The data shows that my hypothesis was accurate, eliminating gluten from my diet did in fact correlate positively with a decrease in headaches. Given that this was the only change I made during this time, it is safe to conclude that this relationship is causal. Further review seems to indicate that pasta was the worst offender, causing a headache almost immediately that lasted for 1-2 days. Gluten containing baked goods also seem to have a negative effect, but with a more time-delayed reaction. This makes it harder to track when and what caused the headache, so it appears that the safest route would be to eliminate wheat altogether.
This has definitely been a bittersweet journey. I am so relieved to have figured out why my head was hurting almost all the time. Concurrently, it has been frustrating and sad. It is frustrating on several levels. There is almost no on-the-go, easy food that is gluten-free and vegetarian (I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian). I have never been one to think about meals, rather just buying what was easy and available. This hasn’t been good for my pocketbook or my physique, but it has been my way for a long time. So when I haven’t planned meals and need something on-the-go, there are very few options and it is difficult. It has also been frustrating because gluten-free foods are incredibly expensive! Gluten-free seems to be the newest fashionable craze, so markets are charging a lot for this “luxury”.
This has also been sad because it eliminates a lot of foods that I love. For Thanksgiving my mom makes rolls from my great-grandmother’s recipe. It is an important tradition in our family and, for us, is the item that “makes” Thanksgiving. I had other things that were good and I enjoyed them, but it was still sort of sad. There was the staff appreciation day where I couldn’t really have anything. Now, logically, I know that sweet food does not equal appreciation, but not being able to partake still made me feel a little not appreciated.
I think this information is bringing to light a lot of my issues around food. I like food to be easy and not think about it, which is costing me financially and health-wise. I like to eat what others are eating and I associate food with appreciation or whether or not a day/holiday was good. This new information about my health and my body is informative and will help me to move forward on my personal and yogic journeys. Overall, the things I have implemented from Ayurveda have had a very positive effect on my life; significantly increasing my sense of peace and contentment in the world. I look forward to continuing to implement other Ayurvedic principals for continued growth and continue on the path to enlightenment.
As part of Axis Yoga’s teacher training program, students are taught basic ayurvedic principals as they apply to their lifestyle, diet and yoga practice. As a component of this exercise students also take on a personal experiment to begin to implement these teachings. One of Axis Yoga’s guiding principals is that students need to embody the teachings into their lives for optimum learning to transpire. This is not to say they should accept everything we say as gospel, rather they should check it out with their own experience. The ayurvedic experiment provides the support and guidance needed to start that process.
Below you will find an example of one students exploration into ayurveda. Alexis explores how the use of Aryurvedic herbal remedies, meditation, mantras, asanas, and other practices help restore dosha balance and decrease the pain she experiences in her lower back.
It just so happened that fall started settling in about the time that our Ayurveda unit fired up in YTT. As the wind came up and the temperatures went down, I noticed my low back tightening up more than usual. I’ve been experiencing chronic low pain from 2 torn discs and a genetic disorder of the spine for about three years, and I’ve tried nearly every remedy from Western and alternative medicine that I could find, usually with lack-luster or temporary results. Throughout all that, I’d never thought about whether the pain pattern shifted based on variables like time of year or temperature. It was actually quite an enlightening moment when I realized a connection between the increased discomfort and decreased temperature.
From the reading I’d been doing in The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies by Vasant Lad, I’d already identified that my vata dosha was out of balance and I’d read about the common link between aggravated vata and low back pain. So, I tinkered with vata-balancing diet and routine recommendations for the week of our Ayurvedic experiment, but that didn’t give me enough time to really dive into my back pain and whether I could decrease pain by applying Ayurvedic principles. So for my personal experiment, I formed this hypothesis: If I apply vata-balancing and back pain recommendations from Ayurveda, along with asanas prescribed for back pain from B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, I can better manage my low back pain.
Here are the items (mostly from Dr. Lad’s book) that I incorporated into my experiment, along with a few notes on the experience:
– Herbal Remedies – Valerian (muscle relaxant) – took in the form of a capsule each evening for one week before bed; slept noticeably better and woke feeling more rested, although I was concerned about continuing to take Valerian since I’ve heard it’s habit forming, so I didn’t continue to take it daily after the first week. I may try one of the other recommended remedies in the future, including yogaraj guggulu, kaishore guggulu, musta, or tagara, but I haven’t been able to track those down yet.
– Abhyanga (massage with sesame and mahanarayan oils) – aimed to do a self-massage before showering each day, giving special attention to my mid and low back; the combination of the oil and the hot shower did relax my muscles, at least temporarily, although the moment I walked outdoors for work and the cold wind hit, I felt them tense right back up.
