Today I must have really been listening... my intuition led me to skip breakfast. And I LOVE breakfast! I was told last week about a really good Aurevedic doctor here in Rishikesh, Dr. Aurora (How can you go wrong with a name like that? It reminds me of Disney's Sleeping Beauty. sold.) and to have an assessment one cannot eat for four hours prior to the appointment.
I walked up the hill/road to the main road and down the comparatively empty street. Apparently Sunday morning at 9:30 is the time to take your pictures without being trampled by a combination of truck/motorcycle/crowds taking your picture/cows. I walked up to the small green building with white lace curtains and pushed open the door with the red cross on it. "Dr. Aurora is not here now," said the plump man waiting on the bench with a polite smile and oddly proportioned backpack. He was dressed in a traditional suit of baggy blue green pants and a tan tunic shirt. He appeared to be a decorative element in the almost all mint green room with a row of ceiling-level cupboards and a little window into a room of bottles, jars and spices. However, his discomforting and persistent cough made me think otherwise.
For those of you not quite sure if I was at a walk-in clinic or health food store... you'd be right if you blended the two together (and throw in a little energy-balancing & astrology - no system of science in India can be without it!) Aureveda is the holistic herbal/medical tradition of India and is closely aligned with yoga. We are actually going to be studying a bit more about it in the coming weeks of this course, but suffice it to say it's a whole, complex system based a lot on nutrition and the regulation of three types of energy or dosha.
Everyone has some of each dosha (kapa, vata, pitta) but has a tendency towards one or a blend of two. Apparently (I was reading ahead in my course material) very few people are "tridoshic" or have an equal measure of all three doshas. So I found out I am a Vatta/Pitta.
Now you are thinking, great. What the heck does that mean? I was also given a longer assessment and a simple "prescription" (which I'll mention later), but in general I am a Fire/Air person. My kapa (or water) is balanced. Basically there are different kinds of foods, environments and life-planning systems* that work best for each type to try and balance things. Luckily my assessment included focusing on the naturally sweet foods (check!), drinking lots of water and herbal tea (check!), avoiding laziness (check!) and not getting so emotionally wrapped up in things (uhhh... I'll work on that).
The doshas also have "common ailments" including things about digestion, skin conditions and typical pains/afflictions and diseases. I won't go into all that but the underlying message for me today was: at your age, don't worry about it!
So I asked about one superficial thing: acne. My prescription? It was actually written on formal Doctor's Only paper... 1tsp of Tumeric every day for three weeks. And drink lots of water. Hm, I think I can manage that. Right, and stop worrying... Not quite as short term, but I'll get on that too.
*life planning systems is a term I just made up to include: climate, sleep patterns, rigidity of scheduling and other aversions/attractions that are divided up along these three lines.
I walked up the hill/road to the main road and down the comparatively empty street. Apparently Sunday morning at 9:30 is the time to take your pictures without being trampled by a combination of truck/motorcycle/crowds taking your picture/cows. I walked up to the small green building with white lace curtains and pushed open the door with the red cross on it. "Dr. Aurora is not here now," said the plump man waiting on the bench with a polite smile and oddly proportioned backpack. He was dressed in a traditional suit of baggy blue green pants and a tan tunic shirt. He appeared to be a decorative element in the almost all mint green room with a row of ceiling-level cupboards and a little window into a room of bottles, jars and spices. However, his discomforting and persistent cough made me think otherwise.
For those of you not quite sure if I was at a walk-in clinic or health food store... you'd be right if you blended the two together (and throw in a little energy-balancing & astrology - no system of science in India can be without it!) Aureveda is the holistic herbal/medical tradition of India and is closely aligned with yoga. We are actually going to be studying a bit more about it in the coming weeks of this course, but suffice it to say it's a whole, complex system based a lot on nutrition and the regulation of three types of energy or dosha.
Everyone has some of each dosha (kapa, vata, pitta) but has a tendency towards one or a blend of two. Apparently (I was reading ahead in my course material) very few people are "tridoshic" or have an equal measure of all three doshas. So I found out I am a Vatta/Pitta.
Now you are thinking, great. What the heck does that mean? I was also given a longer assessment and a simple "prescription" (which I'll mention later), but in general I am a Fire/Air person. My kapa (or water) is balanced. Basically there are different kinds of foods, environments and life-planning systems* that work best for each type to try and balance things. Luckily my assessment included focusing on the naturally sweet foods (check!), drinking lots of water and herbal tea (check!), avoiding laziness (check!) and not getting so emotionally wrapped up in things (uhhh... I'll work on that).
The doshas also have "common ailments" including things about digestion, skin conditions and typical pains/afflictions and diseases. I won't go into all that but the underlying message for me today was: at your age, don't worry about it!
So I asked about one superficial thing: acne. My prescription? It was actually written on formal Doctor's Only paper... 1tsp of Tumeric every day for three weeks. And drink lots of water. Hm, I think I can manage that. Right, and stop worrying... Not quite as short term, but I'll get on that too.
*life planning systems is a term I just made up to include: climate, sleep patterns, rigidity of scheduling and other aversions/attractions that are divided up along these three lines.
I am so enjoying reading your posts and sharing your experience. Back at home Sean did a great job last Friday with my HOme School group and talking about EYC. Poor guy though - he was late cuz he got a speeding ticket coming to get here on time! The Home Schoolers were certainly a different group and I assured him that their quiet response was due to who they are as a group not him. Actually there were quiet a few questions at the end and I think he felt good about the experience. Next week I have a large group of 32 Grade 6 students so I am at work today getting organized. I am creating a Math Trail at City Hall! The girl at Starbucks made my drink wrong so I got a green tea chai latte and my regular chai latte - so I am sipping and working.
ReplyDeleteLater today I am going to the first of my sister's recovery yoga classes at the Yoga Loft. I will let you know how it goes. Take care,
Linda
THanks Linda! Enjoy the Yoga Loft classes - I've never actually been to that studio but I've heard great things!
ReplyDeleteIt's great to hear about the success of CEYC with the City Hall schools classes. I'm so happy to hear the connection is forging ahead!
Have a great journey on the Math Trail!!
-Lyndia