Workshops

FOUNDATIONS IN AYURVEDIC MIND COACHING- IN PERSON IN CENTRAL LONDON. Email me to register your interest.

The Ayurvedic Mind Coach

Introduction

During my 23 years of clinical practice and teaching, one critical factor has always stood out; that mental attitude can be the deciding factor as to how well or quickly a client will recover or regain the degree of desired wellness that they were hoping for. It would be simplistic to say that it’s all in the mind or as allopathic doctors would claim, ill-health is more of a result of mechanical failure and the influence of the mind is minimal. The truth, in my experience is blurry point in the middle. Positive mental attitude can have a huge impact on recovery or healing when all other things are equal and vice versa. Without taking therapeutic steps that will impact the physical body directly, the recovery is rarely sustained. There are always exceptions of course. We all know someone who smoked 90 cigarettes a day but went on to live to ninety by having a positive mindset. Equally, on the other end of the scale, I know people who have invested all their energy into having a healthy mind and outlook but are physically falling to pieces.

The conclusion I have reached is that we all have to work in different ways to sustain our own wellness. Some of us need to work harder on our physical health and others have to work on their mental and emotional health. We have our inbuilt preferences, a natural modus operandi, if you like that has innate strengths and weaknesses. By cultivating greater awareness of ourselves and our world, we can take the necessary steps to establish wholesome routines that will keep us well.

My own story is a good example of life’s complex juggling act. The anxiety and depression I experienced as a teenager and young adult led to making life choices that ended up damaging my physical health. I developed terrible back problems that lasted well into my 20’s and 30’s. I tried to address my mental health issues with spiritual practices like meditation, pranayama and yoga and though I found these techniques incredibly useful, they had their limitations because the crux of my anxiety was the deep messaging that was coming from a very old part of my psyche. I tried various forms of mind therapy including hypnotherapy, psychotherapy and rebirthing and found them all very helpful in my ability to cope with myself and my personal demons. Every therapeutic modality has its place and has its time. When the right time matches with the right therapy and indeed the right therapist, then transformation can occur. Other times, it is better to just sit with oneself and be. Doing is not always way.

I have always said that the body is older and far more intelligent that our conscious mind because it is plugged into millions of years of evolution. Left to its own devices, it is quite capable of taking care of itself. All we have to do is provide the right fuel and not let our actions sabotage that. As a natural health practitioner, my job is to hand back the reins and help the body sort out problems by itself. Herbs, foods, therapies, yoga, meditation and so on all serve the same end. The doing of all these things is effectively serving to un-do damage so that our individual life can flourish once again.

This workshop pays homage to the idea of un-doing. Yoga and Ayurveda have so much to offer in terms of enabling our body and soul to regain their power and purpose. The strategies are old, very old and time tested. They work and though we are all certain to die, this book is more concerned about how well we live. We all want to live as well as possible and indeed die as well as possible because a life of suffering brought about by poor lifestyle choices can also impact on the way we die.

The three biggest killers in our society are heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. All three diseases have contributory lifestyle components that as a society we shy away from because we are forced to confront our most cherished addictions to sugar, fat and salt. Leaving the nefarious marketing techniques used to make us desire these foods aside, I am inclined to ask why we have ended up in this situation. My view is that we have lost our connection with spirit and our innate sense of trust in nature’s abundance. The astounding technological achievements that have removed the toil of daily chores and the struggle to survive has impacted on our sense of purpose. The relative poverty of a bygone era has been largely eradicated, as least in the west and the imminent A.I revolution is set to plunge ever greater numbers of people into unemployment and literal redundancy while a small percentage of people will get infinitely richer.

This workshop is the beginning of your path to self- empowerment. By sharing my knowledge of yoga, Ayurveda, herbs, the latest research on diet and exercise and other ancient teachings with you, I hope to enable you to take back control of your body, your mind, your thoughts and your life.

The emphasis will be on how to view the world around you with an ancient lens and to build a better life by training the mind to harness ancient teachings and modern science alike.