The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science.
Albert Einstein
The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science.
Albert Einstein
I began my quest for balanced living at a very young age. My parents were born and raised in Gujarat, North West India, where the diet was, and still is, imbued with Ayurveda’s principles, and is heavily influenced by seasonal produce, thereby providing the nutrients and Ayurvedic ‘qualities’ required to maintain balance, both on a daily, and seasonal basis.
My mother, an amazing self-taught, passionate cook, nurtured my passion for instinctive, balanced, and wholesome cooking, and having never measured ingredients, she has always relied on understanding the innate properties of foods such as spices, and how they work together to influence the taste, and nutritional value of a meal.
She has always subconsciously followed Ayurvedic principles, which most Indian people do, and made meals with seasonal foods, which tend to maintain balance through their inherent qualities. As children, my siblings and I were given ‘yellow milk’ when we were poorly. This was milk boiled with turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves and jaggery. Today western society is finally beginning to understand the importance of wholesome nutrition and preventive health.
My late father was one of the first Indian GPs in West Yorkshire. From him, I gained my desire to help people to nurture their holistic being, thus remain physically, emotionally and spiritually strong, and ultimately find greater joy and contentment every day. I also inherited his desire for justice, and equality in all areas of life. The ability to manage our holistic makeup should be equitable, not for the privileged, affluent few. Ayurveda IS equitable, and helps anyone and everyone to realise their potential, and become their very best version.
GROWING UP
Growing up close to the wild, rugged and hauntingly beautiful Yorkshire Moors, I often spent time walking, and admiring the sheer beauty, resilience and adaptability of plants and flowers. I wondered how they survived in such harsh conditions.
In the summer months I would spend time in the garden, carefully picking rose petals and steeping them in water to make my very own rosewater perfume. How simple and beautiful this seemed. I was mesmerised by the roses, by their delicate blooms and heavenly scent, and it is then I understood that all life is intrinsically linked.
OUR CONNECTIONS
I am a great advocate of our oneness with nature, our connectedness to the universe, and the divinity that is in each of us. Einstein’s words resonate profoundly with me. ‘Health’ is not something we need to pursue as a scientific goal; we find more balance in all areas of our being when we know how to manage every aspect of our being through understanding the we are part of the universe, and Nature. I believe that once we discover the scope of Ayurveda, we witness a true sense of connection to self, others, society and the world, that cannot be explained by science.
I knew of Ayurveda as a teenager, through my regular family holidays to India, where many people rely solely on Ayurveda doctors, but it was not until I went back to university and commenced my intense Ayurveda degree in 2010, that I realised how powerful this science and philosophy of life is. During my internship at a teaching hospital in South India, I observed the dramatic improvement of chronic and complex imbalances that allopathic doctors had simply been unable to treat. Patients were ‘miraculously’ healing, having been given a series of treatments collectively known as Panchakarma, as well as other holistic therapy. Witnessing such dramatic health improvements was incredibly life-affirming, and my experience confirmed to me that I was studying the right subject, and I had discovered my life’s purpose.
The Ayurveda doctors in India who taught me, and allowed me to observe them in their work, were humble, and without ego. They felt honoured to have been gifted their knowledge to help their patients become well again. I too feel privileged to be able to help my clients to get to know their unique selves through Ayurveda, and be able to make considered, measured choices that positively impact their lives. I know how connected we all are, and how each person’s thoughts, actions and words have a knock-on effect on wider society. So, Ayurveda directly treats the individual, but indirectly helps others too.
OUR PLACE IN THE NATURAL WORLDWe must accept our place within the natural world, and respect all animals, plants and flowers. We often forget why we find ourselves in awe of Nature, and revel in the beauty of other living things. As an Ayurveda practitioner, author, and speaker, I help people to understand how their internal landscape is related to the external world; we are a microcosm of the macrocosm. In revelling in the beauty of all life forms, we witness our own beauty, and the perfection of existence. My passion for Ayurveda and its place in modern life means that I love nothing more than delivering its eternally true, and relevant messages to as many people as possible, through one to one consultations in London and Suffolk, talks, my books , my pure flower body oils, and my gorgeous, small batch hand made grass fed organic ghee.