Important Ayurvedic Concept ☥ We Are All Of The Elements
We have a dominant dosha (body type) such as: Vata, Pitta, Kapha or combinations such as Pitta-Kapha, Vata-Pitta, Kapha-Vata, etc. However, I have found that many people focus too much attention on identifying and learning how to balance their dosha, which can prevent them from seeking overall balance. Regardless of our primary dosha, any of the elements can be out of balance. Think of our dosha as the translator that reflects our tendencies, communicates our current state of being ☥ interactions in our inner world needing our attention ☥ offers feedback based on the actions we choose to take. Ayurveda teaches us to become aware of and bring balance to the elements as they function within our bodies to achieve radiant health.
Why Ayurveda?
“Why?” is a very important question to ask. We learn a great deal about the question “why” from our elder and pioneer in the African psychology movement, Dr. Wade Nobles in the "Journey To Radiance ☥ Sankofa" blog ☥ podcast. For now, let us contemplate the wisdom of our ancestors. Why do Gods ☥ Goddesses represent the elements of nature? When we connect with the truest part of ourselves, we are in alignment with SPIRIT ☥ our ancestors ☥ nature and we don’t need a system of healing such as Ayurveda to teach us how to live. However, at some point, that connection was severely damaged. We are now at a point in our lives where we don’t know how to live or what to do with our pain. We struggle to take action without outside validation/approval. This is not the life our ancestors envisioned when they built massive structures to represent who we truly are.
We can think of Ayurveda as a translator and treasure map. Those parts of ourselves that were lost or stolen are still with us in consciousness.
Colonizers wouldn’t go through so much trouble to distract/manipulate/eliminate us if they had not witnessed this power flowing through us. Instead of surrendering to their inner excellence so that they could also experience fulfillment, they succumbed to their delusions of superiority which causes them to create and perpetuate harm virtually everywhere they go. Their incessant desire to recruit people to behave like or subjugate themselves to colonizers/colonization has infected the entire world. There is a much higher choice that they could make, but encouraging them to make that choice is like taking heroin away from an addict and convincing them that the process of drying out (Ayurvedically) will lead them to the peace that they continually seek through acquisition/pillaging. It’s a hard sell to a drunk crowd.
But what if, no matter what they do, they couldn’t get heroin anymore? They would be forced to dry out and heal. How do we force a heroin addict to dry out safely without causing harm to others and in a way that causes inner transformation and fosters fulfillment - to the point that the addict is no longer addicted? How do we protect ourselves while they are drying out and healing? This is the challenge that we have been given and our social programming causes us to not take it seriously/think it’s too big of a problem to solve. Having a house, car or money in the bank is not equivalent to making progress. Slavery keeps getting reinvented, and our lack of self-care will cause us to succumb to new forms of social programming that cause us to participate in and even become propounders of new/hidden forms of slavery. I’m not asking “why” for an immediate answer, but it is a question that we need to repeatedly explore. Ayurveda is not the only treasure map available to us, but it represents significant puzzle pieces that contain clues to find the answers we need.
That journey to West Africa was part of a continuum of the healing journey of the identity of finding my light, my truth … that journey to West Africa was really the catalyst to going a little deeper into the layers of ancestral trauma, … of doing deep, deep work healing my wounds, healing that trauma and out of that birth Afro Flow Yoga®. ☥ ☥ Leslie Salmon Jones ☥
If you've read my other blogs, you may have come across my personal story of Ayurveda. I mention my story because my decision to pursue Ayurveda was not easy. I had to fight through many levels of social programming that blocked my connection to common sense and the truest part of myself. What saved me was a moment of deep insight. I realized that all I had to show for my 27 years of suffering with and using conventional western remedies for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) was exacerbated COPD. Still, I was bullied into and terrified to stop taking my prescribed medication and there was no one around me who could offer an alternative.
During this time, I developed a habit of browsing shelves of bookstores. One day, my body stopped in front of the yoga section and wouldn't move. I was raised to believe that yoga and any practice that wasn't Christian was either evil or Satanic. However, as a grown woman, by myself in the bookstore, with no one looking, that programming filled me with fear that I had to push past in order to take action. That one action led me to Ayurveda and after one season of practicing Ayurveda, my cough stopped and my COPD saga ended. Ayurveda led me back to the truest part of myself ... a path that continues to reveal the parts of my ancestry and culture that was hidden, stolen or erased.
