Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Change your thought, Change your life

I love babies, they are so pure and innocent. They ask for whatever they want and express all of their feelings openly, and, without embarrassment. I teach the 10 and 11 year old girls in my church. They are awesome, they haven’t totally been ruined by us adults yet. Amelia is 10, one day she came to class with new glasses, I said “you got new glasses, how cute are they” she smiled big and said “they are very cute” I love that, she wouldn’t have bought them if she didn’t think they were cute. I could tell when she said it that she wondered if it was okay to say that. YES it’s okay. Amelia still knows she is perfect and that she is awesome. You were like this when you were young, you knew how awesome you were, and that you were the center of the universe. You loved yourself totally, and knew that you were perfect. This is the truth of your being. All the rest is learned nonsense, and can be unlearned.

Like Amelia, I know how awesome I am. When I tell people how good I am at something, like cooking, they look at me like I just committed a crime. This is the kind of reaction that makes us feel self conscious about saying anything positive about ourselves. Why is it such a bad thing to own our own power.  I’m sure there is something you know you are good at. Ring your own bell! Blow your own horn! Shout from the rooftops! Dance the happy dance! YOU ARE AWESOME!!

It is incredible to me that some people can’t look themselves in the mirror and say “I love you.”
How often do you say, “That’s just the way I am” or “That’s the way things are.” “My body can’t do that.” or the famous line “It is what it is.” What you really mean is that’s what you “believe to be true for you.” Usually what we believe is only someone else’s opinion that we have accepted as our own, and implemented it into our belief system. It fits in with other things we believe. If  we were taught as a child that the world is a frightening place, then everything we hear that fits in with that belief we will accept as true for us--for example: “Don’t trust strangers,” “Don’t go out at night,” “People cheat you.”

Last year I turned 59, the closer it got to my birthday the more I took on other peoples opinions “I’m almost 60, that must be why I’m so tired.” “I am getting older, maybe I shouldn’t do so many pushups in class.” “Maybe I am doing to many classes a week for my age.” And so on. Then I really did start to get tired, and my body started to hurt. I actually started not being able to do pushups in class because my shoulders started to hurt. Then I realized what I was doing. I said, “Nancy! what are you doing?!! This is the kind of negative thoughts you counsel your clients not to do to themselves.” I quickly changed that learned nonsense back to the positive thought patterns I have always had. “I am awesome,” “I am strong and healthy.” “I am beautiful.” “I can do anything.” “maybe I can’t do it today, but I will someday.” Within two weeks I was back to my healthy, young, strong, awesome self. Doing pushups and feeling good. Change your thoughts, and change your life.

Nancy Adams
Thai Yoga Therapist and Ayurveda Consultant
These are my own thoughts. I sometimes take writings from others to support my own ideas.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Is your illness your identity?

Ayurveda, the “science of life,” is the alternative healing method from India, and is more than 5,000 years old. It is believed to be the oldest healing science in existence. Before people could even write, healing was part of a universal religion. Healers gathered from all over the world, bringing their knowledge to India. The sages, the monks were the physicians of the time, they were holy people very devoted, who saw health as an integral part of spiritual life. It is said that they received their training of Ayurveda through direct cognition during meditation. That is, the knowledge of the use of the various methods of healing, prevention, and surgery came through Divine revelation; guessing or animal testing was unnecessary. these revelations were transcribed from oral tradition into written form, interspersed with aspects of mortal life and spirituality.

I know this seems far fetched, but I can remember my mother using some of these healing methods when I was young. Like putting drops of  olive oil in our ears, with a cotton ball for an earache. It would cure it every time, this is an Ayurveda treatment. You can also do this for ringing in your ears, (I use sesame oil) and other ear diseases. It will cure it way faster than a drug, and with no side effects.

