The Best Diet Nobody Talks About

I am not an advocate of ‘dieting.’ I don’t believe in severe caloric restriction or rapid, radical overhauls. I even stepped away from personal training for a bit because I was exhausted from combating the quick-fix diet and gym culture.

So why am I writing a post about diet? Because over the weekend I was at a yoga and meditation retreat (which gave me MANY ideas for blog posts) and was re-introduced to Ayurvedic medicine.

Ayurveda is thousands of years old. In Sanskrit, Ayurveda, Ayur (life) and Veda (science or knowledge), combine to mean knowledge of life. Ayurvedic medicine is actually a philosophy rooted in Hinduism. It takes into account your past and states that the mind, body, and soul are interconnected and that illness arises from imbalances in an individuals’ personality and the world around them.

In Ayurveda there are three energy categories aka doshas (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha) that regulate the body, mind, and behavior. People are evaluated to see which dosha is dominant and eat and exercise according to their dominant dosha. If the person has any illness or irregularities, lifestyle changes and food are prescribed to bring the person back into balance. Not only does each dosha have certain characteristics and foods that coincide with its properties, each dosha coincides with certain times during the day which dictates when you eat and sleep.

I was introduced to Ayurvedic medicine during my health coach training and re-introduced over the weekend at a yoga & meditation retreat where I had an Ayurvedic assessment. What I found interesting was how Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient wisdom, fits perfectly with the very young science of sleep (think sleep cycles and REM and nREM sleep). It is also all about balance (finding and maintaining it) in one's life and adjusting eating patterns to help combat stressors and illness.

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with fake food, disingenuine people, and a plethora of stressors, Ayurveda has a lot of answers. If you are interested in learning more about Ayurveda or creating new habits around wellness message me for a free coaching session