Nutrition, sleep, meditation, movement, processing emotions, and grounding. It is not always possible to incorporate all six of these into our day to day life. In fact, highly unrealistic, however, it is possible to find time to incorporate even ten minutes of a practice which restore, energise and enhance our lives in the bigger picture. From Ayurveda’s perspective, each of the six pillars contribute to creating strong physical health and balance mental and emotional wellbeing:

Nutrition:

In Ayurveda, food - when used correctly and in alignment with our constitutional needs - is medicine, and has the power to reverse disease, heal imbalance within the body, transform us biologically, reverse ageing, and radically alter our consciousness, and therefore our quality of existence. Changing our diet can be especially challenging because we possess a deep and intrinsic emotional connection to food, especially that which we grew up consuming and associate with nurture, comfort and familiarity. For some people, the very thought of altering their diet or reducing the consumption of foods that are at the root of disease and imbalance registers as a literal threat to their nervous system and sets of all kinds of defence mechanism and excuses as to why they need to maintain their lifestyle, even if it is diminishing their wellbeing. Once we understand how deeply interconnected our diet is to our early childhood experiences and what created a felt sense of safety or belonging and grounding in our nervous system, we can begin to find other ways to create that safety, nurturing and protection, instead of depending solely on food to provide us with that sense of nurturing and comfort. The other thing we need to take into consideration when it comes to our diet is that the food we eat is shaping a vast colony of bacteria within our gut. In fact the microbes within our gut influence our dietary choices by sending signals to the brain urging us to continuously bombard our system with more of the same food, which continues to feed this vast colony of bacteria, eventually causing the bad bacteria to override the good, and thus further exacerbating our cravings and dependency on foods which lack nutritious value and disrupt our gut-brain health, and since our gut is the seat of vibrant health, it is vital that we bring awareness to how the quality of our food might be influencing our overall state of wellbeing. Therefore, part of breaking the cycle and dependency on foods that do not support our overall well being requires making slow but empowering adjustments to our diet, so we begin to build up the quality of our microbiome and our good bacteria. In a nutshell, the more we feed our gut healthy, nutritious, whole plant foods, the more we expand the good bacteria in our digestive system which now send signals to the brain requesting that we make different food choices, and feed them more of the good stuff. Our dependency on certain foods that do not contribute to building the foundations of health can be quickly and permanently broken once we build the quality of our gut bacteria by eating a diverse range of plant foods which promote the growth of beneficial types of bacteria and decrease the growth of harmful strains of bacteria which contribute to a host of health issues including weight gain, poor immunity, poor elimination, poor digestive health and diabetes.

Sleep:

Is fundamental to our wellbeing and without adequate sleep and not sleeping at a time that allows the body to fully restore and recharge, our cognitive abilities are reduced, our immune system compromised, our memory diminishes, our mood is affected, and we increase the risk for chronic illness. So sleep is arguably the most important of the six pillars to focus on improving. Ayurveda recommends herbs such as chamomile, tulsi, ashwagandha, lavender and rose to help with winding down at night, as well as abhyanga (self-massage with warm sesame seed oil and lavender, jasmine, ylang-ylang, vanilla, rose absolute and frankincense essential oil is a great way to self-soothe) . Other supplements such as L-theanine, 5-htp, magnesium, valerian root, passionflower, and oat straw also aid sleep problems. Ayurveda recommends that we stay away from technology at least two hours before sleep since the electromagnetic frequency and blue light emitted from our devices disrupts the natural production of melatonin leading to insomnia, sleep disorders and eventually chronic exhaustion. Sleep is a vital time for repair and renewal. During our sleep, our bodies work to repair and regenerate cells and tissues, balancing our hormones to help regulate and maintain the correct weight, eliminating accumulated stress and toxins from both the body and the brain, strengthening immunity and helping balance our brain chemistry to regulate our mood and nervous system. Creating a ritual an hour before your sleep will help your mind and body begin to prepare for rest and rejuvenation. Try as much as possible to replace reading for scrolling, and use the time to journal out any thoughts that might be whirling about your mind and preventing you from relaxing into a deep state of rest.

Meditation :

Meditation (when done without force or the attempt to achieve the ‘perfect’ state of inner bliss) takes our mind into a state of restful awareness. When in situations of stress, the sympathetic nervous system becomes activated resulting in a chain of physiological reactions in the body. This increases your heart rate, blood sugar and produces the stress hormone which prepares our body to respond to danger. Meditation on the other hand, initiates rest, and rest is the boy’s way of healing. When we meditate the body is able to readjust from stress and begin to move towards a state of conscious rest which allows us to recharge. Meditating enables us to master the fear response registered by the amygdala, the part of the brain that senses danger. Since fear and anxiety have a habitual component, meditation calms and regulates our emotions in our time. Through developing daily meditation practises, eventually we naturally and effortlessly begin to use the higher brain centres that are responsible for critical problem solving and inspired thinking. This emotional mastery and higher intelligence is cultivated through conscious breathing and meditation. The other less known benefits of meditation is its ability to create new oaths in the brain. A study by Harvard university shows that after merely eight weeks of meditation, individuals that participated had growth in areas of the brain associated with stress, regulation, learning, self-awareness and empathy. Similar research has indicated that meditation enhances our ability to break the vicious cycle of habitual fear and anxiety. Simple meditation practises can create fundamental changes that help our bodies restore and heal, and our subconscious to gently release old patterns of negative thinking, habitual thinking, as well as the healing of deeply ingrained trauma responses.