How Dis-ease Forms In The Body: The Traffic Jam
Now that we have a basic understanding of the doshas (body types), we'll need to learn how dis-ease forms in the body and the Ayurvedic strategies for reversing the course of dis-ease. I hyphenate dis-ease, because in the holistic healing world, dis-ease means the "lack of ease in the body." Our focus is on healing because when we give our body what it needs, our body heals itself. To make this process easier to understand, I have removed the Sanskrit words and will use the metaphor of the traffic jam to describe how we can go from congestion in the body to full blown dis-ease. If we follow through with this metaphor, we can see how the progression of a traffic jam (congestion in our bodies) can lead to a car getting totaled (dis-ease that can become fatal).
The Traffic Jam
We can think of stage one as the traffic jam. Traffic jams are generally caused by an accident or by drivers who continually speed up and slow down which causes a ripple effect through the surrounding cars. In our bodies, a traffic jam forms because of the accumulation of something that the body doesn't have the energy or resources to remove. Examples of what the traffic jam can look like in our bodies would be physical imbalances such as constipation, gas, heat around belly button, yellowish discoloration in whites of the eyes, dark yellow urine, craving quick energy such as candy/sugar (when what the body really needs is a stable protein such as pumpkin seeds), lethargy, feeling “heavy,” low appetite, etc. If we are stuck in a traffic jam, we may want to look for a different route or slow down and pay close attention to our surroundings. In our bodies, if we pay attention, our body will tell us exactly what we need to do in order to clear the internal traffic jam. For example, if we are constipated, we will need to eat more fruits and vegetables and increase hydration. If we ignore our bodies during this stage, we will progress to stage two.
The Temper Tantrum
Stage two of dis-ease is the Temper Tantrum. This is when we get aggravated because we can’t get where we're going. The temper tantrum can cause us to do things that can cause an accident because we are knee-jerk reacting instead of responding to the deeper issue. In our bodies, this aggravation can show up as low or mid back pain, stomach gurgling, breathlessness, hyperperistalsis, acid reflux, nausea, heartburn, a cold, cough or congestion. What our body needs for us to do is balance the issue with the opposite effect. For example, if we have back pain, we need to increase the circulation of oxygenated blood to the area through deep breathing, stretching and addressing any stressors in our lives. Stage two represents our last chance to address the issue without professional help. If we continue to ignore or anesthetize our body's signals, we will progress to stage three.
The Car Accident
In stage three of dis-ease, we experience the car accident because we become frustrated to the point that we stop paying attention and crash into another car causing visible damage to our vehicle. In our bodies, the aggravation has caused a flooding of imbalances which can show up as dry skin, goosebumps, cold hands and feet, ringing in the ears, tingling and numbness, quivering thighs, heartburn, burning eyes, acidic sweat, hives, rashes, burning sensations, water retention, sinus/lymphatic congestion, heavy breasts, excessive salivation, heavy feeling in the head and/or cold, clammy skin. During stage three, confusion within the body causes us to crave what exacerbates the problem. Even if we attempt to deal with the symptoms, we will still progress to stage four, if we don't address and remove the root cause of the issue.
Towing The Vehicle
In stage four of dis-ease, our vehicle gets towed which potentially causes additional damage to the vehicle during the process of getting it off the road. In our bodies, our weak areas are now under attack and confusion within the cellular intelligence could change its normal qualities, setting us up for the development of full-blown dis-ease. Many people in this stage are still in denial and will attempt to resort to over-the-counter medicine so that they can keep working. When we suppress the symptoms, without addressing the root cause of the issue, we may experience an exacerbated resurgence of the dis-ease in the same and/or different parts of the body.
