Uncovering the Secrets to Health and Happiness
People often ask me about what originally drew me to Ayurveda...
Unlike many people in search of health and wellness solutions, I'd had no health issues to speak of. I was strong, and active with lots of energy and two young children. I held an engineering degree from a top US university, had a successful corporate career and had travelled, lived and worked all over the world. I was also happily married with lots of friends and a terrific and supportive family. By all accounts I'd already achieved the balance that Ayurveda promises.
But... there was something missing. Something I couldn't put my finger on... An inability to enjoy what I'd created and worked for. A constant struggle to feel settled in my own skin. A deep dissatisfaction with myself and the way things were. So deep in fact that I could barely even perceive it within the craziness of my busy daily life. There was always just this un-easy feeling...
The truth about what makes us sick...
According to Ayurveda all illness begins in the mind, one of the few places that we don't often think to look. And the seeds of disease are often quiet and subtle...
Like many westerners, I discovered Ayurveda through yoga. It's simple message about the value of living authentically spoke directly to my soul. It was the wisdom that I'd been looking for and I've never looked back.
And what I've learned from living and teaching the principles of Ayurveda to people who are very much like me (busy, successful, driven, tired, distracted), is that the truth about what makes us sick is far simpler than we've been led to believe.
The Ayurvedic view of us and the world is simple. Balance = Health. Imbalance = Illness. With this as a foundation, being happy and healthy becomes a function of understanding how and why we become imbalanced. And when we look deeply at the root cause of imbalance it comes down to just a few things. The first being that...
We all want to be someone other than who we are.
We grow up this way and are conditioned by the world around us. And as such we lose connection with the natural intelligence that we were born with, (call it your soul or intuition) that guides us to health and happiness.
The pursuit of happiness that's killing us...
Our culture, environment and society define the physical, mental and emotional characteristics that many of strive to inhabit . We spend our lives working to fit into that mold. And so rather than embracing all of the unique qualities and tendencies that define our true nature (What Ayurveda would refer to as Prakruti), we ignore who we are or try to change ourselves to suit the world we live in, our parents or our chosen career.
So imagine being a light hearted, creative, and free spirited Vata prakruti individual or a slow moving, soft-hearted, nurturing Kapha prakruiti person in the fast moving, highly intense and competitive Pitta dominated modern world. What would it be like trying to keep up? How would you see yourself? What choices would you make?
Maybe you would take a job that doesn't really excite you or play to your strengths. Maybe by denying who you are or what you need, you might end up in a relationship that doesn't really work. Or perhaps you could find yourself living in a location or environment that isn't suitable for you, causing you physical and mental distress, anxiety or depression. Perhaps your distress causes you to overeat or eat foods that aren't really suitable for you. And the result of that might be you, feeling ill and unhappy.
There are as many examples of things like this as there are people in the world.
Our greatest disconnect
One of the other root causes of imbalance is that...
We want everything and everyone else to be something other than it is...
Our spouses and partners, our homes, jobs, kids, friends, food and weather. We look at everything relative to the way we wish it was or think it should be rather than seeing or embracing it's true nature.
Ayurveda teaches us that everything has it's own true nature (prakruti) which guides how it functions in the world. Not accepting this can cause us to interact with things in ways that can be unhealthy for us.
We ignore or refuse to believe that the food and information we consume doesn't nourish us. Our relationships are often defined by our desire to change rather than accept the traits and tendencies of those around us. We choose work and home environments that deplete rather than feed who we are.
The gifts of Ayurveda are powerful and simple
It was understanding these simple ideas that helped me to finally uncover the roots of my own dissatisfaction with life, and to eventually transform it.
Ayurveda helped me to recognize that my true nature is primarily cool, light and active with a little heat and sharpness. It helped me to see that change, sensitivity and intensity are a part of who I am, and to embrace that routine, warmth and moderation in my food, environments and interactions, are part of what's necessary to keep me happy, balanced and healthy.
But more than anything, Ayurveda has taught me to see and take my world as it is. To accept that it changes often and that I change along with it. And to embrace and be proactive about those changes and take steps to find balance, moment to moment and day to day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chara Caruthers
Chara Caruthers is a passionate Yoga Therapist and Ayurvedic Consultant dedicated to empowering women to live blissfully juicy lives at any age.
She's also the founder of Bliss Body & Soul, a growing community of adventurous and engaged health and happiness seekers who are tired of “One size fits all” living.
If you're looking for mind-body wisdom that's simple, unconventional and liberating... if you're ready to live YOUR bliss... come say hi and discover your true nature by taking the Bliss Quiz!
