How I Helped a Loved One Heal with Ayurveda

In 2005, I was deep into my study of Ayurveda. It wasn’t formal training at that time, but I was reading everything I could about health, wellness, and this deeply detailed medical system. I had seen the results in my life and wondered if there was a way I could help others who might be fed up and frustrated with the current medical system. 

My opportunity to help wasn’t far off. My husband (at the time) came to me with a plea. His father had been diagnosed with almost certain kidney failure. His creatinine levels were high and the doctors feared he would be on kidney dialysis within a short amount of time. My husband asked me if I would put together a program and talk to his father to help him change his lifestyle.

I was a bit embarrassed and bothered, firstly because I didn’t have a really close relationship with my father-in-law and secondly, because I didn’t have any degrees or certifications, at the time, in Ayurveda or alternative health. Still, I agreed to help. I made a booklet, over the course of a few days, outlining his new lifestyle plan based on the principles of Ayurveda. 

We met and I sat with him for a couple of hours explaining how he could start to heal naturally. The amazing part was that he actually sat and listened. (I think the possibility of being handed a life sentence was a motivating factor.) The next amazing part is that for the next 30 days, he followed the plan. 

In those 30 days, he lost 30 pounds due to the mostly plant-based diet I had suggested he start. I also had him drinking a ton of water at room temperature to help flush out his kidneys. He began walking for 10-15 minutes after every meal. I had him replace coffee with some herbal and green teas. The best part of all is that in 30 days his creatinine levels had gone down, something the doctors had said was impossible for his health condition. 

Once he got the good news, my father-in-law fell back into his old patterns, which of course worsened his condition. But the proof was in the pudding. 30-days on an Ayurvedic lifestyle diet worked to start reversing a condition that the doctors said was irreversible. 

It was that family experiment that got me on my path to teaching others about Ayurveda. I was convinced that it does work and not just for myself but for others too. 

And it can and will work for you and your loved ones. 

As a healer, we are not about prescribing pills or doling out herbal remedies. We’re about investing in people and getting to the bottom of why they are sick in the first place. Through this investment, I felt my father-in-law and I got closer. We had this little bond we never had had before. 

Ultimately, my father-in-law passed away in January of 2015. It had been several years since I had seen him after my divorce and living across the Atlantic. But after he passed, I had a dream about him, where he was visiting me and I saw Angel come and take him to heaven. I felt, in a strange way, that was God’s way of saying that he was O.K. after all those years and that vision was my thank you for helping him. 

Michelle 

Michelle S. Fondin is the author of The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle (New World Library, 2015) and Help! I Think My Loved One Is an Alcoholic: A Survival Guide for Lovers, Family & Friends and upcoming book Enlightened Medicine: Get & Stay Well for Good This Time. 

Why We Need Medical Systems Like Ayurveda More Than Ever

Earlier this month a report came out that first the first time since 1993, the U.S. death rate rose. That means that the overall life expectancy dropped. If you look at the numbers, it doesn’t appear significant but researchers say there is reason to be alarmed because life expectancy typically does not drop, especially in people under the age of 65, which is the case in this study. 

Deaths were up for heart disease, stroke and Alzheimers and also from unintentional injuries and suicide. Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the National Center for Health Statistics, believes that some of the reasons for these results are because of the obesity epidemic in the U.S. as well as the national crisis of prescription opioid abuse and misuse.

Let’s look at the leading causes of death in the U.S. 

1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases
4. Unintentional injuries
5. Stroke
6. Alzheimer’s disease
7. Diabetes
8. Influenza and pneumonia 
9. Kidney disease
10. Suicide

Most of the diseases listed are chronic lifestyle diseases. Lifestyle diseases are those which are directly affected by one’s actions, behaviors, the ability to manage stress and emotions. When a person is able to modify his or her behavior with a chronic lifestyle illness, his or her chances of living a longer and living a more productive and healthy life increase immensely.

