The thing most people think about when it comes to managing their health is that they have to follow some strict regimen every single day, for the rest of their life, effectively eliminating all the fun and joy in life. That’s not what I found with Ayurveda.

The science of Ayurveda meets you halfway, always. And it’s mainly about balance. Yes, there are recommended plans and routines to follow, but these are meant to be enjoyable, soothing, and favors to your body that actually make you feel good.

You can still eat the foods you love (sweets included!), Ayurveda just brings in helpful knowledge and ways to tweak your everyday lifestyle and food choices, to help make it easier on your digestion and overall immune system.

The last thing Ayurveda does as a framework is bring additional shame and guilt to our lives - I think we do enough of that already. It doesn’t force you to turn vegetarian or vegan if you don’t want too, it doesn’t shame you into not drinking that glass of wine with your girls, nor does it guilt you if you’re having a late-night sweet craving (like I do frequently).

Instead, it offers up ways to balance the negative effects of some of the things we consume, both physically and mentally, so that we can bring our bodies back into equilibrium which is empowering.

I think the most sobering lesson I learned from Ayurveda is that we will all leave this body one day, so the goal isn’t to avoid the idea of death, nor to ignore it all together because that puts us in a helpless situation. The goal is to live a long and vibrant life for as long as we can, with the absence of disease and limitations by living consciously, shamelessly, and fearlessly, in-tune with the natural flow of our bodies.