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

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 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

Ayurveda and The Ayurvedic Mind Body Type

Now you’ve figured out your Ayurvedic mind body type or your prakruti. So now what? How is that going to bring you to optimal health?

Ayurveda and ayurvedic health works on bringing you back to a state of balance for your personal Ayurvedic mind body type. Think of your mind body type as your baseline. When you are at this baseline, you feel fantastic. You feel yourself. You feel vibrant and energetic. 

Have you ever wondered why you couldn’t lose 20 pounds when your friend could modify her diet and lose it instantly? Or why you need only 6 hours of sleep per night but your spouse needs 8-9 hours of sleep? Things like appetite, metabolism, sleep, mood, and energy level is mostly regulated by your Ayurvedic mind body type. Now if you’ve always been thin but in the past couple of years you can’t stop gaining weight, this may be a lifestyle change or a change from prakruti to vikruti. 

Remember your vikruti is your current state or your state of imbalance.

Our goal in Ayurveda is to get us back to our own prakruti or state of balance.

Here are the ways you can get back to your Ayurvedic mind body type:

1. Honor an Ayurvedic lifestyle diet
2. Begin a dosha specific diet for Vata, Pitta or Kapha
3. Follow an Ayurvedic daily routine.
4. Follow an Ayurvedic seasonal routine.
5. Learn meditation and meditate daily
6. Follow a dosha specific exercise program for Vata, Pitta or Kapha
7. Drink dosha specific teas.
8. Following the advice of an Ayurvedic practitioner, take Ayurvedic herbs to rebalance current imbalances.
9. Work on emotional clearing. 
10. Eliminate toxins and toxic substances from your body. (i.e. alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, unnecessary prescription pills, processed foods) 

If you don’t have the guidance of an Ayurvedic practitioner, begin by balancing your primary dosha. For example, if your Ayurvedic mind body type is Vata-Pitta. You would begin by balancing Vata. Follow at Vata diet, drink Vata tea, follow recommended exercises to balance Vata, follow a Vata Ayurvedic daily and seasonal routine. Usually, if disease or symptoms are not advanced, following this advice will make you feel much better within about two weeks. However if symptoms are persistent or you have been experiencing symptoms for a while, you may need to look further into your vikruti. 

The idea behind Ayurveda is preventive health. If we can catch a disease before full eruption, we can prevent it from giving you illness. In the next blog, I’ll explain the six stages of disease according to Ayurveda. 

Wishing you perfect health always. 

Love,

Michelle Fondin, Founder of The Ayurvedic Path

www.theayurvedicpath.com

Chopra Center Vedic Master  and Ayurvedic Practitioner 

Understanding Your Ayurvedic Mind Body Type

In the last post, we talked about the three different of Ayurvedic mind types called  doshas. Even if you read the description of Vata dosha and found that it described you completely, there are a few things you need to know about the Ayurvedic mind body type.

First of all, we have all three doshas in our mind body constitution, but each of us has different proportions of the three. Secondly, most people have two dominant doshas with the third falling far behind. For example, a person may be a pitta-vata but their kapha score is twice as low as the pitta score. A small portion of the population is dominant in a single dosha and an even smaller portion it tridoshic, where all three doshas are more or less the same. So the possibilities for Ayurvedic mind body types are as follows:

Vata

Pitta

Kapha

Vata-Pitta

Vata-Kapha

Pitta-Vata

Pitta-Kapha

Kapha-Vata

Kapha-Pitta

Vata-Pitta-Kapha

Are you confused yet? If not, great. 

Your Ayurvedic mind body type is your genetic lot in life. It was the deck of cards you were dealt with at conception. So let’s suppose you were born with a fiery personality. You tend to have redness in the skin, are prone to breakouts, get irritated quite easily and are extremely driven. You were born with a fair amount of Pitta or fire and water in your mind body constitution. But let’s suppose you also move very fast, have difficulty gaining weight and have a racing mind. This means that you may also have a fair amount of Vata in your Ayurvedic mind body constitution. So your Ayurvedic mind body type would be Pitta-Vata.