The Insurance Claim
During stage five, an insurance adjuster shows up at the scene to start an insurance claim, assess the damage and make recommendations for repair. In our bodies, stage five is when the signs and symptoms of dis-ease can now be observed by other people who may insist that we go to the doctor. The doctor makes an assessment and we receive a diagnosis of dis-ease such as high or low blood pressure, diabetes, hypoglycemia, an auto-immune disease, etc. At this point, it is difficult to avoid medication or surgery without major lifestyle changes, proactivity and dedication. In the holistic world, receiving a diagnosis and treatment will not prevent the person from progressing to stage six, because they still have not done the work of locating, addressing and removing the root cause of the issue. In other words, high blood pressure can be managed with medication and avoiding table salt; however, the root cause of the high blood pressure may be an unresolved trauma, consuming fatty foods and a toxic relationship. If we do not address these issues, the medication may force our blood pressure into the "normal" range, but the root cause issues will continue to resurface from within our bodies in different forms (i.e., diabetes, arthritis, heart dis-ease, stroke, etc.).
(Note: This interview occurred many years ago. Although the information is universal and timeless, my contact information has changed. To reach me, please complete the form on my Consultancy page).
Totaled
In stage six, our car is totaled, and the vehicle is considered to be beyond repair, or we realize that the cost of the reconstruction is more than the actual value of the car. If we decide to continue using the car, it will struggle to perform and will often fall below par. Similarly, so much damage has occurred within our body, that it takes an enormous amount of effort to heal from dis-ease. Healing may still be possible, but the cost is high, and the work is intensive because structural changes have now manifested and all of our body systems are in a state of imbalance, the complications of which put us on a fatal course. During this time, we may experience severe dehydration, muscle wasting, loss of function, cerebral trauma, deep ulceration, hemorrhage, abscess formation, gangrene, meningitis, profuse edema, hardening of tissues, loss of vision, kidney failure, neoplasm/tumor and/or diabetic coma. Some of the issues have gone too far in the body for complete healing and we have to accept some losses. For example, gangrene will lead to an amputation of a body part which can often cause us to fall into depression. These imbalances are much more difficult to heal or live with, and we may decide to prepare ourselves for death.
The Four Legs Of Healing Dis-ease
If we are headed to a destination but realize that we are traveling in the wrong direction, we'll have to make a U-Turn. Similarly, if we are progressing through the stages of dis-ease, we are moving in the wrong direction. Ayurveda is a system of healing that helps us make a U-Turn and travel in the direction that leads us to healing, balance and reconnection to the truest part of ourselves. The process of healing dis-ease functions like the legs of a chair, because all four are needed to re-establish balance in the body. The four legs of healing are:
☥ The Processing ☥ Healing Of Emotions
☥ Nourishing The Body With Healing Foods
☥ Supporting The Body With Healing Herbs
☥ Increasing Circulation Of The Body With Movement
Be optimistic and believe that we can un-get the ailments of the past.
From Knowledge To Action ☥ Optimism
Now that we have a basic understanding of the concepts of Ayurveda, how do we move from knowledge to practical application? We begin with optimism. If I’m water and you are thirsty, but there is a mountain between us, did I forget how to be water? The question sounds simple and obvious, but whenever we are faced with a health challenge, we behave as if our body has forgotten how to heal. However, we are the ones who have forgotten that our body is a self-healing genius. If I'm water and you are thirsty but there is a mountain between us, we must deal with the mountain. I often have to correct my clients ☥ readers because they erroneously assert that their bodies have shut down, failed, revolted against them or is in horrible shape. But that is a fallacy. If we want to heal our body, we must rid ourselves of toxins and give our body the energy and resources it needs to heal ☥ thrive.
So, let’s take a look at the un-getting equation that I discovered on my journey to radiance. I learned over time that as a society, we have let go of some age-old traditions that served us well. By re-embracing ancient wisdom and refining it with culturally accurate cutting-edge research so that it applies to our modern world, we can return to our “whole selves:”
Ancient wisdom + culturally accurate research = holistic healing.
This un-getting equation put me on an amazing life-time journey that I’ll never forget. I hope that it will catalyze your knowledge into action.