Look at the experiment done by Dr. Dean Ornish who proved in his book, Program for Reversing Heart Disease, in 1995 that you could actually reverse heart disease by changing your diet, exercise regime and your outlook on life. 

The prescription of our modern medical system in the United States is to prescribe medications to lower cholesterol, liquify the blood through blood thinners, lower blood pressure, kill pain, improve the mood, etc. 

All of the prescription medications have many side effects, which in turn, make the patient more ill. We are literally medicating patients to death. 

Alternative medical systems, like Ayurveda, assist the patient in taking charge of his or her own health, by making healthy changes to enhance wellbeing. Ayurveda has been around for over 5,000-years and has withstood the test of time. 

If death percentages are not enough, maybe look at the cost of medical care. Healthcare costs are rising and keep rising for the individual. When I spoke to a physician, with 25 years in practice, he said to me, “Michelle, health insurance is no longer for people with ill health. It’s just a security blanket for major medical emergencies, but cannot be relied on.” While the Affordable Healthcare Act, insured 20 million Americans who were previously uninsured (including the writer), we have all seen the monthly costs increase yearly for the past few years. Insurance companies have gotten smart and realized that payouts for so many sick people is costing them more. So they’ve raised their rates and increased deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses for the consumer. 

Making lifestyle changes or teaching patients simple but transformative techniques and rewarding them for those changes is where our health care must go. If health insurance companies are smart, they will reimburse more for services like health classes, personal training sessions and consultations, massage, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture and even for vitamins and herbal medicines, such as turmeric pills, which are known to help with a whole host of symptoms. 

A single set of chemotherapy treatments costs around $30,000 

Heart bypass surgery costs between $70,000 to $200,000

To treat one person with diabetes, it costs around $10,000 annually. 

Can you imagine if there was a menu of items where a patient could choose 20-40 treatments throughout the year, through their health insurance where they could select lifestyle change services? 

Let’s say a patient chooses:

10 lifestyle or health consultations at $175 each 

10 personal training sessions at $50 each

20 sessions of yoga at $15 per class

1 gym membership at $35/ month  (I understand that many health insurance companies are already doing this.) 

A selection of vitamins and herb capsules at $50/ month

We are talking about $3,570 per patient versus tens of thousands of dollars in payouts for medical expenses. 

Even if we don’t get that far in our lifetime, think about your personal finances. Isn’t a few thousand dollars per year worth your life, your health, and your quality of life? 

Our current medical system is not giving us the answers we need to get and stay healthy. It can no longer be a trusted model. It’s time we expand and look to other ways to regain and maintain our health and wellbeing. 

Wishing you perfect health always,

Michelle 

Michelle S. Fondin is the author of The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle (New World Library, 2015) and Help! I Think My Loved One Is an Alcoholic: A Survival Guide for Lovers, Family & Friends and upcoming book Enlightened Medicine: Get & Stay Well for Good This Time. 

Sources: 

 Sources: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/12/08/504667607/life-expectancy-in-u-s-drops-for-first-time-in-decades-report-finds

http://www.acsh.org/news/2016/12/12/life-expectancy-americans-drops-first-time-1993-10574

Understanding the Law of Pure Potentiality

In our yoga classes at The Ayurvedic Path, we study The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga. The first of those seven principles is the Law of Pure Potentiality. 

This is a principle innately understood by babies and small children. Initially, everything is open and new. When we are young, all is amazing and the world is a realm of all possibilities. Then very quickly, through our upbringing, we begin to narrow our view of the world. This happens through no fault of our own. Our families, teachers and caregivers, help shape who we are and a lot of that includes setting limitations. 

Growing Up and Growing Out

While fitting into a mold was helpful as we grew up, staying in the parameters that were set for us, may not work in adulthood. I know a family who, through the generations, has encouraged their children to become doctors, lawyers or engineers. Understandably, these are fine areas of study, which often guarantee a good source of income. However, many children, even within the same family don’t necessarily fit into any of these areas easily. But, if you were raised in this family, you might think that you can only choose one of these career paths to be completely accepted and successful. 

