Vitality in Everyday Life: with Inspiration from Ayurveda

Vitality in Everyday Life

Vitality in Everyday Life with inspiration from Ayurveda

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. VITALITY AND AYURVEDA

2. OUR DIFFERENCES

3. RHYTHM OF LIFE

4. SLEEP

5. APPETITE

6. STRESS, CRISIS AND JOYFULNESS

7. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

8. RELATIONSHIPS

9. WORKFORCE

10. GIVE VITALITY A CHANCE

Appendix

Bibliography

Copyright

Vitality in Everyday Life with inspiration from Ayurveda

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my children Viktor and Maria and to Philip my soulmate

INTRODUCTION

Many years ago while at university, I wrote an essay about the healing ability of mankind and I realised that something was missing. Something fundamental about why human beings differ from each other, and why we thrive on different things, which at that point I had not yet understood. Some people thrive on stress, tight deadlines and challenges. Others shun pressure and challenges like the plague and would rather take it nice and easy and keep things the way they are. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me. What exactly is it that controls and initiates healing in us? Apparently it varies quite a lot, so I started searching for something that could describe and make me understand this complex system.

The questions I asked myself and which have since accompanied me on my life journey, are:

What makes us healthy?

What gives us vitality and makes us positive?

What is it that makes some people better than others at turning adversity into prosperity?

At that time, about a dozen years ago, when stress and burnout was a hot topic, I discovered Ayurveda. After having studied human physiology, psychology and behaviour, I realized that Ayurveda was exactly what I was looking for. Ayurveda describes precisely the complexity surrounding human healing, not only our ability to free ourselves of discomfort and disease, but also what we can do to feel really well and have vitality and a zest for life in our everyday lives. Ayurveda is a simple way of describing something that is fairly complex, but since it is easy to explain, each of us can apply its basic principles to improve all aspects of our lives. By following the principles of Ayurveda you will enhance your understanding of yourself and what is behind your good and bad habits, and above all, understand what it is you need to feel good. You will learn what the driving force is in your work and which talents and strengths you should develop to achieve your goals. You will also gain an insight into how you can boost your self-healing abilities and live a healthier life. Ayurveda is a great complement to other approaches, is dogma free and does not describe how things should be. Rather, it is a way of understanding how everything affects us. If you understand what affects you and how people around you are affected by you, you can also begin to move towards that which makes you healthier, more vibrant, and gives you vitality in everyday life.

This book is intended as a practical book to inspire you, in which you will find practical tips on attaining more power, pleasure and well-being in your everyday life. Each chapter will bring you one step further into the world of Ayurveda and each chapter is followed by a section of tips for you to try right away. However, this is not a traditional Ayurveda book. I have been inspired by various traditions, both through modern research and knowledge I have gained from meetings with shamans and medicine men and women, all from different cultures, who all affirm essentially the same knowledge. I found the description of Ayurveda straightforward and thus the easiest to understand. Therefore, I apply the knowledge I have gained in most of what I do today, from guiding people to better lifestyles to coaching managers in large organizations.

This book will give you the opportunity to take a self-test to establish which Ayurveda personality type you are. It is not a means to an end, it is simply a stepping stone to better understand what it is you are doing well and where you can grow in order to create balance. Ayurveda has been known in the West for a long time and the World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed the principles of Ayurveda since the seventies, considering Ayurveda one of the most effective ways to approach public health in the Third World. It is inexpensive and suitable for treatment that you can implement yourself. It is worth noting that several athletes apply the principles of Ayurveda to enhance their performance and stamina. So, consider what you would like to achieve by reading this book. Ask yourself the following questions: How good do I want to feel right now? How good do I want to feel in ten years?

The following short story is food for thought to keep in mind while reading this book.

A professor stood in front of his philosophy class with a few items in front of him. As the class began, he quietly picked up a very large, empty glass jar and began filling it to the brim with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.

