My Recent Experience at a 4-Week Intensive Yoga Teacher Training Course

My Recent Experience at a 4-Week Intensive Yoga Teacher Training Course

Background

Yoga has been a huge comfort in my life; throughout my twenties, when life seemed unstable, a yoga flow rooted me to the earth. Yoga in fact led me to my current path of an Ayurvedic Practitioner, sharing traditional ancient Indian knowledge to help my clients balance their mind, body and spirit using lifestyle tips, herbs, food and therapies. I always knew I would do a Yoga Teacher Training Course (TTC) someday; when was the only unknown. Winter 2025 seemed like the right time; having a flexible daily job, escaping the chaos of Christmas and it also marked the end of a 7-year cycle in Numerology. Perfect!

The Lineage

I chose to do my TTC with the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre. This style of yoga came into my life last summer while doing an Ayurvedic Detox Program in South India. Due to the Monsoon rains, low season meant there were only a handful of guests in my centre, one who happened to be a Sivanand Yoga Teacher. Practicing with her, I knew at once that this was the yoga for me.

A revered saint of modern times, Swami Sivananda is the inspiration behind the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres. Born in South India he served as a medical doctor before renouncing worldly life and establishing an ashram in Rishikesh, North India in 1932.Though he never left India his teachings quickly spread internationally, leaving a legacy of love, peace and knowledge still unfolding today.

Swami Vishnudevananda was a student of Swami Sivananda and was sent as a young man to the West in 1957 by his guru to spread the teachings of yoga He was the first to introduce the concept of a yoga vacation and the first to establish yoga teachers’ training courses in the West. As a peace activist during the 1970s he flew over war-torn countries of the world in his brightly-coloured two-seater plane dropping flowers and leaflets for peace. On August 30, 1971, Vishnudevananda flew from Boston to Northern Ireland in his Peace Plane. His message, “Man is free as a bird”, challenged all man-made borders and mentally constructed boundaries between Catholics and Protestants, Republicans and Unionists.  Upon landing, he was joined by actor Peter Sellers and they walked through the streets of Belfast chanting a song called “Love Thy Neighbour as Thyself.”

The Yoga

How is Sivananda yoga different from other traditions? What attracted me was the emphasis on breathwork, the prayers chanted at the beginning and end of every class and the structure of the class with its 12 basic postures. However, it was the short Savasanas or relaxations throughout the class, culminating with a final relaxation at the end, that really made the practice special to me. By nature, I am a busy person; busy body and busy mind. My least favourite part of every yoga class was relaxation at end. I just could not relax! Hearing the snores of fellow yogis beside me just made my mind more restless! Through the short relaxations between postures in a Sivananda class, my nervous system was being prepped for the final relaxation. My body became still, my mind became even stiller and my final relaxation allowed me to enter a state similar to deep sleep.

The Five Points of Yoga according to Swami Sivananda (Sivananda Yoga) are simple principles for healthy living of body, mind, and spirit. They also are useful to convey how Sivananda Yoga differs from other schools. Here is a clear, concise summary:

1.     Proper Exercise (Asanas)
Yoga postures strengthen the body, improve flexibility, stimulate circulation, and prepare the body for meditation.

2.     Proper Breathing (Pranayama)
Conscious breathing increases lung capacity, boosts energy (prana), calms the mind, and balances the nervous system.

3.     Proper Relaxation (Savasana)
Deep relaxation releases physical and mental tension, allowing the body to recharge and heal.

4.     Proper Diet (Vegetarian / Sattvic Diet)
A pure, natural, plant-based diet nourishes the body, supports mental clarity, and promotes compassion.

5.     Positive Thinking & Meditation (Vedanta & Dhyana)
Right thinking and meditation cultivate inner peace, concentration, self-awareness, and spiritual growth.

Think of it this way, you can compare the 5 Points to taking care of your car! You need to lubricate the car well so it can run smoothy (exercise), you must recharge the battery (breathing), feed it the correct fuel (diet), supply it with a cooling agent (relaxation) and make sure the driver is in control (positive thinking). Take care of yourself like you would your vehicle!

The Paths

Yoga, whose goal is to bring the individual to the realisation that their soul is part and the same as the world soul, has many different paths to help reach this realisation. Just like some people are more naturally suited to specific careers, some people are more suited to specific paths of yoga. However, balance is encouraged.

