HeyMonicaB

Hey! So, after reading part 1, you already know that mistaken intellect is the first stage in the disease process. Mistaken intellect (making wrong choices) can be anything; not doing your daily exercise, drinking lots of alcohol, eating too much, eating the wrong foods., smoking, etc., So now you might be wondering, “Ok great. So how to I help myself make the right decisions?” The goal is to move to a more sattvic state of mind…”Ok great. What’s sattvic!?” I will tell you…

There are three primal qualities in our consciousness: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. I will sum each of these up so that you have a quick idea of each. In a nutshell, Sattva is your purity of thought and right action. It is your intelligence, the way you create harmony and balance within yourself and the world around you. Rajas is responsible for creating turbulence, stimulation and transformation. It’s the goal-setting, out-reaching, ego-satisfying traits, where the desires of our egos is top priority (too much of it creates an unhappy ego maniac). Tamas is darkness, heaviness, ignorance, lack of awareness, depression and nervousness. It is the energy of disintegration, death and decay (Don’t worry, if you were tamasic you would not be open-minded enough to read a blog about Ayurveda).

Among the three, imbalanced rajas and tamas may lead to disease (Sattva never causes disease because it is pure). So the goal is to bring more sattvic qualities into our lives. Why? Because the healthier our mind, the healthier our body and spirit. If there is too much rajas, you might strive and strive and strive until you get what your ego thinks is “top-notch,” but still may never be satisfied, so you strive some more and then end up with stress-related health problems. Too much tamas would be having addictions, severe psychological problems, suicidal tendencies, hatefulness, vindictiveness, and intense attachment to pleasure and material things.

SO! To raise sattvic levels in our mind, body and spirits, I offer the following tips:

• Start with nutrition!
Sattvic foods: milk, rice, fresh and seasonal veggies and fruits, ghee
Rajasic foods: coffee, meat, eggs, garlic, onion, spicy foods, cheese
Tamasic foods: anything fried, stale or processed foods, refined sugars, tomatoes (don’t ask me why, it’s
what the authorities say), alcohol, frozen foods, fast food
• Surround yourself with positive and loving people
• Be at the level of your Buddhi (pure wisdom) and really focus inward toward truth. For example, you know you are full, so why have a second helping? You know you should get up early to do your exercise, but you choose to sleep in. Use your BUDDHI (love saying that) to keep yourself on track!
• Do Pranayama and meditation. These directly channels and nourishes the mind to increase sattva.

Desire can result in suffering. It is ego-driven, a disconnect from the whole, true self.

Desiring something means we always want something more. For example if we want to travel more (work less), we need more money, so then we have to work more…see that? Because we always want more. That’s a mini example of an endless cycle we might put ourselves through. Detach and be grateful for what your life is NOW. Life is a journey, not a race to the finish…cause at the end, you’re dead. And you take nothing with you.

The 3rd of the five senses is the sense of touch. If you haven’t read the first or the second senses, you may want to check those out first.

Our skin is our largest organ. It is both our buffer, our receptor and our absorber of the outside world. Whatever touches it, touches our heart, our mind and signals (good or bad) are sent to our entire being. It is no wonder then that we spend plenty of money for an hour or even better, a 90 minute massage. It’s a luxury for us because we are rarely touched or pampered like that. Touch is connected to vayu (vata, air and space) and the heart chakra, so it makes complete sense that this massage is the most nourishing therapy in Ayurveda. The warm oil brings grounding to the chilly air and space of vata and since vata is connected to the skin, this therapy makes sense.

When babies cry, we pick them up, hold them, rock them so that they feel safe and comforted. Well, I suppose it’s no new news (maybe just forgotten) that adults need the same thing! Have you ever hugged someone and they say, “oh, I needed that!” or you hug someone who’s having a rough time and they begin to cry? It’s because we’ve touched their hearts through the sense of touch. We may not notice how needed touch is until we get an unexpected hug or massage and remember how good it feels.

There are also nifty little things called srotas, which are subtle channels running through our bodies from head to toe. And through massage, we can help improve flow through the srotas, which affects ALL mind, body and soul. Since our skin is our body covering it is imperative that it gets just as much attention and nourishment as our insides.

When I get stressed out at work my manager sometimes puts her hand on my arm or shoulder. That simple gesture is so calming and helps me remember that I’m not alone in my problem. I recommend that to really connect with people (when appropriate), remember the sense of touch. If someone is telling you a secret, maybe grab their hand across the table so they know you are empathetic. A good “pat on the back” let’s someone know you are proud of them. A little rub on the upper back helps to relieve tension and conveys support for the other.

