April Intentions: Meeting your needs through Ayurvedic practice

Are you honoring your needs? It's a simple question with an insightful answer. First, we might assume that through three meals a day, exercise, sleep, and a few online shopping treats, we're listening to what our bodies and minds need. Suppressing our needs has been considered somewhat “normal” in a modern culture of “busier is better.” If you're about 73% of working adults in a 2020 study, you've experienced burnout in the last year, and burnout is a sign that many of us have long since stopped listening to our needs.

This month's mantra is:“I honor my needs.”

Listen to what we needmay sound like a new age phrase about self-care, but it turns out that the need to meet the needs of your body and mind goes back thousands of years. The ancient wisdom of Ayurveda (translated as “science of life” or “knowledge of longevity”) has, according to Dr. Jay Lokhande (who formulates blends of the Ayurvedic herbal remedy) an oral history spanning over 22,000 yearsChywanprash)and a written history rich in medical texts, nutritional advice, and lifestyle advice that has existed for over 5,000 years. One of the most well-known original Ayurvedic texts is the Charaka Samhita, in which the “suppression of natural urges” is viewed as something that is completely detrimental to health and well-being.

The 13 natural Ayurvedic shoots include:

1. Urine

2. Feces

3. Cum or orgasm

4. Flatulence

5. Vomiting

6. Sneezing

7. Belching

8. Yawning

9. Hunger

10. Thirst

11. Tears

12. Sleep

13. Rapid breathing due to exertion

While we won't directly address what happens when urination or vomiting are suppressed—let's leave that for another blog post, we will—three key body drives that deserve more attention from all of us today with our April intentions are: hunger, tears, and sleep, which we can also associate with food, emotional expression, and rest. So, are you honoring your needs? Are you eating? Do you express your feelings? Do you rest when needed? Let's examine this trio of urges and how we might begin to honor them more through our April intentions...

Hunger & Nutrition

The Ayurvedic texts say that ignoring hunger leads to;“Weakness, loss of color, bruising in the limbs, loss of appetite and dizziness…”Suppressing real hunger signals also dampensagni,or the “digestive fire,” which actually functions to slow down metabolism and makes those hunger signals increasingly difficult to detect. The feeling of true hunger is your body's way of telling you it needs fuel. If this is ignored, the body begins to adapt in anticipation of a lack of fuel. In other words; When less food is expected to be available, fuel is stored in tissues as sugar and fat. After a long period of ignoring hunger and suppressing the need to eat, it eventually becomes very difficult to recognize when we are hungry, when we are full, when we need water, fats, carbohydrates or protein. It also causes us to have difficulty managing energy, brain fog becomes the norm, and blood sugar levels rise and fall like a roller coaster ride. When hunger suppression becomes a habit, it is important to recognize where the intent behind the behavior comes from. If you feel like you've suppressed your body's hunger, consider why; Are you doing it because you are afraid of certain foods? An obsession with physical appearance? The need to feel in control? Because you follow a fad diet? Because of what other people do? Be honest with yourself and consider whether you have been ignoring your body's cries for fuel, because having no energy is no fun...

Practical tip:Listen more closely to hunger and fullness. It sounds so simple it's almost silly, but when you're hungry,Eat something.Caroline Dooner's bookThe F*ck It Dietis a powerful and humorous book on this topic. Keep healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and homemade energy balls or chia pudding on hand. These foods really nourish you, and when your body starts getting what it needs, energy and mood become more balanced, metabolism speeds up, and the brain works better than ever. As always, it is important to speak to a healthcare professional you trust if you have a serious nutritional and mental health issue.