Type of Yoga

Suited for

Consists of

Karma

Active, service orientated

Doing acts of service for others without expectation of reward and without identifying as the doer, action in the name of the Divine

Bhakti

Emotional, heart-centred

Surrender to the Divine, devotional worship to various “Gods” via chanting, prayer, spiritual stories, rituals (but understanding that the “God” is just a representation of the world soul

Raja

Logical, scientific

Step by step approach of various techniques to control the mind via physical postures and breathing (Sivananda Yoga would come in this category)

Jnana

Philosophical

Answering questions such as “Who am I?” by discovering what one is not, study of the scriptures

Sivananda, and most other physical yoga posture disciplines, come under the category of Raja Yoga. The most famous Raja Yoga teacher was Patanjali who developed the Hatha Yoga system which created the famous 8 Limbs of Yoga;

1.     Yama – Ethical restraints (how we relate to others)

2.     Niyama – Personal observances (self-discipline and inner habits)

3.     Asana – Physical postures to strengthen and prepare the body

4.     Pranayama – Breath control to regulate life energy

5.     Pratyahara – Withdrawal of the senses inward

6.     Dharana – Concentration on a single point

7.     Dhyana – Meditation, uninterrupted flow of awareness

8.     Samadhi – Complete union with the world soul, state of enlightenment

The Philosophy

Surprisingly, or not, 70% of the TTC was dedicated to philosophy and not to physical postures. How to summarise in a paragraph all that I learned in my time there? Impossible. The main question of most philosophical systems is; Who am I? According to Vedanta (a style of Indian Philosophy), we are all part of a greater whole, we are the drops in the ocean, the blades of grass in the field, and that whole, ocean, field is called Brahman; we experience this life however as the part, the drop, the blade of grass and do not realise that we are the whole, the ocean, the field. In fact, there is no different between the part and the whole, the drop and the ocean, the blade of grass and the field. The are the same. We do not realise this sameness however because we identify with our body and our mind, instead of this oneness. Now for some terms for those interested; the whole is Brahman, the part is Atman (we are both Brahman and Atman) and the identification with the body and mind instead of Brahman/ Atman is Jiva, the body and mind being Upadis, or veils of illusion. Or in simple terms, our souls are eternal, infinite and absolute, and we all belong to the same universal soul. Our aim in life is to see through the veil of the body-mind and the limitations of time and space, and realise this universality. Meditation is a tool in which we can realise this.

Finally, our body is mortal so decomposes with death, but our souls do not. As stated, our soul’s mission is to identify with the universal soul, so it comes back life time after life time in hope of achieving this. Add to this the Law of Karma, that every action has a reaction. There is not enough time for us to exhaust all of our Karma, to live out the results of our actions, thus we are reincarnated into another body to bear the fruits of our actions. This is the Doctrine of Reincarnation.

The Physical Asanas

The Sivananda Yoga style is truly holistic. While in appearance it is a physical practice, at its core, it is a spiritual sadhana or endeavour-that of self-realisation, that we are souls part of the greater world soul.

Each class is about 90 minutes long and begins with a short relaxation laying down on the back and then chanting a prayer in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India, where one invokes the deities and other positive energies. Pranayama, or breathwork comes first and lasts about 20 or so minutes; practices include a fiery Kapalabati sequence, and a slower alternate nostril, or Anuloma Viloma breathing. These both have benefits for the mind, the respiratory system and cleanse the astral body. After another short relaxation, comes the warm up-Sun Salutation, or Surya Namaskar. The 6 or so rounds of flexion and extension of the whole spine ensure the body is lubricated well before starting into the various poses that follow. After another short relaxation (there is a short relaxation between each exercise!) comes the leg lifts to engage the core and stretch the muscles. What follows are the 12 basic postures in the following order; headstand, shoulder stand, plough, fish, seat forward fold, cobra, locust, bow, seated spinal twist, crow, peacock, forward fold and triangle. Alternative and variations can be practiced. The class finishes with a 15 minutes Final Relaxation which includes; physically relaxing the body via tensing and releasing body parts and auto-suggestions to relax the involuntary organs; mentally relaxing with guided breathing; and spiritual relaxation with visualisation and silence. Ending with the closing prayers, one leaves the class feeling the silence and peace within.

The Place

There are Sivananda Centres throughout the world, yet the nearest one to Ireland is in England. Not all centres offer the TTC. I carried out my TTC in the Tirol Region of Austria. Tirol is a mountainous region, famous for its dramatic Alpine landscapes and traditional villages. Dominated by the Alps, it offers world-class skiing in winter and hiking and mountaineering in summer. The Sivananda Centre is located in Reith bei Kitzbühel in the Tirol Region and is located just a few kilometres from the famous resort town of Kitzbühel. Set amid rolling meadows and mountain scenery rather than steep slopes, Reith is known for its peaceful atmosphere and has been able to preserve the quaint atmosphere of an authentic Austrian farming village.

Popular activities in the environs are; winter sports of all types on advance or practice slopes, hikes by the mountains and lakes, visits to alpaca farms, sampling local Austrian cuisine, resting in wellness spas and more.

The Sivananda Retreat Centre

The centre in Tirol is unique as it is part of a hotel. Thus, it is not only able to host, accommodate and feed TTC students, but it also offers several retreats during the year. During my stay, there was the special Christmas and New Year program which was attended by a few hundred guests. The hotel is family run and organic; thus, all food is home cooked using organic ingredients which adhere to a yogic diet (vegetarian but includes dairy). The buildings are heated exceptionally well and after a long walk in the snowy mountains, one is able to warm their bones in the 90-degree sauna. Check out the website to see if any retreats would appeal to you. Of course, the twice daily yoga classes, the twice daily chanting and the daily lectures on spiritual topics are included.

