Years ago, I suffered from chronic acnes, and friends had advised me use certain skin care products that targeted skin blemishes.  As tempting as the advices were, I sensed that there was something deeper that led to the chronic skin condition.  As I embarked on the Ayurvedic journey, I learned that my skin issues were tied to excess heat in the mind and body, overtaxing my liver which was responsible for detoxification.  As I learned to cool my mind and body, my skin gradually healed itself.  I also learned the benefits of natural skin care products as opposed to conventional products made of chemicals that require our internal cleansing system to work harder.  The skin condition turned out to be a blessing in disguise, giving me a chance to improve my well being when the ailment seemed to be so superficial.

 

Our world is filled with resources to fight all kinds of ailments: skin disorders, insomnia, obesity, arthritis, low libido, and so on.  Do you gravitate towards simple solutions that offer instant relief, or do you look beyond the symptoms and explore the underlying reasons that lead to these health challenges?  Band-aid solutions that offer temporary relief mask the symptoms while allowing a person continue with old behavior and lifestyle that leads to deeper imbalances, which eventually will develop into serious diseases.  Our body needs ways to manifest imbalances, and if we block the outlet in one area, the imbalances will find the next weakest tissue or organ to attack.

 

Everything in our world, whether it is food, herb, aroma, color, exercise, yoga pose, or breathing technique, can be healing when we consider the overall well being of the person.  If we narrow our viewpoint and target only a specific ailment, we lose sight of the big picture.  As a result, we might have solved one problem but worsen other health issues.  Haven’t you heard how people rave about certain foods or remedies that would cure a specific ailment?  As helpful as the recommendation might be to that particular ailment, how would the rest of the body respond?  For example, tomatoes have been known to be beneficial due to their antioxidants; they are good for prostate and cancer prevention, but do you know that tomatoes can aggravate acid reflux, arthritis and sciatica?  

 

A friend recently asked me for a list of foods that will alleviate hyperthyroidism.  Providing a food list is simple, but the list is useless, if not harmful, if one does not understand the inter-relations between our foods, body systems, habits, lifestyle, bodies and mind.  Autoimmune diseases, such as hyperthyroidism, are usually stemmed from an accumulation of causes over time.  Addressing a health condition with a symptomatic approach prevents a person from being completely well.  Typical countermeasure for hyperthyroidism is taking medication to lower thyroid hormone production or using radioactive iodine to ablate the thyroid function, but why would a person over-produce thyroid hormone?  

 

From the Ayurvedic perspective, hyperthyroidism is partly due to excess motion in the mind and body, slowing down and relaxation is a more effective solution than eating goitrogens.  Goitrogens block iodine function, which in turn lower thyroid hormone.  On a superficial level, more goitrogens should help hyperthyroidism; but what if the person has malabsorption issues, taking in the proper foods would not help because the digestive system fails to break down the food and assimilate the nutrients that will strengthen the body.  (It so happens that the individual in question has a severe Vitamin D deficiency despite the daily intake of over 1000 I.U. of Vitamin D).  Another issue is that most goitrogens aggravate vata, meaning they cause dryness and lightness in the body.  Regular consumption of goitrogenic foods may lead to constipation, dry skin, over-active mind, insomnia, chronic pain, nervous system disturbances, fatigue and a whole host of health challenges.   

 

The beauty of holistic medicine is that it treats the entire person instead of a particular health condition.  Practitioners constantly work on a delicate balance between addressing acute and chronic symptoms, while considering the root causes, dynamic condition and priorities of the person.   If the root cause of obesity is lack of satisfaction, fulfillment or sweetness in life, causing a person to overindulge in foods (especially sweet foods or eating when one is not hungry), sex or alcohol to fill or numb the void within, prescribing herbs to help a person lose weight or curb any craving is only a temporary solution.  The herbal treatment must complement with measures that help a person find satisfaction and joy in life if the person is to heal completely.  Lots of health conditions involve a deeper layer than our society is willing to admit, but what would you be willing to do in order to thrive in life?

 

During the healing journey, we explore the root causes of physical ailment and make important changes that may pose a threat to our ego and our loved ones.  Even if our current life situations, health condition, relationships, jobs, finance are not serving us, we rationalize ways to justify the “status quo,” because the ego is always resistant to change.  The mind will find seemingly logical reasons to justify that change is not necessary; some typical examples include: denying the issue, convincing oneself that the situation is not as bad, rationalizing that the solution is not worth the time, effort or money, or there is more urgent or important issue to deal with; believing that the change will cause more harm than benefit, or counting on the situation will resolve itself in time.  

 

There is also the fear of the unknown and the challenge ahead.  While our heart may be whispering for help, the ego will loudly proclaim all the reasons that we should not take action.  If we keep ignoring our heart or intuition, the whispers will eventually be drowned by the noise of ego and everyday busyness.  Tapping into the resistance without any judgement and explore the feelings that lead to the resistance can move us towards making a shift in life that promises for the better.   

 

Often times we wait until the situation develops into an intolerable stage before we will take action.  By then, the problem has become so ingrained and complex that it will take more time and energy to resolve.  With the sense of urgency that arises from the intolerable state, we react in a fight-or-flight mindset, which hampers our ability to assess the situation clearly, plan and take action in the most effective way.   

According to Stephen Covey,  life activities can be classified into four quadrants: 1: urgent and important activities; 2: non-urgent but important activities; 3: urgent but not important activities; 4: neither urgent nor important activities.  Most of us tend to focus on quadrant 1 and 3, meaning we tend to respond to urgent instead of important matters.  For example, most people do not focus on health enhancement or maintenance until they have become ill or develop a chronic condition – when the discomfort develops a sense of urgency.  Most of us tolerate occasional digestive issues, aches and pains, emotional turmoil, insomnia, low libido etc., but these symptoms will become more frequent and severe in time if we do not address them at an earlier stage.  We may blame aging as the cause of our health conditions, but are we aware that we have been overtaxing our systems throughout life while ignoring the subtle signals from our bodies?  Do we truly think we can keep overexerting ourselves without any consequences?  Becoming healthy means recovering from illness, but it also means finding ways to become healthier, more vibrant, more positive in our thinking, handling life stressors with ease and grace, and living a fulfilling balanced life.  Start being proactive and invest five percent of your time and resources on your well being today.