There’s a way of blending of Ayurveda and Yoga which I love…and I love it because each one of these wisdom traditions so perfectly complements and adds power to the other.
I find students’ experience of Yoga becomes enriched and deepened, and 1-1 Ayurveda clients benefit from an extra therapeutic tool to enhance the effects of their Ayurveda programme, in the personalised application of Yoga techniques.
I interweave Ayurveda and Yoga in most of my consultations, classes, courses and retreats. And this approach was developed through my personal journey of recovery from chronic illness over a period of six years.
And so, if it’s OK with you, I’d like to share a little of this story with you. Firstly it just may inspire you if you or any of your loved ones are struggling with health symptoms (physical or mental). Secondly, if you come to classes or have sessions with me, you’ll come to see that it has formulated the way I am working (and living) now every day. My personal journey of recovery and the obstacles I faced during that long (and costly) recovery, brought me to understand the very real need for a whole-person approach to healing, and what a supportive, effective and lasting approach might look like.
If you could give a little of your time to read on, what follows might just inspire you not to give up on resolving health issues, or spark a curiosity as to how this pathway might bring more health and strength, joy and peace of mind to YOU.
In 2010, I became ill with awful, debilitating pains in my gut. To this day, i do not know where I picked up a chronic parasite infection but I had been travelling to some far-flung places, Costa Rica and India included. The parasite was undetectable for a long time, and when finally detected I was given a strong medication.
I will never forget the pharmacist at the Tropical Diseases Hospital who hesitated to give me the prescribed meds. “This is really strong”, she said. I took it home, not intending to actually take it. I was already on the path of looking for natural health solutions. However, I was getting weaker and weaker, and so my family, and my naturopath, urged me that this was the only way: that sometimes herbs are not strong enough.
I took one dose. No problems. I took the second dose in the evening as directed and woke up in the early hours with excruciating head pain and extreme thirst. I went to get out of the bed so that I could go and get some water. And found my legs would not support me. I made my way downstairs supported by the wall all along.
I remember thinking I should call an ambulance. And then said decided first to “Walk my talk!” I had been teaching how to work with the breath to direct prana for health and healing, and here now was my big time to put it all into practice.
I lay on the kitchen floor for goodness knows how long, doing just that and drank plenty water in-between.
It’s a long time ago now, but I don’t think symptoms went away so easily but they were relieved.
I thought they’d go in a few hours, I’d get my strength back and all would be well again. I had always been strong and healthy.
Then I gave myself a few days as nothing really was changing. “I’ll be OK in three days or so” I thought.
Again, nothing was changing. I postponed my return to Bahamas for three months, certain I would be well by then. Six years later, I was just about reclaiming something like a normal life.
My naturopath said of those meds, “They kill the paraside, you just have to hope they don’t kill you too!” Great!! It just about summed it up though as I really did think the end was nigh on that night. Extreme thirst and excruciating headache were apparently sure signs that my system felt poisoned.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) was diagnosed after many exploratory tests. Functional medicine tests revealed poorly functioning mitochondria (the energy factories of the body). This is a clear marker for CFS and/or ME. And it is a long journey back from here, and there is definitely no “one size fits all” solution here. We are right down to the very building blocks for all the functions in the body and each body is metabolically different. Ayurveda knows this.
CFS is very much an umbrella term, being a “syndrome” of persistent fatigue which is not relieved by rest and it’s root causes and accompanying symptoms vary from person to person. What is universal to this condition however is that the body systems cease to be able to function properly. It is about much more than “fatigue” This is precisely because in many CFS cases, just like my own, the mitochondria (energy factories that exist in every cell in every tissue of the body) become unable to effectively replenish the energy reserves that the body needs for healthy functioning. The endocrine system also ceases to function well, and this remains still an incompletely understood system in modern medicine. In fact, all systems can start to malfunction when mitochondria and endocine cannot function well.
This all means that CFS does not have a specific pathology that can be picked up in allopathic medical tests. Nor is there anything that scans and other investigative procedures are likely to reveal to assist a diagnosis of CFS, although generally inflammation levels are likely to be high throughout the body.
Our GPs and specialists in the field of allopathic medicine test for pathology. And they are trained to remove pathology. Whereas in the case of a condition such as CFS which reveals such a severe malfunctioning and imbalance at a core level, there is usually no causal pathology to be found and so doctors are often at a loss as to what to do, how to treat.
Until recently at least, they might decide it is “just in your head” and prescribet psychiatric meds such as anti-depressants (This apparently happens to women more than men by the way as the stigma of hysteria in women still sticks!! I refer you to the book Medicine Woman by Lucy Pearce). Or, if CFS is diagnosed after all else has been ruled out in negative test results, “There’s not cure, you just have to learn to live with it. We can help you manage it though”.