 Yoga Retreats, Yoga Teacher Training & Online Live Yoga - Sivananda

Daily Routine

·       5:30 am; Wake up and quick shower

·       6 am; Communal Satsang or spiritual gathering in the main hall; 20 minutes of meditation followed by singing of mantras (kirtan), a talk on a spiritual topic, more chanting, and Ārati, a Hindu ritual of offering light to the Divine as an expression of devotion, gratitude, and reverence.

·       8 am; Yoga Class for the TTC

·       10 am; Bruch and a walk in the mountains, relaxation time

·       12 pm; TTC Lecture, usually on the text called the Bhagavad Gita which is a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Lord Krishna. The Gita emphasizes living a balanced life, performing one’s duty without attachment to results, and realizing the unity of the individual soul with the divine.

·       1 pm; Snack and free time

·       2 pm; TTC Lecture (Philosophy or Anatomy & Physiology)

·       4 pm; How to teach yoga practical class

·       6 pm; Dinner

·       8 pm; Communal Satsang (same as morning)

·       10 pm; Bedtime

My Learnings

Importance of relaxation;

Productivity is given so much praise these days. When is the last time you heard someone tell you, “Well done for sitting down and doing nothing!”? It is more likely that you were told, “Wow, fair play for going to the gym before getting the kids ready for school, dropping them off, and going to work!”. While we live in an age where we strive for perfect health, why do we still put productivity on a pedestal and hide relaxation in the shadows? It is scientifically proven that stress hormones decrease health, and that relaxation hormones increase health. That energy you feel when you are hustling and bustling about your day? That energy is actually the hormone adrenaline; a stress hormone your body makes to give you emergency fuel when you don’t have any. This emergency supply can’t last forever.

As you can see from my schedule, my time at the TTC was busy, but busy with relaxation. There was a time for silence, for singing, for walking, for resting, for eating and for conversation. The TTC was strictly caffeine free so I had to sacrifice my daily morning black tea with milk. Wow, I did not realise how much caffeine was in 1 cup of tea until I had to do without; what followed were daily headaches and complete full body fatigue for several days. I had no other choice but to grin and bear it. To replace the warm morning drink, I bought decaf coffee with oat milk which satisfied the taste. Day by day, with the passage of time, with all the breathwork and yoga postures, my body detoxed and my headaches disappeared. My body felt reenergised and I was not missing the tea! The few days of struggle showed me how tired my body actually was; the tea was just masking the fatigue. My mind had to come to accept that my body was tired and that this was okay. My body needed rest. Due to personal heath reasons, I have been taking my basal body temperate these past months-spikes and irregularity indicate stress. Tracking my temps during my time at the centre, I noticed my numbers were low and consistent; the decrease showed that before, my “adrenaline” had been causing my higher temps and the consistency showed my nervous stable was now more stable. With my relaxed days, long final relaxations, breath work, lack of caffeine, my nervous system was down regulating! Let’s start reclaiming pride is being slow, steady and serene!

Yoga and Ayurveda;

As an Ayurvedic Practitioner, I view life through the 3 doshas, Vata, Pitta and Kapha, and the 5 elements, Ether, Air, Fire, Water, Earth. Everything about the Sivananda way of life, to me, felt like Vata, or rather, Ether and Air. The qualities of light, dry, cool, rough, subtle, mobile were everywhere; from the rough wake-up call at 5 30 am, to meditating in the cool morning air, the light, dry vegetarian diet, the subtle practice of breathwork and the mobile postures, and the goal to become less identified with the physical body and more with the ethereal and eternal soul.  As a person with a current Vata imbalance, that is, I have excess ether and air, which leads to imbalances such as insomnia, constipation, anxiety and all ailments with the qualities of light, dry, cool, rough, subtle, mobile. Thus, engaging in the practices, I knew deep in my heart that there were not wholly serving me. I would need to make adjustments to suit my mind-boy type; adding animal protein to my diet, more fun and less study of philosophy, less strict wake times and so forth. Nothing in life is black and white. We must alter everything for our own individual constitution. That being said, there are many aspects of Sivananda that suit a Vata type (relaxations, calming breathwork, meditation). For the Pitta, again the relaxations, the meditation and the cooling breathwork are suitable, but one must be cautious about being too strict, studying scriptures too much, or practicing too many asanas. For the Kapha, the early wake times, the physical postures and the vegetarian diet are perfect. However, one must be careful not to do too many final relaxations as Kaphas already sleep too much-your yogi friend on the mat beside you who is snoring, that’s the Kapha!

Spiritual Philosophies;

I arrived at the centre full of enthusiasm. I chose Sivananda because I loved the chanting, the philosophy and the structured way of life. However, as the days passed, resistance surfaced. Why did they have to wake at 5 30 am? Why did they have to sing all the time? Why did we have to wear certain colours? Why were they talking about souls and past lives all the time? Why can’t we just live the life we have now to the fullest and enjoy it? This internal friction was not new to me. I have noticed that whenever I dive into another way of life, while excited before I arrive, when there, I experience similar thoughts. Strange.

