New Post on MindBodyGreen!

 Check out my latest post on MindBodyGreen, titled “5 Ayurvedic Morning Rituals to Spice Up Your Day”.

More coming soon!

Day Eleven: “Ayurveda… the Art of Living, the Science of Healing.”

I couldn’t go through my 40 Day to Personal Revolution challenge without touching on something I’m incredibly passionate about… Ayurveda.

Ayurveda (pronounced eye-yur-VAY-dah), is an ancient Indian healing system. Also known as the science of life, Ayurveda is based upon the central philosophy that any illness is caused by an imbalance of any of the body’s three vital energies, or doshas. It is incredibly fascinating, and relatively unknown throughout the West. However, awareness of this beautiful alternative medicine approach is growing, particularly throughout the Yoga community. I’ve known of Ayurveda for many years, but only in the most basic sense – I often completed quizzes online checking my Prakriti and Vikruti, but then never understood what to do with my results.

My curiousity developed particularly this year in correspondence with teaching Yoga. I had my first Ayurveda consultation with the incredibly knowledgable Kester Marshall at his Byron Bay Mudita Clinic. As suspected, I was told that my dosha, or constitution, is Vata/Pitta, with the predominant influence being Vata.

 I am currently reading the book “Prakriti – Your Ayurvedic Constitution” by Dr. Robert E. Svoboda, which I can’t recommend highly enough. It goes into amazing detail, and yet is very approachable to any novice.

If you’re keen to try out a quiz there certainly are a lot out there, however I can recommend this website for a relatively thorough test to find out your constitution and some further information on a lifestyle approach for each individual (please let me know if you know of any other great sites!). The three doshas are Vata, Pitta and Kapha. And note that there is no good or bad constitution, and that you may be a mix of two.

Also importantly, your prakriti is your constitution, so that means you were born this way – it is who you are by nature, and so therefore you always want to maintain balance specific to your prakriti. Vikruti is your current state of well-being, the way you have felt in recent times, as opposed to how you have felt generally over your entire life so far.

 The reason I felt drawn to touching lightly on Ayurveda is that I admittedly have gotten a little off track with my lifestyle adjustments. In some ways it has been a blessing, as it has enabled me to feel the difference in my mind and body which convinces me even more so how astonishing Ayurveda truly is.

As some of you may know from my previous posts, I’ve committed to staying off chocolate (my one weakness) for 40 days. Up until this point it has been surprisingly easy, it’s something I’ve done comfortably before. However today I felt weak, really weak in my ability to resist (I did resist thankfully). I’m only human I suppose. But it has solidified my intention to get back into cooking some delightful, healthy Ayurvedic sweets (…I am Vata by nature and Vata’s need their sweet hit on a regular basis!). The Mudita Clinic has a wonderful Tri-Doshic cook book called “Warmth” (which you can purchase online, or download for free when signing up to their online magazine!). The recipes I intend to bring alive once again are the Ginger Anzac Cookies, and the Bindi Balls – Yum! Stay tuned for photos next week…

I had a scrumptious breakfast a couple of days ago with an inspiring Yogi, at Talulah Bar, and through chatting about Ayurveda I became (re)motivated to incorporate a couple of treatments into my routine, particularly self massage with oil (sesame, for Vata). This is something I’ve neglected for so long, even after purchasing organic cold-pressed black sesame oil in Byron Bay earlier in the year. However I can happily say that the habit has stayed for the past 3 days, and I plan to continue to do so. In fact I’ve decided to add it as part of my 40 day challenge!

I’ll let you in on a little goal I have for the future… I’d love to be able to complete a certification with the Australasian Institute of Ayurvedic Studies to become an Ayurvedic Consultant – what a beautiful compliment to teaching Yoga, wouldn’t you agree?

Hope you’re all having a beautiful week, and are now feeling inspired to learn something new…

Namaste,

Amy