What I love about Ayurveda is that it recognizes 6 stages to the disease process. It’s not until we’re at stage 4 that we manifest disease in a recognizable way. Learning to identify the early signs of illness: general malaise, joint and muscle aches, loss of appetite, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression, hormonal imbalance, chronic digestive issues, skin issues– means we can turn ourselves back towards health and stop the disease process in its tracks.
I was driving in to teach yoga yesterday and heard a report on NPR that the same recommendations that are good for heart health; namely, exercise, right diet, low stress, plenty of sleep, are also the same factors that support brain health. The problem according to the guest who was speaking is that 80% of people don’t follow the guidelines. 80%!!! I was shocked (Certainly it’s not 80% on the west coast and in progressive cities like Seattle)–but I realized that just because we have access to the information and the healthy choices doesn’t mean we practice them, right? I saw this clearly when I was down on the waterfront over the weekend walking and noticed so many unhealthy people. People literally limping around, carrying extra weight, carrying toxicity from poor diet, lifestyle habits and probably the residual of pharmaceutical medications–people who looked inflamed and sick, people in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s…and I knew that so much of that discomfort and pain could be prevented.
We are part of a web of complex interrelationships. Our actions alone do not determine our fate, yet our actions alone are what we have control over, and these very actions have a strong effect on how we will feel in our body-mind organism. We all get exposed to this year’s bugs, but we do not all get sick. Disease runs in our families and we carry these genetic markers, but it is our diet and lifestyle, the epi-genetics, which determine whether a gene expresses.
So…are you one of the 80% who know what to do but don’t do it? Are you someone who never really learned how to take care of your body vehicle? Have you been busy focusing on everyone but you and now dealing with some early signs of imbalance that you want to turn around while there is still time?
Sacred Daily Essentials A 10-week journey into deep well-being:
8 lessons–2 integration weeks–one baby step at a time–with the support of a guide who has been on this path for 3 decades, and with the companionship and support of other motivated individuals. This is not an all-or-nothing approach, but a one-step-at-a-time, sustainable, new-habit building program designed to support you now and far into the future.
Learn to understand the early signs of imbalance in your organism, and how to correct them to stay healthy.
Learn how to eat to support optimal digestion, the heart of ayurvedic self-care.
Understand what’s needed before you can simply “listen to your body.”
Understand the importance of primary nutrition: our healthy relationships with self, and others.
Create a daily practice that supports you at the deepest level, offering you new levels of resilience and ease in relation to Life’s ongoing flow.
Show up for your life: your work, relationships and soul-work with more Presence and vitality.
Go HERE to learn more.
“I learned so much! I have a new framework for viewing myself, my health and my life. The recorded lessons were terrific. I go back to the recorded yoga practices and meditations again and again. Thank you for encouraging us to be loving and gentle with ourselves and introducing the idea of small changes to be successful.” –B.M, Seattle
Ready to get serious about taking better care of yourself? Enroll today HERE!
Sending love your way, Shannon