There are tons of ways you can lightly (not creepily) convey your feelings, thoughts and emotions through touch. So be creative and sincere.

A super simple recommedation is to give more hugs. Hugs don’t cost anything and a hug can change yours or someone else’s entire mood for the day. You directly connect to someone else’s heart energy. So give them freely and often to open your heart, and those around you.

I have been thinking a lot about “stuff.” Like material stuff. Especially recently since the economy sucks and most of us have lost money in some way or another. And the most recent fires in LA causing people (even celebrities) to have to leave their homes. And what I realize is:

And that’s it. Celebrity or not, we are all energy beings who leave positive footprints in this lifetime, or not. So make sure you are happy with YOU. Because at any moment your “stuff” can be taken away from you. What sort of slapped me in the face over the past few months is how grateful I am for my loved ones (that includes friends and pets!) and their health. Those are the FIRST things to come to mind. Anyone who has had cancer in their family will tell you the same.

While there is weirdness in the world, and while you may be losing some “stuff,” you have not lost you. It always helps to come from a place of gratitude when dealing with being in a funky spot. If you want to really get to the root of what is important, run through a list of all the things you are grateful for. I bet you will find it has more to do with humanity than material things.

Something, anything can take your “stuff” and wipe you completely dry. When it’s all said and done, look in the mirror and make sure you are in love with YOU. I am. Yeah!

If you are beginning to look at your nutrition in a different way, below are some Ayurvedic nutrition guidelines. The guidelines have a lot to do with how you eat, not just what you eat – how you put into your body is just as important as what you put into your body. And as always, in Ayurveda nutrition is not generalized, it is personalized, so you will have to pay attention to what your body needs.

Eat according to your constitution. Not all foods are good for all constitutions. Bananas are great for vata, not at all for kapha. So know what your body can digest. I will go into detail in future nutrition segments, but for now see, vata, pitta, kapha

Follow the daily routine: light breakfast, big lunch, light dinner

Eat what’s in season. Seasonal vegtables and fruits are best, because it’s natural for them at this time of year…therefore it’s natural for us too. Macrocosm & microcosm.

Altogether avoid stale foods and processed foods. If you eat foods that are close to the source, you will take in more prana (life!). Lifeless foods equals lifeless nutrition.

Avoid ice or very cold water. It clogs channels and weakens our agni

Small sips of water with meal. Putting in too much water at meal time will weaken agni too. Sip water with your meal and then about an hour later have more water if you’re thirsty.

Fill the stomach only 3/4 full. 1/2 with food, 1/4 with liquid and leave 1/4 for space so the food can mix and digest. Overeating causes so many diseases because the body cannot digest all the food we put in there!

Don’t eat unless you have real hunger. If you are not hungry when it’s mealtime, then skip it. Your body is telling you that it is not done processing the last meal. In Ayurveda it’s OK to skip meals when you are not hungry.

Chew well. Pay attention to the food in your mouth. Chewing is the very first stage of digestion…teeth and saliva! Teeth break down food and send it on it’s merry way to the stomach. Please make it easy on your stomach and chew the food (32 times if you want to know!).

Not too much salt. It will increase your desire for more food, which can lead to overeating. Salt is yummy to our tongues so it will cause us to want more food than we need.

Be mindful. Focus on your meal and be mindful about eating. How often do you munch without realizing it? Putting your mind in your eating habits will help you realize real hunger and real fullness.

Don’t multitask and eat. How can your mind be in your food if you are doing 18 other things?

Feed someone else before feeding yourself. Even if it’s your dog.

Eat with a proper state of mind and bless your food. Gratitude is the quickest way to a healthy mind. Be thankful for the food you are eating and give it a quick, sincere blessing of thanks.

HOHkay. The nutrition talk (write) is long overdue. Let it begin.

Ayurveda looks at nutrition in a different way than we do in the western world. Ayurveda looks at eating as a ritual that not only nourishes the body, but nourishes the mind and soul too. It is said that 90% of all disease comes from wrong diet and wrong eating rituals. In Ayurveda food is our medicine. It provides the building blocks to nourish and replenish the dhatus (tissues) which make up our entire physical foundation.