Expanding your limitations into full potential includes overriding something you’ve been taught your entire life if it’s no longer serving you. 

Raising the Ceiling of Limitations

Some of us live with a ceiling so low that we frequently hit our heads on it. We are so used to living with our own excuses that we many not even hear our own voices anymore. “I can’t do this because...” “When I get more money, I will...” “If I was younger, I could...” or “I’ve tried that before and it hasn’t worked.” 

Pure potentiality calls us to open up and raise the ceiling to infinite possibilities. This means you must let go of disbelief. What you thought wasn’t possible before, now becomes possible even if you don’t see it right away. Small children dream and speak the impossible. You must have the innocence of a child if you are to embrace pure potentiality. 

Listen to Your Thoughts and Speech

Retraining the mind can be a challenge. One way to begin is to observe yourself. Observe your thoughts and see which ones are limiting. Notice which of those are regular in your thought patterns and write them down. Then make a commitment to yourself to rewrite those thoughts into ones which open you to infinite possibilities. Do the same with the things you say. Make an attempt to not speak limitations on yourself or others. 

You are a piece of the creative mind that orchestrates the world into existence. You have the capacity, therefore, to be limitless. Embrace this aspect of who you are and live the life you’ve always dreamed of living.

Love,

Michelle

Michelle S. Fondin, author of The Wheel of Healing: An Easy Guide to an Ayurvedic Lifestyle. 

www.michellefondin.com

Mastering the Basics Before Going in Depth

One thing I most often hear in my practice is, “What can give me the quickest results to take my practice, diet or health to the next level?” My response is, “Pay attention to simplicity. Master the basics. Learn to meditate and practice it. Start eating with awareness. Listen to your inner voice.” 

Typically this is not what people want to hear. They want a quick fix. They want to feel success right now. An Ayurvedic and yoga practice is not about “quick fix right now”. It’s about pinpointing with accuracy the change you need to make on a permanent basis to get lasting results for a lifetime. Anyone can sell quick fixes or in depth details on how to get results now. But that is not the goal of an Ayurvedic or yoga practice. 

When I was younger, I dated a high school art teacher. He was baffled at the arrogance of talented young teenage artists, who wanted to learn how to paint like the great masters, without understanding the basics of drawing. Yet, he made them go back to the basics by penciling basic sketches and shading. After parental protests he shared with me, “These students will never go on to be great artists if they don’t master basic drawing skills first.”  While I don’t know a lot about painting, I do know this; when you visit expositions on famous artists, you will always see many pencil sketchings before the great masterpieces. My daughter, who has natural talent in art, sketches for about eight to ten hours per day. 

In discussing the concept of Christianity with a friend a few weeks ago, he shared that grasping the concepts were very deep and difficult to follow. My suggestion was to start easy. I made the commentary that most people have difficulty following the life of Jesus by just being kind. Can you imagine? Kindness is a relatively simple concept. Yet, how many follow it on a regular basis? 

When the great yoga master, BKS Iyengar, was a boy in India, he got up every morning at 4 a.m. to practice yoga with his teacher for two hours before breakfast. After four years, he was tired of the basics and begged his teacher to teach him breathing techniques or pranayama. At my studio, I see yoga students who have been practicing for six months or a year who want to take their practice to the next level. When I suggest they learn to meditate or master what they have already learned, they become frustrated. What they want are more difficult yoga poses. What yoga teaches us is to want inner peace and the discovery of ourselves. 

So why do we hate the basics so much? Why do we loathe repetition and simplicity? I believe it’s because we are linear in our thinking. We see progress as a straight line. Progress should be seen more as a circle. As we develop and grow, the circle becomes bigger and wider. In our growing we don’t always see results on the exterior. But the workings are happening from the inside. 