That’s quite a devestating diagnosis. CFS people have often led active lives and have enquirng, active minds. To settle for a small life within the confines of a home, or even a bed in some cases, is a hard pill to swallow…if you’ll pardon the pun!
This is not the fault of any doctor’s lack of competence or caring, in truth. It is a consequence of the orientation of the medical world today towards removal of pathology rather than restoration of health. Our doctors study disease and how to remove it. They are not trained to bring health back to the body by restoring body function.
“Health is not just the absence of a disease”. Deepak Chopra
I think many of us have been to the doctors with some niggling ailments and been told there is nothing wrong with us: because we are not yet in the stage of pathology. And yet we leave, knowing in our heart of hearts that something is not right and begin to look elsewhere for answers. Right?
And we are 100% right to believe so and act on that belief.
Ayurveda recognises that those niggling symptoms are not to be ignored or simply suppressed with pain killers and anti inflammatories. They are an indication that things are going awry in the body. They are in fact the early stages of illness, the precursors to disease and they need redressing.
And Ayurveda as a system of functional medicine, knows how to restore optimum functioning to the body and mind. And it has a wonderful diagnostic and treatment toolkit, to draw on and which has withstood the test of time.
This makes it a wonderful system for finding and resolving both the root cause of those minor but signifcant ailments that visit all of us, and the more complex degenerative conditions such as CFS where body function has become seriously challenged. Even when state of pathology have been reached, Ayurveda has much to offer.
When I received a diagnosis of CFS, I had not delved so deeply into the world of Ayureda at this point, otherwise my journey of recovery might have looked very different.
However, I was determined that if even one person in the world could recover from one supposedly incurable illness, I could recover from CFS. And I had read about such recoveries.
Plus, I believed in my body’s capacity to regain health. I made a clear resolve that I would “breakthrough and not breakdown” through this often demoralisng condition. I would do whatever it took. I would not live half a life.
Moreover, I was truly motivated to recover because I was certain that this illness was a rite of passage. As I had been teaching and consulting in the field of complementary health for the past ten years, and more recently offering Therapeutic Yoga, I knew that there was something significant to learn on my journey to recovery and that I would share that learning with others in my work.:)
Right up until I became ill, I had been living in a spiritual community. I felt happier and stronger there than ever before in my life. During illness, I reflected on those days and enquired into what had been the building blocks for that health and happiness. I awoke to the fact that our days and lifestyle had been structured according to “Five Points of Yoga” and that these simple points were a roadmap for supporting vibrancy in a healthy body, mind and heart.
The Five Points of Yoga were compiled by Swami Vishnudevananda. He condensed the fundamentals of a Yoga life into something tangible, practical and very doable.
The Five Points are:
My “lightbulb” moment with CFS was that those practices that had made the Five Points of Yoga proper whilst I was healthy, were no longer “proper” in my current state of being. I awoke to the fact that to truly be “proper” and to support the return to a healthy organism, the Five points of Yoga needed to be adapted to my current condition.
Or I can now say, with an Ayurveda hat on, that they need to be adapted to each one’s:
i) prakriti and vikriti= (Ayurveda type and imbalance).
ii) state of the agni (digestive and metabolic strength).
ii) age and environment (season/climate)
iii) ojas (constitutional strength
For instance, the diet that was”proper” when I was well, was no longer appropriate with the sensitivity and inflammation that accompanied CFS.
The Yoga asana practices that had made me feel strong and vital previously would now leave me depleted, shakey and even “crashed” for days. And yet I knew I still needed the “proper” movement for my condition to move toxicity, stir the vital-force to flow again and so support the body to recover.
Through trial and error I found the “proper 5 Points of Yoga” for me with CFS. (No-one recovers from CFS by just resting ironically!)
Yoga friends who heard I had CFS advised “lots of pranayama” (Yogic breathing practices), knowing that they build energy. That would seem to make sense, right? And yet, in actual fact, my nervous system could tolerate only the gentlest of breathing practices otherwise I would be left uncomfortably wired.
I think you get the picture? I adapted, adjusted and took much support and benefit on my journey of recovery from making sure that I had these 5 Points covered in a way that was “proper” for my personal state of health. And I applied them on a regular basis. They were the cornerstoneso of my recovery.
And so, where this a receptivity, I bring this understanding to each person I see in my Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy practices. I go through the Five Points of Yoga and I personalise them to suit each one.
In fact, they are really now 6 points of Yoga; I have added the powerful practice of inner enquiry.