One of the main differences between western nutrition and Ayurveda are calories. The don’t exist in Ayurveda! Rather we focus on the elements that are present in the foods we eat. Are they balancing or imbalancing to our prakruti (unique makeup of doshas)? How we DIGEST the food is the main concern in Ayurveda.

Some of the differences between our conventional view of nutrition and the Ayurvedic viewpoint are below:

There is lots and lots to discuss in the way of Ayurvedic nutrition. This is just the beginning, so I welcome you on a fabulous journey of learning about the food that will give you a healthy mind, body and soul.

When tears flow from the inside corners of our eyes, those come from a bitter place. Those tears are usually when we are angry or maybe resentful.

When tears flow from the outside corners of our eyes, those have more sweetness and are because of compassion, joy or grief.

One thing I learned in a seminar at the NAMA conference is that we have way too much salt in our diet. Basically salt’s job is to compel us to take in more nutrients by making food tasty. But we have to be careful because that can easily result in overeating and weight gain.

Here’s what happens…salt increases desire in our sense of taste to such a level, that we just want more. We will go back for extra helpings even if we are no longer hungry, which results in overeating, weight gain and the accumulation of ama (undigested food, toxic).

Salt increases desire and sense of taste to such a level that our egos attach to the senses rather than to our soul. Because we are satisfying our desires rather than our souls, our ego says, “That was so good, give me more.” And then we get stuck in just satisfying our desires, over and over. Hm. Not a great path to be on according to Ayurveda.

However, once excess salt is cut out of the diet, we stop going back for 2nd or 3rds because our bodies will be satisfied rather than our tongues wanting more salt. We become more satisfied with less and therefore weight is more likely to decrease and go back to it’s natural state.

So basically, we want the food to be pleasing, but not so overly tasty that we can’t control ourselves. Rather than salting, seasoning food with spices is the better way to go.

One cool thing about salt is that it reduces fear! For those with high anxiety, sometimes a salt lick helps.

(obviously nutrition is a HUGE part of life balancing because what you take in governs the body, mind and spirit. I am nervous and shy in starting to write about nutrition because there is so much. I ask for courage to start…because you all deserve to know about it)

All disease starts with a disconnect of the spirit.

HEY! We got a new president!! So, did you feel the energy shift tonight? Finally a sense of pride and renewed energy filled our country. If you watched the coverage you could see the faces…so many hopeful faces…streaming with happy tears…hands clasped as if a miracle just took place. In the thousands we saw faces in awe, faces full of hope, and faces looking for leadership.

THAT is spirit. When we talk about our spirit as being part of our health, a perfect example is the shift we felt tonight. Because when this shift is felt on a national level, it is impossible not to notice. With such a surge of positive spirit and energy flowing around the country, things will change. Not only because we have a new leader, but simply because so many people BELIEVE that change is possible.

That is energy and spirit. And if you have a hard time grasping exactly what “spirit” is in the vein of Ayurveda, think of tonight as a reference.

Don’t know about you but I’m SO excited.

I am taking a Pilates Mat course to aquire the required CEC’S (continuing ed.) to keep my ACE certification (personal training). And I had NO idea that the foundation of Pilates is the connection of body and mind to balance the physical body! I’d never considered Pilates because I have always done yoga. But I had no idea that the philosophies were so similar – in fact, I thought Pilates skipped the “mind” part of the exercise and that’s why there seems to be a mini rivalry between yoga and pilates. But not true (now I have no idea why the mini rivalry…maybe I will learn the differences as I go).

In fact, the more I read, the more I thought, “It’s too bad Mr. Pilates didn’t know about Ayurveda! He would dig it.”

So in my little Pilates booklet, there was an interesting blurb that said, “The body is designed as an ‘interlocking chain’ and any structural misalignment or imbalance will then create misalignments and imbalances in other areas of the body.”

Um, Yeaa-uh!! I was so glad to read this because that’s what happens! So, keep that little blurb in mind. One thing affects the other in our minds, bodies, and souls. Just like an interlocking chain or like a freeway system. If there is an accident on the freeway, the whole things stops, then traffic gets rerouted, and  side streets get jammed causing heaviness there. The coggs are all messed up. Same happens in our bodies.

By making right choices we can keep the coggs to a minimum. It all starts with the mind, then the body follows suit. Even Mr. Pilates agrees!

Hey, this is part 3 ofThe Five Senses. If you haven’t already, you may want to check out the senses and part 1 first.