He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the space between the golf balls. Again, he asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed it was. Next, the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. The sand filled up the left-over space. He asked, once more, if the jar was full. The students responded unanimously: Yes. Then, the professor produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. Now, said the professor as the laughter subsided, I want you to perceive this jar as your life.  The golf balls are the important things, such as family, children, health and anything else close to your heart. Things that, if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles represent other things that matter, like your job and car. The sand is everything else – the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, he continued, it is not possible to make room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, there will be no room left for what really matters to you. So, pay attention to the things that are crucial to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out to dinner. Devote more time to that which fills you with passion. Sooner or later you can clean the house and do less important things. Take care of the golf balls first – the things that really matter. Address the most important things in your life. The rest is just sand. One of the students raised her hand and asked what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, I’m glad you asked that. It just goes to show that however full your life may seem, there is always room for coffee with a friend.

I wish you a pleasant reading!

1. VITALITY AND AYURVEDA 

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.

Frederick Koenig

We are all different, are we not?

For a long time, human beings have created systems trying to understand the order of the world. We have created classifications for flowers, animals, stars, molecules, yes for almost everything, except humans. Everyone is aware that we are all different, but how does it really work? Could it be coincidence, along with heritage and environment, that makes us who we are? Probably, but certain differences remain, based on which we can actually create patterns to gain a better understanding of ourselves. Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be able to eat as much as they like without gaining weight, while others just need to take one look at food to put on a few kilos? Or why some people come over as quick and witty while others are calmer and more stable? Some people walk fast while others move slowly. Some people talk fast and spontaneously while others are reflective and thoughtful. Well, these differences are not coincidences. They did not happen randomly, indeed a system explaining our differences has already been developed. Ayurveda is an ancient, unique system that describes our differences in an easy and understandable way, which helps us appreciate that we need different things at different times in our lives, in order to keep our life vitality in balance.

Ayurveda has been described as a very old and experienced-based structure. The origin of this philosophy is in the Veda culture, founded on the Indian continent and believed to be over 10,000 years old. Ayurveda was conceived about 3,000 to 5,000 years ago and the philosophy is said to illustrate how to live in harmony and balance. Ayur means life and Veda means knowledge, or knowledge of Sanskrit, an ancient language which was spoken on the Indian subcontinent during this period. I have translated Ayurveda to The Knowledge of Life or better still, to Everyday Knowledge, as the principles offers a comprehensible and effortless way to live a more harmonious life and allow us to build on our strengths. Ayurveda provides contemporary people with a foundation for taking more responsibility for our own health and well-being, that doesn’t involve any dos and don’ts.

Although Ayurveda is a fairly complex system, the principles are reasonably easy to understand, which makes the system easy to use.

Most cultures, even Western culture, have theories for the existence of everything from the universe to the mountains, from human beings to small molecules, which make use of five elements. Physics have defined them as: vacuum, gas, energy, liquid and solid. Physics explains density, or the distance between molecules and atoms. The distance between gas molecules is so vast the gas isn’t visible to the naked eye, although we can feel the air we breathe, for example. We discern the effect of energy when the heat of a fire reaches us. Liquid molecules have gathered together close enough that we can see them and there is no doubt that the chair we are sitting on is a mass structure, for instance.

However, ancient cultures had already adopted similar theories. Native Indians of North and South America talk about the Medicine Wheel comprising the four elements of Earth, Wind, Fire and Water, with the fifth element, Space, in the centre. Many native cultures have explained the structure of the universe similarly, from the Sami people in Scandinavia to the Aborigines in Australia and the Maoris in the South Pacific, to name a few.

The quantum physics model describes everything as vibration, even the atoms and molecules that make up our physical body. Human DNA vibrates at a frequency of 52-78 gigahertz (billions of cycles per second). This is worth considering while quietly and peacefully meditating! It would not be out of place to say that all human beings have their own personal, unique vibration. We often refer to energy when we meet other people. Some exude positive and life-giving energy, others calm and peaceful energy and we have all met someone who saps our energy; energy drainers. We can clearly feel when our power and energy is high, or when we feel empty and powerless. Basically, we are all energy-vibrating beings with our own natural rhythms. Ayurvedic philosophy provides an understanding of these rhythms and how they affect us all throughout our lives. Consequently, you can boost your self-awareness as well as your understanding of other people, which will help you make more well-informed, day-to-day choices and consequently ultimately improve how you feel, give you more vitality and, above all, give you the power and energy to achieve more of what you want in life.

