My students have asked me to outline my ayurvedic regiment.
I started going to Nita Desai, M.D. at East West Integrated Medicine in Boulder, Colorado four and a half years ago. I was having a pain in my intestine, which was misdiagnosed, rather impersonally, by some western physicians, as a kidney stone.
I also wanted to start an ayurvedic diet to complement my yoga practice and philosophy.
I was diagnosed as tri-dosha, and my big imbalance was, not surprisingly, vata.
I was placed on a vata-pacifying diet – warm, cooked foods, each meal containing a fat, vegetable, carb and protein. To slow down, not do so much. Not eat cold, uncooked salads or raw carrots, or dry toast, things like that. I was to drink things like Ojas drinks, and vata tea, which had cumin, cardomon, caraway, and licorice.
I’ve been on herbs to detox the liver, get rid of parasites, some general cleansing. I needed to do oil self-massages with Bhrami oil for the dry Colorado climate.
She recommended chest opening exercises, to release the grief in my heart, the kapha in my heart. To do nadi shodana, alternate nostil breathing.
This was a hard change! Changing my whole diet! By the second year I was just almost in balance! I had changed my diet slowly, finally gotten into the routine of taking all the herbs and changing habits, when she said, “Well, summer is coming, you’re going into pitta, since you are tri-dosha. Time to change your diet!” ahh! so I had to go to cooling foods during the summer. That threw me off to change habits AGAIN.
Ultimately we discovered my cycle of doing too much at a great intensity, then crashing. I think due to post-traumatic stress, this was my norm! It was go, go go! Then crash. Then go, go go! Then crash.
So over the next year, I started smoothing things out. Of course I had a lot of stress in my life – my husband’s death, raising two young children alone, getting involved with a fraud of a man and getting ripped off by him and getting into lots of loser real estate investments, ugh! I had many panic attacks back then. The divorce was difficult, but a year and a half after that, I realized I needed to slow down and take care of myself, to take care of my children. That something wasn’t working and if I kept up this pace I would die of cancer or something! So in October I went on a cleanse, started hot yoga 3-4 times a week. I was feeling tired, so she pumped up my vitamins to two fish oil tabs twice a day, two vitamin B-12 twice a day, brahmi vati twice a day, bio-foods vitamins 6 times a day, lactic was in a better place. I had to stop working as much. This definitely cut into my financial picture, but I had no choice. I trusted all would work out by getting into balance and healthy.
I started taking meditation practice at the Boulder Shambhala Center. I loved the community and peace that meditation brought. I developed a morning routine, part ayurveda, part Shambhala.
I have to moisturize a lot because of the dry Colorado climate. I use Bhrami Gee for my nose, which gets painfully dry. I absolutely love the smell of Bhrami gee! And the Brhami oil I massage myself with. I take hot baths to deal with the winter cold and as a ritual of pampering and self-worth. I use Oregon Grape root during menstruation, as I am prone to adult acne during that time and it works on the liver. Also if I should get constipated I use Triphala. Turns out that is the problem with the intestine, a blockage in the kink of a descending colon.
Also, I have gained 20 pounds during this time. I used to be extremely thin, flying off the planet thin. 5’8 and 125-130. I was 115 and bulimic when I was aged 16-20. Being full bodied and claiming my Eastern European ancestry turned me into the Bohemian Bombshell. I feel a great deal of self-love around my body at 43 than ever before, probably because I feel more grounded and slow down more, appreciate myself and can reside in the present moment. I enjoy hiking and do gentle yoga or yin yoga, as opposed to a vigorous practice I used to follow, to restore my adrenal glands.
For my daily routine I rise at 6:30 in the morning, do three sun salutations, then sit down to do nadhi shodhana while chanting “Yum” for ten minutes. Then sounding out “Om” using each syllable first for three breaths, followed by the complete world. Then to do the Shambhala meditation for 20 minutes. Then I prepare breakfast, noting that food is the most important thing to harmonize my life and my family. This refocus on basic cooking, organic local gardened food, put my in connection with what I eat and what I was feeding my children.
I realized my own anxiety was being passed on to my daughter, who has been struggling in public school for many years, and is behind two grade levels in math and reading, however, excels at music, physical education and art. Her auditory processing delay, inability to just take in what the teacher was saying while sitting at a desk in a hard chair, was hereditary, as I dealt with similar problems in school, as did my niece and father.
They said she had ADD, and I checked with her doctor about prescriptions, but after talking with Dr. Desai knew she could be healed with Ayurveda. The first time we went it was naturally a vata imbalance. Improving her overall nutrition as she wasn’t well nourished. Giving her herbs was difficult, as she didn’t like the taste. But the second time we went, i was more in rhythm with ayurveda so it was easier to assist them in taking their vitamins and herbs that worked for them. I set them out each morning, remind them of the food combos and help them with choices. She takes twice a day fish oil, a multi vitamin, florastar and ashwo. I can’t cook every single night so we do have what’s called, “Survival night.” in which there is something frozen to eat or make some Annie’s mac and cheese that they can make on their own.
Our family also goes to family therapy. I think this is one of the most important aspects of healing because it focuses on group relationships. Communicating with your children and if you have one, spouse, is helpful with a professional as well. Especially if you did not have a healthy parent as a role model. I was raised by my sister and experienced my mother as either violent or writing poetry, not reading to me or parenting me. So naturally I needed some outside help in that issue!
My son is pitta, and gets angry easily. So we work on eating cooling foods, buffalo meat as opposed to hamburger. She gave him eye drops for the eyes (his father had these yellow eyes and I’m sure he was pitta!) Once a day he takes vitamins, fish oil and bhrami vati, which he says makes him want to write pages and pages!
And people are happy. There is a beautiful rhythm in the household. I thought I could limit the television influence, only to find out they get everything through You Tube and Hulu! I moderate that as much as I can and make sure they are active and do other activities. I don’t push yoga practice, since I’m a yoga teacher and they tend to reject it. But I do see their own interest in yoga, as my son does it occasionally on his own but is into weights and biking. My daughter will spontaneously break into a yoga pose, and now wants to do gymnastics or karate. I bring up breathing for them a lot. We work through difficult emotions with stories and yoga philosophy. Those parenting moments when things are difficult and you have those heart to heart. It’s one of the most beautiful times with your children, really. As they get older this is all the more true, as they just need firmness, understanding and unconditional love, guidance and coaching, and lots of stories! Your own stories, any story. Older kids need encouragement and a lot of yoga philosophy to guide them to navigate our soulless culture and how to deal with the machine. We need to teach them compassion and self-reliance, and set them out on their own heroic journey into themselves!
I swear by Ayurveda! It can change your life and your family’s!
SYDNEY SOLIS
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