Ayurveda is awareness, awareness starts self healing…
We’re into week 8 of The Healing Diet – this is the second round of the 10 week program I started last Fall. I am amazed at what the students are taking away – amazed because whatever words I am saying are somehow actually working as a catalyst for this stuff. They are getting it. They are getting the real stuff – the real deal of Ayurveda. Yes, they are learning the structure of this wonderful science, but behind that, in just 10 weeks, they are getting it that it all comes down to the individual, cultivating awareness through your own body, and then gathering experiences to work from.
Here are a few anonymous thoughts shared from The Healing Diet forum – Ah hah moments, if you will:
“For me, Ayurveda is about noticing what’s happening and how I feel, and then making intentional decisions about what to do next. That feels authentic to me. One thing I’ve heard Adena say is that V-P-K is not reality but rather a way of describing reality. To me, Ayurveda is about becoming aware of a kind of ancestral wisdom–the stuff that I already know about myself but that I might not really KNOW that I know.”
“It is definitely easier said than done but I’m trying to tap into the voice deep within. I find myself plagued by indecision and am trying to slow down, quiet the chatter in my head, and create space to hear what my intuition is really saying is right for me here and now. Sometimes there is no answer and I feel a little lost. Ayurveda is definitely offering many avenues to new ideas, thoughts, patterns, and lifestyle changes that I think in time will really help cultivate this understanding of what and who I am. A loose framework to evolve within.”
This is self healing. It can seem like a cheesy phrase – but my faith has become stronger seeing people step onto their own healing path. As you know, it takes accountability, it takes inspiration and commitment to make the changes you want to see in yourself and you health. This is why Ayurveda is not for everyone – well, let me rephrase that – why not everyone is ready for Ayurveda. (Are you ready?)
Awareness is the key
I work with women who are ready to step onto this path of self-healing, and who are looking for a guide – whether that’s me, or really Ayurveda just working through me. We all need guidance from the inner guru, and also, especially at first, guidance from someone outside of ourselves to give us the love, and help us wade through the muck. I go to other healers regularly, too.
The women I work with are looking to heal from stubborn digestive complaints, like IBS and constipation, or they are experiencing painful menstrual cycles (often both go hand in hand.)
When I work one on one with any of these clients, we have a long first visit where I take a full health history, asking about bowel habits, menstrual cycle frequency, type of pain, color of blood, etc. Even asking these questions brings more attention to the matter, and helps the person realize the healing does start with the details of the symptoms.
Your body’s natural rhythms
Many of my clients are looking to go off of birth control, because it just doesn’t feel right to them. I went off for the same reason about 7 years ago. Birth control has a place, and the choice to use it in itself can feel very powerful and liberating. Then there is the next step, when your mature enough, and ready to hold space for the body’s natural rhythms – we can observe this powerful force within our body and start to see the signs. See the signs of imbalance and balance, and see the signs of our fertility, or lack thereof.
When I started doing yoga seriously, feeling cleaner and better in my body led to changing my diet, my habits, and then wanting to align with the deeper forces of nature. This led me to Ayurveda. It also led me to go off of birth control. I felt I was having a ‘fake’ and controlled cycle, and my body was ready to return to its natural state – whatever that might look like. I didn’t even know!
Some of you have read my story of healing painful periods – and finding Maya Abdominal Therapy.
The next step was learning how to chart my fertility signs, so I’d know when I could get pregnant, and when I couldn’t. I learn the Fertility Awareness Method, and there was no turning back. I successfully stayed ‘unpregnant’ for years, until I was ready to undertake the journey (READY?!?!) and then we conceived on our first try, me knowing when I was fertile.
Self empowerment
If you’re a menstruating woman, who is interested in learning more about your cycles, aligning your cycles with the moon, healing from painful or irregular cycles, looking to learn about a natural and effective form of birth control, and want to get pregnant one day, I can not recommend learning about Fertility Awareness ENOUGH!
Birth control may feel very empowering for a while, but there is nothing like knowing your own body.
I help my clients chart their cycles, and understand their fertile times – though I have yet to teach a group workshop. On Sunday May 10th, I am inviting an expert in (and my acupuncturist) Leilani Wong Navar, to teach a special 2 hour online (accessible from anywhere) course in Fertility Awareness.
Awareness is Ayurveda. In this one of a kind workshop you’ll learn more about your anatomy, why your cycles might be painful or irregular, how to see signs of fertility, even if your cycle is irregular – and you’ll get to ask Leilani questions when you come live.
Find all the details, and how to register here.
Share this with other women – it’s one of the most empowering things you will learn about your own body.
Love,