Ayurveda’s THREE PILLARS of Health
Ayurveda — the 5,000-year-old body wisdom tradition and mother science to yoga — is like a wise old grandma who knows her stuff. She's got three secrets to keep you healthy, well-balanced, and thriving.
These are Food, Sleep, and the observance of Brahmacharya — the wise use of our sexual and vital energy. Brahmacharya means moving towards the supreme consciousness, or simply keeping God (whatever that means to YOU) in one's mind while performing every action.
When supported by these three pillars, the body has good strength, complexion, and growth. Simply balancing these three aspects of your life can significantly impact your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Food, Sleep, and Sex are the three core ways we nourish ourselves. Good, healthy food, deep rest, and an intimate, intentional exchange of your energy with another person — or a creative project, whether personal, professional, or even creating a baby — is a wise use of our vital sexual and creative energy.
We need nourishment on all three levels.
Nature, universal consciousness, the divine, God… rewards us for doing the things that feel good when we do them in the right amount (not too much, not too little) and at the right time. Ayurveda helps us determine the things that will help us THRIVE and feel vibrant as human beings — and as an expression and reflection of this divinity.
When we practice self-care — deep sleep, eating healthy, and nourishing relationships (with ourselves and others) — we can more easily let go of the things that make us feel bad, deplete us, or give us a temporary "high" like late nights on Amazon, fast food, double shots of espresso, and loveless sex.
Let's break it down.
PILLAR #1 - FOOD
Health starts in the digestive system. According to Ayurveda, choosing the right foods for your unique body, the season, and even the time of day we eat is essential to optimal health.
"When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need." — Ayurvedic Proverb
When we overeat, undereat, eat the wrong foods for our unique body, or eat foods out of season in our ecosystem (think squashes and pumpkin in the summer), our belly suffers. Poor digestion is at the root of so many health issues — acid reflux, celiac disease, appendicitis, Crohn's disease, IBS, constipation, gallstones… the list goes on.
We live busy lives and often skip lunch, opting for a Starbucks and a protein bar, eating in our cars (my L.A. friends 👀), eating in front of our computers and televisions, and checking social media.
WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY (AND WHEN) GIVES YOU THE POWER TO LIVE YOUR DHARMA (LIFE’S PURPOSE).
The human body is not like my plug-in, battery-operated car. The food you put in your body fuels you to become the incredible, creative, and powerful person you're meant to be.
Ayurveda doesn't look at food in terms of calories, fat content, or nutritional "value." Instead, it sees food as having certain qualities and specific holistic energies — such as hot/cold, oily/dry, light/heavy, and dry/wet. We, too, can be analyzed for our own qualities, which depend on our unique energetic make-up (dosha) and where we tend to go out of balance.
You know the people you call hot-headed or cool as a cucumber, heavy or light, soft or hard? Even how you refer to yourself. I know I tend towards dry, cold, and light — how about you? When you identify your own qualities, you can begin choosing foods that are appropriate for your unique body — and learn how to prepare and combine them for optimal digestion.
Ayurveda teaches that like increases like. Are you someone who is "hot-tempered" by nature? Eating hot and spicy foods will only increase heat in the body and mind. If you feel heavy, produce excess mucus, and have difficulty getting moving in the morning, then eating light, warming, and drying foods would help bring the body back into balance. The more we ignore this, the more out of balance — and dis-eased — we become. We're only addressing food here, but this principle applies equally to exercise, sleep, and all lifestyle choices.
PILLAR #2 - SLEEP
Here it is, cleaned up:
"Happiness, misery, nourishment, emaciation, strength, weakness, virility, sterility, knowledge, ignorance, life and death — all these occur depending on proper or improper sleep." — Caraka Samhita
The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that insufficient sleep is a public health epidemic — a widespread and growing crisis affecting communities across the country. Most of us are not sleeping enough, yet think we're "just fine." We've convinced ourselves it doesn't get any better. We've grown so accustomed to feeling tired, low energy, overwhelmed, and brain-fogged that we've accepted it as normal.
We've turned into a culture of constipated, sleep-deprived walking zombies. Walk into any pharmacy or health food store these days and it's overwhelming — entire shelves dedicated to laxatives and sleep aids. And it goes deeper than that. When we don't get the sleep we need — at the right time — our body holds onto toxins that would naturally be processed, digested, and burned off during the midnight hours in deep slumber. Those undigested toxins eventually turn into dis-ease.
The list of autoimmune issues linked to sleep deprivation is jaw-dropping — Grave's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, MS, lupus, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, obesity, and over 80 more. Even allergies are considered a less severe manifestation of an aberrant autoimmune response. The sleep-deprived also suffer from higher cancer rates, reduced quality of life, and lower productivity at work.
We live such busy, fast-paced lives — attention pulled in a million directions — that insomnia and sleep issues are quickly becoming more the norm than the exception. Yikes.
Ayurveda is a sleep connoisseur. It says, "Get your Zzzs, honey." Quality shut-eye is the secret sauce to true rejuvenation. So tuck yourself in, bid farewell to those late-night Netflix binges, and let your dreams take the wheel. Your body will thank you for it.
PILLAR #3 - BRAHMACHARYA
Brahmacharya is typically translated as "going after Brahman" — behavior that leads toward the Divine creator, or Higher Self, in Hinduism and yoga. It is often associated with celibacy, but more practically, it means the wise use of our sexual and vital energy.
When we use our sexual energy harmoniously, our entire life becomes infused with creativity — in our projects, our business, our artistic expression, or even in creating a baby. Ayurveda sees sexual energy as the most refined aspect of our life force. More than just sex, this pillar is about vital energy maintenance and how we use our attention and our body.
One beautiful interpretation from the ancients is simply "to walk with God" — using our energy in alignment with the Higher Self, whatever that means to you. God, the Divine, consciousness, intuition… Frank. 😊
When balanced, our senses feed our good choices and become more attuned to what truly nourishes us. When out of balance, they lead us toward the people, cravings, foods, and habits that pull us further from ourselves. In Ayurveda, like increases like — the more we do it, eat it, and think it, the more we do it, eat it, and think it.
When we slow down and eat well, we sleep better. When we sleep better, we make better decisions. When we feel healthy and well-rested, our vital energy flows in its most aligned, creative, and alive expression. Pay attention to these three pillars, and your body's own intelligence takes over. Your true essence, joy, creativity, and yes — your sexiness — can flow naturally.
That's how you were designed. And you deserve it.
XO,
Paula
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