Ayurveda, the word, means “life wisdom”. We could think of it as wisdom of our own lives. What brings us joy? What challenges us? When we know the answer to these questions, we can maximize those things that bring us joy and minimize our challenges. Sounds ideal, right?
The first step, though, is listening to our bodies and recognizing how we are reacting to the events of our days so we can identify our joys and our challenges. Too often we let the day unfold and react, react, react. By watching our breath, pulse, and focus, we can begin to identify our best of times and our worst of times and make a decision to move from reaction to pro-action. We can finally create the life we dream of.
When we are content, our breath is full and deep. The breath connects the emotions to our physical body and a full deep breath means that we are willing to feel our feelings; this usually happens when our feelings are positive, joyful. When we are challenged or stressed, our breath is shallow, rapid or we may notice more yawning or sighing. This occurs when our emotions are challenging and we’d rather not dip into those if we can avoid it. If we stop to observe our breath, we can begin to identify what is stressing us out and leaving us with challenging emotions, such as, fear, anger, or sadness.
When we are calm, our pulse is slow and steady. The pulse is reflective of the ability of the heart to meet the body’s demand for oxygen. Slow and steady pulse means the body is being taken care of, nourished on a deep level.
When we are challenged or stressed, the pulse rate increases and may become erratic. We may feel anxiety, irritability, or concern and the pulse will reflect our distress. If we stop for a moment to listen to the pulse, we gain wisdom about the state of balance in our physical body.
When we are happy, our thoughts dwell in the present moment. We are willing to invest our time and energy in what is happening, and we often wish we could hold on to these moments forever. When we are challenged or stressed, we dwell in the past or fantasize the future. The past is a memory; we are powerless to change it. But we can mentally revisit the scenes and stir up emotions that can’t be resolved, only felt. We may feel shame or embarrassment over something we’ve done, feel anew the sting of a years old betrayal, or find ourselves longing for some moment that passed.
We can fantasize a future that leaves us feeling inadequate, distrustful, or hopeless in our present moment. Although, they don’t bring happiness, these detours into the past or future become a habitual escape from a present moment that is challenging or stressful.
To address stress, we first recognize what is causing our stress. Once we gain awareness of our breath, pulse, and focus, we can assess our level of contentment or distress. This is when the real work begins. Ayurveda offers insights into addressing our stresses and strengthening our bodies, minds, and emotions so that we can better tolerate stress or challenge. The tools that Ayurveda offers, such as individualized dietary and lifestyle recommendations, result in full and deep breath as we become comfortable with our emotions. The pulse stabilizes since the body is able to deeply nourish itself. The mind and emotions dwell in the present moment, where we have the power to choose, learn, and grow. In this way, our stresses are minimized and those that remain are manageable.
Resource: my beloved mentor of Ayurveda – Mary Thompson