What does Simple Ayurveda look like?
To me, the word Simple, symbolises, ease, freedom & lightness which is why I had to use this word. Simple is what I aspire to be! Simplicity is one of my core values!
Today I just wanted to share with you what my core values are in my view and how they can influence everyday life. Values dovetail into Ayurveda because everything we do matters and has an effect on everything we do. Core values are just articulating the things that are most important to us.
For Example, what are your priorities in life, where do you put your time, attention, love and care. For me the list of core values today are:- Simplicity, Health, Individuality, Knowledge, Joy & Harmony. You can figure out your core values by looking at the attached sheet of words and circling the ones that call to you and symbolise who you are and what you aspire to put your time and intention into. 5 or 6 are sufficient.
I have found that going through this exercise of figuring out what my core values are and writing them down, having a reference to look back on them is just a reminder of what my higher self wants and where I direct my attention.
So what does a core value look like in action? For Example ` Light ‘- a feeling of lightness and one of the ways to keep lightness at the forefront of your mind is by keeping your schedule pretty free and open, so not committing to too many things. A simple example of this is too many things on a to-do list, having too many appointments – hairdressers, vets, courier collections/deliveries, shopping etc, plus too many activity and wellness classes can be stressful too, when actually all we would rather have is time open to wonder through the woods, parks, rivers, nature & beach walks, paint, read, learn, socialise and have fun… than having to be somewhere at a said time, especially in 40 degree heat at the moment.
So having a schedule as open as possible creates this feeling of freedom and lightness. Another example of how I try to live my core values and I don’t do this perfectly at all, is to get my mind churning about what my core values are and how I want them to show up in my day-to-day life. So one of my values is Harmony.
Now part of me always wants to be right and that’s natural as part of our ego, right..but I’ve really been paying attention to how I interact with my family and friends every single day. So this story just happened the other day… My husband kept getting a flat on his bicycle tyre every morning when he went out to start his ride, every day he would pump it up or change the inner tube and go out on his ride only to find that the next time he wanted to ride it, it was flat again!…. I dont know much about riding or bike mechanics but I suggested that there may be something inside the wheel that was pinching the inner tube and perhaps a thorough inspection would highlight the issue and save all the frustration. It fell on deaf ears, so that when during a ride a few days later the tyre exploded, luckily near to home and nowhere near a car. Further investigation discovered it to be a spoke that had displaced itself and was causing all the trouble inside the wheel. I said nothing of course at first as I certainly didn’t want to say `I told you so!’ …and letting him learn his own lessons is part of love & harmony right? Instead some hours later, I said `What would be the best way to avoid this in the future, with the cost of inner tubes as they are and a potential accident waiting to happen, how could you remedy this…..next time …to see if?’ He then listed off a 5 minute due diligence prep for setting off.
You see by not saying Ì told you so!’ I released him of hearing the `I’m right and you’re wrong lecture’, which fits in with Harmony being more important than, `I’m right’!
So back to Simplicity, for me a couple of weeks ago, I chose a local animal charity as a goal and every day for 30 days, I bagged up stuff that I don’t use, I don’t see and stuff that just sits in boxes, most still with labels on. I realised that actually I was falling in love with the idea of minimalism and that we all accumulate unnecessary stuff…those trappings were bogging me down. So you could try this..just get rid of stuff, a bag of paper from the office counts, food from the cupboards, clothes & shoes that just sit packed in boxes, drawers of old make-up, lotions & potions, just a bag a day. I realised that once I put my focus on clearing stuff I didn’t need anymore in 30 days straight, it was such a mind shift! I got rid of all sorts of stuff including larger pieces of furniture, kitchen appliances & garden accessories. This has propelled me to join the minimalist movement happening all over the world through communities and to look at my life differently. Minimalism isn’t some wacky 21st century fad, it is just putting the focus on what’s more important to you and that’s where the core values can be helpful because, how do you know what is important to you?
In the past, I have sometimes felt off kilter, now I understand it was because I had shifted from living in alignment with my core values. Therefore connecting with this idea of minimalism recently and saying`No’ to things, whilst clearing out some white space in my daily schedule has been most liberating.
A month ago, it didn seem right looking around my kitchen, seeing appliances I don’t use and not being able to find the stuff that I do want to use, it occurred to me again that I’m not living those core values and I’m stressed out and I don’t even want to be in my kitchen because it’s not a fun experience. Whereas, clearing loads of stuff to give to a deserving charity and clearing worksurfaces and shelves, cleaning, bringing useful items into view and access and painting the whole kitchen and cupboards white (even the clock and light didn’t escape) was giving me a new blank canvas and a point by which to start afresh. `Simplifying’, it would seem really does create the freedom to be creative and to express yourself, have joy and to do the things you want to do…!
So what does`Simple’, look like in Ayurveda,? For me, it is to make this ancient wisdom or knowledge easy to relate to and possible to practice in everyday life. So I want to take those values of Lightness, Joy and Ease and put it into making it accessible for everyone. For me it’s about getting to the basics of what the ancient wisdom says and figuring out how to make this super easy to practice. I will look to write more on modern Ayurveda and its place in todays society.
I’m not perfect (shock horror) I don’t follow Ayurveda protocol perfectly and you don’t need to either, thats the whole point. You can try the different practices and figure out which ones that work best in your routine and let go of the rest or maybe this season you need a certain practice and next season you won’t. You can pick and choose what works for you according to the level of healing, what your lifestyle looks like and how balanced you are. You can also start with something small and as you feel the effects, start to layer on. For example, I bought some nasaya oil and was putting the drops up my nose every morning, then I forgot and bottle got pushed to the back of the cupboard and I haven’t picked it back up yet and that’s OK. What I do prioritise is my daily routine, utilising my energy with the circadian rhythm and the ayurvedic food recommendations for proper food combining, so as not to overload my Agni. For each person, it can be different based on what is important and what you are going to prioritise in your life.
So in conclusion, I encourage you to take a moment and figure out what your core values are and have that sheet to hand somewhere. Once core values have been figured out you can look at Ayurveda in a simple way, what’s going to work for you today and let go of any shame or guilt for what is not currently working out.
… I’ll leave you with a quote from Einstein `Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler!’…
Take A Deep Breath 