This blog series is my offering to you, a chance to see how Ayurveda is weaved into my life & how you can apply these principles to your own life.

EVERYDAY AYURVEDA

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Something I feel very strongly about is that Ayurveda should not be seen as a trend. If anything it is the antithesis of being trendy. For me, both professionally and personally, Ayurveda is the everyday, the daily routine, the rituals, the consistent habits, the mindset, the approach to life itself. It is everything, every day!

Of course, my personal life is just that but I do feel that without sharing what that looks like for me I am doing my professional life a disservice. What I teach is how I live, Ayurveda is part of living and how you can incorporate Ayurveda in to your life too. This very blog series was born out of my need to share about this ancient wisdom and how it shapes my life.

So why do I feel so strongly about how Ayurveda is seen in the wellness space? For me it feels that in recent years the wellness space has become more saturated. On the surface this is not a bad thing, taking care of ourselves is a essential to good health. But as I wrote about last month there is a real risk that we are forever chasing or even grasping our way towards better health. Looking at events and treatments as a quick fix rather than looking deeper at what isn’t working well. Chasing a ‘high’ that lasts as long as the event or treatment is works in that moment but what about when you get home or wake up Monday morning feeling flat or lost again.

Contemplating how this unfolds has led me to thinking about how it can become performative as practitioners too. Feeling the need for constant ‘high vibes’ energy is in itself draining. No one can be all love and light all of the time. The deeper work is needed for us all, both practitioners and clients alike. Daily life doesn’t always run smoothly, there are always bumps in the road. And as my own teacher reminds us, life’s path is wiggly!

And when you follow a certain path it is inevitable that you will question your life’s purpose. Our Dhama. What is my Dharma? Am I doing it right?

Ayurveda teaches balance as a core principle so high vibe as a state must be balanced with energy that is way less intense. A more grounded and softer energy.

I will risk sounding like a broken record here but the portrayal on social media is more often aesthetically picture perfect. Or at the other end of the spectrum fuelled with tears and vulnerability. None of these are invalid, I am instead questioning why branding and marketing is fixated on one or the other.

When I founded Inner Nourishment I was often prompted to answer the ‘what is your story?’ I would then reply with ‘I don’t have one’. Of course I have a story, its just that it isn’t one that sells. Well, that is not entirely true I am the perfect advert for navigating the menopause with ease – in fact with no symptoms at all. However, the menopause space is saturated and most women want a quick fix rather that address their daily habits. It did not feel appealing to walk down that path. Anyway, for the most part my life is, based on my own assessment, brilliant. But it is also relatively normal, a happy and balanced family life. In fact I find it exceptionally normal and ordinary. A matter of opinion and perspective of course but what it most certainly exists in my life is balance.

Balance is found in all areas of my life. Even before formally training I knew and lived by this critical concept. Knowing that even too much of a good thing can become a bad thing! Ayurveda teaches that the path to wellness and vitality is balance and maintaining our own doshic balance is daily activity. Our choices and environment is dynamic and therefore the balance is constant. This, for me, is what balance looks like from the inside, not as a trendy aesthetic but as the ordinary fabric of my ordinary life.

The constant striving for ‘high vibes’ is not sustainable. Extremes can be difficult to counterbalance. Somewhere along the middle path is preferable.

I am not sure if AI is at play here or if it is a human led trend but I see an increase in nervous system regulation solutions, Ayurveda becoming westernised as a medicinal ‘fix’ and more biohacking is another one popping up in my feed.

So this is how I see it.

With Love

Claire

Regulating your nervous system is possible by simply having a consistent dinacharya (daily routine). Something simple and easy to maintain. It isn’t something to ‘do’ in isolation but something that becomes fully integrated into your day. Not a technique but a way of living ~ rhythmic, grounded and warm (and consistent!).

Nervous system regulation is largely about Vata management. When Vata is in balance you will be able to think clearly, with a calm mind. Digestion will be steady. Out of balance Vata results in overthinking, anxiety and feeling scattered. Sleep is unsettled and you may feel cold and dry. Through an Ayurvedic lens like attracts like and opposites bring balance so I would recommend eating warm, moist food. Mediation and breathwork are immensely helpful in combatting a racing mind. Taking a pause in between tasks and being present can bring a steadiness to your day. Classical Ayurveda teaches us about rhythm and consistency over any specific technique. Our ability to process (digest) food and emotions is intrinsically linked, linked to condition of your agni.

