My Health and Ayurveda
INCREASE VITALITY
AND
REVERSE AGING
My Health and Ayurveda
INCREASE VITALITY
AND
REVERSE AGING
WELCOME
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AYURVEDA -
Abhyanga , Ayurvedic Cooking (Chai, Ghee, Lassi, Paneer), Vedic Exercise, Marmas, Pranayama, and the best Ayurvedic Body Type Questionnaire on the planet, AMAZON will allow you read a substantial portion of my book The Aging Reversal Course.
- click on https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolver
(click 'see details' and then click on 'read sample')
IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO BOOST VITALITY, YOUR FIRST FOCUS SHOULD BE NATURAL BREATHING. Because if on the outbreath, the lungs aren't completely emptied, the remaining toxins will be taken back into your body on the next inbreath. (This is easy to fix and is addressed in the first chapter.) https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolver
All the exercise, all the proper diet, all the spiritual practices - though good things to do for yourself - will be diminished if breathing is not natural and the toxins that the body is trying to release are being reintroduced into your body. You will be tired - regardless of how well you eat and how much you exercise. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized.
AYURVEDA
The Sanskrit word Ayur means Life, and Ved means 'understanding.'
Ayurveda is the instruction manual on how to increase vitality - and part of these instructions shows us how to breathe naturally.
THE APPROACH TO AYURVEDA FOUND ON THIS WEBSITE DIFFERS FROM TRADITIONAL AYURVEDA IN TWO VERY IMPORTANT WAYS. FIRST, NATURAL BREATHING COMES BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE. AND SECOND, THE MERIDIANS AND CONNECTIVE JUNCTIONS NEED TO BE CLEAR. Without this - good luck.
If breathing is not natural, and/or Connective Junctions are blocked, efforts to increase vitality will be diminished.
For example, Sleep: There are thousands of recommendations to promote better sleep - good ones, both from Ayurveda and elsewhere - but a first approach to better sleep is to breathe naturally while awaiting sleep, and to have attended to the applicable Meridians and nine Connective Juncions related to sleep.
Another area where thousands of effective approaches are available is constipation. If the Meridians and/or the eight related Connective Junctions are unclear, then resolving this issue becomes difficult.
Memory is another example. (There are six Connective Junctions for improving memory.)
Clear the corresponding Connective Junctions, and all the other approaches become more effective. (The Meridians Course is not available for those who haven't taken the Breathworks course. But after Breathworks, I will send you free instructions for abyangya to get you started on gently cleaning your physiology.)
BUT, THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK IS TO GET YOUR BREATHING FUNCTIONING OPTIMALLY.
I teach breathing at the beginning of all of my courses.
Lives change in a few minutes.
I don't know where you could spend a more profitable ten minutes. Work through Session 1 on Amazon whether or not you are signing up for Breathworks: Cleaning, Toning and Strengthening the Lungs.
(Go to my Amazon page. https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolver
Next to the book on aging, click on 'See all details'.
On the page that opens, click on 'Read sample'.
Take ten minutes and work through Session 1, Effective Breathing.)
The Breathworks Course is taught over the phone with a one-on-one focus (you will need someone to take notes) and the instruction takes about half an hour.
Daily practice takes two to five minutes.
If questions arise, an email usually clears them up and I like a brief follow-up call three months later.
Course Fee is $150.00 C; or $125.00 US
THREE CONCEPTS CENTRAL TO BREATHWORKS
1) Ancient cultures considered breath to be Life. Note that the Latin root 'spir' in the word respiration is the same root in the word spirit.
Consider also the notion of Prana from Vedic thought and the concept of Chi from Chinese thinkers. Breath is Life.
2) Diaphragmatic breathing activates the lymphatic system. Note that the lymphatic system does not have a pump to move the toxicity collected. Note also that insufficient lymphatic cleaning of the brain contributes to dementia and similar disorders.
3) The body's urge for emptiness is a principle recognized as natural in Ayurveda. (As well, Ayurveda recognizes the body's urge for fullness.) The recommendation is to evacuate the bowel first thing in the morning. Also, a complete evacuation of the bladder is a must. A complete evacuation of the lungs is equally important as the lungs release toxicity. If this toxicity remains in the lower lungs and is not released, what happens to it? See above.
Go to my Amazon page
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolver and work through Session 1, Effective Breathing, found in the book on longevity – the novel is also a great read.
Putting into practice the natural breathing taught in Session 1 is a prerequisite for Breathworks Level 1.
Email me about setting up a time for Breathworks: Cleaning, Toning, and Strengthening the Lungs.
