My Story, What brought me to Ayurveda.
Strange as it may seem, my first career started as a classically trained musician. I have been performing professionally for more than two decades now. Being a musician is so rewarding but also equally as taxing on the mind and body. It is a stressful lifestyle, and so I found myself run down and suffering from anxiety often. This became a normal state of being for myself and after a while I didn’t question it, it was just part of being a busy freelance musician in the overly competitive field of classical music. Over time this lifestyle began to take a toll on my wellbeing and as I learned later, the basic elements which make up my predominantly Pitta/Vata Prakriti(Doshas) became severely out of balance, especially Vata. The main symptoms I suffered from which are associated with Vata imbalance where, weight loss, anxiety, muscle aches and dizzy spells; specifically Vertigo. Seeking answers I turned to western medicine finding little to no answers, but more confusion and frustration.
Interestingly music for me, when you leave out the competitiveness and expectations of perfection at all cost, is actually healing for me. At its core, and its purest intention, it is to give others the gift of music, the ability to give the audience an experience that can transport them to another place. That is healing for me and that is why I love music and performance. This realization within myself began the journey of healing, for myself at first and eventually the desire to help in the healing process of others.
To discover this ancient science and art of living, Ayurveda, was like waking up to a new way of looking at life and myself. Its clear logic made perfect sense to me, it helped explain why I suffered the symptoms I had for many years. Finding myself more and more drawn to natural healing methods I decided to become trained in the Transcendental Meditation Technique. This healed me in so many ways, physically and mentally. Mainly the anxiety I had experienced for many years just dissolved away until it was a distant memory.
TM was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and is the basis of the healing philosophy of Maharishi Ayurveda. Thus, I found myself pursuing a degree in Maharishi Ayurveda. Finding Ayurveda was a spiritual experience for me and continues to be. It is like diving deep into the depth of my being, the source of all creation to that still space of pure awareness. This is who I am and where all manifestation on the physical level evolves from. But on a more basic level, Ayurveda helped me understand my tendencies specific to my elemental make up. It taught me how to care for myself and be more self-referral so I could easily bring myself back into balance and maintain that balance to experience optimal health and wellness.
With this knowledge, and its great impact on my life, I just naturally felt the desire to give this knowledge to others so they could take health back into their own hands. The body has the amazing ability to heal. It is our ally in this life and when we have the tools to care for it in specific elemental ways that correspond to nature and its logical rhythms of cause and effect, we have discovered the key to health. No more being a victim of my own ignorance, Ayurveda gave me the tools to really live!