The response I get from some people when I give them a suggestion on healing themselves, reminds me of Naaman, in the bible, 2 Kings 5. Naaman was told to go wash in the River Jordan 7 times to cleanse himself of leprosy. He thought that it seemed way too easy, so he didn’t do it, at first. Ayurveda is this same way. It seems so easy, people think it is can’t see that it could possibly work..

Is your illness your identity? In this case I can’t help you. People who want to be sick, get sick. Being ill draws attention to themselves. These are the questions I ask my clients the first time I see them. Do you want to be well? Do you have anything to gain by being sick? Is your illness your escape?  Will you do what you need to do to heal yourself? Do you expect someone else to heal you? (Naaman wanted the prophet to heal him, not a messenger to send him to the river to heal himself).

Those of you who want to get well, Ayurveda can help you. It is true most insurances won’t pay for Ayurveda healing. However, some insurances are starting to see the need for “Spiritual Healing” and have added it to their policy. Ayurveda is a spiritual healing, you can not be healed physically and mentally, without being healed spiritually. Most often, by the time someone comes to me they are already spending thousands on co-pays and prescriptions. It is Ayurveda’s goal to bring your body back to wellness, in balance with your constitution, so you no longer need Doctors and prescriptions. It didn’t take Naaman long to see the error of his way. He realized he didn't have anything to lose by trying. How long will it take you to wash in the River Jordan.
Nancy Adams Certified Thai Yoga Therapist
and Ayurveda Consultant

             These are my own thoughts. I sometimes take writings from others to support my own ideas.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

This is the life of a pitta

I am a Pitta. Which means I am passionate in whatever I do, I am a very hard worker, and a good delegator. It also means if I am out of balance I can get very mean. Many things can put a pitta out of balance. However being hungry is the number one thing to put a pitta out of balance. I always say ‘if you don’t feed a pitta right away  you are going to become their next meal’. Now that I know, being hungry makes me crazy, I try not to go there, awareness is half the battle. If I know I am going to get food in the next hour I can hold myself at bay. If I am at home, there is no problem. I eat all my meals at the same time every day. It’s when I am on vacation and eating at weird times, or out to dinner with friends who want to eat after 5:00 PM that’s the challenge.

If I let myself get too hungry I will be angry with everyone in my path. Sometimes I don’t even realize that’s what why I am angry  until my husband says ‘you're just hungry’. Then again the awareness will bring me back to center. When I finally do get food I am like a wild dog until I am completely full. About a half hour later (when my brain catches up with my stomach) I realize I ate too much. This is why pittas find it hard to lose weight, because they do wait too long to eat, and then they can’t stop themselves once they start.

I really try not to get that hungry. The Ayurveda rule for eating is to fill one third of your stomach with food, one third with liquid, and  leave one third for God. Also Ayurveda encourages us to pay close attention to the way you feel as you eat. Asking yourself how the food makes you feel, is the food still as good as it was when you started, if not you are probably full, and if you are full you should stop now, not after you clean your plate.

The trick to staying balanced for me is this. I watch the clock. a pitta does not realize they are hungry until it is way too late, and most of the time not even then. I eat before I get hungry, that way I don’t eat too much, and I don’t get crazy,  remember the wild dog? I do not snack. I must eat before or at 5 PM eat being the key word. If I snack it only makes it worse. If we are going out to a late dinner, I have a small meal (very small), then I’m good for a for a couple hours. Then when I do eat I won’t want to eat everything in sight.

I never skip a meal, except on fast Sunday, you can imagine how hard that is for me. I’m OK as long as I stay out of the kitchen. And when the fast is over, I can not put one thing in my mouth until I am ready to eat, really eat, other wise I can clean out the whole kitchen just waiting for dinner. This might sound crazy to some of you, but this is the life of a pitta, if you are a pitta you totally get it, if you are not a pitta have compassion for us, or prepare to be our next meal..
Nancy Adams Certified Thai Yoga Therapist
and Ayurveda Consultant

These are my own thoughts. I sometimes take writings from others to support my own ideas.