Your natural mind body type is called your Prakruti. This is your nature. You cannot change it. Oftentimes, I get clients who say they want to be more of one dosha or another. You can only stay in balance when you are true to your prakruti. 

Now let’s suppose you read the description of the doshas and you said, “Oh yes, that’s it, I’m a Kapha type.” You have a lot of extra weight, you are tired and lethargic. You move a lot slower than before. You crave sweets. While it does sound like a kapha type (out of balance in some respects), you need to search into your past. When searching for prakruti, we look to all the years of life, since the time of birth. If in childhood, you were skinny, could eat anything, were very nervous and active, you may have been born with more Vata in you. But look at the rule above. I stressed that you cannot change your Ayurvedic mind body type. Right? 

The answer is “yes”. However, through improper diet, lifestyle, experience and life choices, we can get so out of balance that we no longer present ourselves as our true nature. That is called Vikruti or our current state. Vikruti or our state of imbalance can mask our pakruti, sometimes completely. 

So how then, you might say, do I discover my prakruti?

Self-awareness is the key. When you learn about the doshas and take a trip down memory lane, there are some consistencies about you. An Ayurvedic practitioner can also help you to discover both the prakruti and vikruti. 

In the next blog post, we’ll discuss what we can learn through our prakruti or Ayurvedic mind body type.

Wishing you perfect health always.

Love, 

Michelle Fondin, Founder of The Ayurvedic Path, Inc.

www.theayurvedicpath.com

Ayurvedic Mind Body Types: Doshas

Instinctively, over 5,000 years ago, practitioners of Ayurveda observed nature, including humans, and realized we are not all built the same. We are, however, made up of the building blocks of nature but we simply have different proportions of these elements in our bodies, minds and personalities. 

In other words, before the concept of genes was discovered, Ayurvedic medicine understood we have different bodies, minds and personalities from the moment of our conception. 

These Ayurvedic mind body types are called doshas. They are composed of the five elements: space, air, fire, water and earth. 

The first Ayurvedic mind body type is called Vata and is made up of space and air. Vata types are usually thin with angular features. They are quick to move and ever changing. They enjoy new things, and often change jobs, careers, interests or relationships. A Vata type is most often the life of the party and friendly. When a Vata type is in balance, they have burst of energy, walk fast and talk fast, are creative and communicative. A Vata out of balance becomes anxious, worried or even neurotic. They tend to have cold hands, feet and have delicate digestion. Do you know someone who paces while they talk on the phone? Or maybe someone who resists routine and is unpredictable? It’s likely that person has a fair amount of Vata in his or her Ayurvedic mind body type.

Pitta is the second Ayurvedic mind body type. It is comprised of the elements of fire and water. Just like the primary element indicates, Pitta types are fiery, passionate, driven. They tend to be goal oriented, good leaders, enjoy education and factual knowledge. Pitta body types are mesomorphic or medium build. They have beautiful eyes and a warm gaze. Pitta types need to eat on time or they get cranky. When in balance, Pitta types are warm, intellectual, interesting, attractive. An out of balance Pitta can be quite scary to the receiver of the imbalance. They get angry, critical, judgmental. Do you know someone who’s skin is very warm to the touch? Does that person have eyes that melt your heart by a simple gaze or is completely goal oriented? You probably have someone with a majority of Pitta in his or her Ayurvedic mind body type. 