Try grasping a simple concept for one day. For example, eat all of your meals without distraction (any) and in silence. Have your eating be a sensual experience. Taste, smell, touch, and feel your food. Make each meal a mini-meditation. You may find that this concept, as simple as it is, is difficult for you. 

Or how about mastering the concept of non-judgment?  Spend one day judging nothing or no one, including yourself. Try to stay neutral and rooted in the present moment. Drawing inferences for the future is still judging. Making assumptions is judging. It’s a simple concept, yet difficult to apply, even for a day. 

You can do this with anything and start today. Pick one simple concept and apply it for a day. Then tomorrow, pick something else and pretty soon you will realize that the road to mastery is not far away. 

Love,

Michelle

Michelle Fondin author of "The Wheel of Healing: An Easy Guide to an Ayurvedic Lifestyle"

www.michellefondin.com

Addictions: An Ayurvedic Perspective (Part 2)

In part one, we mentioned that addictions are a problem of object referral versus self-referral in an exaggerated manner. Most of us suffer from a mild form of object referral and waver between object and self-referral. But in addictions, object referral is king. The object of addiction is almost seen as a god, taking precedence over any other thing, including a spiritual connection.  

Object referral is an association of oneself with something outside of us. For example, you will hear people say, I’m a doctor, a lawyer, a plumber, a student. Or you might hear one say, I have three children, I am Italian, or I have a bachelor’s degree. Yet again, you might hear about someone’s possessions or net worth. I have a four-bedroom house in the country, I have $20,000 in a retirement fund or even, I’m poor and broke. While all of these statements may be true, according to Vedanta or Vedic thought, this doesn’t represent YOU as a whole. It’s a part of who you are, but it isn’t you. 

Here is the problem with object referral. If the object of my association to myself is no longer present, then I lose the sense of who I am. For example, if you say you are a bank teller and you’ve been a bank teller for 20 years, what happens if you suddenly lose your job? Most people who associate themselves with their job title or position and then lose it, find they are lost. But if you do, in fact, lose your job and have associated your sense of self and self-worth by that job, after time you will probably come to realize that you are not so bad after all, even jobless. 

However, the object referral in addictions is even stronger. There is a concept in Vedanta called pragnyaparadha, which means “mistake of the intellect”. The disconnect with your true self or higher self is so far removed that in order to feel whole, we crave the object of addiction as if it were a true need. The intellect has been tricked to believe that it needs the object of addiction to be whole. 

In object referral, we are disconnected from who we truly are. 

Self-referral is the first step away from addictions. Self-referral is the knowledge that I am perfect the way that I am. You are perfect the way you are, because the creative source that orchestrates the dance of the entire universe, including you, is pure perfection. Self-referral needs no input from the outside to feel whole. The connection to your divine essence makes you this way. Without knowledge of self-referral, we cannot begin to peel away the stickiness of addictions. 

In your uniqueness, you are connected to others. You are connected to your spirit, the collective spirit and the universal spirit. You are divinity itself. That is self-referral. You are an individuated expression of the divine who needs to remember your divinity. 

Self-referral is truth. Object referral is a lie. Self-referral leaves you whole. Object referral leaves you empty and craving more. Self-referral is healing. Object referral precipitates death. Object referral is slavery. Self-referral is the ultimate freedom. 

Remembering who you are is the essence of reconnecting to your true self. In Addictions: An Ayurvedic Perspective (Part 3) we will explore how to overcome your addictions forever. 

Wishing your perfect health always,

Michelle Fondin

Founder of The Ayurvedic Path

Vedic Master

www.theayurvedicpath.com

Addictions: An Ayurvedic Perspective (Part 1)

According to the Merriam-Webster, an addiction is described as a strong and harmful need to regularly have something or do something. 

Addictions come in all shapes and forms. Some are less harmful than others. And some are more toxic. But they all have one thing in common, addictions trick the mind to think that a need is being fulfilled. I find it interesting that the dictionary chose the word “need”. 

