WEEK THIRTY SEVEN - LEARNING ABOUT HEALTH, AYURVEDA STYLE

Chanting Brings Joy!

It seems so long ago that I came for my first 1 week experience at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat to attend the Ayurveda Conference last year.  I recall being very leery of the chanting and seemingly strange, joyous nature of those who were chanting. I've come a long way since that momentous trip.

The 3rd annual Ayurveda Conference was held this past week, with interesting presentations and workshops.

Starting with gratitude is key for me, as I am grateful for even knowing about Ayurveda and for the guidance I am receiving from KP Khalsa  and the herbal supplement support from Banyan Botanicals, while I am on this year long journey, living an Ayurvedic-Yogic lifestyle.

A very interesting presenter, Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, Ayurvedic Medicine MD and best selling author of The Hot Belly Diet and a number of other books, summed up the difference between Modern/Western Medicine and Ayurveda.

"Modern medicine focuses on and knows a lot about disease, but they know much less about health."

Modern medicine relies on chemistry, trying to figure out the cause and cure after lab tests show problems.  The solution of modern medicine is also most often chemical compounds known as pharmaceutical drugs.

Ayurveda relies on energy flow and uses signals from the body to predict what could happen based on the signs.  Foods and natural herbal remedies, combined with yoga practice are solutions to continued good health, based on a balanced lifestyle.

The presenters acknowledged that in the past few years, there has been a shift worldwide, to a discussion of health.

In typical U.S. style, however, the shift to health brought a proliferation of gadgets to monitor heart rate, calories burned, what foods can be consumed with the monitored calories burned, etc.  

We were reminded by the experts from the Ayurveda Conference, that Mindfulness, a proven practice for improving health, is about connecting to your inner self, not connecting to data output from a smart phone or monitor. 

The words health, heal and holy all come from the same root word.  Interesting, huh?

Without any gadgets, the body regularly sends signals to us - that we often ignore. The more balanced we are, the stronger the signals will be and the easier they are to follow.  

The longer that signals are ignored, the likelihood of disease occurring increases.  

We learned that 80% of ALL CHRONIC DISEASE - think diabetes, cancer, heart failure, obesity - CAN BE PREVENTED and CAN BE REVERSED.

Dr. Kshirsagar used humor throughout his talks and one of the fun  phrases he used,
"For Fast Acting Relief..............Try Slowing Down."

Another one from him......"Eat late to Gain Weight."  He described that 71% of Americans eat late and that the evening meal is the largest meal of the day.  He encouraged us to consume 70% of our daily calories by mid-day, to allow for the best digestion and good health.

Dr. Kevin Spelman, PhD molecular biologist, spoke about the body as energy and an information field.  

He explained that genes are NOT determined.  He showed that we can change the brain structure, which in turn, transforms genetic expressions.  His talk on DNA was fascinating.

One of my favorite lines from the week was "The body is a Process - Not - a structure. "

I feel that this concept describes my experience well.  I can feel the evolution, and it is more than change to my physical structure.  

My being is transforming and I'm relearning balanced, healthier patterns that are somehow familiar, while so different than the lifestyle I've led for much of my life.  No regrets, and my life and lifestyle have provided me with much joy and many life lessons. 

Today is what I am focused on and living with gratitude, love and joy!

Sending You Love from the Bahamas.
Thank you for taking this journey with me!  May you be a Happy Human too!

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