The third Ayurvedic mind body type is called Kapha. No one likes to be a Kapha when they read what a Kapha type is, but Kapha types have many great qualities. Kapha is comprised of water and earth. Needless to say, Kapha types are earthy and stable. Since water and earth make mud, Kapha types are grounded, more heavy physically than Vata and Pitta types and are slow movers. Kapha types have great physical stamina. They almost never get sick. Everything about them is slow. They eat and walk slowly. They adore routine. Kapha types are probably the most trustworthy friends you will ever meet. A Kapha friend might say, “I can look at a piece of cake and gain 10 pounds.” In balance a Kapha type is kind, trustworthy, affectionate and reliable. Out of balance, a Kapha type gains weight, can get depressed, can become possessive or become inert. Do you know someone who has struggled with his or her weight since birth? Does this person hold a record for being the most reliable person in your life? Does he or she prefer to stay at home and read a good book rather than go out? If so, you may know a Kapha type. 

We have all three of the doshas or Ayurvedic mind body types within each of us since we are all made up of space, air, fire, water and earth. We simply have different proportions of each. In the next blog post, we’ll discuss what it means to know your Ayurvedic mind body type. 

Wishing you peace, harmony, laughter and love each day. 

Namasté,
Michelle Fondin

Michelle Fondin is the author of The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle  and Help! I Think My Loved One Is an Alcoholic: A Survival Guide for Lovers, Family, & Friends. 

Putting all the chances of great health on your side

I had two conversations this weekend in which living a healthy lifestyle were the topic. Both were similar in nature in that they dealt with extremely healthy people who got debilitating illnesses. The first conversation was with a man who stated that sometimes genetic predispositions just lead us to cancer, heart disease, or some other disease. His mantra appeared to be, "Well, no matter what you do, you're going to die anyway." We all know the truth in that statement but it's fatalistic and selfish. If we all had that attitude, we would all be living careless lives with little regard for health at all.
The second conversation hit closer to home. My teacher and guru, Dr. David Simon, diagnosed himself with brain cancer in the fall of 2010. Dr. Simon is a neurologist, an Ayurvedic doctor, and an enlightened being. He has dedicated his entire existence to helping others and assisting them in their own healing. He leads a very healthy life. If we were to look at the "why" of his diagnosis, it would leave us all puzzled and quite frankly, downright depressed. If this man who has done everything right got brain cancer, what are in the cards for us?
The truth is we don't know enough about the grander scheme of things to ever have that answer.
In my previous post, I revealed my struggle with cancer as a 28 year old woman. Before that point, I had lived a relatively healthy lifestyle but it was not stellar. I remember telling a vegan friend, "You know, if I ever get cancer, I will become vegan."
What I realized after my experience with cancer was that I got it all backwards.
We live a healthy lifestyle so we can handle disease when and if it occurs. By making our mind, body, soul and spirit at its optimal level we have the strength we need to deal with whatever comes our way.
While I hate to make analogies with national defense, can you imagine if a country with little resources created a policy where they did not spend any money on a defense system? Diplomats of neighboring countries would chastise that country for acting so irresponsibly. The reason being, if the country with no defense system was invaded, it would create a threat for the neighboring countries.
By acting irresponsibly with our own health, we create a threat to our family, loved ones, community, work colleagues, and subscribers to our health insurance. The ripple effect of not taking charge of our own health is endless. Yet, we have a tendency to look at our health as a private affair. We find ourselves saying, "It's my body, I'll do what I want with it." Unfortunately, unless you are a hermit living in a cave, we don't live in a vacuum. We are not only interconnected but interdependent on others to help us when we have ill health.
Living a healthy lifestyle takes consistency and time.
Consistency is important because our bodies are resiliant but most of us are not aware of when the seeds of illness are planted. Think of a really nice car, let's say a BMW. You have paid a lot of money for this nice car. You decide that this nice care was expensive and should work really well. After all, it's a well built vehicle. But the vehicle manual calls for an oil change every 5,000 miles. The first time you go to 10,000 miles, you get the oil changed and nothing happens. The next time you go to 25,000, get the oil changed and nothing happens. You think to yourself, "Wow, the manufacturer just wants me to spend the extra money but the car is fine." So the next time you go to 50,000 miles and the engine burns. Angry, you curse yourself for pushing your expensive car to the limit.
We tend to do the same thing with our bodies. We don't get enough rest, exercise in bursts or go on crash diets and then expect our bodies to perform optimally. Without consistency, our bodies will crash and burn.
Time is important because living a healthy lifestyle takes time in our day. Dedicating 30 minutes to walking, meditation or yoga is time consuming. But realize that doctors appointments, pharmacy lines, x-rays, lab tests, MRIs, emergency room visits also take a lot of time and resources.
For the next week work out this challenge:

"What can I do consistently and dedicate the time for my health and wellbeing?"

