What Ayurveda Really Is | Ayurveda for Beginners

Before I get into my love for Ayurveda, what Ayurveda is and why I still teach it, here’s a little story first: Before I found Ayurveda in 2007, I was going through my own health transformation. I felt sad a lot and I just wanted to do so much better for myself. I was depressed in a lot of ways and not making great choices.

Here was me from 2003–2007: For breakfast I’d have a large Peet’s coffee with creamer for nourishment and so it didn’t stain my teeth, a salad at lunch + a Diet Coke, and by 2pm I’d be craving sugar, so I’d grab a Specialty’s cookie (one was like 1,500 calories, btw) that I would split with friends. Then another Diet Coke or coffee. I’d go to the gym almost every day after work, or do power yoga at home. I’d go to happy hours/bars 2–3 times a week with friends. I cooked nothing. I ate out.

But I thought I was pretty healthy because of the salad, Diet Coke and gym/yoga. Three wins! I was 28, single, living in San Francisco, great job, great friends. Life was pretty good!

Except that it SUCKED for my health, physical and mental. I was running on caffeine and sugar fumes half the time, and hungover the other half. My emotions were a rollercoaster and I had headaches. I was scattered, moody, depressed, anxious and could not poop (just deal with my little TMI).

I got sick of dealing with myself, so I hired (when I go for it, I really go for it…) get this: an acupuncturist, a therapist, a life coach, a nutritionist AND an energy intuitive. Five people. They were cheaper than they are today, but still.

So one day, I was at my computer, all sad-sack, and I wanted to disappear. So I Googled “yoga retreat in India,” and what I found changed me forever.

On the page I found, “Ayurvedic massage…Ayurvedic foods…based on Ayurveda…” And the WORD ‘AYURVEDA’ struck my heart in a snap. I knew the word, except I didn’t. My body knew the word. So I kept going.

“Ayurveda is the science of life…one size does not fit all…we are each uniquely different…we are made of nature: space, air, fire, water, earth…and so nature is what heals us…”

I started BAWLING. I put my head on my keyboard and cried my face off, and then I paced around my little junior one-bedroom apartment. Four days later, I was enrolled in school. That was August 2007. My first blog post which started heymonicab.com was June 7th 2008.

So with enthusiasm, let me share the backbone of Ayurveda with you, in the way that I teach it. Through my loving heart and radiating the spirit of how this beautiful science helped me back then, and still does to this day.

Ayurveda seems to unfold from the heart and just keeps unfolding outward. For me, it seems never-ending. It’s something I can learn about forever, and until I die, I will never be done learning. Ayurveda is so deep, it has no bottom. And it’s so wide, it has no edges.

However, that’s also why it’s super confusing for people and their eyes glaze over! I’m here to make it easy and doable, without losing the spirit of this gorgeous ancient science that walked through my door in 2007 from thousands of years ago.

So here we go. You deserve this. Ayurveda is the most awesome thing I have ever come across, and I mean awesome by its true definition: inspiring wonder, respect and even a little fear. It has changed my life.

WHAT AYURVEDA REALLY IS.

Ayurveda is the science of LIFE! Ayurveda literally translates to “knowledge of life.” If that’s too broad, then consider it the science of longevity. Everything in Ayurveda rolls up to living as long as is necessary to live long enough to do your purpose — the thing you are supposed to do — the reason you took a birth.

So to ensure we live long enough to do our soul purpose (it’s different for everyone and don’t stress about it, we will talk about that in a future post), Ayurveda embodies a whole-istic approach where mind, body and spirit work in harmony to achieve optimal health. Think of them as a circle, when one is affected, the other two are also affected.

AYURVEDA WOULD RATHER PREVENT THE PROBLEM

Ayurveda’s main focus is disease (or sickness, illness) prevention. Ayurveda can cure disease but it much prefers to prevent it.

Before we end up with a sickness or a disease, we are given clues that the body is not functioning as it should. We might notice subtle physical, mental or emotional changes — Ayurveda pays attention to those! Those signals might as well be arms waving around saying, “Hey hey! We’re experiencing a slight problem in this area!” If we don’t pay attention, we get sicker.

Disease doesn’t come out of nowhere, it takes time to build. We can still get sick when practicing Ayurveda but a) we will get sick much less often b) the sickness won’t last as long and c) you will know enough to uncover the root cause so it doesn’t happen again.

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL

We each have different thresholds for stress, hunger, sleep, exercise and so on. None of us look exactly the same so why would we behave the same or need the same things?

Ayurveda plucks us out as individuals and provides a customized approach to health by recognizing we all have different needs. If you think this is refreshing so far, we’re just gettin’ started! Countless people have written to me saying how discovering Ayurveda has brought them to tears (when our heart chakra opens, we can’t help but weep) because finally there is a system that sees and honors their individuality.

AYURVEDA IN REAL LIFE

For example, waking before the sun helps jumpstart our energy and vitality because vata dosha (the energy of movement) is dominant at that time of day. It gives us motion and a little “wind in our sails” first thing in the morning, which helps keep us going all day long.

Another example is eating for who you are, based on your dosha(s) and the season. We are not all the same, and the strength of our digestive fire varies from person to person. Understanding which foods best suit YOU, are easily digestible, and have enough staying power is really important in Ayurveda.

Once you understand what works for you, you get it forever! From there, it’s simply adjusting your foods and the timing of eating. Just by doing that, you can help prevent all kinds of imbalances.

For our purposes, we will stick with the most easy to digest and easy to apply foundations of Ayurveda so that you start using it right away. The faster I can give you wings, the better!

If you seek something different, expect something different.

AYURVEDA IN A NUTSHELL

Truth: Ayurveda invites conscious participation of the patient to make life changes to prevent disease in the first place.

Philosophy:
Mind = awareness
Body = action
Spirit = I am ready to evolve

And this is where Ayurveda gets really fun: figuring out what you need. Your natural tendencies, your strengths, where you tend to get thrown off, and what brings you back into balance.

Okay, that’s your start. Good start, right? If you’re new to Ayurveda, get started with the Free Dosha Guide below. From there, I hope your entire being begins to smile and you find yourself as fascinated by Ayurveda as I was when I first found it.

OH! AND! In Ayurveda, calories do not exist. Score! Helloooo Specialty’s (I’m kidding!). 😂🍪

Love,
Monica B.

Want to find your dosha?
Download Dosha Snapshots, a free guide that helps you discover your Ayurvedic mind-body type and understand your natural patterns, strengths, and imbalances.