I had been feeling fatigue, continuous exhaustion and out of balance for weeks now. Usually when I don’t feel well, I check myself through an Ayurveda or Chinese Medicine Health System since these are the two things that I am more familiar and comfortable with. Since, I had been practicing Yoga, I had abstained from taking any Pharmaceuticals medicine, not even the simplest form of paracetamol like Panadol or Tylenol for a decade now. I use food, herbs and alternative healings to heal myself. My emergency kits consist of Essential Oils. For my current situation, I had chosen Ayurveda as the therapy I need.
What Is Ayurveda?
Ayur = life force or vital energy ; Veda = science
Ayurveda is the sister science to yoga. Like yoga, it is an ancient health practice that had been done for 5000 years. It is a personalised approach to health, and knowing your mind-body type allows you to make optimal choices about diet, exercise, supplements, and all other aspects of your lifestyle
There are Three Doshas or constitutions within the Ayurveda System: Vata, Pita and Kapha
Vata Doshas composed of the element of air and space. The qualities of Vata are light, dry. airy, quick, and cold. People with a dominant Vata dosha tend to be slim, with small frame and prominent bones. They are fast, changeable and often love any kind of movement, change and travel. They get easily bored when they stay too long at one place, be it a job, apartment, hobby and sometimes even partner. When balance, they are creative and adaptable, when out of balance, they are fearful and anxious.
Pita Dosha composed of the element of fire and water.The Pitta dosha controls digestion, metabolism, and energy production. The primary function of Pitta is transformation. The qualities of Pitta are hot, sour, pungent, sharp and acidic. Their build is athletic. When in balance, they are intelligent and sharp, when out of balance, they are hot, argumentative, easily angered and tend toward rashes.
Kapha Dosha composed of the elements of earth and water. Kapha governs the structure of the body. It is the principle that holds the cells together and forms the muscle, fat, bone, and sinew. The primary function of Kapha is protection. The qualities of Kapha are slow, steady, heavy, oily and cold. When in balance, kapaha people are loving, nurturing, patient, supportive and grounded; when out of balance; they are needy, they hang on to things like jobs or relationships long after they are no longer nourishing, melancholy and heavy in body and mind.
According to Ayurveda, our Doshas are determined since the time of conception. Since the 5 elements of nature are within us: earth, wood, fire, water and air, our system also contain the three doshas in varying degree, most of us are dominant in two of the Doshas and very rarely to have equal amounts on all three.
To check out what is your predominant Dosha Click Here although the best way is to go seek an Ayurvedic Doctor for an evaluation.
Treatment
What I love about going to alternative healing practitioner is pulse checking, they dont need me to explain much, my pulse can tell them everything from childhood disease, mental condition, some possible familiy history of illness, all the way to the details of if I am in love or just had my heart broken, my pulse cannot lie! The assessment questions are just to confirm the pulse reading. Yup! AMAZING!
So he prescribed some herbs, elimination of caffeine completely, fasting every other day, change in sleep patterns, AM/PM meditation, and some Ayurvedic treatments: Abhyanga and Shirodhara.
Abhyanga is an ayurvedic treatment that includes a massage throughout the whole body with warm oils. The warm oils feels so amazing although you do smell like a combination of Ghee (clarified butter) with tumeric and curry. Although I showered after the treatment, each time I came home from the massage, Luna, my cat will drag me to the bathroom to take another shower. Added to the Abhyanga is the heated Medicine Herbal pouch that would be use to massage the pain area in the body. Abhyanga is not the most relaxing kind of massage, it can be hard and uncomfortable at times depending on the disturbances at that moment.
BUT
Shirodhara is always one of my favorite ayurveda treatment. This treatment involves gently pouring liquids over the forehead. The name comes from the Sanskrit words shiro (head) and dhara (flow). When the warm oil is being gently poured on your forehead, it induces a deep state of relaxation, soothes the nervous system, stimulates the endocrine system [pituitary gland] and awakens the third eye. Those of you yoga practitioner, if you think Savasana is magical, Shirodhara is like Savasana on Steroid. AMAZING, the kind of amazing that I could have it all the time.
The 3 ways alternative medicine works differently and why I love it:
1) It shifts away from the external party to fix me rather I am as the ‘sick person’ to take on responsibility for my own wellness and participate in my own healing.
2) It doesn’t look to only aleviate the symptoms rather look deeper at the root cause which create a lasting cure rather than temporarily.
3) It always look at the dis-ease whole-listically, from the mind, the body, the emotions, the energy and the physical. Everything is connecting, you cannot treat one without looking at the other. it is the complete package, working on the root requires looking deeply and self reflect on all levels of ourselves and taking the responsibility into our own hands to create a better care for our own wellness.
Are you interested to try out Ayurveda and the treatment it offers? Let me know your thoughts.
Wishing you a Healthy Happy Day.