The wonderful thing about approaching the now 6 Points of Yoga in this way, is that they offer the framework for the “whole person” approach to healing that I mentioned at the start of this email. Each one impacts body, mind and soul and I’d like to take each one and explore it with you in future blogs.
I wish I knew during my recovery what I know now about Ayurveda’s reach. Even so, it is so rewarding to be able to integrate the insights from my healing journey into an Ayurveda context for the benefit of everyone I see in my practice, and to witness their results.
When we talk about the whole person, and each of the five points impacting the whole person, I am minded to link Ayurveda here and it’s three major treatment approaches…. which also address the whole-person – body, mind, heart and soul – and which encompass the five points of Yoga!
They are:
Daiva Vaprashaya – which is spiritual healing, calling on a connection with the divine and so a healing on the soul level through worship, prayer, sacred sound, pilgrimages to holy places and perhaps blessings from the holy ones, plus our own spiritual practice – which can be one of breath, meditation and inner enquiry methods.
Yukti Vaprashaya – a more practical healing using nutrition, herbs, lifestyle adjustments and body treatments. That is, all that we most commonly associate Ayurveda with and which embraces “proper diet” and “proper movement”.
Sattvavajaya Chikista – a kind of psychological counselling or guidance. The positive thinking and/or inner enquiry) is associated here.
It is not the case in Ayurveda that, for example, because we have a mental-emotional condition, we are prescribed only Sattvavajaya Chikitsa. Or that because we have a sense of being spiritually bereft, we are prescribed only Daiva Vaprahsaya. Or because we have severe gut pains, we are given only dietary and herbal therapies.
All the three levels of treatment approaches impact all dimensions of our being and so whether you have physical, mental-emotional issues, or are experiencing a spiritual crisis, all three have a relevance.
For example, the Heart of Ayurveda Rejuvenation Programme is a programme that offers a deep cleansing and rejuvenation with herbs, body treatments and nutrition. Participants know first hand that these therapies impac not only their physical body, but also the mind and spirit.
And likewise, giving nurture to the mind, emotions or spirit with Yuki or Daiva Vaprashaya, will support restoration of health to the body too. This is given testimony by all the current research into the spiritual and mental-emotional roots of illness.
As an Ayurveda Pracitioner, Yoga Therapist and Yoga teacher, my 6 Points of Yoga are a guide and resource kit for ensuring that I include all these three levels of healing in treatment prescriptions. I want the whole person to be addressed for the most whol-istic, impactful and fulfilling results for the person in front of me.
We all know by now, I think, that we cannot in truth consider body, mind and the spiritual heart of our being to be separate entities. They constantly impact each other and we are experiencing that all the time. Think of the effect of a fever on your state of mind, or heartbreak and grief on your body. The root cause of imbalances and illnesses might exist on any of these dimensions of being and we can treat most comprehensively by engaging all three.
This is why, I may recommend that a person presenting with digestive ailments, not only takes appropriate herbs and diet to help restore digestive function, but also practices specific breath practices to restore the agni prana (the energy of the digestive fire) or to support better elimination. Journalling and inner enquiry work might give insights into the root cause of stresses and long held tensions and emotions which are impacting digestive function. Mantra, breath and meditation will help to ease the mind, reduce any stresses which may be impacting digestion, and support balanced flow of prana (energy) through the digestive tract. Specific Yoga asanas will work to strengthen, stimulate or calm the organs of digestion.
In other words, my approach is let’s treat with the utmost respect for the multi-faceted complexity of what it means to be a human being, a spiritual, feeling, thinking being with a physical body.
We can do this only by approaching each person’s ailments from all dimensions of being.
There is a complete and comprehensive toolkit available to us in Ayurveda and Yoga which gives us ready access to such a personalised and whole-person approach. It is not only healing, it is transformational and has stood through the ages.
I am committed to bringing the healing and transformational scope of Ayurveda and Yoga into all my 1 -1 and group programmes. And I always include an educational element in this. This is because I want you to become empowered with all the health and happiness tools that Ayurveda and Yoga have to offer you so that you can live your best life for the time you are on this planet.
This includes Ayurveda and Yoga guidance to:
And so there it is. The Heart of England approach to your health and happiness.
Whether you are looking for relief from chronic ailments, from simply feeling under parr, or perhaps you would like learn more about these wisdom traditions in workshops and courses for personal and/or professional purposes, I would love to have a chat with you.
Let’s get clear together on your requirements and how I (or others), might be able to help you on your quest to better living.
Click the button below to book a discovery call and we can have a 15 minute chat all about YOU, and how Ayurveda and Yoga might meet YOUR specific needs.
Thank you for taking the time to read this far. I hope it has been inspring and encouraging for you.
And I realy hope to hear from you! Don’t forget to click the button and book our chat!