From Knowledge To Action ☥ Courage
What does it mean to have courage? We need more than optimism to facilitate the healing process. We need to act on our optimism by pulling up the courage that we have within us. There are applications of this courage that help us begin our journey to Radiant Health. Of utmost importance is the courage to face our "band-aids." Band-aids can show up as anesthetizing ourselves (distractions, food, drugs, alcohol, etc.) instead of doing the work of identifying and removing the root cause of the dis-ease. If we cut ourselves and leave a band-aid on too long, what happens? That area becomes toxic. When we anesthetize ourselves we can be sure that we are suppressing the symptoms of the issue without addressing the real cause of the problem. It is like mowing the grass to get rid of weeds. Anesthetizing practices can increase toxicity in the body which is the main cause for dis-ease in the first place. If a river is polluted, environmentalists will not stand around the river and say geez, this river is really polluted; let’s throw some pills in there and clean it up. They will search for and remove the source of the pollution and then filter the water to remove the toxins that currently exist.
The time we invest in "band-aiding" keeps us from those back-burner projects such as a commitment to exercise 30 minutes a day or setting clear boundaries with a co-worker who consistently dumps their work on us. When we become aware of band-aids and then take action, we start a chain of positive effects that transform our lives. These concepts build upon each other. If we are optimistic that we can un-get something that we don’t want, we'll need the courage to act on our optimism. Often times we may have to step out there and take action without the support of our family and friends. People who do not understand or support our actions create emotional traffic jams that can jeopardize our progress. If we allow our inner wisdom to guide our outer actions without the need for outside support or validation, we may find that, in time, some people may be inspired by our optimism, courage and the results that show up in the form of a healthy body and a radiant glow. When we heal ourselves first, we can become the inspiration for others.
From Knowledge To Action ☥ Harmony ☥ Balance Through Food
Our body is constantly seeking homeostasis or harmony ☥ balance. What it wants us to do is to remove the mental, emotional and physical toxins that get in its way and provide the adequate fuel it needs to restore balance. Our body will take care of the rest. We can help our body restore harmony and balance through food, relationships and self-love.
Most people would agree that putting gas in an engine that requires diesel is a bad idea, but do we really believe that food is medicine? We don’t have to make major changes in order to help our body restore its harmony ☥ balance, just begin by eating whole foods such as whole grains, not processed grains like cold cereals (there is no such thing as a boxed/processed/puffed cold cereal that is a true whole grain). Use lots of spices because herbs add flavor, enzymes and healing properties. In America, we really miss the boat on spices. The word "spicy" has generally been limited to mean "hot," but herbs can be cooling, wet, dry as well as sweet, sour, pungent, bitter, salty and/or astringent. Basic spices, such as rosemary, ginger or oregano have a laundry list of healing properties and make our food taste great. The most important way that our body maintains homeostasis is by balancing our acid vs. alkaline levels in our body.
The dreams that we have — what we want to accomplish, happens through our physical body. We can use the wisdom of harmony ☥ balance to preserve our health while we earn our wealth.
Most Americans eat foods that primarily digest acidic; however, our blood must be slightly alkaline at all times. Our body will work very hard to maintain balance even if it means robbing other bodily systems. The best way to maintain this balance is to make sure that we get enough organic sodium in our diet by eating enough fruits and vegetables and making sure that we are using unprocessed sea salt. Unrefined salts, sugars and raw oils are essential nutrients for healing. Ironically, most folks take in ridiculous amounts of refined salts/sugars/oils that bog down the body while the body is desperately searching for unrefined salts/sugars/oils that it needs to maintain harmony ☥ balance. Just a few tweaks to help increase the quality of our food can change our life. Here's a brief summary of how we can restore harmony and balance with food:
☥ Vegetables (at least 30% raw for most people)
☥ Fruits (at least 85% raw for most people)
☥ Protein Rich Alkaline Grains ☥ Seeds Such As Quinoa ☥ Millet ☥ Amaranth (soak them
for at least 8 hours or overnight and rinse well for optimal digestion)
☥ Herbs (excellent source of enzymes, adds flavor, healing properties)
☥ Legumes (beans, nuts and seeds)
☥ Enzymes (essential for body functions such as digestion, breathing, circulation, etc.)