A need is something we all need to survive and thrive. We have physical needs such as food, clean water, bodily comfort and shelter. We have emotional needs for love, security, safety, affection, acceptance, appreciation and acknowledgement. We have spiritual needs for peace, connection to others and/or a higher being, belonging, and a sense of purpose and meaning in life. 

But the object of addiction is a false replacement for what we ultimately need. In an instant, the addiction can fulfill an immediate need such as the need for love (sex addiction), the need for comfort (alcohol or food addiction), the need for security (a gambling addiction, where the gambler wins a lot then tries to win more) or the need for acknowledgement (internet, social media addiction). 

What is so attractive about an addiction or addictive behavior? 

1. They are a quick fix. 

Have you heard of avoidance therapy? We avoid dealing with the real need at hand, so we mask the need with the object of addiction. Fulfilling a need often takes a bit more effort of discovering the real need and finding healthy ways to fulfill it. 


2.  They have real appeal.

The object of addiction makes us feel really good for the time being, but makes us feel bad after the effect wears off. (i.e. overeating causes weight gain or diabetes, alcohol abuse causes depletion of finances, alienates loved ones etc.) 

3. They change our chemistry or neuro-associative conditioned reactions.

Drug, alcohol or food addictions literally change our bio-chemistry which causes us to crave them more, even though the addiction is not good for the body. Addictions like gambling, sex, internet over-usage, or excessive gaming give us an initial rush of excitement which condition our minds to crave that excitement. 

4. They temporarily fulfill an immediate need. 

As humans, we are needs driven. We will only do something if it fulfills a need. However, addictions seemingly fulfill a need, but in the end leave us more “needy”. For example, an addiction to internet and social media or gaming, may fulfill the need for significance and acknowledgement in the immediate sense. But when you realize you’ve been consecrating several hours daily to these activities, you’ve ignored a whole host of other needs, like working effectively at your job or spending time with your kids or spouse. 

But ultimately, addictions leave us weak, ashamed, sometimes broke, and with a loss of integrity and self-worth. Addictions leave us disconnected from our true selves. We forget who we really are and act as if we are alone. 

Ayurveda takes the perspective that an addiction is an extreme penchant toward object referral instead of self-referral. In the next blog post on Addictions: An Ayurvedic Perspective, I’ll explain the difference between object referral and self-referral .

Wishing you a beautiful day and perfect health always,

Michelle Fondin

Yoga Sutras: Embracing Least Effort

Never before, have we led more busy and divided lives. In the West, we strive to arrive. From the time we awake until the time we crash at night, constant demands are put upon us to do more, to acquire more, accomplish more, communicate more and be more. 

It is no wonder that, according to Medco Health Solutions in 2011, one in five Americans have taken or are taking drugs for mental health. That is 20% of all Americans. Twenty percent! Can you imagine? Why can’t we cope today without medication? 

The reason is simple. Because we don’t respect the natural rhythms of nature. 

If we look at nature all around us, it unfolds with least effort day to day, minute to minute, second to second. A tree doesn’t sit around worrying all winter if it will bud in the summer. Deer, even though they are constantly driven from their homes with deforestation, simply move on and find new food and shelter. 

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re a part of nature. Our bodies change according to the rhythms of day and night, the changing of the seasons, the phases of the moon. The simple cycle of day and night equal a principle of rest and activity. 

What we’ve succumbed to is a cycle of activity, activity, activity, crash.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that if you put batteries in a flashlight, keep it on 24/7, those batteries will die sooner than if you use it for a little while then turn it off. The same goes for us. 

We have a notion that if we don’t go out there and try as hard as we can to get what we want, life will slip away from us. However, when we are so out of touch with ourselves, we often waste time worrying, being ineffective or doing activities which don’t really help us get to what we want. 

Have you ever tried swimming up a river? I have. It’s pretty challenging. But if you turn around and let the current push you, you don’t have to do anything at all. You can simply enjoy the ride. 

How much are you enjoying this ride, called life? 