Anyway, these doubts were gaining steam each day; my initial desire was clouded. To me, the story of Brahman and Atman, of Karma and Reincarnation, makes total sense and can answer all of life’s questions. Expect, the fact that what it is based on is a theory. There is no proof. In fact, the more I reflected, the more I asked myself, how do we know that anything exists? Is this just my reality? Maybe you have your own reality? Maybe you don’t even exist and just appear in my reality? The more I pondered, the less I connected to a spiritual view and the more I identified with Nihilism, which is a view that life lacks inherent meaning, purpose, or objective values. So, I approached a teacher, and expressed my concerns and posed my questions regarding their philosophy. The essence of what he said was this; I was correct, there was no “proof” for any spiritual or philosophical view on life, however, one can choose a way of life that is true for them, and the “proof” is that is brings them peace in their own life. I was taken aback by his honesty. This felt life a huge burden off my chest. I did not have to logically believe in a certain philosophy and know it to be certain; it was enough to feel in my heart that it was true for me. Whatever parts of the practice that served me I could keep, those that did not, I could discard. In this sense, Nihilism, while often thought of as pessimistic, can be liberating. When you know that no system is true, you are prompted to make meaning of life from whatever you choose.

Conclusion

My 4-week Yoga Teacher Training Course has ended. I am home back in Ireland and already my life at the Sivananda Centre feels like a distant memory. My yoga practice is slipping, my meditations are sparse and my chanting is non-existent. However, I am trying my best and that is good enough. I am still off the caffeine, trying to dedicate at least 30 minutes of my day to a spiritual practice, and most importantly, to bring the peace and calmness I nurtured there to my everyday life.

Inspired my TTC, I am going to offer an 8-week Sivananda Yoga Beginner Course to anyone who would like to in Waterford. It would be an honour to share the gift of deep relaxation with others. To find out more, or avail of any of my Ayurvedic knowledge or services, please visit www.anamatma.com, or find me on Instagram @anam_atma

Yours truly,

Aoife

x

An Ode to Oil

Oily (adj.); (of a person or their behaviour) unpleasantly smooth and ingratiating. Synonyms include; bland, slick, cajoling, coaxing, compliant, hypocritical, ingratiating, and obsequious.

From this dictionary meaning of the word "oily", is it any wonder that growing up I had a negative opinion of oil. To top it off, oily food was the apex of the food pyramid, thus revealing itself as a "least wanted" food for those who wished to embrace a healthy lifestyle. Oil was bad.

As I developed my eating disorder, my relationship with oil worsened. I would say I rarely consumed any oil in my diet; food was steamed, dry and raw. Toast, crackers, potatoes and salads were eaten as they were. Without oil. Becoming a vegetarian, I even excluded myself from the naturally occurring oil in animal products.

And I wasn’t alone. It seemed society at large was anti-oil. I had taken this aversion to an extreme.

Contrast this with human interactions with oil in the past. Throughout ancient history, oil was recognised for its importance, revered and respected; oil was sacred. The Babylonians – modern day Iraqis – used oil to waterproof their boats and as mortar in building construction. The Egyptians also used oil in the preparation of mummies to help preserve corpses; almond, myrrh and frankincense oils were used for religious rituals and as a natural odour deterrent. Olive oil in particular, is found even in the earliest writings in Greece, Linear B tablets, which describe the uses of olive oil in Mycenaean Greece (c. 1,600 to 1,100 B.C.E.). Throughout ancient Greek history, olive and other types of oil performed a variety of functions. It was perfumed and worn on special occasions and was used in cooking or consumed as a part of a meal. A Roman-period author and traveller named Pausanias (8.42.11) described the use of oil in the practices of religion and it was also used as a source of fuel for lamps. Finally, oil had a prominent place in ancient Greek funerary rituals, as it was used to anoint bodies before they were buried. Oil was openly adored, not an evil enemy, that was consumed secretly and with all the guilt of a sin, as it is today.

Before expanding on my journey with oils, and explaining the various uses of oils inside and outside the body, let us first ask, what is oil?

Both oil and fats are macronutrients, along with carbohydrates (fruit and veg) and protein; this means, we need oils and fats to survive. Both are made up of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. The main difference between fats and oils is that fats are composed of high amounts of saturated fatty acids which will take a solid form at room temperature whereas oils are composed of mainly unsaturated fatty acids which will take a liquid form at room temperature. Depending on whether the final molecule on this chain of fatty acids is Carbon, Hydrogen or Oxygen, determines whether the oil or fat is saturated or unsaturated. This article is not concerned with explaining the difference between the types of oils/fats, but in case you don’t know, saturated fats are generally the "bad" fats and mainly animals based, versus unsaturated fats are generally the "good" fats and mainly plant based.

As I explained, I hated oil. And now, 10 years later, I love it!

