From Blind Spots to Brilliance

The Wellness Wheel: 10 Facets that Define and Refine Your Narrative. PART 2

Each new season and cycle of life requires just a little finetuning to guide us back to balance. Most illness occurs when we are out of rhythm with both our internal and external landscape. In furthering our discussion of the ten main contributing factors to our wellness— Relationship, Season, Age, Psychology, and Stress; all create the baseline of what we need to address with our lifestyle and behaviors.

Through Ayurveda we heal ourselves in season synched living. Modifying our self-care rituals and lifestyle choices according to what is in us and around us at any given time. In working with our unique elemental constitution, it is the science of biological and behavioral balance.

The next five spokes on the wheel address lifestyle choices that either support or undermine our health. While they might not all be exactly as you would expect, they leave us with the power of choice and put wellness exactly where it should be— in our own hands.

6) Like increases like: It can feel like the cards are stacked against us. Why is it that which we love most can be exactly what we shouldn’t have? We can’t help but lean hard into our creature comforts. We often prefer the things we are used to and things that are most like us. We are most comfortable with things that are similar to our own qualities and constitution.

There are two guiding principles in Ayurveda: 1) Like increases like and 2) Cultivate the opposite.

• Like increases like: If we are of a certain constitution and we gravitate toward the exact same qualities of what we already are, we end up too weighted in one particular characteristic. It’s in line with the concept of “too much of a good thing”. The scales tip and we lose our balance.

• Cultivate the opposite: To regain balance, we need to make choices in opposition of where we are. Sometimes this comes naturally. For example, If your internal thermostat runs hot, you don’t put on a wool sweater in the middle of summer? Seems obvious. However, sometimes it needs a bit more thought and action. If you are feeling especially lethargic, sitting on the couch may feel like the right thing to do, but to find balance- a walk around the block might be the best remedy.

7) Exercise: Through exercise we increase strength, stamina, immunity, and cardio vascular health. This is not new information. However, perhaps what we most need to understand in regards to exercise is the need for a varied program. Also considering the level of intensity and time of day when we tend to work out.

Each of our constitutions can require a different intention and approach. Lets look at yoga as an example… someone with a “type A” personality may love a rigorous style of yoga because it feeds their fire- so to speak. To soothe their temperament and fast paced lifestyle, something less adrenalin based, like restorative yoga may truly be more therapeutic.

Overall, all constitutions need to watch for signs of over-exertion, such as dehydration, breathlessness, muscle aches, and the wear and tear on ligaments and joints. Without moderation exercise can be depleting and counter-beneficial.

8) Ignoring intuition: We all have weaknesses. We are human and with that comes the power of will and choice. Most days in a modern culture of stress, we are in survival mode and reach for anything that will soothe our souls whether it’s good for us or not. In moments of distress we are more apt to impulsive behavior. We may know a certain junk food will leave us feeling tired or that second cup of coffee will make us anxious and jittery, but we do it anyway.

When we continually ignore our gut instincts for instant gratification, our body might begin with little signs, then symptoms, then illness creeps in. Often we have a few opportunities along the way to intervene. Listening to our higher intelligence can change the course of many illnesses.

9) Wrong use of senses: In Ayurveda, special attention is given to our senses. There are a multitude of protocols for self-care that pay special attention to each of our five senses. The organs of reception, these magical resources, are how we receive the world around us, our filters, lenses, communicators, interpreters, and receptors. It's HOW our life comes alive.

There are three main ways we can do harm to our sensory perception; overuse, misuse, or underuse.

•   Overuse: too much time spent, depletes the nervous system

  ex: eyes/computers, skin/sun exposure

•   Misuse: exposing the senses to extremes

  ex: eyes/playing violent video games, ears/loud music

•   Underuse: Insufficient use

  eyes & skin/not enough exposure to sunlight, all senses/not perceiving with focused attention (multi-tasking)

10) Diet & Taste: Diet is the biggest influence on our health and well being. Ayurveda, very much embraces the idea that food is medicine. These tenants don’t necessarily concentrate on the four main food groups, but instead an understanding of the foods and tastes that support a strong digestive fire for our constitution. The key to a healthy diet is less about the specific nutrients in each ingredient and more about metabolism, digestion, and assimilation.

It is said that it takes approximately 35 days for what we eat to become our tissues, organs, bones, and brain cells. It is a truth that says “you are what you eat.” We have learned about proper nutrition since elementary school. How we ate as a child can follow us into adulthood with poor habits. It is one of the most profound shifts we can make in our own healing. We can put stress on the digestive system with the wrong food choices for our constitution, poor food combinations, eating too much or too late, and eating food that is not fresh.

The practices of yoga and ayurveda are essentially what is now known as circadian medicine. A science of rhythms in cycles of sleeping and waking, lifestyle and dharma. It all aligns with the rhythms of nature, syncing our own pulse to the heartbeat of the living breathing cosmos. As is the body of the universe, so is our own body. It’s why we should be continually concerned with the health of our planet.

Every aspect of our physiology follows the natural cycles of day and night; from digestion to rest, work, play, and even hormonal functions. Respecting this rhythm can profoundly impact us entirely. Now that you have the wellness wheel as a map, you can navigate your own well being. Empowerment comes in the ability of this awareness to adjust and adapt.

Take a few moments to consider which factors in your life could be leaving you the most vulnerable. With your own insight and understanding, use the healing potential to refine your health narrative.