☥ Hydration = Water + EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids) + Electrolytes
☥ Raw, Unrefined Sugar, Salt, Oils (i.e., dates, sea salt, unrefined chia seed oil)
From Knowledge To Action ☥ Harmony ☥ Balance Through Relationships
Harmony ☥ balance is also restored through maintaining healthy relationships. This includes balancing our work vs. play, the time we make for ourselves vs. the time we make for others and most importantly, monitoring our reactions to outside stimuli. Our perceptions can be very powerful, but often they are incorrect, particularly when we choose to react to negative outside stimuli in the heat of the moment. How we choose to respond to outside stimuli determines our stress levels to a great extent, and stress can be as toxic to our body as unhealthy food.
From Knowledge To Action ☥ Harmony ☥ Balance Through Self-Love
We cannot give what we don't have. I have yet to find a person who can give me $50 if they only have $30. Yet, when I suggest that we care for ourselves first, I receive a litany of reasons why something/someone else must be the priority. If we overextend ourselves, we are not able to help others. Self-love for Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People, who have endured centuries of racism and oppression, also includes positive affirmation of our identity ☥ culture. The beautiful images that we see throughout phyllishubbard.com do not come easily. I generally have to sift through at least 200 images of white people to find a single beautiful image of a Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant person. Some of the images are so disempowering or insulting that I need to take breaks to breathe and recenter myself. For example, while working on one of my blogs, I conducted an image search for a Mexican man, and I found several images of a white man wearing a Mexican hat floating in a pool of water with an ice pack on his groin and a margarita in his hand. Then, I searched for a Black man doing yoga, and I got a white woman doing a pole dance with her crotch opened to the camera. While searching for a dark-skinned Black person, I came across over 10 different versions of a white woman in a modern form of blackface, examples of which I included in this blog and in Journey To The Dream. The majority of pictures of people representing Kamitians (Ancient Egyptians) are white (a few are spray tanned) and some are a complete mockery of our culture. I have found very few images of Aborigine People that accurately and respectfully reflect their culture.
Self-love is a journey for Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People. It requires that we transcend psychological manipulation and social programming that minimizes our presence and importance in the world, but it is well worth the trip. We can restore harmony ☥ balance by understanding on a very deep level that the best gift we can give anyone is a healthy mind ☥ body ☥ emotions.
A Musical Exploration
Because Ayurveda is a healing modality that teaches us to create/re-establish balance, I will close this blog with an invitation to go on a musical exploration. Listen to this song by Baaba Mal (primary African artist in the Black Panther films ☥ click here for a lyric video to sing along):
As I was searching for the lyrics to the song “Mariama” by Baaba Mal, the only translation that I could find was written by a white person. One of the lyrics in the song is that Mariama has skin as dark as ebony, and the white person translated it to mean, “Mariama has dark skin, which is of no consequence to her beauty.” What is the purpose of this translation? The translation is simply: Mariama has beautiful skin as dark as ebony. Pluralism teaches us to keep in mind the source from which we gather our information so that we can extract the truth.
Now, please listen to at least three minutes of this music from Rajasthan:
What are your thoughts about the vocal styles ☥ music? Rank pulling happens when we need a quick fix to feeling “less than” in some way. It is one of the ways that we cope with racial fatigue, and colonizers expect us to give in to the social programming so that we will compete with, be jealous of and/or turn on each other. Ayurveda offers us a path to higher consciousness. Instead of giving in to the instant gratification of rank pulling to make ourselves feel better (which is not sustainable or fulfilling), what can we do instead to embrace all of who we are? When we give in to the impulse of instant gratification, we enable psychotic behavior. Decolonization begins with us. Colonizers want to divide us, but it is up to us to heal ☥ rebalance our minds ☥ reclaim ALL of who we are.
Ayurveda ☥ It's How We Live Our Life ☥ Study ☥ Live ☥ Love
Epilogue ☥ Your Treasure Map For Self-Care
Thank you for taking the time to actively engage in your own self-care. If you have ever spent time at a hammam ☥ steam room ☥ sauna, you will notice that it is a comfortable space because you are wearing minimal or no clothing and you can just be yourself. However, after a short time, it starts to get hot, and you begin to sweat.