Movement:

Our bodies are designed to move, and to stay physically active. To move and to breathe and circulate our vital life-force energy is a sacred thing. Movement breathes life into our cells, clears away stagnant emotions and the buildup of toxic waste, and grounds the spirit back into the body, helping us feel more aligned, embodied and connected to our power. There is a well known Ayurvedic saying from a Ayurvedic physician who wrote “from physical exercise, one gets lightness, a capacity for work, firmness, tolerance of difficulties, elimination of impurities and stimulation of digestion”. As modern research confirms, exercise is one of the most powerful ways to create radiant health and emotional well-being. The benefits include decreased depression and anxiety, improved sleep, higher resilience to stress, a sharper mind and more focus, increased metabolism and reduced obesity, greater bone density, improved cardiovascular function, decreased symptoms of PMS, greater cognitive ability and a decrease in brain-related illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, increased ability to give up addictions such as smoking and alcohol abuse and decreased blood pressure and cholesterol. These are just some of the physical and emotional benefits. But to gain such benefits, you don’t need to have a rigorous workout routine that involves lifting heavy weights and pounding your muscles into shape. Something as simple as ten minutes of training your core, strengthening your legs, or a short intensive hit training workout is more than enough to begin seeing change. Alongside that, restorative yoga that strengthens and tones will help keep your body resilient and in good shape, without completely draining you like a more intensive workout might. When most of us envision getting in shape or getting fitter, we have an image of a very pitta-headed person going to the gym 6 days a week and keeping up with a strict regime. That picture would be more than enough to repel slower moving kaphas or sensitive vatas from probably ever moving again! (learn more about the dosha types here).

You don’t need an intensive workout regime to see results. Infact, Ayurveda recommends that we choose a form of mindful movement that is most appropriate for our dosha, challenging us without resulting in fatigue and too much loss of prana. Regular walking for 30 minutes a day, twice a day is a great way to get the benefits of exercise without over exhausting yourself and burning out. Ayurveda and indeed all ancient wisdom traditions emphasise that we learn to exercise in a way that recharges and restores us rather than depleting us. Whilst pitta and kapha types generally benefit from more intensive workouts, too much intensity can over-exhaust vatas and result in fatigue. This is why Ayurveda recommends that we pay attention to our body on any given day and tune into our requirements. Maybe a walk or some slow yoga and stretching would be more supportive and nourishing to your body than 30 minutes of weight training or cardio. Ultimately, what Ayurveda aims to teach us to live and act in alignment with our unique constitution above all else, and we build strong health by becoming attuned to the subtle feedback and information our body communicates in every moment, so that we can align or adjust to meet those needs. This is how we create a balanced existence. Rather than over-riding these signals, we learn how to work with them and create a way of being that is continuously supporting us to align with good health.

Grounding:

Grounding is a practice that results in a range of health benefits including better sleep, reduced inflammation, reduced anxiety and fatigue and a greater connection to yourself. Most of us lack the direct contact with earth that is required to maintain a good state of grounding in our daily lives that enables us to be centred, calm, and deal with problems from an expanded perspective. The earth is like a gigantic battery that contains a subtle electrical change which all life depends upon for safety, stability, and maintaining balance. When we are grounded, we are centered, solid, strong in ourselves, balanced, and better able to cope with life’s challenges. Much of the daily pain, stresses and mental health conditions that plague our society are symptoms of being out of alignment with nature and our natural state of being. Our loss of touch with the earth beneath our bare feet in many ways is leading us to a loss of connection with ourselves. We are bioelectrical beings living on an electrical planet. Our bodies operate electrically. All of our cells transmit multiple frequencies that contribute to the health of our heart, our immune system, muscles and nervous system. All living things are connected to the earth's electrical energy. But our connection has become increasingly diminished and weaker with the lack of direct contact with the ground and over exposure to electronic devices. When we are grounded, our cortisol levels begin to normalise. Cortisol is connected to your body’s stress response, helps control blood sugar levels and regulates metabolism, helps reduce inflammation and assists memory formulation. Our immune system functions at an optimal level when supercharged with electronics which we obtain from the earth. The body is composed primarily of water and minerals, making it a conductor of electricity. Whenever we come in contact with earth the free electrons on the earth’s body are absorbed into our bodies, allowing the energy to travel through our energy field and chakras, balancing the body. The bottoms of our feet are renowned in ancient cultures - traditional Chinese medicine and taoist healing - as being maps of the rest of the body. When we ground through the feet we are simultaneously allowing currents oF rejuvenating charges to power our vital organs and bring all systems within the body back into balance. These currents of energy that we receive from the earth have the ability to not only reduce inflammation and stimulate red blood cell circulation, but as well significantly reduce chronic pain. Our bodies produce and use electrical energy constantly, but when we receive extra electrons from an outside source such as the earth, a river, trees, our bodies have the opportunity to cleanse, repair and return to its optimal state more efficiently. Try to walk barefoot upon the earth for at least ten minutes a day. Find a park, a small patch of land, and sit under a tree and plug into the earth’s electromagnetic field to restore your own.

