Claire Paphitis - Balance Your Agni: Essential Ayurveda

Claire Paphitis is The Ayurveda coach. Inspired by her experience of healing through Ayurveda, she studied at The Ayurveda Institute in London before opening her consultation practice in Surrey, UK. She shares ayurvedic advice at theayurvedacoach.com.

You can find her on Instagram: @the_ayurveda_coach

FOR MY MOTHER WITH MY DEEPEST GRATITUDE.

Ayurveda has become something of a buzzword in recent times, finding its way into food writing, beauty, lifestyle, wellness retreats and all manner of health and well-being outlets, enabling people to harness its powerful benefits in a multitude of ways. Ayurveda takes a 360-degree holistic approach to our physical and mental health through digestion, nutrition, lifestyle, nature and universal energy. Although it finds itself in a very busy market of well-being practices, it stands out because it is the most beautiful and complete understanding of the laws of nature and the Universe. It is a discipline with ancient roots that teaches us how to achieve that very modern goal: mindbody balance.

Ayurveda is the sister science of yoga and it is traditional in India to study Ayurveda first because it is believed that only when our body is ready and in balance can we take up the spiritual practice of yoga. In the twenty-first century our lives are incredibly busy and overstimulated, yet despite advances in modern medicine we still get sick. We might have it all as far as consumables go, but our souls are searching for something else and our mental health is suffering. In a culture of quick fixes and immediate satisfaction, Ayurveda is reassuringly enduring, based on more than 5,000 years of tried-and-tested knowledge. It is a wisdom based on creating balance and it offers a slow and gentle method of creating equilibrium, based on a little self-discipline and delayed gratification. No bad thing to counter the fast-paced urgency of modern life.

In this book, I hope to guide you gently through an introduction to authentic Ayurveda, showing you how to implement key principles in your everyday life. As a qualified practitioner, I see patients from all walks of life who are suffering with many different disorders, ranging from skin conditions through to hormonal and fertility disorders. But you can also use the power of Ayurveda to help yourself find a balanced way of eating, boost your mood, improve your sleep and concentration, increase your capacity for compassion and forgiveness and find peace and calm within. The beauty of this ancient Indian medicinal practice is that it addresses the root causes of a disorder and works by removing these causative factors rather than by simply masking the symptoms with medication. Although every individual and the cause of their illness will be unique, my approach to treating all these patients is the same: balance your Agni (digestive fire) and calm the dosha(s).

I will explain the key principles of exactly what this means and showcase the everyday power of Ayurveda through its potential to not only change the way you eat for the better but how, by following a few simple practices, it can bring about real and lasting transformations to your overall well-being.

You will learn ways to recognise how well your Agni (digestive fire) is working, why it is so important to your health and how to ensure it stays balanced. I will help you to uncover a novel approach to understanding the characteristics of the doshas so you can more easily recognise imbalances in your own body and discover what you need to do to bring yourself back into perfect balance. You will learn simple daily practices that are easy to implement and will bring a boost to your emotional and mental health, improve your energy levels, soothe skin conditions, balance hormones, help you maintain a good metabolism and reduce stress and anxiety.

I hope this book will ignite in you a lifelong interest in Ayurveda and that after reading it, you will feel empowered to incorporate these simple practices into your day-to-day life. Ayurveda has blessed me with a health and contentment that I never thought I would find and I hope very much it will bring the same to you.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please consult your doctor or a qualified practitioner before changing your diet or introducing new substances to your daily routine, particularly if you are on any medication or have any existing health conditions.

The word Ayurveda comes from two Sanskrit words: Ayur, meaning life, and Veda, meaning knowledge/science of. So to study Ayurveda is to be a lifelong student of the Knowledge of Life. Ayurveda has its roots in ancient India and encompasses both philosophy and science. In fact, it is the worlds oldest medical healing system, reaching back as far back as 10,000 years, and has eight different branches of medicine: general medicine, surgery, paediatrics, geriatrics, obstetrics, gynaecology, ophthalmology and medicine of the ears, nose and throat.

Thousands of years ago, the daily meditation practice of the Rishis or sages of India enabled them to receive the knowledge and wisdom of the Universe. Through their meditations, they perceived the relationship between human beings and the Universe, and how this cosmic energy is present in all living things. Their understanding evolved over thousands of years and was traditionally transmitted orally from teacher to student, until around 5,000 years ago, when the earliest texts were put into writing. Sanskrit has a melodious oral tradition, often poetic, so the texts are written in Sanskrit verses or slokas and have been passed down, unchanged, through countless generations.

In Ayurvedic philosophy, human beings are viewed as a microcosm of the Universe because we are made up of and interact with the five basic principles of all creation: the elements of Ether (or space), Air, Water, Fire and Earth. The Rishis understood that all things were created from these five elements. It is said that from a state of un-manifested consciousness came the micro vibrations of the soundless aum or Om a word or sound that you may be familiar with from yoga or meditation practice. The vibrations from this enduring sound began in the Ether, or empty space, and from here subtle movements created vibrations within the Ether which became Air. This movement began to create friction and heat an energy which formed an intense light that would become Fire. Through the heat of this Fire, unseen elements dissolved and liquefied into Water. As the Water cooled and became solid, Earth was created.

As you will discover during the course of this book, these five elements of Ether, Air, Water, Fire and Earth govern all our physical and mental processes. If you are wondering how Air or Fire or Ether are present in your own body, allow me to elaborate a little further.

The Ether element represents space. There are many ways this manifests within our bodies in the mouth and nasal cavities, for example, or within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract or the space in our blood vessels.

The Air element is visible as movement in the spaces pulsations of the heart, for example, or the expansion and contraction of our lungs, and movements of the intestines and muscles. Any movement in the body is governed by the Air element.