Ayurveda Daily Journal – Day 26

Sandra, my yoga/pranayama instructor on the left. Poornima, the doctor of nutrition (and Dr. Sankar’s wife) on the right.

Feb 28 (Day 26)
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
Indu left yesterday morning. It was a little sad to see her leave, but I was happy for her to get to go home. She had a granddaughter who was born while she was here — one and a half months early…but healthy! Indu really wanted to get back to be with her family. Besides, Leon and I are meeting Indu and her husband for lunch at the Burj Al Arab in a couple of weeks when we go to Dubai, so I’ll get to see her very soon.

THE TREATMENTS:
I have a wonderful yoga/pranayama teacher here. Her name is Sandra. She’s tiny and slim, utterly still with a dry sense of humor that lays me out; she makes me laugh at least once a day. Sandra is trying to wean me off of my habit of chronic worry and upset which have fed my ulcers to the point of landing me in the hospital here.

To remedy this, she has pointed out on more than one occasion that I try too hard…even during pranayama  i. I push myself trying to achieve perfection, so instead of allowing the breath to feed me, I end up making myself exhausted and dizzy. Her solution was to “gift” me a mantra to break the spell and allow me to focus on “going easy.” I think it’s perfect…at least for me. So, from now on, “Happy and Chill” is my new mantra. Every time I focus on my breath, I think to myself, “Happy and Chill.” It instantly makes me smile and stop taking life too seriously.  I love Sandra.

THE DOCTOR:
The nutritionist here is Dr. Sankar’s wife, Poornima. Translated, her beautiful name means “Full moon.” Every time I see her, I think of her as a full moon…full of light. What a beautiful image to carry around with your name. She doesn’t get as much attention on my blog as her husband has, but she is patient, thorough, loving and has helped me tremendously. I have met with her every day to talk over my reactions to the different foods we have tested for me during my stay. She is trying to help me sort out what will heal my body and what will harm it. We are spending the next four days working through all my questions about what rules are the most critical versus those that are just guidelines.

Yesterday she told me, “Your stomach is like a baby’s stomach. The transition from breast feeding to actual food is a very important time for babies. They can get very sick if things are rushed. You are in the same situation now. We have spent a month eliminating all toxins from your food & purifying your system. Right now, you are in a very delicate place. You must be very careful when you go back not to rush into old habits or you will get very sick. Be careful.” (I’m officially nervous!)

One other thing she said that I thought was incredibly helpful was “DINNER…decides your weight.” What she then went on to explain was that you can have a big breakfast, you can have a big lunch — even a slice of cake in the afternoon once in a while, but you must be VERY careful what you eat for dinner if you want to keep your weight in check.

One last insider tip, never eat dessert after a meal if you can help it. It screws up your digestion. (Who knew?!?) Instead try to eat your fun sweets in the late afternoon between lunch and dinner so that your stomach isn’t playing “war games” as your dinner and dessert fight things out at night.

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“Happiness is a journey, not a destination.” — Ben Sweetland