One Size Does Not Fit All

Next to the notions that one can achieve a body without cellulite and a life without suffering, the greatest mistaken belief is that there is one diet, one type of oil, one form of exercise, one hormone supplement, one mantra or prayer, one rigid organizational life structure or one medication that will work for everyone. Most of us grew up with the "magic bullet" concept that science was going to invent this one universal panacea that would solve our problems throughout all of time. And if you operate from the Western mechanistic paradigm, which dictates that every person is basically no different from any machine, like your car, then this idea makes sense. Everybody has a heart, two lungs, kidneys, a brain and a digestive system; therefore all bodies are the same. However, the Eastern systems of self-healing -- Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine -- see human life as a completely different construct. They operate from an energy paradigm and view every person as a Universe unto themselves; each one completely different.

The Eastern philosophy makes perfect sense for anyone who has ever noticed that no matter what you may do or ingest in your physical body, what works for one person may not work equally for another. (That's why a three-minute commercial for a prescription drug has two and a half minutes describing the side effects -- because not everyone has the same reaction.) Most heavyset people have noticed that their thin friends can eat the same thing, or even a greater portion, and still not gain an ounce. Skinny people may have witnessed that no matter how many weights they lift, they still never get the muscular definition their larger-boned counterparts get after putting in half the effort and workout time. Others still may have become aware of the fact that an herb or medication that eliminated a family member's illness had no impact on their own health dilemma. There are groups of people who feel healthier following a vegan diet. Some societies eat high fat diets including meat and live long lives with no adverse effects. This is not a conundrum; there is a good reason for all of the above.

The Eastern system perceives everything through the filter of energy. Just as no two snowflakes are the same, every individual is a manifestation of the unique signature energy frequency that holds their body together. These Eastern time-honored systems, which by the way have been around for thousands and thousands of years, take into consideration the wide differences in energetic characteristics. Some people have a bigger and heavier bone structure than their slimmer, less dense counterparts. Others have faster neurological responses and respiration. Some people can eat virtually anything, while others have an extremely delicate digestive system. Certain people are aggressive, hyper, motivated and competitive; some are calm, easy going and carefree.

These energetic differences are broken down into "body types" or "doshic constitutions." For the sake of simplicity we are going to separate these bodies types into three different Indian Ayurveda defined categories: Vata (air and space), Pitta (fire and water) and Kapha (Earth and water). Everything that is living has its own organizational makeup and balance of each of these distinct energies. So, although one living being may have more Vata than Pitta, or more Kapha than Vata, everyone still has all three energy elements, or they would not be alive.

Each dosha has positive and negative aspects. Each provides an element needed to sustain overall life. Understanding your energetic body type and determining your proclivity for imbalance are absolutely essential for organizing a hands-on personal health management routine. This is the first step in knowing what will or will not work for you.

To learn more about a Ayruveda lifestyle or to book a session with Vaishali (she will be in Southern California Jan. 23 to Jan. 26) call 818-848-3213 or go to http://www.purplev.com/make_an_appointment.html.

 

 

 

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Comments

[ToniEmerson]

10:12 AM on 01/15/2011

Thank you Vaishali. I have an interesting anecdote to share on this subject. Many years ago, I had a private consultation with Dr. Triguna, who was a leading Ayurvedic physician in India and throughout the world.
I went to him because of being diagnosed with a chronic disease, and I was trying everything I could.
Anyway, he told me very seriously that the best thing I could do is go back to eating the diet of my early years that I had growing up in Europe.
Here I thought I would have to change to an Ayurvedic diet, and he said that what I needed were olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, olives, ....many things usually off the list. He was specific about no one diet is good for all.

[LifeChangeStartsNow]

09:07 AM on 01/15/2011

Vaishali my dear, I wish you an abundant new year!

I practise ayurveda techniques on and off i.e. when by body says enough now get me back on track, I hop to it. The difference is amazing. I look forward to more of your wisdom here.

I like everything about ayurveda particularly the 7 tastes on your plate and the numerous massages, wonderful.

Thanks
Look forward to hearing more.
Catherine

[RMankovitz]

10:45 PM on 01/14/2011

At the outset, let me say that I have no agenda to convert anybody to any particular eating plan. As I state repeatedly in my books, I am convinced there is a subset of the population that can eat nothing but Twinkies and Coke and live to be 110 in perfect health while smoking, having a mouth full of mercury fillings, and living and working in toxic environments.

What puzzled me as a researcher regarding the “one size does not fit all” philosophy is that, for virtually every other species, and certainly other mammals including primates, one size does indeed fit all when it comes to diet. The ideal diet for a cat anywhere in the world is a rat, and the ideal diet for a cow anywhere in the world is grass. Our omnivorous cousins (chimps and bonobos) eat fruit, leaves, and meat.

Could there be an ancient diet that nature evolved all humans to eat? My research uncovered The Original Diet that our ancestors followed for 100,000 generations, that was abandoned about 10,000 years ago (way before Ayurveda) and has not appeared in print until recently. It took a long study of paleoanthropology, botany, ethnobiology, primatology, paleopathology, and zoopharmacognosy to uncover it. It looks nothing like what you might expect, and experiments are underway to evaluate it.

A description and references regarding the above can be found in “The Wellness Project.”

Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com
A research organization

[KathleenQYD]

08:51 PM on 01/13/2011

I really enjoyed this post! I know a little about Ayurveda .. and I am most appreciative of the simplicity with which you introduce and overview its principles. I also find the concepts exciting from another perspective. In my own work, one reveals the Blueprint of one's being - our 'internal architecture' that makes us who we each are. Called the QuintessentialYou Blueprint, it is the structure of our humanity, the elements of which are expressed distinctly in each and every human being. From the perspective of traditional Eastern philosophies, most certainly I see the alignment!
Thank You!
www.QuintessentialYouDesign.com

[Ranveig Elvebakk]

04:35 PM on 01/13/2011

Yes Vaishali, from the perspective of pathophysiology, science tells us that our bodies are an organizational life structure with some genetic variations that mostly can be overcome by what we bathe our genes in. You see, we were not born to be ill or overweight. We were born be normal weight and good health. The most important input into the system is what we eat, which currently accounts for some 85% of all illness. This would obviously be where our answers lie at the moment. The science of this can be found in The Food Tree (Amazon Books 2008). Once we are ill, we are subject to the of "evidence based medicine" ie. what medicine works best, and your point is well taken: This is not necessarily a scientific system, but oftent based on empiricism, as is Ayruveda.