We see. Our eyes are the observers of the world around us. We see colors, movement, pretty things and ugly things. The eyes are governed by light which relates to fire and therefore our eyes are governed by Pitta. When our eyes are red, sticky, itchy or agitated it is usually because there is too much light and too much heat – like a computer screen! I know my eyes get sticky and a little blood shot (blood also is governed by pitta!) by the end of the my work day when I’m done computering. When we’re out in the sun all day our eyes can get itchy and red too.

While we realize how important our eyes are, we might not be aware of how we feel based on what we see. Example: If your living room window looked over the neighbors backyard and it was full of junk (old row boat, rusty tools, a litter box, a trashy broken bike, strewn garbage, a blow up swimming pool with moldy water in it…) would it bug you? Would you want to look out that window? Maybe you would cover up the window so you wouldn’t have to look at it? Now in contrast, what if you had a living room that looked over the San Francisco Bay with sparkley water, a bridge, mountains, and twinkly lights at night from boats passing by. Would you want to look out that window? MMMhm! You might leave the window open to the view all the time!

Did you notice any tension change in your body when you read these two scenarios? That’s what I’m talkin about. When we live in a place that is pretty, set out a favorite photograph, or buy flowers, we feel good. Because it looks nice! If we live in clutter, darkness or disorganization we might feel stressed, uneasy or depressed. Because it looks like crud. So we feel like crud.

Our eyes absorb so much and it really affects our mind our bodies and our spirits. There are a few things that we can do to keep our eyes happy:

• Focus our gaze on a candle or fireplace (great for pitta eyes!!)
• Rub ghee on bottoms of feet (feet are the action organ for the eyes). Very soothing.
• Take short breaks during the day to look at the sky or nature
• Eye exercises in the a.m. (clockwise, Repeat 10x. counterclockwise, Repeat 10x)
• Take out contact lenses at night!
• Wear an eye mask if there are bright lights at night (and get your mate to turn off the tv at bedtime. bad.)
• Keep yourself beautifully organized. Free of clutter.

When we keep our eyes filled with beauty and organization, our mind will follow suit. It will remain organized and focused on the tasks at hand. There is nothing worse than to have wandering eyes, which triggers the mind, which then creates additional tasks for us. I’m telling you, too many times during my yoga practice I’ve stopped to sweep up dust bunnies. That might also have to do with my vata vikruti (imbalance)…but that’s another post.

May your eyes get good rest tonight. Namasté.

Anatomically the heart takes care of itself before it gives to the rest of the body. Just as we have to make sure we take care of ourselves first. When we choose to give, may it be from unconditional love, not out of the expectation of others.

What are the true wishes of our heart? Are they true? What if they came true?

Live from the true wishes in your heart. That is health.

Dude. This weekend I found out that thyroid problems are caused by suppressed emotions! Arrrrgg! I’ve had hypothyroidism since I was 14ish and I know a ton of other woman who have it too. I always wondered what caused it and why it was so common. Now I know.

The thyroid is the 5th chakra which is our expression of self. Any amount of stifling our expression or emotions could cause a thyroid imbalance. Same with TMG. It’s lockjaw and it happens when we cannot speak the truth. I have that too. I thought it was just from gritting my teeth when I was playing soccer. Rats. Totally internal and emotional stuff.

Reminds me of a story too. Last December, a dear friend of mine had a large growth under her chin on the side of her neck. It had manifested in only three months. After she had the surgery, she found out the thing weighed 2 lbs!! I noticed it was in her 5th chakra and I asked if there was something she wasn’t talking about or expressing. She said, “Actually yeah, I’m really upset with my mom and haven’t talked to her in 3 months.” Wow!! I was so sad for my friend not only for the surgery, but because of what she hadn’t spoken about…it just lived inside her until it was too big for her to ignore.

THE BODY IS THE SILENT COMMUNICATOR OF THE SPIRIT
If we learn to listen to it when it whispers, we won’t ever have to hear it shout.

One of my favorite sayings in Ayurveda.

“AS WITHIN, SO WITHOUT”

We tend to concentrate on how we look rather than how we feel. But that’s a bit backwards. We cannot make ourselves look good on the outside if our insides are unhappy (mentally, physically or spiritually). Our inner health radiates to our outsides. So if we feel good, we look good!