In the course we will cover three breathing exercises mentioned in the title, and choose two others suitable to your needs: for example one that may help with memory, or one for weight loss, or any of a number of others.
MERIDIANS COURSE
Breathworks is a prerequisite for the Meridian Course. If you wish, once you have completed Breathworks, I will send you free instructions for warm oil massage to begin gently clearing the Meridians and Connective Junctions.
BUT FIRST GET THE BREATHING SORTED OUT.
Notice how during anxiety, anger, and depression the breathing changes. If the 'debris' that the body is trying to release is not completely exhaled, the next in-breath will force the pollution back into the body. Complete evacuation is necessary. This is natural and easy to do.
Diet, hydration, sleep, exercise, lifestyle, attention to the circadian rhythms, Behavioral Rasanayas, and everything from Ayurveda is important, but if breathing is not natural everything else is diminished.
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolver
TELOMERES
National Library of Medicine, Lancet Ontcology, October, 2013.
The very important findings in the Abstract below are attributed to 'lifestyle changes'. I suspect that breathing is largely involved.
ABSTRACT
"Background: Telomere shortness in human beings is a prognostic marker of aging, disease, and premature morbidity. We previously found an association between 3 months of comprehensive lifestyle changes and increased telomerase activity in human immune-system cells. We followed up with participants to investigate long-term effects. ... Our comprehensive lifestyle intervention was associated with increases in relative telomere length after 5 years of follow-up, compared with controls, in this small pilot study. Larger randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm this finding."
From this, it is obvious the body can repair, but whatever you decide to do on your journey make sure natural breathing is at the top of your list.
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolver
Best wishes,
Paul Colver
WHY DO WE AGE?
THEORY
Consider the following. The body performs trillions of functions per second. On average, 100,000 cells die and are rebuilt every second. The body is constantly rebuilding itself. The process is automatic. Physiology has a powerful drive to rebuild - day after day; year after year. And because of this constant rebuilding, the body is new every few years.
Ayurveda asks: Why then, do we age?
The body doesn't need help with the specifics of rebuilding. What it needs is Life filled oxygen, hydration, nutrition and rest & activity. (And the instruction "manual" of how to rebuild needs to be free of damage- and if corrupted, then re-enlivened.)
TRAUMA
The Buddhist saying, "Life is pain, suffering is optional." holds some truth.
Trauma is a fact of life.
Though our body initially as a baby functions much like a symphony, the troubles begin through trauma. (Trauma here means anything that produces toxicity in the body.)
A key understanding from Ayurveda is that 'mental or emotional trauma' has a physical correlate – for example, lactic acid from straining the body while exercising. If trauma occurs there must be a physical component. The problem for most of us is that sometimes/often these physical 'bits' - called 'ama' in Ayurveda - are not excreted And the further problem is that the body has no storage bin for them. They lodge wherever they can find a place: the joints, as arthritis; the arteries, as plaque; the kidneys, as stones, etc. And they lodge in the cells and even smaller places - in the micro-channels. When this happens – and this often begins at a very young age – they block and distort, and sometimes destroy the body's intelligence of how to rebuild. Trauma is inevitable but the residue - ama - may be released.
Of course, a good night's sleep, or an evening spent laughing with friends can help the body release these physical 'bits'. And for the fortunate – those with a highly efficient physiology – most of the physical toxicity is easily released. But even though most of us do our best to avoid trauma it is inevitable, and the 'bits' accumulate.
As the years pass the 'bits' clog up physiology and the building blocks of physiology become imbalanced - one dosha shows up in excess and crowds out the functioning of the others resulting in:
CRAVINGS
In addition, we may traumatize ourselves in responding to the body's cravings.
Why does the body have cravings? Is it the devil?
I have written that the body wants to heal – that it wants peak performance – that it wants to be full of vitality – that it wants pleasure. Why does it prompt us – drive us – to eat foods that we know are going to make us feel terrible? Ayurveda sees health as a balance of three basic 'physical' elements - taste (hence the food cravings) is the most effective way to create balance. These building blocks - Vata, Pitta, and Kapha - influence - force - our food choices; and also determine where we prefer to live; the work we do; the spouse we 'choose'; even our choice of alcohol. The body – when out of balance controls our life choices. In extreme cases this is terrifying to witness.
Cravings need to be dealt with in a Life-supporting fashion. The doshas need to be brought into balance.
Enter Ayurveda.
DOES AYURVEDA HEAL?
Strictly speaking, the body does the healing. We give it what it needs and get out of the way. Ayurveda posits that health results from the doshas being balanced. If an individual is in relatively good health, then by incorporating the protocols of Ayurveda into one's life, the doshas become more and more balanced: cravings are lessened; the body's intelligence is enlivened; the body begins to rebuild more accurately, and one looks, feels and acts younger almost immediately.
