we push ourselves so hard? Why do we accept being not well? Why do we stay in situations that bring dis-ease and wreck our nervous system? Why do we go just as hard with our schedules in the winter months as we do in the summer?
If we are living with a packed schedule, burning the candle from both ends, eating processed foods or foods not in alignment with our system, find ourselves in toxic environments, staying stressed out with worry—we disrupt all of our body’s processes.
We know we are not machines, and even those need tune-ups. When we overwork, overtax and work against our system—we come into dis-ease; allowing for illness to develop (over time) and take hold.
When we look at each dosha, we see how imbalances show up in many different ways. This is why it is important that we understand our constitution/dosha and learn to nourish and feed our body, mind and soul in ways that keep us in balance and sattvic.
“When we live stressful lives, we disrupt our innate balance and ill health is the result. ”
The imbalances manifests itself in seven main stages;
Negative influences cause one or more of the doshas to build up; throwing the others out of balance.
Aggravation - As negative influences continue - without any attempt to balance - the doshas will become even more imbalanced.
Dispersion - The dosha imbalance spreads from the original site and throughout the entire body.
Settling - The affected dosha moves around the body and will settle in inappropriate areas; causing build up of waste products/energy.
Dis-ease - The first mild symptoms of illness begin to appear at these sites.
Illness - Now mild symptoms can develop into acute illness. This type can hit you hard but doesn’t last (i.e. diarhea, headaches, stomach problems, skin rashes, etc.).
Disease - When the causes of outside negative influences are not addressed and dealt with, the illness can become chronic.
Ama: The Antithesis of Agni
In Ayurveda, Agni—the digestive fire—is of central importance. Think of the last time you ate too much and how you felt, or you consumed the ‘wrong’ thing, or not enough. Food consumption impacts how we feel, and we mainly just cope; by either keeping the same routine or just giving up without ever exploring why we are suffering. This is why the strength of agni in the body is among the most critical factors in determining overall health.
So what is ama? Ama is a toxic, disease causing substance that forms as a result of impaired agni, and that, in turn, destroys agni. In this way, impaired agni and the creation of ama routinely enter into a vicious and self-perpetuating cycle.
The accumulation of ama is extremely detrimental to our health; it can lead to all kinds of imbalances and is a causative factor in any number of diseases. For optimal health—so in Ayurveda, we aim to better understand how to recognize ama; rid the body of it, and (re)kindle agni in its place.
“Ama is a Sanskrit word that translates literally to mean things like “unripe,” “uncooked,” “raw,” “immature,” or “undigested.” Essentially, it is a form of un-metabolized waste that cannot be utilized by the body.”
To some degree, the formation of small amounts of ama is a normal part of the digestive process, provided it is efficiently removed. But when it is not regularly cleared and eliminated, ama becomes hugely problematic.
Amaya, a Sanskrit word for disease literally means “that which is born out of ama.”
The qualities of agni and ama illustrate their perfect opposition to one another.
Ama is fairly easy to clear from the digestive tract, but once it spreads into the deeper tissues, it becomes much more difficult to eliminate.
Banyan has a great full article on this HERE
“Respect and blessings to the physician who completely eliminates limitless diseases of the body and mind, causing anxiety, confusion and restlessness. These diseases include attachment (raga) and aversion (dvesa) (including greed, vanity, hatred, and ignorance). ”
“We have evolved far from all that the mother earth has to offer with processed foods, over use of land, abuse of animals and disregard for nature’s cycles. Our planet is in a crisis. Ayurveda calls us to return to nature and to mother; for optimal nourishment and healing.”
Set your intentions to live a whole life; a vibrant life to heal
Ayurveda is a lifestyle that looks at the whole person and guides us to finding a natural, harmonious balanced life.
A healthy mind will maintain your individual dosha balance.
A good spiritual health will keep balance between sattva, rajas, aned tamas.
All comes together so we can live a whole life; graceful, harmonious and vibrant.
“Rajas is born of unlimited desires and longings. Tamas is born out of ignorance, madness, laziness, and sleep.”
How Ayurveda lifestyle can be a fresh (ancient) perspective
Ayurveda offers a wide range of options (routines, therapies, medicines) that can help us on our journey.
Panchakarma - Detoxification program
Massage + Oils - self massage and other forms of self care
Marma Therapy - moving our prana / vital energy with a trained practitioner
Herbalism - Samana - using medicinal and energetic properties of herbs to heal
Diet - eat according to dosha (in balance and out of balance - always aiming for balance)
Rejuvenation Therapy - Improves memory
Routines - Daily, seasonal and personalized routines to help find balance
Spiritual Healing - Yoga, meditation, prayer and mantras
“The best therapies for the mind are nourishing the intelligence, developing will power, and cultivating spiritual knowledge. ”
In the present day, civilization is suffering more from mental illnesses than physical. People are confused and unable to decide what to do in life like a person who is lost in the darkness. The subtle body consists of the mind, intellect, and false ego. Patience is for the mind, discrimination is for the intellect, and realization of the self is for the false ego. Align the body and mind. This is the basic principle of Ayurvedic counseling therapy.
“A person is wealthy if they are satisfied with what they have and is peaceful. A person is suffering from poverty if they have attachment to objects and senses. Poverty is a feeling of not having enough and desires more. ”
“The cause of disease is a distorted state of mind (ragadi roga). Intake of food is not enough for health. With an unhealthy state of mind, one cannot assimilate food. The egoistic state of mind (ahankara) is a pathological state of mind which has to be transformed. ”
We recommend you make an appointment with an Ayurvedic Coach and get your plan together. We start slowly.
Ujjayi breath - Practice for 4 minutes (see Day 10 for instructions)
“Ujjayi Pranayama is a balancing and calming diaphragmatic breathing, which increases oxygenation and builds internal body heat.”
Ujjayi breath with your yoga practice. Ujjayi Pranayama is often included in the physical practice of asanas, commonly seen in Ashtanga Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga. It is said that, as one gets deeply involved in the practices of the asanas, this kind of breathing comes naturally. Ujjayi Pranayama makes us feel light and releases any type of rigidness from the body. For intense kind of practices, this type of breathing can be used in arm balance yoga poses and inversion yoga poses.
CHALLENGE: Try a few yoga postures with this breath. Come into a warrior posture and use the Ujjayi breath to hold the posture for one minute longer than you usually do.