This is a good thing because you are helping your body to eliminate toxins. If you want to detoxify your body correctly you will:
☥ Breathe slowly and deeply to help your body adjust to the intensity of the heat.
☥ Sip water every 15 minutes to stay hydrated.
☥ Have a piece of fruit ☥ pumpkin seeds ☥ favorite healthy snack available.
☥ Take a shower after excessive sweating.
☥ Go into a cold room/take a cold plunge/cold water rinse off to cool down before doing
another sweat and to stimulate your lymphatic system.
☥ Go for a walk in nature, spend time in meditation ☥ contemplation, have a healthy meal
and give your body some time to complete the healing process (which could include
sending you messages through your intuition about your next steps).
As you journey through ☥ interact with the blogs ☥ other content on phyllishubbard.com, you might have an insight that causes you to suddenly feel mentally ☥ emotionally “hot” -- which could show up as:
☥ “Ah-ha” moments
☥ A hop-in-the-bed-and-cry-yourself-to-sleep or fetal position crying time of intensive
self-care
☥ Intense feelings of anger/regret about something in your past
☥ Disorientation caused by the realization of truth
☥ Strong reactions such as heightened senses, vomiting; an urge to release emotions
such as yelling/screaming, going outside for fresh air/to take a walk, punching a
boxing bag/pillow; a feeling of tightness in the chest, etc.
If you find yourself having a strong reaction, I encourage you to flow with it while helping your body to release mental ☥ emotional toxins by using the same five self-care strategies listed above for releasing physical toxins. Your body talks to you all the time, but unconscious adherence to social conditioning can mute its messages.
Strong reactions are your body’s way of letting you know that there is a deeper issue requiring your attention.
Keep revisiting the content ☥ utilizing the five self-care strategies until you no longer experience the strong reaction, release fears and have identified ☥ transformed ☥ removed the root cause of the issue. You will find additional strategies throughout this website that you can add to your mental health self-care toolkit.
Self-Care Sustainability Suggestions
☥ A Cross-Cultural Healing Haven – read this blog to understand the purpose of
phyllishubbard.com and the meaning behind its organization ☥ symbols.
☥ Revisit the content periodically and make a note of if/how your perceptions have
evolved. Check out our blog page for an experiential healing journey.
☥ Check out the other pages on phyllishubbard.com:
☥ Home - watch the videos. Click on the images in the Spiritual Guidance
section. Each image has a story that might assist your self-care journey. Learn
about other spiritual practices.
☥ About - Learn about my background ☥ reasons for co-creating
phyllishubbard.com with Spirit. Explore healing through the image carousel and
videos.
☥ Shop ☥ Kamitology - Purchase and download vital tools for your personal growth
☥ development. Order The Chakra Emotions Energy Wisdom Quick Start Toolkit to
help you identify and heal feelings as they arise.
☥ Reclaiming Our Humanity - Help us develop and disseminate video courses.
☥ Rise TV - Practice breathing and movement exercises and deepen your
understanding of healing through the experiences of community members.
Check back periodically to discover new/re-experience the content.
☥ Journey - This is your invitation to own the journey to radiance. Experience the
journey and download healing resources to share with your friends, family and
community.
When you share healing, healing comes back to and flows through you.
About Sharing ...
During my first presentation to an all-Black audience, I introduced 20-year-old research on the hazards of sitting. I presented the research because I noticed that people sat for way too long at convenings and realized that the information was not disseminated to Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant communities. I was determined to intentionally include this research, often surprising participants by getting people up to stretch. After more than 13 years of intentional work, Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant People are just barely beginning to normalize conscious movement. We still have a long way to go, and it is important that we share what we know as much as we can to prevent the disenfranchisement of wellness information to Black ☥ Indigenous ☥ Immigrant communities.
Please do not keep phyllishubbard.com to yourself. We will not co-create a better world until we heal our current, past/childhood traumas. We will not love others until we learn to love ourselves.
Copy/Paste Version Of A Full Citation Example:
Hubbard, P. S. (2020, September 27). What Is Ayurveda? Part III. PHYLLISHUBBARD.COM. <https://www.phyllishubbard.com/post/what-is-ayurveda-part-iii>
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