The thing is, despite always wanting a very healthy lifestyle, I’ve not been perfect and living a lifestyle that seamlessly extended from my days in the film & broadcast industry for some 32 years; operating at a pace of a demented chicken for many years, I regularly stayed up too late, ate too little or too much of the wrong things, drank a little more alcohol and a bit less water than I should have done. But I’ve also found through Ayurveda that the best way to counteract my imperfections is to create a daily practice of healthy habits.
Ayurvedic medicine and its practices are one of the ways I stay healthy and on track these days. I discovered the healing power of Ayurveda after I started experiencing imbalances such as digestive pains, unexplained aches & pains, energy dips, hormone imbalances, anxiety and general life fears back in 2020. Over the last year, as my knowledge has deepened and I have thrown myself into some 700 hours of back-to-back studies with an additional 200 hours of some really wonderful case studies, I have been able to fully immerse myself in the practices and ethos.
Ayurvedic practice is, in many ways, so foreign to the Western approach and so central to the philosophy behind Breathe, my virtual and physical clinic in The Valley, that it bears a deeper explanation.
by Take A Deep Breath January 2022
Ayurveda is good. It’s natural and, depending on both the practitioner and the patient, can be very powerful.
An Ayurvedic practitioner will assess the results of the Dosha test to determine your unique constitution, physically examine your face, nails and tongue to determine any current health issues or any weakness where health issues could arise in the future, plan a specific food diet, recommend a daily routine, specific exercise, medicine and a treatment schedule if necessary.
According to Ayurveda, diseases can be caused by things including thought patterns, emotional states, and deeply ingrained beliefs. An Ayurvedic practitioner attempts through science, to identify the root cause of such ailments, and then, through ritual and Ayurvedic services, removes the blocks. For some people in the West, this is an absolute last resort that they take on unwillingly. In every one of my many experiences here with patients from all over the world (some of the most hardened and sceptical people I’ve come across), all of them have become believers on different levels, and have improved their health and well-being by embracing just a few of these simple practices.
Programs vary on a case-by-case basis; depending on the patient and conditions. Here’s what a typical daily schedule could look like:
- 7:00 a.m. Wake up, prepare for the day with tongue scrape, clean teeth, oil pull and splash face and eyes, hydrate with a warm herbal infusion or warm water. Eliminate.
- 7.30 a.m. Gather energy, meditate, visualise,create-gentle stretch yoga, sun salutation and dosha specific pacifying or energising moves. Bathe/shower.
- 8:45 a.m. Light breakfast (dosha specific) hydration/herbal tonic
- 10:00 – 1.00 p.m Choose your most arduous task, meetings, writing, work
- 1:00 p.m. Lunch/main meal-dosha specific foods and hydration/herbal tonic
- 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m-Movement, gentle walk, creativity, communication, reading, socialising
- 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Yoga
- 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Light Dinner/supper, hydrate/herbal tonic
- 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. Slow down, assimilate, prepare for sleep, go within.
- Bedtime.
It’s not easy and requires a certain amount of work, discipline and a willingness to strip away every vice and take a good, clean look at yourself.
Although this is difficult, your perspective shifts and your motivation grows. If you’re lucky, you realise that the only thing in the way is you.
My advice? Take action, don’t scrape the surface, dig in and accept that you are in this for the long haul. Deep realisations happen on a daily basis if you continue to strip away the layers. The clarity can be addictive. I realise that the best I’ve ever felt comes as a result of a lot of hard work and no alcohol or stimulants of any kind, barring the ridiculously good Chai tea. This is not to say that we shouldn’t follow our desires in the real world. In fact, the opposite is true. Ayurveda teaches that we should be happy, first and foremost. If you like cake, have a piece of cake. Just don’t live on it. If you want a drink, do so in moderation. It’s all about balance and living a good, wholesome, complete life where the mind, body and spirit work together to serve you and those around you.
As you become more familiar with Ayurveda, the journey takes on more meaning and significance. The deeper and longer into the practice you delve, like yoga (the sister science) the better and more flexible you become.
My Ayurveda practice and yoga game is on point. I have no plans to change my name to Ammachi, however, instead, I’m off to Granada for the spiciest damn fish curry I can find and a large glass a Clara.
Namaste.
Take A Deep Breath 