How did I fall in love with this demonised devil?

Backstory; 1 year ago, I was suffering from chronic constipation; other complaints at the time were dry eye, osteoporosis, lack of menstruation, poor circulation. A dinner with a friend, who I found out later was studying Ayurveda, an ancient Indian Medicine. Sharing with her my issues, she made one overarching observation about me; I was super dry, lacking oil, in Ayurvedic terms, I was in excess of Vata (the air and ether element). "How can you help me poop though!?!" I inquired, "I’ve been eating all the fibrous foods and drinking tonnes of water". She explained, "Just like a desert experiences flash floods and doesn't absorb the water after torrential rain, so happens to a dry body, a body lacking oils and fats. Even though you are drinking a lot, the water isn’t being absorbed, you need oil and salt to help the water absorption ".

The triad of hydration is it called, with probiotics being the final vertex of the triangle; oil, salt and probiotics help to keep us hydrated by aiding absorption of water.

Why oil? Oil and fat at play role in stimulating motility – or forward motion – in the colon, which in turn promotes more regular bowel movements. Foods that contain oil stimulate the gastrocolic communication reflex, essentially informing the colon that a significant amount of food has just entered the system and in response the colon ramps up its motility to make some room for what's headed its way.

Why salt? To ensure that the water you drink actually enters your cells, you need an electrical charge in the form of electrolytes, or otherwise known as minerals. Some essential minerals to consume are sodium, potassium and magnesium; all trace minerals occurring naturally in sea salts.

Why probiotics? These microorganisms in the gut reduce intestinal permeability and improve nutrient status by making more nutrients such as minerals available to absorb from food.

To sum up, it is not enough to simply drink water, we must be able to absorb it, and salt, oil and probiotics aid this absorption.

To add, my lack of menstruation, or Hypothalamic Amenorrhea, was a consequence of my low body fat percentage and the fact that my reproductive hormones needed fat in order for the hormones to be transported around my body. Not to mention, my osteoporosis was a knock-on effect of my Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (I was not making estragon; thus, my bones were degenerating), and because my body didn’t have enough body fat, it was digging into my calcium reserves in my bones instead of my body. I was literally so deprived, so dry, that my body was turning on itself in order to survive.

I was convinced. I needed to lubricate myself from the outside in. Oil me up, and the engine may ignite.

Inside my body

• Using Ayurveda as a guide, I began with the foods I ate. Ghee is a staple of the Ayurvedic diet and a nightly mug of warm milk and ghee, is a common constipation reliever. Ghee is clarified butter, butter which has the water and milk solids removed. I added ghee to my porridge, to my toasts, onto my vegetables and a dollop into my soups and curries. And I discovered that ghee is delicious!

• Drizzling olive oil (extra virgin or cold pressed) on pastas, salad leaves and vegetables, I embraced the culture of the Mediterranean. I learned that an oily taste can be beautiful and not bad.

• Each oil has a smoke point, a point at which it begins to smoke and burn-this means the oil has broken down into harmful compounds called aldehydes which can be detrimental to the human body over time. So, you should be conscious of the smoking point of the oil you use and the temperature you cook it at. Both ghee and olive oil are good options, which the former having a smoking point of 200-240C (465F) (refined) and 160-190 C (375F) (unrefined), and the latter of 250C (485F) (refined)and 232C (450F) (unrefined).

• I became more conscious of adding fat based foods to my diet such as nuts, seeds, avocados, eggs, dairy, meat and oily fish. After initial guilt, fat become a beautiful and basic element of each of my meals.

Outside my body

• Abhyanga is the ancient Ayurvedic ritual of oil massage to the body, performed by the self to the self. The various benefits of this massage include; toning muscles and tissues of body, firming limbs, lubricating joints, increasing circulation, stimulating internal body organs, assisting in elimination of toxins, moving lymph, increasing stamina, calming nerves and improving sleep; these effects all help to oil the entire body, outside in, thus making the process of elimination smooth. We sometimes forget but the skin in the bodies largest organ and can absorb externally anything we put on the outside, allowing it to travel to the inside. Experiment with various oils but sesame, almond, sunflower and coconut are best. Warm the oil and massage from feet to heart, hands to heart, and in circular motions, especially over joints.

• A weekly oil salt scrub is the perfect combination; the salt will help exfoliate and eliminate any dead, dry skin cells, and the oil will hydrate and moisturise the new skin cells. Again, the skin absorbs the oil and can transport this oil to organs, such as the digestive organs, creating a well-oiled machine, able to eliminate excess.

• Another great use of oil is for hair; our hair follicles produce oils naturally but as we age these oil glands weaken, so applying oil to hair before or after washing, provides much needed moisture and hydration to the scalp.

• Our nails and cuticles are another body part which can benefit from a nightly oil massage.

• The Ayurvedic Petchoti Method is the belief that you can absorb oils via your belly button. As a foetus in the womb, you absorbed nutrients from the mother through the umbilical cord, so the theory goes that the bellybutton performs the same role, after you leave the womb. This practice is said to rebalance the body, relieving suffering such as constipation.

