Ayurveda, the sister science to Yoga, can be wonderfully easy in application because it is based on common sense ideas, however, it can also be tricky to identify which doshas need treating. This Axis YTT student’s Ayurveda experiment took some adjusting to find the right balance.
Ayurveda is a completely new form of natural healing for me. I am familiar with other types, but prior to Axis Yoga Teacher Training I had never even heard of Ayurveda. With that said, I had a hard time deciding what parts to try for this experiment. Ayurveda is so involved and overwhelming at first. I took two different tests that both told me my dosha is vata … extremely vata, with just the tiniest pinch of pitta and no kapha at all. I figured if two tests say that, I must at least be mostly vata.
With vata in mind as my dosha I decided to try to do something about my dry skin and the fact that I am cold all the time. I chose to oil my entire body with sesame oil 15 minuets prior to every shower and use it nightly on my arms, hands, feet and legs. I also have trouble with my feet turning into ice cycles before bedtime, so I bought a blowup footbath that I filled with hot water and a bit of oil to soak in before bed. For the diet portion I chose to not change what I was eating, but to change the temperature of what I was eating. I switched to all warm food from my normal diet of some warm but mostly raw vegetables with chilled beverages. I am a vegetarian so a raw diet is easy and enjoyable for me.
I did not get the response I had expected. I was pretty sure that these things would help reduce my vata but only barely. What actually happened was quite different. After about 4 or 5 days I found myself being repulsed by warm food and craving only sugary iced drinks and frozen desserts. Not really what I was hoping for. My skin on the other hand was wonderful. My feet and hands were in great shape and the rest of my skin was clearing up nicely.
I felt like I was failing. I just couldn’t make myself eat warm food any longer. When I expressed my concerns in class, Beth and Susan suggested I might not be as vata as I had thought. Susan took my pulse and said the left side was vata and the right side was pitta. It seems that I was aggravating my pitta side while trying to pacify my vata side. Susan suggested room temperature food rather than hot and almond oil rather than sesame … so I tried again.
The almond oil smells better than the sesame, so I was pretty happy about that change. The room temperature food was not as unappealing and I managed to get it down. After a couple of days I started eating mostly hot foods again without even noticing. Now hot food is what I want almost all the time and it seems to be making me feel warmer. My skin is just as soft as it was with the sesame oil.
My thought on what changed in my desire for cold food is that the sesame oil was just too warming for me. If I have more pitta than I thought, that makes sense, just like Beth and Susan said. It’s amazing how oil on the outside of your body can change so drastically what is happening inside your body. Though I will continue to struggle with balancing my vata and pitta, I feel like I am on the right track. This experiment, if nothing else, helped me to better understand what my true dosha is. One day maybe I will fell like my vata isn’t raging out of control. I’m not sure I have it totally correct yet, but baby steps are always better than no steps!
The experiments students conduct in the Axis Yoga Teacher Training program can be enlightening and even life-changing. And sometimes life unexpectedly changes on a student during an experiment. Following is an account of one student’s experience with this during the Ayurveda portion of the training.
Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih
From the un-self/un-reality lead me to the self.
From darkness/ignorance lead me to light/spiritual awakening.
From death/fear of death lead me to immortality/knowledge of immortality.
From the moment I first read this mantra, I was immediately drawn to its application in my yoga practice and life. Given that Ayurveda involves lifestyle changes, I thought how appropriate that I choose the Asato ma as the mantra to guide me and lead me through this experiment. Since 2008ish, I have suffered with migraine headaches. Before moving out to Denver from the Washington, D.C. area, I would get them maybe a few times a week. Now, I get migraines so often, that I begin my day with three Advil or Tylenol, so as not to have to take the migraine medication prescribed to me that make me drowsy. I began this experiment wanting to try any and everything that could provide me with relief from this pain. I thought certainly this is not my true self and in fact feels more like darkness and death. After speaking with Beth and Susan, I realized that perhaps the migraines are connected to my diet. Fortunately, for me, Susan is being trained in Tibetan Cranial and offered to provide this form of intervention as an adjunct to my experiment. I was excited and ready to start. At first, I thought I would start this journey with a three day cleanse, followed by almost two weeks of gluten-free and vegetarian eating, and end each day with a 30-minute asana practice and 15 minute prayanam practice. When possible, I wanted to schedule sessions with Susan to track the effect of the treatment and the incorporation of more ayurvedic practices into my life. I braced myself in knowing that more than likely I would not see immediate changes, but something in my “self” was telling me that I was headed in the right direction.
Right before starting the experiment, I was given a glimpse of the powerful nature of the mantra, when I discovered my boyfriend of the past three years was cheating on me. The stress of dealing with that, initially, gave me the cleanse I was wanting, as I could not eat anything really for a few days. Instead of practicing asana and prayanam every night for the following week or so, I managed to fit in practice when I remembered to exist. I felt as though I were going through the motions (e.g., work, being a mother, etc.) and was not fully present, which is the complete opposite of yoga. I kept resisting the urge of my being to look inside for comfort and instead buried myself in distractions. I could not face what my life was presenting. Despite this, I managed to fit in three Tibetan cranial sessions with Susan and felt relief immediately after the treatment. In fact, for two days, I noticed I did not start my day with a migraine. Then came the move out of the house I just moved into the beginning of September. The dream house with the yard, close to Washington Park, space for Ahenei, quiet and friendly neighborhood house into a small apartment in the manufactured neighborhood of Stapleton. On Monday, I had a session with Susan that initially staved off the migraine, but as soon as I arrived to work, hit me like a freight train. Tuesday, good morning Ms. Migraine, Wednesday, we met again, and Thursday was no different. In fact, before class, I have found myself being angry in that when I practice yoga I am forced to look inside and that is the last thing I want to look at right now.
Overall, I did not begin the experiment thinking that I would have a life changing experience; however, that is exactly what I got. From the un-self lead me to self. From darkness lead me to light. From death lead me to immortality. I do not know if this is intentional or not however the translation does not put “the” before self, rather simply states “self” as if to say there are selves in a very worldly sense and a self in a universal sense. I want to connect to self, but fear what preconceived notions/beliefs I will have to lay to rest in order to meet myself. This experiment did not turn out as I had imagined and hoped, but I am ready to wake up from this never-ending nightmare of an existence so inextricably linked to what I see rather than what I feel and know to be True.
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih
Axis Yoga Teacher Training students learn about Ayurveda as part of the comprehensive Axis program. Students then have the opportunity to implement Ayurvedic principles into their daily routine. Some brave students, like the one below, dive into the Ayurveda portion by experimenting with a full panchakarma (cleanse).
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The Denver Yoga Underground began in 2003 at the request of dedicated students who wanted to study yoga as a holistic system. Over the years, a diversity of people, seeking education outside of a studio, found a welcome refuge in DYU.
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Derik Eselius ~ 720.934.6934
Training Location:
Sixth Ave. UCC 3250 E. 6th Ave