REDISCOVERING AYURVEDA
Rediscovering Ayurveda is Amrutam’s series of blogs which will include various men and women and their ideas about Ayurveda. Even though, India is the birthplace of Ayurveda, with passing time it has lost its original importance as a school of life amongst Indians and many a time have been limited to be referred as a school of medicine. Ayurveda is surely much more than that.
So, we at Amrutam decided to go out and find what Ayurveda means to people in the present day.
This is the tenth article in Amrutam’s series of articles called Rediscovering Ayurveda, which aims to understand the idea or perception that modern-day men and women carry about Ayurveda.
REDISCOVERING AYURVEDA WITH MARIA GONZALEZ
Maria Gonzalez hails from Bogotá, capital of Colombia. She is a traveller and loves to explore different cultures. So far, she has travelled to more than 26 countries in America, South America, Europe and Asia.
Lina is a transpersonal psychologist, a yoga teacher and an Ayurveda enthusiast.
To add to the feathers on her shoulder, she also runs women circles to work on female awakening and female empowerment.
Here are Lina’s thoughts about Ayurveda
#REDISCOVERINGAYURVEDA
WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF AYURVEDA?
Lina believes that Ayurveda is all about balance, to synchronize your mind-body-soul with nature.
She says
“For me, Ayurveda is one of the oldest traditional medicines in the world. It understands the body with the idea of 3 main energies, Pita, Kapha and Vata which according to our stage in life and habits we will have one or 2 more predominant than the others. But the main goal in Ayurveda is to create a balance, so the reason why we get sick is that we have a disbalance on some of them. For me, Ayurveda is also an invitation to re-connect with nature, with the regular cycles of it.”
HOW DID YOUR JOURNEY WITH AYURVEDA BEGIN?
Lina’s journey with Ayurveda began with her curiosity to learn about the alternative systems of medicine.
“It began a few years when I started reading about alternative medicines. I have been always interested in India and its culture, and one day I came across Ayurveda, and I started to look if I could find a Doctor in my city (Bogotá, Colombia, South America) I did it, and I went to an introductory class about Food in Ayurveda and how according to our constitution and our doshas we can find a proper diet. Later on, I went to India to study an advanced yoga teachers training at The Yoga Institute, Mumbai and I learned much more about Ayurveda, how this is part of a Yogic life and how holistic is it.
A few months later at the beginning of this year, I went to Poonthottam, an ashram in Kerala where I was under treatment and medical care with panchakarma and Ayurveda medicine. I spent a month there, cleaning and balancing all my doshas, as a result of it and also a few years of personal work and could get ride off my insuline resistance and polycystic ovaries, (2 diagnoses that all allopathic doctors used to say, are going to be lifelong diseases).
So, as a personal testimony, I can say that this Ayurveda- as a system of medicine, works. ”
WHAT ARE YOUR TWO FAVORITE HEALTHY HABITS?
Interestingly, Lina suggests that one should avoid drinking water while having their meals.
Let’s read about Lina’s favorite healthy habits.
“My two favorite healthy habits include practicing yoga or going for a walk in the morning as a first thing before having my breakfast, this depends on the weather because it rains quite frequently in Bogota.
The second favorite healthy habit is to avoid drinking water while I’m having a meal, it really helps with digestion.”
WHAT IS YOUR DAILY HEALTH ROUTINE?
“Usually I wake up around 6:30 – 7:00 am then I do Jala neti which I learned during my TTC in India, and has been very useful. Then I have my morning practice (either Yoga or a Walk or both if possible) then I have breakfast which is typically includes some seasonal fruits, oats/granola/ dry fruits and some yoghurt, then in beetween meals I love to drink herbal or frutal infusions to keep the heat/fire on my stomach. Then for lunch, I follow a vegetarian diet which has to have always some grain (protein), salad, veggies and what I cannot miss as a Colombian, some rice (preferably brown rice).
During the day my goal is to drink 2 litres of water, I do this in between meals avoiding to have it to close to the time of my next meal.
By night I usually eat something light, then before going to sleep, to keep my memory working I take 5 minutes of my time to remember what I did during the day, since the morning until the time I go to sleep. I try to go to bed by 10-11 PM not later than that so I can keep my energy at a good level for the next day.”
HOW DO YOU THINK AWARENESS REGARDING AYURVEDA CAN BE INCREASED?
Lina believes that it is Ayurveda’s tie with Nature which can help us generate awareness regarding Ayurveda.
“Day by day I feel people are becoming more aware about approaching sickness as a whole thing, I mean, people are realizing that medicine is not an isolated science, that is not just by talking pills that we can cure our body, we need to also interacting in a more organic way with what surrounds us, mother earth. We need to listen to our body needs, and this just happens when we silence our thoughts and we listen to what is happening with us. Ayurveda offers an easy, practical and efficient way to heal.”
WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE FOR ALL AYURVEDA, SPIRITUAL, YOGA AND HEALTHY LIVING ENTHUSIASTS?
Here is a beautiful message from Lina, for all of you
“Keep working on listening to what’s that really matters to you, what’s that moves your heart, because I believe the more you know yourself, the better you can address any type of difficulty.
I’m not saying problems are not going to be there but when we are aware of who we are, where we are and what and why things are happening, we can embrace those lessons.
I have learnt during my life that the most difficult lessons/people/sickness are the greatest masters in life, as I said before, we just need to quite our thoughts and hear what that particular situation/person/sickness has come to teach us.”
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