Utpali Ayurved Healing Center~at Midwest Dharma Wheel
The Seasonal Juncture has just finished on Oct 7th, and it is time for an Ayurvedic Health check-in to support health on all levels. The transition from Summer into the Autumn Season is one of the most important passages of the year. We need to gently support the clearing of excess fire and toxins from the body and lay the ground for vibrant immunity as cold and flu season rolls in!
It is very grounding to receive personalized support when we know we need to make changes. Those that come to see me for Ayurveda or psychological support are often confused and say that there is so much information available and they are too overwhelmed to make choices. They fear that they won’t find a genuine support. In this time of excess, it is important that we can connect to something that is tried and true; something that will actually help us to learn what is truly beneficial and where to put our energies. The ancient sages anchored in Nature's Cosmic rhythms knew exactly what to do as a result of their close relationship with the elements, the earth and the flow of the seasons. The knowledge of Ayurveda unfolded from their understanding, and is rooted in the fundamental reality of the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and space. This is original, unchanging knowledge; knowledge that does not change and will not change with the next popular new trend. It is aligned with what modern science is coming now to understand. The only thing that is changing, is our understanding of how to implement and integrate this time-tested ancient wisdom in our current situation.
Ayurveda has long since understood that there is a seasonal process and an individual process occurring all the time, and it's important that we acknowledge this and make the appropriate changes when the juncture of the season arrives. Also important to understand, is that although there are general seasonal guidelines, we will have specific personal needs as well. These will depend upon how your unique constitution is manifesting right now and what is going on in your life.
To get a deeper perspective, I recommend that every time the seasons change that you treat yourself to a visit with an informed and experienced practitioner. In training to be an Ayurvedic Physician, we are trained to read the state of the organs and the seven main tissues in the body as well as the functioning of the transformational spaces between these tissue layers. We support the co-ordination of the mind, the emotional heart and the senses. This results in a deep re-integration with the Light rooted in the heart chakra. You may also know this Light as God, the Clear Light or Source. This kind of integration is missing in our Western approach to medicine and healing, and is at the root of any true change in health. It is the true Source of all healing.
Sadhana, teaches us the sacredness of all of life, and how to flow in harmonious relationship with the higher Self, that which is greater than our own limited ways of thinking and living life; and how to respect this greater rhythm. In Ayurveda, food is medicine and we teach how to chose what is best for our constitution and the season in order to bring greater health.
I also recommend developing a long-term relationship with your Ayurvedic doctor. Go deep with someone that you trust instead of jumping around from one thing to another. I can't stress enough how the individuals that I've worked with consistently for at least 2 years, not to mention those that are going on 10-20 years have grown in health. Consistency and a degree of discipline and dedication are a necessary component in that process
With a regular seasonal checkin and pulse reading, you are supported through the transition of one season to the next. You learn what you really need to be focusing on in your self-care. When you mark the seasonal transition with appropriate self-support year after year, you begin to grow in radiant health and build a vessel that can flow with the changes of life and the lessons it brings. To support your physical body and it's well-being over the span of a life-time is one of the most important ways we can honor the presence of the receptive, nourishing, life-giving, feminine energy. The feminine energy has the quality of holding and nurturing, and we all need much more if this from nature and from within.
Lastly, it's important to take note of the ways that your system tends to go out of balance and what kind of behaviors those causes arise from. Becoming tuned in to your personal strengths and weaknesses along with your ancestral patterns, allows you to safe guard your health with a much more conscious awareness. With informed and experienced support, you will be guided back season after season to your own centered awareness, which holds the natural vibration of health.
As we transition into fall, supporting the "juice" of immunity is an important piece as cold and flu season roll in. We need to open the channels and clear the accumulations of Ama (toxins), so that we are less susceptible to getting sick during this season. This is truly the time to take pause and be still long enough to make deeper self-support a priority.
Ayurvedic Doctors take an oath to support life and to protect those that come to them for care. This is a cherished and hard to come by kind of care, one that requires experience and deep training to support your relationship with life and what is most beneficial for you. I encourage you to care deeply for your physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing-each are intimately connected to the light of our soul’s continuum, the light of the Divine Source within. True practitioners of these systems of healing are invested in the well-being of not only your body, but also your indwelling Spirit, your soul. This is a path of healthcare rooted in Wholeness.
Warm wishes in Autumn Season and may you return to your Center with ease of heart and a sense of well-being.
In Good Health,,
Cary