What does Longevity mean to you? I feel that Longevity is the fruition of making conscious and healthy lifestyle choices. Longevity is living a long vibrant and fulfilled life, with a healthy physical vessel that carries us through this life with the ability to feel joyful, able and enthusiastic. This is a such a gift. Since implementing Ayurvedic wisdom in to my life, I am relearning how to live organically, to live holistically and to bring myself back to balance when I don't feel my best. I am confident that this is the pathway to longevity.
The beauty is, is that Ayurveda is the study of nature, and the human interconnections to the entire universe. Our minds expand as we learn how we are made up of the five great elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Space just as is the entire universe! It is not only fascinating but brings a deep sense of understanding of our selves and a deep feeling of peace! Re Alignment with our Prakriti, which means our organic essence is ultimately the pathway to vitality and longevity and 'OJAS' in Ayurveda. The more we can stay living closely to our Individual Prakriti as we journey through life, we can maintain our true essence, and achieve thriving health & higher consciousness. Due to a numerous amount of influences, distraction and temptations on our human paths, we move in to a state of ‘Vikruti’ (imbalance) and as each individual moves away from their Prakriti (original essence) so do we as a collective, - which is definitely where we are at on Earth as a humanity. A state of extreme imbalance. Daily habits and decisions we make each day all contribute to moving away from our organic essence and therefore the pathway to longevity. Ayurveda offers us a wealth of Golden ancient wisdom to guide us as we navigate through these times, where living organically can be extremely challenging since there are so many temptations and much misinformation is surrounding us. To maintain balance by living organically we can align with nature’s rhythms, living closely to nature and circadian rhythms is a beautiful way to live. Eating seasonally is one of the most beneficial habits we can develop, in particular for maintaining a strong digestive fire. The microbes in our gut changes each season to digest our seasonal harvest.
Yoga is the sister science of Ayurveda, therefore some practice of yoga asana, kriya & pranayama is essential on this journey. Choosing a yoga class or pose that is modified to benefit our own bio individual dosha or constitution is going to bring us back to balance with ease and enjoyment, rather than pushing ourselves to do something that may not actually be beneficial and may be detrimental to our state of mind or being at that time will encourage a more consistent practice since we are truly tapping in to what the body, mind and spirit needs, This will also change each season if we are to receive most benefits.
Eating according to the seasons, according to nature is THE most important TIME TESTED wisdom. We then apply our individual body type/ bio individual constitution on top of this! The digestion and the microbes of the gut changes each season and we must adapt and align to nature - this is the real Ayurveda - not just eating for your dosha, which is the more Americanised Ayurveda.
