A Personal StoryI've spent years going to the gym, doing "hard core" workouts and experimenting with different cleanses and ways of eating. I've done 45 day Paleo challenges, The Master Cleanse, juice cleanses, fruit cleanses, and many things in between. For example: this time last year I had been on a 4 month gym streak of 4-5 days/week and was eating really well as I'm known to do. The scale didn't budge. Then I
did the Master Cleanse and lost 8-10 lbs (I'm 5'2", so that's fairly significant). However, I was incredibly tired by the end of it and never quite regained my strength, having headaches all through August and finally crashing in September, spending a solid week in bed and 3 more to finally feel strong again. (Only now after studying Ayurveda do I understand that fasts are not actually good for my body constitution, and definitely
not in the middle of summer). After that experience I realized I needed to stop (working out so hard, running around so much, putting so much pressure on myself with the whole acting career). Instead, I started focusing on Reiki and the energetic healing work that up to that point had just been my "survival job". Fast forward to January. I looked back at the last few months and thought "wow, I've been really happy these last few months."
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In November I had started working out again and basically kept injuring myself. I would take several days off to heal, and then as soon as it did something else would get injured. It was ridiculous because I wasn't actually doing anything dangerous or hard. It was as if my body was playing a practical joke on me. So I finally listened to what it was saying, surrendered, and stopped doing anything except yoga, once
in a while. Then I took a 50 hour yoga teacher training focusing on Ayurveda. It was every weekend for 4 weeks. The most significant thing I changed was making sure I ate a good meal around noon and cutting down on meat and dairy, which miraculously curbed my cravings at night. I was also drinking a concoction of hibiscus & neem powder in the morning with aloe vera juice (this will be different for everyone based on their individual constitution). I also did a yoga class maybe 3 times a week. DURING THOSE 4 WEEKS I WATCHED THE SCALE GO DOWN.
It was incredible. I have never lost weight so easily in my life. Some bodies LOVE vigorous exercise, however some bodies do NOT. There is no one size fits all. My point in telling this story is that I had been exercising and dieting the wrong way for years, thinking I was being healthy when in fact I was actually doing more harm than good.
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Once I started listening to my body, instead of trying to impose what I thought was good for it, (2 workouts a day are great! Right??? Cut calories to lose weight for that film project! Good for my career,
right???) it finally started releasing the excess weight. I bet that excess weight was stress from everything I was imposing on it... That 8 -10 lbs I lost during the cleanse came back by January. However, I am now at almost the same weight I was at when I finished the cleanse, except this time I feel amazing instead of drained. Learning about Ayurveda and how to keep harmony in my body answered years of questions and now informs my choices on a daily basis. One last example: This time two years ago I was (again) in a diligent regime, but with yoga, sometimes doing 2
classes a day. After a week of Bikram (hot yoga), I broke out and proceeded to have the worst acne I had ever had in my life. I didn't recognize myself when I looked in the mirror. It was a tough 8 months. I now understand that the fire in my body was fed way too much, (hot yoga, middle of summer, running around from class to class carrying my mat, AND working and shooting a feature film on top of that). While doctors wanted to feed me antibiotics and face exfoliates, what I really need was to cool down internally. Listen to your body. Heed it's message. It will make life a lot easier.
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