Biohacking has become the another fancy new name for tending your digestive fire (agni in Sanskrit). Again consistency is required to ensure agni is working at its best. It requires a steadiness that we can find tricky in modern times. Most symptoms along the with intolerances, digestive discomfort and malabsorption can be addressed by tending to your digestive fire. Steps to care for your agni do not require fancy new supplements or trend led regimes.

At this time of year is it also common to see lots of detox fixes too. And while there is a natural tendency for the body to naturally detox in Spring it is important to remember that natural is the way rather than harsh and extreme protocols. Your body detoxes daily, our job is to support it.

I also want to mention feminine energy. It has become almost an obsession for some. I am fully onboard with the power of feminine energy but for me it can be overused and at the same time undersold. We all need both masculine and feminine energy. Interestingly we rarely get to see all sides of feminine energy.

I can’t help but feel that the excessive high frequency and yang energy is depleting our sacred feminine energy. This also comes back to performative energy, forcing and depleting is the opposite of what we are setting out to harness and nourish. We need to tap into some of the darker feminine energy of transformation. Perhaps my pitta dominance (pitta is all about transformation) is wanting to balance the scales.

Our feminine power is to flow. That means flowing through the highs, the lows and everything in between. Channelling perfect goddess vibes becomes exhausting. Without the ability to rebalance we will be heading towards a kind of vibrational burnout.

Like nature, we are cyclical beings and therefore need to move gracefully and efficiently through these cycles. Accepting the high and the low, the soft and the hard and the light and darkness of it all.

As females we are governed by Kapha (water and earth elements). While essential for nurturing and intuition in excess a Kapha imbalance can lead to heaviness, almost like a waterlogged feeling. It can dampen out digestive fire too. So yes we need to ensure that our energy doesn’t become stagnant while not going too far the other way. Too much prana vayu energy (upward and outward) needs to be balanced with upana vaya energy (downward).

So what is my advice? Go to that high vibe fest ~ enjoy every moment. Just take care to not think that this is a sustainable state of being and to not allow it to be a mask to daily life. And then once you come home ensure that it is a place that feels grounded and calm and less stimulating. The cliche is we are human beings not human doings and I think this is very apt!

This exploration has led me back to the Charaka Samhita, back to the ancient texts. A pull towards honouring Ayurveda as it was intended. My training was rooted in Charaka Samhita and I have recently purchased the 4 volume set ~ all the way from Dehli. Having these texts at home feels very apt right now. Ayurveda maybe over 5,000 years old but it has an everlasting presence in my own life. An unchanging science that doesn’t need an upgrade. I sometimes find it frustrating being witness to its principles being rehashed as either new science or diluted to make it accessible but mostly I can watch, smile knowingly and move on.

It can be easy to feel overwhelmed in an everchanging work, fast paced and trend led but next time you notice a new trend or something being rebranded just think about what message you are really hearing, what is it saying to you? Does it speak to you or does it just feel like a shiny new thing? Before spending time and money stop for a moment to think about your everyday. Quite often you can make some small (and free) shifts in your everyday habits.

The last thing I want to touch upon is space. Whenever you are ready to make lasting changes there must be space for it in your life. This applies to adopting ancient practices and something completely new. It is impossible to continue adding more to your already long list. Life is too busy without further overload. Think about what you can eliminate before adding.

How do I remain grounded and balanced? Here is what that looks like for me :

~ I regularly have kitchari for lunch or dinner (sometime both!)

~ daily abhyangha (oil massage, most days this is a short practice)

~ a consistent daily routine (dinacharya), that includes waking and sleeping at the same time, eating at regular times as well my morning practice of asana, pranayama and meditation.

~ where I can, I will anchor myself in the daily mundane tasks. I have almost learned to enjoy washing up!!

What can you do to maintain balance ? I would love to hear from you and how you experience balance in life or how you remain grounded in a busy and sometimes ‘high’ energy world.

And why is Ayurveda being portrayed as a medical system? Classical Ayurveda is not a quick fix but an approach to tackle root cause. It is at risk of losing its true power by being westernised and diluted. My guess is that this makes it more marketable, more palatable and accessible. By watering down its true teaching we begin to lose its true essence. There is truth that in adopting better habits our health will improve but how much deeper would that transformation be if you stayed true to the Vedas?

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