The Paradigm Shift of Aging with Ayurveda in my Mind & Heart PART 2
Ayurveda has been my companion for a while. Many years back my long time doctor, Dr. Yash Mannur suggested that to me when I was going through the epic transition of divorce. It felt like my whole life was falling away from itself and the loneliness moved front and center.
She can take up a lot of space, Loneliness.
To help with the space holding of loneliness, I invited my dear companion, Ayurveda in. She takes up a lot of space too. Over the years, I am sure Ayurveda has helped me transform loneliness into something much different. I started to understand the value of being alone.
As I age, I feel myself hearing the whispers of something. I do not know what it looks like at this time, but I can feel some quality shifts swirling in my heart, mind and my body as well. Ayurveda puts great importance on qualities (the Sanskrit term for qualities is guna). Using the wise law of physics (the law of attraction) like increases like and opposites balance we can increase or decrease certain qualities to help support a greater sense of balance both externally and internally. With ageing comes many changes. These changes create a change in me and a change in qualities that has me looking around assessing.
Some of the qualities that are beginning to step forward align well with the natural stages of life that Ayurveda so beautifully shares. Vanprastha, directly translated as “going to the forest” in Sanskrit (vana-forest and prastha- to go) is the stage that calls us from the activities and engagements of a full and busy career, family, community and enriching involvements into a quieting of sorts. This stage marks the 2nd phase of life as we move from the worldly and major daily commitments into something different. Volunteering, giving back, teaching, time for being alone, contemplation and giving space for life as a “forest dweller” naturally begins to find more room.
Feeling empowered through this age and stage of life is essential. Consider the barriers that contemporary society has fed us to believe that ageing is anything else. What if we took more frequent and useful steps to align our ageing selves to the natural and wise within especially through a slow and naturally integrated process. What would that look like?
How do we do this? How do we take these ancient and wise underpinnings of living and attach them to our modern day society in a way that feels aligned? For me this is where a few things come together to help:
Right thought
Right action
Or as my friend Polly says “right plant, right place”.
All of this…
The “Right” here is not the sort of “right” that has a wrong or the kind of “right” that peers over you watching in a judge-y way. It’s the kind of Right that feels connective, alive, sometimes hard and always true.
For you.
The ways that we can move forward in modern society to keep ancient philosophy alive are vast and variegated. Here are a few thoughts that are working for me at this time:
The paradigm shift of looking at my life through the eyes of my own self. Look through the experiences- through the triumph, through the loses, the grief, the fear, the worry, the joy..all of it. As I continue to adjust my lens that more adequately considers myself in time and place, what I truly want is adjusting to. Giving myself space to consider that my ageing self is wise, connected and clear while letting go of the younger, faster, stronger and sharper me of the past allows space for this shift to happen. I am quite sure that the life you have lived so far has taught you many wise and useful things. Integrating those things into useful garments beautifully stitched and sewed with your wholly/holy self to wear forth seems like an excellent idea. Embrace the garments. Honor them. Love them. They are you. They are filled with importance our world needs.
In doing so, we make this shift. We move closer to ourselves and further from some made up version filled with things we have co-opted from our modern world of consumerism and marketing which is exhausting, depleting and exactly what consumerism is banking on.
Practice and daily self care. This is where our daily practices really center well. When we spend time tuning the inner muscles through meditation, breathing and pranayama, as well as other limbs of Yoga and we take time to be in the quiet of our own self, things happen. Over time these things become tangible. They show up through messages, images and other ways, but they are there guiding and directing each and every day building the kind of wise and abundant self needed in this world.
Community of care. We need each other. being connected with others and organizations that embody important tenets we believe, care and need in the world help us embody care in many different ways.
For me these thoughts and actions towards a more integrated self have been great tools. They are working to provide the cross-stitching needed for the changes going on around and in me as I shift now and I am sure in the years ahead too. And it creates pathways towards enhancing that change as something I am embracing and looking forward to.
I feel the forest calling often. I have noticed that this type of call is different than the one I have heard from the past. She is laced with a rich invitation that feels well aligned and in great service to my ageing self. This feels like a very important adjustment, one that I know is years in the making and so vital for the season ahead. It’s helping me understand all my choices and decisions along with the experiences have been the breath of fullness that my ageing self is pulling forward towards the life that is unfolding ahead.
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Danielle Hanna is not a licensed physician nor is Ayurveda licensed by the state.
In Ayurveda the emphasis is not only placed on disease but also maintaining the balance of the individual’s constitutional nature, so Ayurvedic treatments are never one size fits all, but custom tailored for each individual.
All content is for educational purposes only and should not be replaced with medical advise.
Thank you