• My dry eyes improved through my uptake of oil. Now, I did not go squirting oil into my eyes, but I did find that my well-oiled diet and my well-oiled body, poured their effects into my eye health, as my burning and sensitive eyes upon waking disappeared. Ayurveda actually offers a specific treatment for dry eyes which I have yet to try called Netra Tarpana or a Ghee Eye Bath. First, a dough or an eye cup is placed on the eyes so the liquid will not pour over the face. Then, lying down, the warmed ghee is poured into the eyes while they stay open.

• Nasya is another oil-based Ayurveda practice where medicated oil is dropped and sniffed into the nasal cavity, alleviating respiratory tract infections and allergies.

• Kaval, or oil pulling, is an Ayurvedic practice, in which you swish oil around your mouth for several minutes, spit it out and then rinse. This helps remove bacteria from your mouth, prevent bad breath, tooth decay and gum problems.

• An oil practice, which specifically targets the condition of constipation in the Ayurvedic tradition, is an oil Bhasti, or enema. Oil and other herbal substances are entered into the rectum. This ensures that the colon receives that oil so as to form soft faeces, and stimulates the gastrocolic communication reflex so as to produce a bowel movement. An oil-based enema provides nourishment, as well as elimination.

• In my opinion, the Queen of all oil based Ayurvedvc practices is Shirodhara, or oil dropping. During Shirodhara, the person has to lie down on the Shirodhara table and keep their eyes closed and covered. Then a stream of warm herbal oil is poured on the person’s forehead. The slow dripping of the oil helps create vibrations and helps the oil penetrate deep down into the nervous system. It helps improve blood circulation to the brain. I experienced this treatment myself, and indeed found it extremely relaxing, both during and after the session. However, I cannot pinpoint any specific long lasting after effects of the Shirodhara.

So where am I now? Is “oils” well that ends well?

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I feel guilty, indulgent and fat, as I plop a spoon of ghee into my soup, or question whether I really need that second spoon of yummy peanut butter on my oats. However, I breathe and I reflect; why should this particular food group be ostracised?

Now that I understand why we need fat, how fat works in our bodies, how I have been self-creating my constipation, my osteoporosis, my Hypothalamic Amenorrhea by minimising my oil and fat intake, I can learn to love this unctuous underdog, this lubricating liquid. And I am learning.

Not only am I witnessing the physical benefits, but I am noticing a more relaxed nervous system and a sensual sensation, an erotic encounter with my body.

Say yes to oil. Say yes to anointing yourself with this sacred staple. Always oil.

From Yoga to Ayurveda: Mapping our body, mind and spirit

(how Ayurveda came into my life)

Part 1: Yoga

We all have that something. That something that gets us through the tough times. For some, it is a sport, for others its strumming their guitar. For some it is creating on a canvas, for others it is the solace of substances such as alcohol and drugs. We cannot judge. None are better or worse than the other. When taken to excess, all distractions can be detrimental. Run too much, your bones suffer. Oblivion in music, cloud the expansion of life. Passion for painting, missed opportunities for other expressions. Dependence on substances, mental and psychological damage.

Something in our human nature seems to turn comfort into compulsion.

Yoga has been my “saviour”. Yoga has gotten me through my difficulties. Following a sequence, focusing on my breath and body, listening to the calming music; these allow me to transfer my troublesome thoughts to a entity other than my mind, to leave my problems behind. And it worked.

It worked when I felt lost in life, when I didn’t now where to go, what direction to take. I knew where my yoga mat was so I got onto it daily. I did not need to think about it. It feels good not to think, doesn’t it?

So, I practiced yoga when I was underweight and malnourished. I practiced when I broke my arm, creating one arm flows and striving to put little weight on the fracture. I practiced through bouts of acid reflux, enduring the pain as it accelerated with a downward dog. I practiced almost immediately after I had my spinal injury and surgery, going against doctor advice and ignoring the darts of pain or “clicks”. I practiced on despite of these difficulties because “yoga is my saviour”. Relationships suffered, and so did my anxiety, as I became obsessed with my daily morning yoga practice; I had to squeeze it in. I couldn’t leave the house until my flow was done, I couldn’t envision holidaying if my hostel didn’t have a place when I could practice yoga. My “saviour” had changed to an awkward addition.

Attachment to yoga and attachment to the idea that “yoga is my saviour” meant I would rather be right than admit I was wrong, that sometimes yoga was not my saviour, that moving my body this way might be my “devil”.  

Throughout my yoga years, I became aware that the word yoga comes from the Sanskrit language and means “union”, union of the mind, body and spirit. So, could you say I had been practicing yoga all that time? Yes, I was moving my body, but was moving in connection with my spirt and mind? Not at all, I was moving my body to disconnect from my mind and my spirit. The very reason I loved yoga was because though it, I was able to focus on my body, and forget about my mind and my spirit who were causing me sadness and pain. I simply wanted to keep on moving my body, moving further away from my inner soul. So I moved and kept moving. Downward dog, upward dog. Child’s pose, cobra. Moving and moving. Until, I had to stop.