There is a yoga sutra, from a sacred Vedic text called The Bhagavad Gita, which is yogastah kuru karmani and translates to, “Established in being, perform action”. 

What this means is, wait until you are established in yourself, in the calm place that is connected to nature and ultimately to the universe to perform your daily duties. 

It’s no use running around ungrounded, ruffled and in a hurry if you are not established in self and connected. 

The way you can achieve this is by honoring least effort through meditation, prayer, contemplation, and/or silence daily. Take time to reconnect with nature and its rhythms. Make a vow to yourself to sit in silence some time each day. Take a class to learn meditation. Practice meditative movement like hatha yoga, Tai Chi or Qi Gong. Once you do this, then perform action, your life will be smooth sailing. Like a beautiful flower, each thing you desire will unfold effortlessly and easily. 

Wishing you peace, harmony, laughter and love. 

Namasté,

Michelle

Michelle Fondin

Founder of The Ayurvedic Path

www.theayurvedicpath.com

Ayurvedic Medicine versus Western Medicine

When I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 28, my first question to the doctor was, “Why did I get this?” And his answer was, “We simply don’t know why cancer occurs.”

Intuitively, this was not an answer for me. I knew, in my heart, that couldn’t be an answer. 

I began to do a lot of research and soul searching. When I came upon Ayurvedic medicine, it made so much sense to me. Ayurveda works on the basis of balance versus imbalance. A big part of Ayurvedic medicine is going to the root cause of illness to see where it originated. Ayurveda believes you cannot cure a disease unless you know the etiology or cause of it. 

The simple answer would be an imbalance in the doshas or Ayurvedic mind body types. An imbalance is most certainly the reason you’re experiencing symptoms or full blown illness but it’s likely that it’s not the root cause. 

The root cause goes much deeper. Sometimes it’s a weakness in the body which starts the doshic imbalance. Often it’s an unprocessed emotion or an accumulation of unprocessed food or substance in the body. 

Western or allopathic medicine works on the basis of pathology. Typically, you don’t go to the doctor unless something is wrong. You aren’t feeling yourself or you have the manifestation of symptoms. Your healthcare provider makes an assessment of your current state of health including symptoms and strives to provide you with some relief. The relief may be medication of some form, blood or urine testing to rule out various illnesses, or in the event that it’s necessary, a surgical procedure. At any rate, the idea is to rid you of symptoms so you feel normal again. At best, it’s a bandaid approach and one faceted. When you mask symptoms or force them to go away through medication, oftentimes, other symptoms or problems arise because you haven’t gone to the root cause of a problem. 

Ayurveda is a multifaceted approach. Not only does an Ayurvedic practitioner take into account the symptoms a person is experiencing, but he seeks to find which dosha is most out of balance. In advanced, stages of disease, this can be tricky. However, that is only one piece of the puzzle. The Ayurvedic practitioner will ask the client about her lifestyle, family life, job, marriage, financial situation, eating and sleeping habits, current medications, herbs and vitamin intake. He will observe the client’s mannerisms while speaking, her tone of voice, and demeanor. The Ayurvedic practitioner will gather all these clues to determine the best course of treatment for the client. Often, in taking the time to listen to the client, the Ayurvedic practitioner finds that her fear is subsided and as a consequence, so do some of the symptoms. 

Finding the etiology or cause is not always 100% foolproof. We must understand that some disease is just left up to the powers that be. 

As for my diagnosis, I went over every aspect of my life in search of the root cause. In the end, I did find it. Let’s suffice it to say that it was mostly emotional,personality and family-life based. It wasn’t easy to correct but I’ve strived to correct it ever since. And I think 14 years post diagnosis, I’ve been successful. 

And now, I’ve dedicated my life’s work to helping others discover how to live in balance with the practice of Ayurvedic medicine. 

Wishing you love and perfect health always,
Michelle

Michelle Fondin
Founder of The Ayurvedic Path
Chopra Center Vedic Master
www.theayurvedicpath.com