On another level of health - if a person has a family history of, or the initial symptoms of some malady or another - the balancing may bring good results immediately, or, over time the symptoms may be mitigated and the 'progress' of the malady may be slowed. Ayurveda is a preventative approach. 'Avert the danger before it comes.'
At a more extreme level, if a person is beset with some 'advanced' condition of illness, the balancing will free up energy to help 'fight' the disease. While the ayurvedic protocols are useful for everyone – I recommend them no matter the state of health - I don't present them as a magic bullet - though sometimes amazing things happen.
Rereading the above, I see it as an accurate introduction to the practice of Ayurveda. What is needed is a guidebook to introduce Ayurveda into one's life. I've written that book. To preview The Aging Reversal Course go to https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolver
THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBES HOW I FIRST BEGAN TO INCORPORATE AYURVEDA INTO MY LIFE.
Twenty years ago I was pretty much lifeless. My health was shot. Thirty pounds of much-needed fat was gone. I was burning muscle. I was sure I was going to die.
I recovered.
There was a message in the misery - though it didn't seem so at the time.
Physiology desperately wants to heal. The body is our ally, not our enemy, it wants peak performance, enjoyment, and pleasure – and it needs proper support.
In 2010 I published the book The Aging Reversal Course: An Ayurvedic Approach to Wellness and Vitality and wanted every person on the planet to have a copy.
Fast forward to today: I've taught 600 people – face-to-face, old-school seminar, and classroom-type teaching. During the six two hour classes we covered breath-work, spice-waters for hydration, Ayurvedic cooking, herbs and spices for energy and digestion, Ayurvedic body-type, the importance of circadian rhythms for digestion and sleep, and unintentionally, weight management. A year later a former student showed up for a cooking class boasting sixty pounds of effortless weight loss.
Whatever your energy and fitness goals you can quickly move towards them - easily and enjoyably through Ayurveda.
Something else I discovered is that every approach towards better energy is usually stuck on a single focus. Sometimes the focus is diet and nutrition – nothing wrong with proper diet. Sometimes exercise and performance – nothing wrong with suitable exercise. But the revelation is nicely summed up in an Ayurvedic saying:
“Everything is connected to everything.”
What I 'discovered' is that without natural breathing all else suffers. Without proper, effortless hydration all else suffers. If digestion suffers, all else suffers. If sleep suffers, all else suffers. Everything is connected.
If you one area of your life is giving you trouble - say you are trying for weight loss, fitness, or whatever - a shortfall in one of the key areas is likely holding you back in all areas of life
BREATHWORKS
I teach Breathworks: Cleaning, Toning, and Strengthening the Lungs.
The prerequisite for this course is to have read Session 1 in The Aging Reversal Course and incorporated the protocols of Ayurveda into one's life. Given what I say above about breathing, hydration, assimilation, and sleep being connected I'm sure this prerequisite makes sense.
Breathworks is taught over the phone in a one-on-one setting and takes about a half hour. I like to receive a follow-up call three months later. If some questions arise an email usually clears them up.
Breathing naturally is good for the body.
You will be more alert.
If you are going into a tense meeting then practice Breathworks while walking down the hall, and enter the room aglow and with an alert mind.
If you are in a rage, or beset with anxiety, practice Breathworks for a minute and notice the change.
These exercises have their beginnings in Ayurveda. Recommended daily practice time is 2 minutes – 3 or 4 minutes is okay.
There is no profit in toning and strengthening if the lungs are not clean.
Three Concepts Central to Breathworks
1) Ancient cultures considered breath to be Life. Note the Latin root 'spir': is the same root for the word spirit, as well as the word respiration.
Consider also the notion of Prana, and the concept of Chi from Chinese thinkers.
2) Diaphragmatic breathing activates the lymphatic system. Note that the lymphatic system does not have a pump to move the fluid and the toxicity collected. Note that insufficient lymphatic cleaning of the brain contributes to dementia and similar disorders.
3) The body's urge for emptiness is a principle recognized as natural in Ayurveda. (As well, Ayurveda recognizes the body's urge for fullness.) We hear from Ayurveda the recommendation to evacuate the bowel first thing in the morning. Also, a complete evacuation of the bladder is a must. A complete evacuation of the lungs is equally important - the lungs release toxicity. If toxicity remains in the lower lungs and is not released what happens to it?
Natural Breathing enlivens. If breathing is not at its optimum the other areas of Life are diminished.
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolver
Best wishes,
Paul Colver
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.