For a while anyway. Falling though the roof and breaking my back, chronic constipation and depression; both of these “trauma” disrupted my yoga flow, forcing me to practice yoga in her truth, uniting my mind, body and spirit. Intention is at the core of yoga. Moving the body, or even the breath, with awareness of your heart, your soul, your thoughts, that is my new understanding of yoga.

This new interpretation of yoga has been a difficult transition for me. Grieving the loss of my old addiction, my yoga to obliviate my thoughts, and accepting that I can find peace in being with the pain, the joy, the anger, the love.

This new yoga, uniting the mind, body and spirit is the only true way that I can use yoga “to get through the tough times” in my life. As I have recently experienced, we are not our bodies, they are always changing. You can lose bodily abilities and functions. So I your yoga practice is dependant on the body solely, attached to the physical, if the body changes, so odes your happiness, your way to get through the tough times in life. Do you want your happiness to be dependent on the body, the body that is forever changing? Not me anyway.

Ayurveda was a term I had come across in my yogic years. Aare that it was a form of Vedic Medicine, my knowledge did not go much deeper than knowing that I was “Vata” or air type, from taking an online Dosha quiz from Deepak Chopra’s website!

Part 2: Ayurveda

Ayurveda came into my life when I needed her most. Let me explain.

Living in Lisbon, I received a message from a woman called Abbey, who I had only communicated with via texts and voice notes. Abbey was an permaculture apprentice at the ranch in Costa Rica where I had been also the year before her. I bought her tools from her and that is how we began our relationship. Anyway, living in Lisbon, this message from Abbey informed me she would be in Lisbon soon taking a “herbal course” and invited me to meet with her for dinner. So, we did.

Abbey explained on her “herbal course”. In fact, she was studying Ayurveda in northern Portugal. Ayurveda, I responded please tell me more. And that is how the ancient art of ayurveda entered my life.

Ayurveda, she told me is a system which is based on the universal scientific stance that there are 5 elements: ether, air, fire, water, and earth. Take the physical planet, first there was empty space (ether). Then, matter fields the void; air allows movement (gas), fire (energy) can change matter from one form to another, and water (fluid) and earth (solid) work together to also allow movement and can slow or speed up this movement dependant on their form. Using this examples to characterise our human body; inside and outside of us we have empathy cold space, air is outside and inside of us, we breathe air in, and release air out as gaseous waste, fire can destroy and absorb in our physical outside world, but fire inside of us can “destroy” and digest food and absorb into our blood stream; water in our body, just like a river, moves essentials like blood and nutrients around our body, and just like a river forms a riverbank of earth, so to our river of blood and lymph, create passages and channels, which five shape to this river of life.

WOW. Such a strangly simple system. For the first time in my life, I understood how my body worked. My body is a conversation of these five elements. Too much ether and air, we become dry. Dryness brings dry skin, constipation, dry breathing, dry bones, and an airy anxiety overall. Too much fire, we become hot. Heat brings high blood pressure, heated headaches, fiery bowels, hot skin, inflammations of every sort. Too much water, we become too wet. Wetness, make the earthy riverbeds “dam”, creates stagnation, low blood pressure, enemas, slow digestion and a sluggish in general.

This is the language of Ayurveda. And how do we treat these illnesses of excess air, heat, wet? By working in opposites! If you are too dry, become wetter. If you are too hot, become cooler. If you are too wet, become drier. And how do we change these states? Through mind, body, and spirit. Through diet, movement, herbs, spiritual practices, relations. Through connecting them all. In union. Yoga.

Abbey confirmed what I already suspected. Indeed, I was a “vata” (too cold and too dry). I had too much air. How was this true for my complaints? How was I too cold? My feet and body in general are always cold, my thin frame had too much empty cold space where blood did not flow. How was I too dry, too much air? My chronic constipation was because my food did not have enough heat and water to flow through my system. My lack of menstruation was due to lack of fluid in my body. My dry eyes, my osteoporosis from my dry bones, my angular cheilitis from my dry lips, my anxiety and indecision attributed to excess air in my mind. Totally cold and dry! So, simple! Let’s start getting hot and wet!

Firstly, I signed up for a 6 week online course with Abbey’s Ayurvedic teacher and employer DeAnna Batdorff entitled “Body Mapping”. Through modules on the elements, the breath and chakra, diet, self-care practices, skin, tissues and so forth, my knowledge and understanding of this ancient art deepened. I would highly recommend engaging on a similar course with DeAnna’s whose passion and playfulness in contagious. Her aim is for us to learn to navigate the map that is our body, so we can travel throughout ourselves with confidence, without dependence on western medial doctors; coming home to bodies; re-establishing the relationship with ourselves.

So, how have I been getting hotter and wetter?!? How have I been using Ayurveda and it’s elemental and opposite theory to treat my cold and dry symptoms?