Find inspiration as you eat to nourish your body and mind(link removed)

Tears & emotional expression

How many times have you bottled up anger or sadness because it wasn't the "right" time to react? How many times have you bitten your tongue because you didn't want to put a strain on a personal or professional relationship? How many times have you secretly let yourself carry the heavy burden of emotional stress just because you want others to think?“You got this.”? If you no longer feel like you have this, it's time to recognize where you need to start creating boundaries, where you need to lighten the load, and why you often suppress your feelings instead of expressing them. The Ayurvedic texts say that suppressing tears leads to this"Rheum, eye diseases, chest diseases, dizziness and loss of appetite..."When we stop ourselves from expressing sadness or grief, these emotions are prevented from being processed and we experience what I call “emotional constipation.” Just like physical constipation, emotional constipation is very uncomfortable and can make us sick if left untreated. Interestingly, the digestive system and excretory ducts are actually closely linked to our ability to process emotions. When we feel nervous or insecure, haven't fully processed an experience, or are holding on to the past, this can really manifest itself as constipation, obesity, water retention, or indigestion.

When we suppress our innate need to cry, scream, scream, or outright refuse, we cause real physical stress. Stress hormones and blood pressure rise, self-esteem plummets, and studies show that when we bottle up emotions, our chances of premature death due to all-cause mortality increase by 30%. Think about it; If you hold on to emotions, you will only damage yourself.

Practical tip:Start small and practice expressing yourself so you start to trust yourself at that level. Journaling is a very effective way to get thoughts and emotions out of your head and into a physical space (on the page where no one else will see). Simply set a timer for 5-10 minutes and write down everything you think and how you feel. After about a week, you will probably be able to observe your emotions better. So start expressing them. Tell your family, your partner, or your best friend when you're upset and need some space. Express when you feel overwhelmed and unable to contain their emotional burden as well as your own. If an employee does something to undermine you or causes you to take on an additional unnecessary workload, express how it makes you feel. If it's tears that hold you back, trust me when I say that there is nothing more powerful for relieving stress, irritability and physical tension than a good cry...

Search magazines for guided exercises or with blank pages to fill in(link removed)

Sleep & rest

While sleep is now getting the attention it needs, this is often only because we can when we sleep wellmakeMore. Rest is still more respected today, but all too often it is either presented as a luxury, complete with accessories like guided meditations and special lighting, or it is reserved for those on the verge of a nervous breakdown. We all need rest, but we need to rest before ourselvesneedrest, if you know what I mean...

Buy pillows and pillows to help you achieve deep rest and relaxation(link removed)

As we've discussed, burnout is on the rise, and with more of us working from home in the last pandemic-filled year, we're ironically working more and relaxing less than ever before. Signs of burnout include feeling emotionally empty, mentally and physically exhausted, a loss of enthusiasm, mood swings, feeling undervalued, and completely questioning your path in life. The more we become overcommitted to responsibilities and tasks, push ourselves beyond physical and mental limits, or choose work over play, the more we become burned out. Add a lack of sleep into the mix, and we're actually putting a lot of strain on the brain, nervous system, and physical tissues. Ayurvedic texts say that suppressing sleep leads to this“Yawning, bruising of the limbs, drowsiness, headaches, heaviness of the eyes, body aches and confusion.”Getting enough sleep can repair damaged tissues, cells, and organs, balance hormones, and improve pretty much every single health marker. Resting is one of the most powerful things we can do to truly meet our needs and very often the key to being our best. The teacher and expert in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, Dr. Claudia Welch explains in one of her courses that women in particular tend to suppress the need for rest. Even when we're resting, we may feel guilty or try to look like we're doing something mildly productive when we actually need to do somethingnothing.Dr. Welch calls this “hidden camera syndrome”; when we think the world judges us for resting. However, just like suppressing emotions, suppressing the need for rest only hurtsus.

Practical tip:If you're constantly on the go and obsessing over your to-do list, add "rest" as an important part of your daily schedule. Between 2pm and 4pm (as per Ayurvedic advice), take a 20-minute nap, listen to a guided relaxation or yoga nidra session. Your sleep and rest time is actually when your body's repair and renewal processes are most productive, so you actually get oneCrowddone when your eyes are closed. If you're facing burnout, it's time to get serious and meet your needs before your adrenal glands suffer too much. It may sound like an impossible task, but youhavebacking away from the edge before falling over it. Take more days off, say no, pass the workload on to someone else, ask for help, and pay attention to your needs.

Find our top tips to help you relax and sleep well(link removed)