Ayurvedic approach to Life
Nourishing the Self with good habits, food and yoga practice suiting you personally to achieve the best of your health.
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is a 5000 year old science guiding humanity to maintain or regain their health with the help of nature (internal and/or external applications, if necessary intervention), correct routine, diet and yoga, so that one can aim for higher spiritual practices.
It is not about making things perfect rather bringing things in balance with some imperfections. It is not about changing your life from one day to another, rather making small, but maintainable changes.
Ayurveda is a set of tools to balance the body and the mind, and yoga is one of these tools.
Why Ayurveda?
There are many reasons, for example:
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It is easy to follow and it is not restricting you in any way, no starving, no difficult fasting, only some dedication is needed to make few changes to create good habits.
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It is not a new wave of some diet or lifestyle in fashion, which works for some and doesn't work for others, but it has been tested for thousands of years with success.
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It is considering your very own body setup when advising about diet and other practices, so it is definitely working. If it doesn't work you are cheating :o)
Ayurvedic Daily Routine
In the context of Ayurveda routine means aligning your life to the sun energy & nature, basically listening to your biological clock, so doing the different activities of life when it is most supported by inside and outside energy and body functioning. What does this mean?
Rising with the sun to do any activity which connects us to ourselves, nature, God... Giving your attention and time to what you eat at midday specially, as food is the source of your energy. Doing your mental activity between 2 and 6 PM to aim for the best result, and slowing down after 6, to be able to go to bed early, latest by 10 PM etc...
Ayurvedic Diet
"When diet is wrong Medicine is of no use. When Diet is correct Medicine is of no need." Charaka Samhita
The aim is to eat not just healthy food, but food that maintains health. How to do that?
Eat fresh, local, prepared with love, suiting your constitution or balancing the one out of balance.
Keep the digestive fire on the appropriate level to be able to transform, assimilate and eliminate well.
How do you know the food is right for you? Your meal gives you energy, mental peace and your immunity is at its peak.
Ayurveda Yoga
Different body-mind types with certain imbalances need different approach to yoga, one style can't go for all.
Are you Vatta (air) dominant or with imbalance? Let your yoga practice be slower paced, meditative, strengthening without strain.
Are you Pitta (fire) dominant or with imbalance? Let your yoga practice be more cooling, less sun salutations and heating asanas, more cooling and relaxing ones, the pace should also be moderate.
Are you Kapha (earth) dominant or with imbalance? Let your yoga practice fire you up, go for more speedy styles and where you get enough stretches.
Age, the actual season and other circumstances also modify your needs. Observe, be aware!
Ayurveda & Me
The Indian culture and in general healthy living was the center of my interest since my high school time, however about Ayurveda I have heard first only on my (first) visit to India in 2002/3. I have always preferred natural medicine, so it was obvious to turn to Ayurveda when I wanted to recover from a serious stomach infection. Those days Ayurveda only meant herbal medicine and massage therapy for me.
Ayurveda as a complex system was introduced to me in 2006, on my third visit to India, when in South-India I was fortunate enough to meet the "Herb-man", whose name I don't even know as everyone called him on his nickname. He was the local many-generational Ayurveda expert, who first talked to me about Prakriti and Vrikriti, and what and how I may change to get into balance. That's where my deep interest in Ayurveda started and it continues since then.
The first excellent book I read about Ayurveda was of Dr. Robert Svoboda, Prakriti. It encouraged me to start my Ayurvedic life and integrate as much as I can from the ancient wisdom. Since then I've collected a little library in the topic.
The next milestone in my Ayurveda journey has come, when I moved to India in 2012 (live there since, for 7 months per year), where I could observe on a daily basis through the work of housewives, practitioners and doctors the practical application of the science. Through my own and other's treatment I got a deep insight in the different fields of Ayurveda, the holistic approach it represents, which is far beyond the consumption of few herbal medicine.
In 2015 my studies continued in Udupi in a private course (over 200 hours of training) with Dr. Sreedhar Rao to deepen my knowledge in the field of Ayurvedic diet and general herbology. I could also get involved into his work and observe many patient's recovery process.
Beside that I've completed the Kaivalyadhama Research Institute's 100 hour Ayurveda Training for Yoga teachers and could cook with Divya Alter, one of the best known experts of Ayurvedic cooking outside of India.
This was the time, when the long years of studies sunk and blossomed into the deep understanding of the system of Ayurveda & it's applications.
In 2017 I put together the Ayurveda and Ayurvedic Lifestyle Basics training material, which I shared first on yoga teacher training courses. Since 2020 this knowledge base is available online for anyone as Ayurveda Start and Start + online programs.
2022 is another turning point in my studies, as I'll start my further education in the field to become a licenced Ayurvedic Dietitian and Pharmacist.
My goal is to raise awareness regarding diet and yoga as there are so many fashion trends to follow in our contemporary world, which leads to confusion or even worst, to dogmatic views. What seems healthy might be "poison" for you if you take it in a wrong form, amount or combination for your personal constitution.
On the other hand I would also like to demonstrate the wide range of tools we have in our home and body, which enable us to become active contributors to our own health and well-being.
The ancient science of Ayurveda is free from any extremes and the only holistic system, that is considering everyone's unique constitution and state and impacts every aspect of one's life instead of investigating one area only or treating based on generalisations.
With the guidance of this system we can develop our sensitivity towards our body's signs and signals, so we can better understand its functioning and needs. This will lead to a better understanding of our balance and it's prerequisites too.
Join one of our couses to know more! We are looking forward meeting you!
All the above listed information are suggestions based on general observations, if you wish to know more with details regarding yourself, please get in touch.