How Ayurveda Turned My Health and Life Around in One Day

I had never heard of Ayurveda until my spiritual teacher and coach suggested I find an Ayurvedic doctor to help me heal from chronic fatigue. By then I felt that I had reached the end of my options.

Western medicine does not offer any remedies for chronic fatigue. I had managed to improve a great deal with rest, healthy dieting, meditation, therapy, a variety of supplements and alternative medicine practices. But there was only so much I was able to do. Every scan and blood test under the sun had been done for me. I was even tested for TB. Nothing was illuminating a path to a treatment course.

It took a call of less than one hour with my ayurvedic doctor and one day to see an immediate improvement in my energy levels with minimal effort. Whereas other doctors and healers had been mystified, she was clearly at ease with diagnosing and giving me a treatment.

All I did the next day was to drink two teas made with herbs I had in my kitchen cupboard. And while I had a long way to go, this was the most hope I had ever felt. This was a real win. The first win that I felt was putting me on the right path. A win that I could sustain because it did not require expensive supplements or treatments, was too complex to follow, or had dangerous side effects.

And I had not even tried the diet she recommended, the other herbal remedies or any of the other suggested treatment courses.

Why Did Ayurveda Work So Well?

Western medicine offers the same treatment for everyone with similar conditions. And as we all know, we do respond differently. Some people will feel the side effects of strong antibiotics. Others will have no side effects at all. We are not the same and Ayurveda accounts for this.

Ayurveda treats the whole person. In modern medicine, the illness will be front and centre when we go to the doctor. But we are much more than just the illness. There is much more happening within our bodies than just the illness. The illness is happening within an ecosystem. Your mind, body and soul are interconnected, and the remedies need to account for this.

Ayurveda has a rich history of more than 4000 years, coming to us from India as a comprehensive system teaching us how to live well. It is often translated as the art of living. It offers a profound knowing beyond our biology, and it teaches us how we can use nature to help ourselves.

In the Ayurvedic tradition, each person is born with a unique constitution reflecting the unique proportions and interplay of five natural elements: fire, water, earth, air and space. If we live in ways that are beneficial to our unique constitution, we feel balanced and healthy. If we live in ways that throw one of our elements too much out of balance, we experience a misalignment.

I was far out of balance by the time my ayurvedic doctor saw me. My acupuncturist was at that time struggling to even find my pulse. It was no wonder — years of working long hours and work and home life stress had done a real number on me. I couldn’t remember what it was like to be me anymore.

My ayurvedic doctor prescribed me ginger tea and cumin tea alongside other herbs, a diet, and a set of daily and weekly practices. Ginger and cumin were in my kitchen already, and as I tried the teas while waiting for the rest of the recommendation, I did not expect any impact from them.

I had tried so many remedies, I could have opened my own Holland & Barrett by that point with the supplements in my kitchen cupboard. Yet just after a few sips of the tea, it felt like the fog was lifting. I felt like there was life again in my body.

This was enough to make me commit fully to the diet that I had to follow as well. I was allowed only a few ingredients — the list of what I was allowed was so short that I emailed my doctor a few times to note that it looked as if she forgot to send me the rest of it. Alas, there was no more.

It turned out though that you can cook wonderful meals with just four ingredients. Truth be told, I was willing to do whatever it took anyway — it was clear that Ayurveda was about to give me my life back.

And it did. It took some time, but it was the only course of treatment that gave me consistent wins.

Since I finished my Ayurvedic treatment, I went on to study Ayurveda to become certified as an Ayurvedic teacher. I simply fell in love with this beautiful system that helps us reconnect to our own magic and to nature.