The Medicine Wheel

The model above is showing the five elements: Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. As you can see. They can be defined in physics terms as Space = Vacuum, Air = Gas, Fire = Energy, Water = Liquid and Earth = Mass; and you will also see that they are, similar to in the western world, used in the same context to explain the elements. Calling the elements by the slightly more poetic terms Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth I feel provides a closer insight into the characteristics of each element. Space is light, empty and hollow; Air is light, volatile and changeable; Fire is warm, hot and burning; Water is rich, moist and clean; while Earth is compact, quiet and stable. Just as everything around us is made up of these five elements in different arrangements, so are all human beings. What is unique to Ayurveda is that the ayurvedic philosophy drew attention to the fact that the five elements form the foundation for three different energies, which can be found in everything and in Sanskrit are called Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Vata means wind and the energy symbolising motion, lightness, hollowness and change. Pitta means fire and symbolises, burning, heating, melting and penetration. Kapha symbolises reinforcement, lubrication and cohesion.

Vata = Space + Air

Pitta = Fire + Water, small amount

Kapha = Earth + Water

According to the ayurvedic tradition, all of the five elements of Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth, and therefore also the three energies of Vata, Pitta and Kapha, can be found in everything. Together the three energies, or doshas (the traditional name for the energies), govern all life processes. Vata regulates the catabolic processes, Pitta regulates transformation, and Kapha regulates the anabolic processes. By understanding what the characteristics of Vata, Pitta and Kapha entail, we can begin to understand the processes at work, irrespective of what we are studying: the weather, economy, animals, food or people. The trick is to know which energy is dominant, which will then give us an understanding of what is going on and how to balance the process.

Features and functions of the three energies, Vata, Pitta and Kapha

Dosha Functions Features

Vata (Space and Air). Variable. Regulates any processes associated with movement and decay.

Quick, fast

Light

Dry

Rough

Clear

Cold

Controls the other two doshas (since movement is always required for something to happen).

Pitta (fire and water). Hot. Represent the functions associated with warmth, burning and transformation.

Sharp

Light

Penetrating

Sour

Slightly oily

Kapha (earth and water). Solid. Represent lubrication, reinforcement and cohesion.

Heavy

Oily

Cold

Sweet

Sticky

Slow

Soft

Once you have gained a better understanding of these concepts, you will begin to see what you are being dominated and influenced by, and whether the influences stem from the mind, work, weather, economic trends, friends, etc.

Explaining health and illness is a complex issue. Ever since Western medicine was established centuries ago, man has endeavoured to find a different cause for each disease. Now, we are beginning to grasp that health and illness involve a multitude of events that can not be explained by simple answers such as, lack of, or excess of, any substance. There will always be another question to ask: Why? The philosophy of Ayurveda is based on the understanding that everything affects us. EVERYTHING! The only question is: How? Supported by our comprehension of the three energies, Vata, Pitta and Kapha, as well as the qualities they are dominated by, Ayurveda has, since time immemorial, been a way of understanding how we are affected by various things and events, and that each individual is affected differently. You might like being busy, to live an active life with plenty of interests, eat hot, cooked meals, take really hot baths or enjoy some peace and quiet, while other people prefer the complete opposite.

It is interesting to compare Ayurveda to other medical doctrines as to how and why it is believed people differ. For instance, research into behavioural medicine is also showing a system based on our differences. Studies have revealed that cardiovascular disease is overrepresented in people referred to as having Type A personalities. Type A personalities are considered stressed, interrupt often, are distinctly competitive and easily become irritated and aggressive. According to this research, hostility and cynicism are behind the increase in cardiovascular diseases. The same research sought to explain other behavioural traits that do not result in stress disorders and cardiovascular disease to the same extent. These traits are attributed to as Type B personalities, characterised by calmness, security and stability and a less competitive spirit. Type C personalities are overrepresented in chronic diseases such as cancer, although to date research is very limited. Presumably, the desire to comprehend what it is that keeps us healthy and what makes us ill, is inherent in human beings. In our culture, the main focus has been to understand what makes us sick, depressed and to lose our energy. Doctors have gathered data on ill people in a bid to understand what health is, psychologists have studied mental illness in order to understand what makes us happy, while teachers have mostly concentrated on weaknesses in order to help develop strengths. These negative based strategies could not be more wrong! The understanding of what makes us healthy, happy and strong, to keep us from getting physically or mentally ill, is lacking. Ayurvedic knowledge provides us with opportunities to be more responsible for our own well-being. The principles do not only give us the means