Emotions:

Honouring our emotional needs is essential for overall well being. Many of us experience deeply stressful events but never allow ourselves time to fully process or work through our emotional response. Overtime, this leads to an accumulation of emotional imprints that result in depression, anxiety, fatigue, lowered immunity, and lack of joy, creativity and harmony in our lives. Giving ourselves the time to honour and fully feel our emotions, and surrounding ourselves with those that have a positive and peaceful influence on our emotional wellbeing is vital for helping us maintain a strong state of health. Everything we experience gets absorbed into our energy field and our body, imprinting on the subconscious mind and getting stored as an either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ experience. Overtime, these experiences contribute to our wellbeing and our belief-system, and it can be very hard to make lasting changes if we contain overwhelming emotional imprints within our body which influence us to feel a certain way, and behave in a way that creates some form of imbalance. It is important to understand that emotions are stored in the body, and therefore creating the space for ourselves to feel whatever needs to be felt so that we can complete the cycle of emotional ‘charge’ that is arising in any given moment (in order to be fully processed and integrated) is a crucial part of healing. Learning to work with the nervous system by creating a calming environment, using various breath-work techniques and practises that help to balance our emotions is just as important as ensuring we eat a diet rich with nutritious foods. Neglecting our emotional needs is akin to placing a plant in the sun but never giving it water. Learning to build body-mind awareness so that we are tuned into both our physical and emotional needs and giving ourselves the time and attention required to balance our nervous system during times when inner turbulence arises is a profoundly important practice for maintaining our wellbeing.

For women especially, it is vital to put time aside to venture inwards and become aware of any emotional stressors or disturbances that are disrupting our peace of mind and causing on-going fatigue and anxiety or a general sense of being unwell. Women are designed to be biologically and emotionally extraordinarily sensitive, and this is a tremendous superpower that is often not given the space or respect it deserves to flourish and blossom in a world that has conditioned us to believe that fast and more are better and represent strength. In truth, we can not develop true wellness without cultivating a relationship with our sensitivity and our heart’s deep intelligence for these are the innate, inbuilt mechanisms that enable a woman to know what it is that she needs in every given moment. Does she need more rest, or more action? Does she really need another double espresso or is her body calling to be nourished with some high quality cacao and supportive adaptogenic herbs? These small inquiries might seem indulgent, but they are actually vital inquiries to make throughout the day in order for us to keep aligning with the body’s needs. Our body performs trillions of tasks a day to keep us alive, protecting us against foreign invaders which could result in disease. Most of us do not repay our body with nearly enough kindness, love and care for all the efforts it makes to keep us alive and well. Making ourselves available to the signals and messages our bodies send us as our energy fluctuates throughout the day is key to maintaining balance and good health. I know it might be far easier to imagine that cultivating health is about committing to one or two health hacks each day and fitting in 30 minutes of movement, but in truth, it is what we are doing in every moment that contributes to building health. In the same way that an hour’s meditation won’t radically alter our thinking if we spend the rest of the day engaging in negative self-talk, one or two healthy habits won’t sustain health in the long run unless we become aware of the subtle signals within the body attempting to get our attention. It is what we are doing at every moment that is either helping us move towards a state of health, or away from it.

Some of the many benefits of taking your shoes off and walking barefoot on the earth:

• More efficient cell repair and function
• Detoxification of waste, toxins, and emotional residue such as stress and anxiety.
• Boosted immune system.
• Calmer response to challenging situations.
• Better sleep.
• Improved blood flow and tissue oxygenation.
• Restoration of the body’s natural state.
• Increased vitality and focus.

To suffice, if you can tend to even three of the six pillars of health more regularly, by creating a more supportive relationship with food, sleep or movement, you will begin to see subtle but profound changes in your expression of health. If I could encourage you to make any changes, I would say listen to the wisdom of your body and allow that to guide you in the direction of better health. Ayurveda would recommend that we ensure our digestion is working at optimal level, we are having regular bowel movements to clear out toxins and waste, we are sweating once a day through conscious movement, and we are getting a good amount of sleep 7-8 hours). These are the fundamental aspects of health that we need to attend to first and foremost, and from there, we can build on any new habits we’ve created until living in alignment with our constitution is a process that unfolds automatically and naturally.

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