AYURVEDA 101

Mind & Body | 2022 AYURVEDA 101

By Talya Lutzker Finding the right path toward optimal health and wellness can be challenging. Every day, another “new secret to weight loss” or a new thousand-dollar treatment offers to end your suffering and make you look younger, skinnier, more radiant. It’s human nature to be intrigued by something shiny and new promising health. Nothing wrong with wanting to be happy and live a healthy life, but we typically look for answers in the wrong places. What if instead of looking ahead, you were to look back? Knowledge of constitution is the key to holistic and integral health care. – Dr. Vasant Lad Ayurveda was introduced to the West in the 1980s by teachers like Dr. Vasant Lad and David Frawley. This holistic practice was created in India 5,000 years ago. Now it is used widely. This science can tell you what you need to do to keep yourself balanced and in good health. It doesn’t focus on covering up symptoms. Instead, it helps get to the root of your ailments so you can work to prevent future discomfort. Looking to fight off the common cold? Ayurveda can help. Feeling anxious, fearful or worried and can’t sleep? Ayurveda has a solution! From achy joints to sluggish digestion or feeling down, you can turn to this ancient healing modality. FIVE ELEMENTS Ayurveda (pronounced i·yer·vey·duh) translates to “Science of Life” or “Science of Self.” You have to know what you are made up of, and how these elements can go out of balance to bring you discomfort or disease. The five elements are: • Ether • Air • Fire • Water • Earth It’s easy to recognize these elements in the earth, the space we move through, in the animals, and in the trees. How do they show up inside of you? This is where the word Dosha comes in. Everyone should know the three main Doshas--each represents how the different combinations of the five elements show up in your body. They are: Vata: Ether and Air Pitta: Fire and Water Kapha: Water and Earth Keep Yourself The doshas create your unique Ayurvedic Balanced blueprint. Like snowflakes, no two people are alike. This is why there is no “one size fits all” solution to improve health. The power of this life science lies in the qualities of the elements: Cold = Ether Dry = Air Hot = Fire Wet = Water You can find the root of your most common symptoms in these four qualities. They are what you feel and experience. Maybe you are hot-tempered or overheat easily. Or you might be the person who is always cold. You might have a dry mouth or find yourself feeling itchy due to dry skin. COMBINING MAGIC In Ayurveda, you can combine different qualities of the elements to transform symptoms and find relief. You warm up when you sit next to a hot fire on a cold evening. Adding oil (which is wet) to your skin eliminates dryness. Hot decreases Cold • Wet decreases Dry This also works in the opposite way. Adding the same quality to a quality that already exists, will give you more of that feeling. Hot + Hot = Hotter • Cold + Cold = Colder Wet + Wet = More Wet • Dry + Dry = More Dry You might avoid eating ice cream on a cold day and opt for a warm cup of chai instead. You wouldn’t put on more layers of clothing when you are hot or put your wet shoes out in the rain to dry. Like increases like, and opposites create balance. Most importantly, remember: Moderation is key. If a certain quality aggravates you, it will be helpful to find ways to balance out or lessen this quality in your life. Talya Lutzker of Santa Cruz is a certified Ayurvedic practitioner, author, yoga teacher and founder of Ayurveda Every Day with Talya. Take her Dosha quiz at https://www.ayurvedaed.com/

Make a healthcare plan now with your aging parents. They’ll thank you later.

As your parents age and you begin to notice them declining, it can feel overwhelming as you try to sort through their needs, understand their options and make decisions. This is amplified when a parent has a life-limiting condition, and you realize your time together may be limited. Focusing on something concrete can help you feel more in control and give you a place to start. Hospice of Santa Cruz County offers help creating an Advance Directive to clearly communicate your parents’ healthcare wishes about how to proceed when the time comes that they cannot speak for themselves. Virtual group sessions or individual appointments are available to learn how to identify your parent’s end-of-life healthcare values and get help with the forms, step by step.

One very important aspect of planning is having a frank conversation about end of life and educating yourself about some of the myths and facts of palliative and hospice care. Often people believe getting hospice care means giving up. The truth is, it’s about taking a stand and saying, ‘I want to live my life to the fullest extent possible in the time that is remaining.’

“Thank you very much for providing this service. I’m so relieved to finally have my wishes in writing.”

– Advance Directive Workshop Attendee

Not all hospices are the same

As a community-based nonprofit, Hospice of Santa Cruz County serves Santa Cruz County and northern Monterey County, as far south as Salinas and as far west as Marina. It has the highest quality ratings and caregiver satisfaction scores of any hospice provider in the region. Its services go above and beyond the norm, including music therapy, using the universal language of music to bring joy and spiritual contemplation and help people reflect on their memories; programs for seriously ill children; Camp Erin youth grief camp; and comprehensive grief support for the entire community.

Resources:

Advance Healthcare Planning and tools to help you have the conversation: www.hospicesantacruz.org/community-educationevents/preparing-for-the-future