Your health isn’t determined by your ancestors - you can rewrite history! With the right resources, it's entirely possible to turn a seemingly predetermined future into something else. Don't let genetics keep you from achieving wellness goals this year; don't give up just yet on that New Year's resolution after all!
A Vision of Healing Through The Eyes of A Child
I was just a girl when I became aware of the tragedy around me. Every time I landed in India to visit family, another matriarch or patriarch would succumb to the long-term effects of diabetes. As a young child, I put a stake in the ground. I decided that under no circumstances would I be destined to carry forward the horrible family history of disease and devastation I saw unfolding in front of me. I would not accept such doom as my fate.
Though young at the time, I made it my mission to find a solution and reverse the diseases that ravaged my family - once and for all. Since childhood, I have researched diabetes, constantly trying to discover how to beat this troublesome adversary. Now, modern science has finally shown us the path to victory. We now know that we can turn the ship around and reverse this condition (and others like it) through our gut microbiome and by reducing inflammation, focusing on weight management, exercising regularly, and creating a healthy lifestyle. We have answers.
The Magic of Modern Science & Ancient Wisdom
After twenty years of intense study, I have discovered a secret formula for improving health outcomes. The magic lies in the interplay between what modern science tells us is a healthy lifestyle and the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda. This is the game-changer. The fusion of modern scientific knowledge with ancient wisdom from Ayurveda (including focuses on our circadian rhythm, our Dosha, our digestive fire, and the Sattwic lifestyle) can revolutionize our health trajectory.
These days, people will try anything to biohack their way to health. The truth is that all these "biohacking" diets and lifestyle formulas are nothing but rat races. They keep us spinning in circles, looking for the answer but never finding it. We don't need any more rat races. We need real, sustainable change.
It's Time To Change
Something is broken within us. To start a healthier journey together, we need to change our language, terminology, understanding of the self, and perspective on how we navigate self-care daily. We must change our mindset on what is possible for our health, vibrancy, and abilities in this lifetime.
So often, people resign themselves to their bodies and their current health trajectory. This saddens me deeply. It can be different - you are not resigned to keep moving in the direction your body seems to be moving. You can make a change and move in the direction of holistic health.
Forge a new path! Choose a new way of being that is entirely yours and design a life around the health you crave. Begin to build a path to becoming the person you want to be. You can have the vibrancy you desire - to look and feel the way you want to. It just takes making one step at a time.
The societal pressures that women feel to fit within a specific mold should not affect how we choose to manage our health and bodies. Instead, we must each choose to design our health based on the energy levels we desire, the vibrancy and glow we want to have, and how youthful we want to feel throughout the decades.
You and I - we have a unique opportunity in the modern world to completely transform our bodies and experience good health, a sound mind, steady energy levels, and a full spirit.
- We are starved, and yet we are gorging.
- We are in pain, yet we hold the panacea.
- We are struggling, yet the solution is just around the corner.
We are fighting internally - a war is ravaging us from the inside out when if we would only look in front of us, we would find the way to peace.
Putting Out The Fire
Inflammation at all levels is our number one enemy in this war, yet we keep our heads in the sand. We tend to ignore the signs as they come and justify our symptoms as the cost of aging. We are willing to sacrifice our long-term health for one more bite, one more experience we just can't deny. And so we become sluggish, tired, irritable, filled with pain, lethargic, and unsatisfied.
Inflammation is ravaging our bodies - brain, gut, joints, organs, skin, and more - yet because we can't see it, we choose not to address it. We continue to ignore this enemy until we can't put out the fire.
The truth is - we know better. When our children experience pain or discomfort, we will not rest until we find and neutralize the culprit. When it comes to our own bodies, we are much less courageous. We rationalize the pain away. We ignore it and add it to the list of unresolved aches and pains.
We don't just stuff away our physical symptoms, either. We shove down our feelings, thoughts, emotions, and internal suffering. These issues are enormous alarms that ought to alert us to the fact that something is going on underneath the surface.
There is a root to all this pain; we simply do not value ourselves enough to take a closer look. We do not prioritize ourselves or our health. I am not condemning us for this reality. It's in our nature. Women are nurturers - we are trained to take care of everybody else first. I get it. That was me. That was my story, too.
