Chew on this!

Before leaving for vacation, my husband and I went to the Wainwright house for a Healing Arts fair. We went to a few lectures and I had my astrological/tarot reading done (which calls for an entire new post).

The last lecture we went to was given by Lorraine Gengo called "Discover your Essential Nature through Ayurveda".

I have always been confused about what my dosha was. Still am.

John is so clear cut, emphasis on Pitta, whereas I am all over the place.

So during my wonderful and relaxing vacation, I spent a good deal of time reading. One of the books called Prakriti: Your Ayurvedic Constitution by Dr. Robert E. Svoboda.

As I was reading, one of those aha lightbulbs went off.

It occured under the chapter Balance.... mmmm. . . just what this blog is about, me bringing myself into balance.

We all know how stress, or the reaction to stress, wreaks havoc on our immune system and allows dis-ease to enter our body. It seems that is the "answer" given nowadays by doctors... "it's stress" .. easy, lazy answer.

We all have stress. Every time something new, some change, comes along, usually unexpected, it brings stress into our lives. We need to know how to deal with it. Our natural reaction to it is determined by our constitution ( our dosha). We are capable of changing it, but first comes awareness.

The three doshas are Vata, Pitta, Kapha.

Vata is the more unstable form, Pitta is more reactive, and Kapha is more inert.

To use the example given by our lecturer, if stuck in an elevator, Vata would freak out pushing buttons and well, freak out. Pitta would pick up his cell phone and call for help. (Yes, John would do exactly that, because he would actually have his cell on him) and Kapha, would just stand by, "no worry, someone will help us" and that would be me because after all, I'm with John, Mr. Pitta who has the cell phone!

Aside from stress, it is written that Indigestion is the base of all physical disease, the condition from which all other disease conditions arise. ... the inability to digest any physical, mental or emotional input, is the sole disease of living beings.

Disease starts in the mind as "an offense against wisdom" and then projected from the mind into the physical body.

We KNOW eating the ice cream or cookie isn't good for us, but we eat it anyway... "an offense against wisdom". So, a clogged system is the punishment for this offense.

According to this ayurveda system, it is most important to be able to digest our foods, taking all the nutrients from it and eliminate the rest.

No burping, no discomfort after eating, and you have a nice poop with no problem :-)

That's the physical... but there is also the mental reaction, which again is not to have mental discomfort, you don't "burp" up any reactions, or have disturbing thoughts or dreams.

Now here comes my "aha" moment.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew", words that I have heard my mother repeatedly tell me. Not so much with having to eat, but with work. And yes, guilty I am of this (but consciously working on it) and I have looked at this as a result of self-employment. I say yes to everything that comes my way, because what if it stops coming..... (fear based thinking).

Life has proved this to be untrue, showing me that "the universe provides" but I need reminding.

Holy Shit! I realize here it is in the physical as well. I have been criticized for eating too fast, even being called a "hoover". The next bite most often goes in before I'm done chewing and have swallowed what is in my mouth.

I'm "biting off more than I can chew" literally!

This leads into issues of holding on as well. I tend more to hold on to things "just in case I need them"... thoughts jotted down on paper, notebooks filled with ideas, magazine, books, old clothes that "might" be recycled into art projects. It's that "waste not, want not" mentality.

Conscious change occurs when one is aware. Once you become "enlightened" about a situation, then you can take the appropriate path towards recovery, sometimes or maybe often times, with the support of a friend to help you stay on the path.. to point out to you that you may need to "chew on something" for awhile. And this is what I am doing.

Being more conscious of my eating physically to properly digest it all will help me "digest" all the mental stuff.

My new moon intentions are to eat more consciously. PUT THE FORK DOWN! while I am chewing. swallow. then I can take another bite...

If someone offers me a "job", chew on it before I answer. Do I really want to do it? or am I taking it on out of "fear of lack".