Hey hey! I’m at the NAMA (National Ayurvedic Medicine Association) conference in Chicago. There are so many faces here that I normally only see on my text books (cause they’ve written them). What a trip! When I saw Dr. Lad in the hallway, I tried to tell my friend Rose but I couldn’t get out any words…not even a whisper. I feel so priviledged and fortunate that I am able to listen and learn from these grand teachers of Ayurveda. I can’t even really express my gratitude. I am so so lucky.

The coolest thing is that I hope to meet a ton of great practitioners nationwide and then I will put them on HeyMonicaB so YOU can see them all. And then you can recommend them to your friends, family and maybe you will even see one someday. Then hopefully you will realize Ayurveda is spreading everywhere and perhaps you might even go see one of these practitioners or counselors someday. Then when your life balance is improved ten-fold you will be a fan of Ayurveda and maybe you’ll tell some friends…

And there ya go…Ayurveda spreads! That’s my goal anyway.

For now I’m going to just enjoy learning and meeting cool people. I’ll fill you in on what I learn. I’m sure there will be plenty of goodies to share!

Hey. Did you know soy is 99% genetically modified? I know it’s being touted as a substitute for milk, protein, and grains but in most cases it doesn’t go through the detoxification process, so in a sense we are eating…toxins. I just wanted to bring this to your attention. If you have soy as part of your diet, you may want to read this article from SF Gate a couple years back.

From the article

On the contrary, in Ayurveda we DO say, “food is our medicine.” I love this saying which came from one of my teachers, “If we are eating the right foods, why would we need medicine? And if we are not eating the right foods, what good with the medicine do?”

I had NO idea the effects of garlic on a kapha until I witnessed it with my own tiny eyes tonight. They dance!! The kaphas, they dance for garlic!

My boyfriend (kapha-pitta) and I were making veggies stir-fry-like on the stove and I threw in some roasted garlic. His eyes opened up wide. Then he quickly grabbed the container out of my hand, dumped some garlic in his palm, threw it in his mouth and immediately started dancing. All around the kitchen. I don’t think I’ve ever seen his feet leave the ground while standing before! Below is the picture of the beloved garlic, taken by noneother than the belover, George Szakall.

THAT is a perfect example as to how tastes and spices can immediately change the energy of a person. What the garlic did was add immediate heat, spice and yummy flavor to an otherwise heavy, dense palate. It boosted the heavy energy of kapha and it physically got him moving. Another example is if you give a vata person warm, creamy soup with a piece of french bread and butter. The will feel so comforted, grounded and satisfied. An example of happy pitta food is a nice bowl of fresh fruit or a sweet treat at the end of their meal. The sweets help cool down the pitta and balance out their “spicy” nature.

If you want to change your body, you must first change your mind. Mistaken intellect is the first stage of disease! Whoa. Yep. Read it again. Mistaken intellect is the first stage of disease.

Think about it. Our health is based on every decision we make. Our bodies don’t act on their own. So, we may have cravings or desires, but these urges come from our mind. The key is to use our buddhi – our deep inner wisdom – to govern our bodies.

Our minds make our decisions whether helpful or counterintuitive for our bodies. We choose to have alcohol even though it may give a hangover. Nobody forces us to drink it. We might be prone to heart burn but choose to eat chips and salsa, anyway. Then when we get the heart burn, we take a pepcid to fix the symptom because we are uncomfortable. The kicker is that it’s our own fault!! We KNEW chips and salsa would have that effect and we chose to do it anyway. Just as we KNEW alcohol would give a hangover.

This is what I’m talking about. These are simple examples, but how many times have you heard people say, “I have to exercise more.” “I need to eat better.” “I need to quit smoking.” “I wish I didn’t spend so much money.” ALL of these things are because we choose them. That might be hard to read, but it’s true.

The BEST news of all of this is that…YOU choose. It’s up to you! You have the power to choose wisely and healthfully or to choose substances and lifestyles that are imbalancing. USE YOUR BUDDHI! Never forget that phrase. I use it a lot when I am making decisions. I wanted a beer tonight and I said, “No, you have to study and write in your blog. Beer will make you sleepy, so skip it.” I skipped the beer and I’m glad I did.

This is the first part of The Mind. Coming up are the three qualities of the mind (sattvic, rajas, tamas) which determine how willing you are to use your wisdom. I have tips to move you up the totem pole of willingness (if you are unwilling, you would not be reading this blog. see how that works?). So we’ll go through some stages of the mind together and see if we can tap into that BUDDHI (that’s fun to write and even more fun to say) that is waiting to blossom.