Ayurveda - About agni, ama, and all the things we shouldn’t eat
Greetings, earthlings!
Isn’t life a wondrous little thing today? 🌱
Good morning, lovely souls! 🤗
How are we feeling today? I personally am a little tired this morning, as we had an unwanted visitor in our bedroom last night. A little froggy found its way into a cardboard box that is stored underneath our bed, but could not find the way out. Thus, the poor guy jumped inside the box against its walls for quite some time, making a sound like ROOMB. ROOMB. Silence. ROOMB. Silence. ROOMB! ROOMB! ROOMB! 😳
Trust me - you can’t fall asleep with a beat like this right under your pillow unless you are at a psy-trance festival, and it made us worry about the animal (at this point, we did not know what to expect) would it not make it through the night, or would it crawl up into bed with us for a cuddle. Given Goa’s wildlife, however, you don’t want to take that chance… 🐍
So it took us a fair amount of time to take out all the treasure boxes that had found their way under the bed (suitcases, my wool box, and cases of old documents) in the middle of the night - much to the joy of the cat and the dog who thought bedtime had switched to play time - bonus midnight entertainment just for them!🤦🏽♂️ Finally we found and released the hopping culprit back into the wild. Oh well, such is #ThisGoaLife! 😜
If this would have happened a few years ago - not the frog stuck in a box, but me feeling tired - I would have just downed a few more cups of coffee that same day, and not even wasted a single further thought on it. Naps are for losers - everyone is tired all the time, right?
What they don’t teach us in school
I worked in advertising for a decade, and as founder & CEO of a creative agency, I ran a team of 20+ people in its prime. The result: High-stress, high output, and full excitement on the one hand, fatigue, skin rashes and low mental as well as physical immunity on the other. I honestly had no idea what I did to my body, and while growing up in Germany, I never learned it any other way. It took me moving 7000 kilometres to India to start understanding the matter I am made of with the help of a 5000 year old system.
In Sanskrit, Ayurveda means “The Science of Life”
Ayurveda is considered by many scholars to be the oldest healing science in the world. Its knowledge originated in India in the Vedic times (take that, you baby pharmacy tyrants!💪), and thus, is also called the “Mother of All Healing”. Ayurveda acts as Yoga’s sister science, placing great value on the prevention of disease and maintaining balance between the physical, mental and emotional spheres of life. It makes complete sense: How can we ever find our way towards inner peace if our minds are impure and our bodies dis-eased?
Before we continue, watch this 4 min 35 second video. It is a great introduction to ojas, agni, ama, and aaaaaaaalllll the things we should and shouldn’t eat*.
Do you know your dosha?
According to Ayurveda, there are three basic types of energy that are present in everyone and everything:
Vata - the subtle energy associated with movement, composed of space and air
Pitta - expresses as the body’s metabolic system, made up of fire and water
Kapha - the energy that forms the body’s structure (bones, muscles, tendons) and provides the “glue” that holds the cells together, formed from earth and water
If you are balanced in all aspects of mind and matter, the three types of energy are equal in our bodies. Most of us, however, are in a state of combination of two energies, often with one that is very dominant, or even out of balance. 🐥
Sahara Rose, an American-based nutritionist who wrote a wonderful cook book as well as an introduction into Ayurveda, summarised the three doshas as following:
Browse through Sahara Rose’s full e-book below.
”Eat right for your mind-body type” is an easy-to-understand and visually well-explained introduction into the three doshas, what effect they have on our minds and bodies, and how they (mis)behave when they are out of balance. This overview helped me a lot to get into the groove when I started my personal Ayurvedic journey three years ago. So if you want me to send you the 24-page PDF straight into your WhatsApp chat, just drop me a message. As you know: I am more than happy to share all the good things in life with you. ☀️
On her website, you’ll find a free dosha test, too. So go ahead, learn something new about yourself, and enjoy the deep-dive into your inner fires. Trust me: it is soooooo worth it. 😊 In the meantime, I will take a nice long nap. Hear you tomorrow! 💖
With love from Goa,
Isabelle 🌿
*In the traditional system, eggs are not considered sattvic as shown in the video.
Please note: I am not a doctor, nutritionist, or an Ayurvedic expert in any form (or in any parallel reality). What I am sharing is just a part of my personal journey that helped me a lot, hoping to raise awareness and open minds - and hearts - to alternative systems of healing. Please see a professional and licensed Ayurvedic doctor for a proper diagnosis of your Dosha, and all other further treatments. 🌺
