Have you heard of Ayurveda? How can the principles behind Ayurveda help you to get to know yourself and your clients better? Can opposites help you to find balance? MEET SONIA ARORA Sonia grew up in India, the home of Ayurveda and Yoga. Ayurveda was woven into the fabric of our lives, though she did not fully recognize its significance at the time. She has a traditional career as a CPA, with a long stint in the corporate world, and all along, Sonia nurtured an abiding interest in holistic health and wellness. In 2015, this led her to study Ayurveda at the Yoga on High School of Ayurveda / California College of Ayurveda. It began as a personal exploration and has turned into a passion. Sonia has completed the Level 1 Ayurveda Health Educator (AHE), Level 2 Ayurveda Health Practitioner (AHP) studies, the AHE Internship program, and currently the Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist internship. She has also completed training to be a future Ayurveda teacher for the program and mentored students. Find out more at her website and connect on Facebook and Instagram. IN THIS PODCAST: What is Ayurveda? Body types in Ayurveda Healing in Ayurveda The start of your day sets the pace WHAT IS AYURVEDA Ayurveda is a combination of two words: auyr and veda. 'Veda' means science or knowledge and 'ayur' means life or lifespan. So, Ayurveda is the science or knowledge of life or lifespan. Ayurveda is a holistic modality from India concerned with preventing disease. Ayurveda essentially helps people to avoid sickness although it does have ways of helping people who do have an illness. The basis of Ayurveda is the elements. Everything and everyone in the universe is made up of the elements and these are five elements, from the lightest to the heaviest: ether or space, air, fire, water and earth … this is not to be literal, it's more about their qualities. (Sonia Arora) The idea behind it: Space: A container that surrounds you as well as pertaining to space in your body. Air: The idea of movement. There is movement both around you and within your body. Fire: Metabolism, when you eat anything it becomes digested to form new tissues in your body. There is metabolic fire and a mental fire, pertaining to how you perceive the world and how your brain digests information around you. Water: This is more literal in the sense that the body is 70% water. Earth: Structure, all solid parts of the body are earth and in a more philosophical sense the body comes from the earth at birth and is returned back to the earth with death. BODY TYPES IN AYURVEDA In Ayurveda, all these elements and their properties were combined to form three main body types. Everyone has all the elements in their body, but there is one type that is predominant: 1 – Air type or Vata:: Very lightly and narrowly built, Everything is small: hair, lips, skin are all small They are quick: they talk, move, and think fast 2 – Fire-type or Pitta: Medium built people with well-defined muscle definition They may have a reddish or yellowish tone to their skin A direct person: they have a direct way of speaking to you or expressing themselves Tend to become or assume the role of leader 3 – Water and earth type or Kapha: Water and earth are heavy, slow and they have flow, so people with water or earth type have strong emotions They have qualities such as sweetness, stability, and strong emotions with the flow They have structure and stability in their body as well, so they are usually broader and bigger These people are your dependable people HEALING IN AYURVEDA What Ayurveda says, all healing is [that] like increases like and opposites bring balance. So, if you are anxious, and that comes from speed, then slow down. If you are angry, that comes from fire, then cool down. (Sonia Arora) Each type, when stressed, acts out in a certain way. Someone who is an air type that is moving faster and faster may elevate their anxiety and what helps them is to slow down. Someone who is a fire type that tends to be hotheaded when under pressure, may need to cool down to bring their balance. Someone who is a water type may need to bring vigor into their slow stability in order to curb nostalgia or feeling stuck in their emotions. All types can learn to push and pull from each other in order to remain whole and stable in themselves. Bring awareness to what you are doing and decide whether you are ready to, or want to, change a small piece of what you want to change today or not. THE START OF YOUR DAY SETS YOUR PACE Your start of the day already is at a frantic pace that is going to maybe set the tone for your day, and if that keeps happening day after day, eventually it's going to bleed into your life. (Sonia Arora) Your daily routines make up your weeks, and your weeks add on to your months. Every day may seem like it is not important, and you may leave all the things to tomorrow if you are too busy or disorganized or overwhelmed, but today really is all that you have. Take each morning as an opportunity and interact with it with kindness. Do not force yourself or punish yourself, but do encourage yourself to set the tone each morning and try to do a little bit of what you want to do every day. BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Semezdin Mehmedinović – My Heart Connect With Me Instagram @holisticcounselingpodcast Facebook Join the private Facebook group Sign up for my free email course: www.holisticcounselingpodcast.com Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Resources Mentioned And Useful Links: Embracing Authenticity In Holistic Practice with Sam Mahon Practice of the Practice Podcast Network