With this learning, I have begun to treat my symptoms. For my chronic constipation, I changed my diet to a wetter and warmer one. My breakfast of cold overnight oats changed to warm, wet porridge; my lunch of cold wraps and sandwiches changed to warm, spiced soups with bread and protein and dinners of rice and curries with grounding roots such as sweet potato and nourish herbs like cinnamon and cardamom. Ghee was added to most meals, adding more juice to my system (If you haven’t tried ghee on toast, in curries, in hot chocolates and so on, you don’t know what you are missing!).

An example of how Ayurveda takes a whole-body picture of symptoms. Western medicine will say, “Constipated? Drink more water to flush it out!”. But, I was drinking litres upon litres of water each day! Abbey explained, “If there is a flash flood in the desert, will the soil become fertile and nourished?”. No, the dry desert soil will not absorb the rainwater, thus becoming flooded. So too was happening in my body; my body was too dry to absorb the water I was pouring into her, my water intake was coming straight out though urine! How could I make my “soil” wetter so it would absorb the “rain”? Abbey explained the Ayurvedic triad of hydration; for water to absorb into our system we need minerals, essential fatty acids, and probiotics. I never used salt on my food, followed a “clean” diet which excluded oils and butters, and wasn’t taking probiotics as a food source or supplements. So, I started adding sea salt to my food, cooking with, and adding olive oil and ghee to meals and eating kefir and sauerkraut along with probiotic supplements. I was preparing a fertile soil to soak up the rain.

Indulging in warm evening baths, protecting my frame from the cool air with scarves and layers, receiving oil massages (abhyanga) and oil dripping on my forehead (shirodhara), salt scrubs on my body; my self-care routine increased, and as it did, so did my self-love. To increase my juiciness in hope of strengthening my dry bone and stimulating my menses, I slowed down, I moved my body sensually in yoga, I lived life like I was a princess, creating beauty everywhere I went. To supplement my general health, I took Ashwagandha, practiced tongue scaping and oil pulling for my dental health, added gua sha massage to my skin care and mediated daily. And I allowed the juiciness of dreams to destress me, getting 9 hours sleep a night with no alarm in the morning.

Has it worked? Has Ayurveda changed my body, just like it has changed my mindset?

I still have osteoporosis, I still feel the pain in my back. But I know I am eating enough so my bones are now getting enough nutrients. With time, hopefully they will improve. My mediation and self-care and self-love mean that I can manage my back pain and rest when it is aggravating me. I can listen to my body.

I still am not menstruating. But I know that my body is still rebuilding trust in me. It needs to know that I will stick to this new lifestyle of enough food and enough rest to expend even more energy and commence menstruation. Practicing patience is part of the journey. I already feel more of w woman in the fact that I am giving myself permission to be kind to myself. Not too mention, I have noticed my vaginal mucus is wetter and stringier, and only this morning did I observe and pang and a protruding pressure in my female reproductive area…fingers crossed!

And the chronic constipation? I still…No, I am not suffering from chronic constipation!

As much as I am sure that daily probiotics and my new wet and hot diet helped stimulate my bowels and juice up the desert, I am certain that my constipation was a mind-body problem (like most problems!), and that leaving my job, that giving myself permission to press pause and practice giving myself love and leisure, was at the core of the return of my daily poos. Really, what a physical and mental relief!

Am I an ayurvedic expert? Anything but! I know I have only begun to scrape the surface that is a deep dive into the ancient wisdom of this tradition. Herbal recipes, Panchakarma detoxes, essential oils, diffusions, marma points and koshas…there is so much more for me to discover. Which I do hope to discover by pursuing my passion for ayurvedic by taking an ayurvedic course of some sort in her birth country, India. But for now, I will continue to use ayurveda as a philosophy, as a way of observing my elements in my body, notice how they show up, and balancing them through opposition.

Part 3: Union of Yoga and Ayurveda

I began this blog by admitting that I used yoga as a way to block out my mind and spirt. I continued on to list all of my “dry and cold” physical problems I was suffering from; suffering from because I was blocking out my mind and spirit. To put it bluntly, I was not listening to my body, mind, and spirit as one, I was not uniting them, I was not in union, not practicing yoga.

I have explained how Ayurveda has taught me to observe, notice, feel, describe and treat accordingly my body. This begins with the breath, using the breath to observe, notice and feel. Using the breath is the foundation of yoga. Using the breath is the foundation of how we can check in with our body, mind and spirit. Using the breath is how we become our own doctors, our own masters of the body.

How wonderful would it be if this daily breath, this daily observing, noticing, feeling, describing, and treating our bodies accordingly was natural too us? How beautiful would it be if we used the language of the elements in our everyday speech? Imagine living in a world where you would reply to “How are you today?” with “I’m feeling a bit heated in my head”, “I’m a bit dry in my blood” or “I’m a bit clogged up in my digestive system”. It is my dream to teach children the language of cold, hot, wet, dry, the awareness of the elements within them, and the power they possess to balance their body, mind, and spirit. As one. In union.