After many years of living this sacrificial lifestyle, I finally learned to take the spotlight and point it back to myself. In doing so, I learned a profound lesson. When I shine that spotlight on myself and focus inward - I begin to rise. I become incandescent and radiate so much more vibrancy, joy, optimal health, and energy. I become limitless.
It is counterintuitive - but focusing on our own journey and our own self-care allows us to serve others better. I saw this to be true in my own life. As I saw my joy overflow and my limits start to fade, I was unleashed as a powerful force in the world. I became a better entrepreneur, a better mother, a better daughter, a better wife, a better daughter-in-law, a better friend - a better everything to everyone.
If so, then take my hand. I'm here to guide you step-by-step on this path through the forest into Mother Earth, where you will learn how to dance with Mother Earth, with nature's cycles, with your cycles, your circadian rhythm, and your Dosha. In this great dance, you will find an entirely new you. Living the Ayurveda lifestyle may be simple - but it is deeply profound.
I will give you three simple tools from Ayurvedic wisdom that make it incredibly easy to start the journey.
Step 1: Daily Tongue Scraping
Use a copper tongue scraper to gently scrape the tongue in the morning 7-14 times. This habit will detox all the organs of the body. It will also ignite the digestive fire, which helps to reduce inflammation and lymphatic congestion in the system. This is a holistic practice to help your body overall.
Step 2: Start Using Curcumin
Take a potent curcumin supplement to start reducing your inflammation right now. We are all inflamed; I've never met anyone for whom this isn't true. Take Turmeric Gold or Inflammation Relief and start the journey of actively reducing inflammation in your body daily. You will be shocked at the transformations that starts happening once your inflammation goes down.
Step 3: Create Anchor Points
Build three anchor points throughout your day - timeslots where you take 15 minutes and do nothing. Nothing at all. I call it "Tea Time = Me Time." Sometimes I call it "Collecting Peace." Scientifically, this is taking us out of the sympathetic nervous system and into the parasympathetic nervous system, which is key for the body to rest, digest, repair, and heal. We MUST take ourselves out of the fight or flight mode modern-day society pushes for us to be in if we want to regain optimal health.
I make it my practice to set aside these small timeslots and actively anchor them into my day. These are the moments I ask myself essential questions like:
How do I feel right now?
What have I eaten today?
When is my next meal?
Does my schedule leave adequate margin time for meals, hydration, supplements, and rest?
Is my schedule reasonable?
Am I overbooked?
Is there anything bothering me internally?
By directing my thoughts inward and evaluating these questions, I give myself room to breathe. I answer these questions honestly and then make adjustments as necessary. Sometimes we are overzealous and become overcommitted in our lives. We must allow our intuition to guide us to prioritize our health and remind us that we matter, too.
In Conclusion
These are three simple ways to kickstart your journey to Ayurveda. Every one of us is unique, with different needs and different health journeys. I invite you to dive deeper into your unique mind-body constitution (dosha) so that you can enjoy better balance throughout the year and the seasons.
You can use my custom-made DOSHA quiz to help you better understand yourself. As we embark together into the next season of life, I invite you to choose yourself, choose your health, prioritize your self-care, and build your life piece by piece in a way that supports you. Don't we all crave that energy we used to have - whether it was 5, 10, 20, or 30 years ago? This is why I teach Ayurveda, it holds the golden keys we have been seeking.
Vibrant health requires an investment in preventative healthcare for total longevity. It means my body feels and looks beautiful at this stage of my life; it means I feel strong and able to do anything I choose to do. It means my brain is firing on all cylinders to be the entrepreneur and Legacy Creator I am.
It means I have the vibrant energy necessary to accomplish everything I set out to achieve and bring my total energy to every endeavor I embark upon. It means I hold the energy and love I need to be the best mother, wife, sister, friend, and practitioner I choose to be for everyone I care about and engage with. This is true wealth. To be rich in energy, joy, happiness, ability, strength, and freedom. This holistic, vibrant health - this is what it means to be truly rich.
The question is - how do you measure vibrant health in your own life, and how are you positioning yourself to make that a reality today?
