from ayurveda, yoga, healers and teachers
Maybe you are searching in the branches, for what only appears in the roots.
Rumi
I wrote on a recent Instagram post that my perceptions of self-care, food, yoga and more have been challenged recently thanks to teachers, healers, Ayurveda, and a supportive community. Change like this can feel frustrating and confusing, but it also sheds light on important circumstances that might not be what they seem.
Just when we think we know, we realize we might not have a clue, and so it goes… And like Rumi says: even if and when we branch out to seek guidance from outside sources, the true source lies within our own roots.
That being said, the universe has been looking out for me by leading me to incredible healers: I received soothing reiki a while ago by my friend Rebecca, Chef Divya Alter advised an Ayurvedic regimen to help improve my overall health and wellbeing, I trained with the luminous Rodney and Colleen at Yoga Shanti, I had a Family Constellations session with Marine, and others.
Especially when it comes to food and our relationships with ourselves, I have been learning a few tough if not pertinent lessons as I navigate this slightly modified lifestyle adventure. For example, although I feel comfortable in the kitchen, a few specific Ayurvedic requirements threw me off.
Just when I thought I had a handle on managing my food, for a few days I felt like I had no clue how to cook, which was admittedly disheartening.
Similarly, when I chatted with Marine about my wellbeing and how I wanted to feel, I noticed that I rarely addressed a few non-food areas of my life that might be contributing to not feeling my best, and was reminded that the subconscious was not to be swept aside by a new dietary plan if I was to fully embrace this healing process. We can all ask for help and deserve to feel good.
It might take a few healers, it might take a few weeks or months or years, and it might take a lot of experiments. It is certainly within reach in this lifetime and, if anything, it is an ongoing process.
Although my ego is slightly crushed by being shown a lot of things I personally had yet to fully understand, coming face-to-face with what we think we know does not mean all is lost. To me, it provides an opportunity to learn something new, practice with fresh perspective, and continue our lifelong learning process with curiosity and compassion.
Here are a few recent surprises that made me reconsider my perceptions and dig deeper:
FORMER BELIEF: leftovers are great time savers and can be used all week.
NEW LESSON: in Ayurveda, leftovers are considered a no-no because they are harder to digest and carry toxins from sitting in containers in the fridge. When we do not digest properly our channels become clogged, making us more prone to disease. I am learning to cook fresh almost every day, waking up earlier to prepare and developing new time-saving hacks.
FORMER HABIT: coming home and tossing whatever I could find into my hungry belly like seeds, nuts, a big spoonful of tahini, or an unreasonable amount of chocolate.
NEW LESSON: for my Ayurvedic regimen, most of the foods I eat need to be cooked in order to fuel my digestive fire and get it back on track, meaning I have to slow down instead of eating whilst chopping vegetables or inhaling whatever is available in my pantry. I have also had to temporarily break up with some of the foods I would typically wolf down, making me a more mindful eater from how to what to why I consume.
FORMER BELIEF: don’t overdo grains; eat kraut and gut-friendly foods for optimal digestion.
NEW LESSON: Divya observed that my body needs more grains and no fermented foods right now to help reboot my digestive fire, which threw me for a loop and made me realize that not all healthy foods are healthy for every single person. This has helped me to soften my fear around foods that I would often shun because of skewed perceptions.
FORMER BELIEF: gluten and dairy should be limited for a variety of health reasons.
NEW LESSON: healing with food is way more specific than eliminating large food groups – sometimes it is a certain type of gluten or dairy that can be aggravating, while another type might be healing. It is not always a general cluster of these seemingly “evil” foods.
FORMER BELIEF: healing the gut is mostly related to food and sometimes stress.
NEW LESSON: healing the gut encompasses a variety of components – like my relationship with myself and others, my sleep pattern and lifestyle habits, my subconscious – all of which can be addressed if I am willing to keep revisiting and reworking my patterns. It is all woven together.
FORMER HABIT: lifting my chest really high in my physical yoga practice to stand tall and open.
NEW LESSON: Rodney and Colleen found that I was cramming my upper back, and so I have to rebalance my spine by adjusting that dramatic habit. I learned so much in my 5 days of training with them – some of which I considered and was polished, some of which I was proven otherwise, some of which I had yet to learn. Even though I feel confident in my abilities, it is refreshing to me to recognize that I am first and foremost a student.
There are and will be other lightbulb moments, but the point is that we are not expected to know everything, and we are all forever students of life. My girl Alyson Charles, RockStar Shaman calls it Earth School.
Whatever you study and whatever you call it – keep inquiring, experimenting, enjoy unlearning and relearning the wide range of lessons life has to offer.
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Photo by Renee Choi wearing Hyde organic cotton yoga apparel in Dumbo, Brooklyn.
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