The Ayurveda Experience February 14, 2016
In today’s world women are facing a major crisis. And that crisis manifests as hormonal burnout, adrenal fatigue, stress, anxiety and weight gain. Have you experienced this?
The underlying cause of these symptoms is even more insidious. And that’s a deep sense of a lack of self worth. Today, women are stressed. They are doing the brunt of the work in a relationship or family as well as holding down a job themselves. And they are trying to be everything to everyone which is leading to burn-out.
The key lies in transformation. A woman must evolve from the Dharma type of Laborer to that of Merchant. See, it is a Merchant type that knows her true worth.
Take Marilyn Monroe, for a simple example. Marilyn Monroe knew her value, at least in her public persona. And she wasn’t afraid to project that. She abided in the state of ‘I am worthy of the best’. Her child-like innocence said, ‘I’m precious, just because’. Now that doesn’t mean you have to scheme to get what you want. You should know it in your bones that you deserve it all.
No one will give you your worth and see you as the goddess you are until you see yourself that way first.
Taking a bath sends a message to yourself and those around you that you are worth this time. Give your family the gift of missing you. They’ll appreciate you more for it.
Taking some ‘me’ time also sends your body the message, ‘This is okay, you can relax. You are safe’. When your body is in stress mode and you are in a rush, this shuts off your youth hormones. Your skin begins to sag. You begin to put on weight. Your digestion shuts down, so your metabolism suffers. You feel ragged and rundown which feeds into the anxiety, depression and stress.
So the first step is to put on the break and say no. And if a bath is not your thing, do Ayurvedic self-massage and then take a warm hot shower. Whatever it is that you do, give yourself 30 minutes, 3 times a week. And make it an event, a feast for your senses. So your body gets the message you are safe and the rejuvenation hormones get turned on.
Learn how to breathe into the deep lower lobes of your lungs. This activates your parasympathetic nervous system, your relaxation, ‘I am safe’ response. Normally people are breathing shallow breaths which contributes to a state of paranoia and sends the message ‘I’m not safe’, ‘I need to survive right now’. So learn how to breathe deeply so your body and mind are relaxed.
If you’re eating big macs and chips, you’re sending the message to your body that you’re worth $1.99. Treat yourself to quality, not quantity in your diet.
Everything in nature is curvilinear. Nature moves in curves, and women are the embodiment of nature. Dance and sacred movements like yoga, flamenco, hula, kathak emulate the movement of nature. These are sacred forms of movement that have you move your hips which gets you in touch with your core. And this is highly empowering for women.
Spend time with women who have the wisdom to guide you and fill in the blanks for you. Cultivate a sacred society. They don’t have to be your friends, they can be mentors.
This is not necessarily for everyone, but this is a huge step for some. Stimulants like caffeine and chocolate supposedly give you energy but what they really do is rob you of your deep sensual, physical vitality.
Spiritual tradition means, getting in touch with the silent part of you. And this happens after you breathe deeply. So learn to meditate and set aside time every day to do that.
If you’re a man reading this, understand that more than the words you say or the gifts you give, appreciating the value, the wisdom and the blessings that the women in your life are custodians of, does more than anything else to create harmonious relationships. And then, the compliments you give and the gifts you give, will give you more than anything you’ve ever dreamed of.
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