Some suggestions might be : learn to meditate, take a yoga class, walk for 20 minutes a day, keep a journal, cook one meal per day with 4 different fresh veggies

How are you going to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into your own life and start taking responsibility for your own health?

Wishing you peace, harmony, laughter and love,

Michelle

What is Ayurveda and Why is it important to me?

Ayurveda is a 5,000-year old medical system from India. It is a holistic medical system which is all-inclusive. Ayurveda respects the elements in nature and healing comes from lifestyle, nutrition, detoxification, yoga, meditation, herbal medicine and if needed surgery. The focus of Ayurveda is on prevention by keeping the body, mind and spirit in balance. According to Ayurveda, when imbalances occur and are maintained over a period of time, disease has the opportunity to manifest. Once an Ayurvedic patient learns how to detect imbalances, he can correct them through lifestyle changes before disease has a chance to grow.
The all-inclusive nature of Ayurveda means the Hippocratic oath that doctors must take upon graduating; “First do no harm.” In Ayurveda, we gently urge the body back to health. However, if methods of allopathic or Western medicine are needed, Ayurveda recognizes the complementary nature of these methods.
My discovery of Ayurveda came as a serendipitous event. When I was 28 years old, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. My daughter was 5 at the time and my son was 18 months. Just hearing the word “cancer” devastated my life. After, two surgeries and radioactive iodine treatment, I was left without a thyroid, on synthetic thyroid medication and finding myself with a host of symptoms I had never experienced before. I had anxiety, panic attacks and depression. Convinced that these symptoms were directly linked to a thyroid imbalance, I saw doctor after doctor who assured me that the symptoms were “all in my head” since my thyroid levels all come back normal. Finally I found a doctor who believed me and he changed my medication to natural porcine thyroid hormone and put me on supplements. In addition, his nurse practitioner, a saint in my eyes, did Gestalt therapy and meditation with me. Little by little I was returning to normal.
On my road to recovery, a friend gave me a copy of Dr. Chopra’s Perfect Health to read. It is a description of Ayurveda and Ayurvedic lifestyle and it made perfect sense to me. Once I began implementing principles from Ayurvedic lifestyle, I began to feel better. Between the time of my surgery and my discovery of Ayurveda, three years had gone by, three years of my youth wasted on feeling horrible most of the time. I knew that if I were to feel good for the rest of my life, I was going to have to heal my body, mind, soul and spirit in every aspect and stick with it.
My journey into teaching Ayurveda came in about 2006 when my father-in-law at the time was diagnosed with failing kidneys. His toxicity level was so poor that the doctors told him in under 6 months he would be on dialysis. My husband came to me begging me to talk with his father about Ayurveda and to create a plan for him. I reluctantly did. I was reluctant because I did not feel I was an expert in any way. Nevertheless, I firmly believed and still do the power in lifestyle changes. So I talked with him and created a plan. The results were amazing. Within a month, he lost 35 pounds, was walking daily and his kidney levels improved.
I thought of how many people suffer on a daily basis because allopathic medicine does not have all the answers. I thus began my quest to help others heal with Ayurveda. It became not only a personal quest but my dharma or purpose in life. To end suffering is to enjoy life. And in enjoying life, each and every one of us can live our dharma. In living our dharma, we help others and bring joy to the world.

Michelle Fondin is the author of The Wheel of Healing with Ayurveda: An Easy Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle  and Help! I Think My Loved One Is an Alcoholic: A Survival Guide for Lovers, Family, & Friends.