There is something to be said for moderation. For those of you who follow my blog or have experienced Health Revolution Ayurveda (the name of my clinical practice), you know that my Ayurvedic practice is based on moderation. In all things, there is an ideal standard...and then there is what we can actually do without making ourselves crazy. In Ayurveda, there is an ideal daily routine ("dinacharya") for each dosha type, an ideal dietary regimen, ideal cleansing/detox schedule...I think you get the idea.
Knowing these ideals, I help people figure out how they can best approximate the ideal without throwing their whole life into chaos. For example, if you want to eat a 100% Ayurvedic diet, but your spouse has NO interest in doing so, it will be necessary to compromise. Maybe you eat Ayurvedic lunches and incorporate some Ayurvedic daily practices like self-massage with an oil to balance your dosha. Maybe your spouse, like mine, finds great joy in baking treats for the family. They may not be "Ayurvedic", but they are made with love. Sharing food with joy creates positive emotional memories and familial connection through food. Food is not just physical fuel for the machine of the body. Food creates ancestral connection and allows us to access emotions. Another point to consider is the idea that strict adherence to rules creates imbalance, just like living without any rules creates imbalance.
It is also important to consider the idea of Western allopathic medicine in thinking about moderation. When people learn that I am a practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine, they often assume that I am opposed to Western medical practice. This is a false assumption. Having worked in a Western clinical setting, I understand that there are many things that can be achieved with Western medicine that cannot be done with Ayurveda as it is practiced in the United States. Unless they are also board-certified medical doctors, Ayurvedic practitioners cannot deliver babies, prescribe pharmaceuticals, perform surgery, or perform life-saving emergency medical procedures. If my son is having an asthma attack, I am not going to give him the Ayurvedic asthma remedy of licorice tea. I am going to give him a steroid inhaler.
I am not saying that I don't use Ayurveda for acute conditions. If I am itching from a bug bite, I will put some of my Mean Green Cream on it or use a black tea bag as a poultice. However, I do not believe that we need to abandon Western medicine altogether to be healthy. I believe that health comes from integrating medical approaches. I believe that the best health outcomes can be achieved when East and West work together. Many physicians and nurse practitioners with whom I have had conversations agree with me that Western medicine has limitations. Western medical science has achieved some amazing things while losing much of its holistic knowledge. There is a shortage of general practitioners in the US because doctors are becoming increasingly specialized. It is common for physicians to refer to one another based upon their areas of specialty.
The Ayurvedic practitioner can be a real asset in this context because we are trained to look holistically. We look at all conditions as they relate to the whole person. Medical doctors don't usually have time to do this kind of holistic analysis. For example, I often get patients referred to me by their physicians (yes, medical doctors do refer to me!) when they are dealing with digestive issues (GI disorders). When I see these people in my office, I am looking at their stress level, their emotional states, what major events are happening in their life, the health of their close relationships, how they are sleeping, and what foods they are eating. I put all this information together with their doctor's report and lab results to figure out the root cause of imbalance and how to facilitate healing. I support the role of the physician while providing holistic guidance and empowering my patients with knowledge about ways they can help themselves heal.
All this is to say that you don't have to worry if you can't do "the Ayurveda thing" 100% of the time. We all have to negotiate our daily obstacles and come up with a plan that works for us. That is balance. That is Health Revolution Ayurveda.
Knowing these ideals, I help people figure out how they can best approximate the ideal without throwing their whole life into chaos. For example, if you want to eat a 100% Ayurvedic diet, but your spouse has NO interest in doing so, it will be necessary to compromise. Maybe you eat Ayurvedic lunches and incorporate some Ayurvedic daily practices like self-massage with an oil to balance your dosha. Maybe your spouse, like mine, finds great joy in baking treats for the family. They may not be "Ayurvedic", but they are made with love. Sharing food with joy creates positive emotional memories and familial connection through food. Food is not just physical fuel for the machine of the body. Food creates ancestral connection and allows us to access emotions. Another point to consider is the idea that strict adherence to rules creates imbalance, just like living without any rules creates imbalance.
It is also important to consider the idea of Western allopathic medicine in thinking about moderation. When people learn that I am a practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine, they often assume that I am opposed to Western medical practice. This is a false assumption. Having worked in a Western clinical setting, I understand that there are many things that can be achieved with Western medicine that cannot be done with Ayurveda as it is practiced in the United States. Unless they are also board-certified medical doctors, Ayurvedic practitioners cannot deliver babies, prescribe pharmaceuticals, perform surgery, or perform life-saving emergency medical procedures. If my son is having an asthma attack, I am not going to give him the Ayurvedic asthma remedy of licorice tea. I am going to give him a steroid inhaler.
I am not saying that I don't use Ayurveda for acute conditions. If I am itching from a bug bite, I will put some of my Mean Green Cream on it or use a black tea bag as a poultice. However, I do not believe that we need to abandon Western medicine altogether to be healthy. I believe that health comes from integrating medical approaches. I believe that the best health outcomes can be achieved when East and West work together. Many physicians and nurse practitioners with whom I have had conversations agree with me that Western medicine has limitations. Western medical science has achieved some amazing things while losing much of its holistic knowledge. There is a shortage of general practitioners in the US because doctors are becoming increasingly specialized. It is common for physicians to refer to one another based upon their areas of specialty.
The Ayurvedic practitioner can be a real asset in this context because we are trained to look holistically. We look at all conditions as they relate to the whole person. Medical doctors don't usually have time to do this kind of holistic analysis. For example, I often get patients referred to me by their physicians (yes, medical doctors do refer to me!) when they are dealing with digestive issues (GI disorders). When I see these people in my office, I am looking at their stress level, their emotional states, what major events are happening in their life, the health of their close relationships, how they are sleeping, and what foods they are eating. I put all this information together with their doctor's report and lab results to figure out the root cause of imbalance and how to facilitate healing. I support the role of the physician while providing holistic guidance and empowering my patients with knowledge about ways they can help themselves heal.
All this is to say that you don't have to worry if you can't do "the Ayurveda thing" 100% of the time. We all have to negotiate our daily obstacles and come up with a plan that works for us. That is balance. That is Health Revolution Ayurveda.