– Dashamoola Basti (enema) – did this once; no noticeable changes in back pain, though digestion was improved temporarily.
– Meditation – aimed to do this daily; allowed myself to lean against a wall to give my back extra support and found I was able to maintain a comfortable seat for longer than usual.
– Mantra – aimed to recite Mahamrtanjaya (Healing) Mantra daily; I had a hard time initiating the tune on my own, so I just spoke the mantra.
– Recommended Back Pain Asanas (from Lad’s and Iyengar’s books) – I aimed for 30 minutes of asana daily, first thing in the morning to stretch my back, which provided noticeable relief throughout the day. I incorporated standing Poses, backbends, twists, forward folds, and inversions.
In hindsight, beginning to do all these things at once makes it difficult to break down exactly what’s helping and how much, but with only a few weeks to conduct the experiment and with the hope of relieving pain, I was willing to forego some of the scientific approach for the trade-off of feeling better.
For the first week of the experiment, I completed the above routine five out of seven days, and I have to say, on days when I consistently followed the routine, the combination of treatments did provide noticeable improvements – including better sleep, less discomfort sitting through the day, and the ability to stretch deeper into poses and feel more opening in my back.
Despite the relief, I have been inconsistent in maintaining the routine day after day since the first week. It’s been the first thing to go when I’m tired, sick, or busy. I’m very disappointed that I haven’t been disciplined enough to maintain it, but I do find comfort in the fact that I’ve learned some new techniques for managing my pain. I have no doubt that I’ll continue to use the techniques in the future, and I’m hopeful that I might even re-establish it as a daily routine once that’s something that is more possible for me to follow in the new year.
As part of Denver’s Axis Yoga teacher training program, students choose a yama (yogic principle) to apply to their daily lives. They are asked to design experiments that challenge them while deepening their understanding of the yama’s application. This student chose to experiment with Brahmacharya to re-direct his sexual energy into his spiritual practice. He finds that by experimenting with one yama. he became aware of others and thus more accountable overall in his life.
In researching this yama I looked at readings from several books and wrote down the following quotes which spoke to me:
- A person who is a Brahmacharya lives in Brahmin (god) and sees Brahmin in everyone.
- Continence is chastity* in word, thought, and deed…Sex is inseparable from attachment, and attachment is an obstacle to spiritual knowledge – Patanjali
(*chastity is defined as celibacy or virtuous character) - Brahmacharya suggests that we should form relationships that foster our understanding of the highest truths… it means responsible behavior with respect to our goal of moving toward the truth. – Desikachar
- Brahmacharya is not abandonment of sex but transcendence of it. – Baba Hari Dass
My understanding or synthesis of these definitions raised the following questions:
- How much energy do I put into non-virtuous words, thoughts or deeds particularly in relation to other people and sex/relationships?
- How does the way I speak about people, to people or even think about them affect them, and the way I interact with them?
- Am I pursuing relationships that help move me towards my highest self, or am I too focused on ego-based relationships that seem to meet my baser needs?
If Bramhamacharya is about re-focusing sexual energy, then if I focus that energy on spiritual practice, I will become more aware of my interconnectedness with others on an energetic level and that will reduce my focus on the more primal physical or ego-based connections (ie the source of my non-virtuous words, thoughts, & deeds).
The simple explanation of my experiment is to be chaste or ‘of virtuous character’ in word, thought and deed. On the philosophical level this means to me that I will honor the divinity or authentic self of others by being virtuous in the way I speak to them, about them, act towards them and even think about them. In practical terms I will practice to the best of my ability virtuous character in:
- my words – how I speak about others, and how much I talk about sex (a popular topic amongst my friends).
- my thoughts – I will refrain from fantasizing about others in sexual or romantic ways.
- my deeds – looking at my motives when acting towards others (ie not talking to someone just because I think they’re cute)
I will observe my behavior and journal about it over the course of this experiment.
Before beginning this experiment I had already begun examining my attitudes towards sex and relationships. I had found that I was constantly looking for a partner, and primarily evaluating people I met on that basis, which I found to be self-centered and disrespectful. I also had found that being in a relationship consumed my time and thoughts so that my meditation and yoga practices suffered, and I chose to make my spirituality a priority rather than be in relationship. I would like to achieve moderation in that area and be able to enjoy a relationship that is based in spiritual practice. Having already made a mental shift in this area, this experiment provided the formal structure necessary for deeper self-examination and more defined changes in behavior.
My hope is that this experiemnt will continue a shift in attitude that I began earlier this year, help me to see people for who they are rather than who they can be to me, and begin to develop a sense of spiritual or energetic connectedness to all other beings.