Women Gone Vibrant| Ayurveda for midlife & menopause

This is part 2 or my heartwarming and inspiring conversation with Sam Norman about her lifelong healing crisis with autoimmune disease and thyroid cancer. She has shifted from rock bottom to a place of peace, acceptance and deep inner healing.

At the expense of repeating myself, here is what Sam's journey is about:

When you look at Sam Norman today you would never guess that she has endured over 30 years of chronic health crisis.

Since the first year of her life, she has been in constant companionship of doctors. At age 1, she was diagnosed with severe digestive challenges. Hashimoto's disease was diagnosed at age 13, a vascular autoimmune diagnosis came at age 27, thyroid cancer at 31. She has had seven surgeries throughout her life including a brain surgery at age 9. She was convinced several times that she was going to die.

Her case was so interesting, the doctors asked her to be a "case study". She agreed but started feeling like a number.

Growing up in a loving family of medical practitioners, with her parents being an MD and a nurse, her treatment plan included all but Western medical protocols until the age of 21. Western medicine saved her life yet she was far from being healed.

When she got the cancer diagnosis at age 31 she hit rock bottom. And the only place to go when you sink that low is to rise up. Cancer led her to seek out other avenues for support, other healing methods, a different viewpoint. What she yearned for was to been seen, to be asked "How is Sam?"

Tune in to hear Sam's heartwarming, and incredible story of healing.

• How a Western Doctor healed his severely mentally diseased patients with a traditional Hawaiian practice
• Aligning with life vs disease
• The difference between treating a disease vs. healing it
• How to know you have been healed
• The power of following your deep inner guidance vs the order of your doctor
• The mental record of "you could do better' and the role of self love
• The vibratory levels of emotions
• The necessity of embracing your emotions

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When you look at Sam Norman today you would never guess that she has endured over 30 years of chronic health crisis.

Since the first year of her life she has been in constant companionship of doctors. At age 1, she was diagnosed with severe digestive challenges. Hashimoto's disease was diagnosed at age 13, a vascular autoimmune diagnosis came at age 27, thyroid cancer at 31. She has had seven surgeries throughout her life including a brain surgery at age 9. She was convinced several times that she was going to die.

Her case was so interesting, the doctors asked her to be a "case study". She agreed but started feeling like a number.

Growing up in a loving family of medical practitioners, with her parents being an MD and a nurse, her treatment plan included all but Western medical protocols until the age of 21. Western medicine saved her life yet she was far from being healed.

When she got the cancer diagnosis at age 31 she hit rock bottom. And the only place to go when you sink that low is to rise up. Cancer led her to seek out other avenues for support, other healing methods, a different viewpoint. What she yearned for was to been seen, to be asked "How is Sam?"

Tune in to hear Sam's heartwarming, and incredible story of healing.

• How Yoga and Ayurveda shifted her outlook on health and healing
• The happy marriage of Western Medicine and Eastern medicine
• The importance of knowing different healing modalities so you can make wise choices for your body
• The power of attitude and shifting your focus from "this is as good as it will get" to "What is right for me today?"
• The origin of disease
• The danger of positivity. Yes, that's right!! the danger of positivity
• The use of breath, mantra and affirmations not only as a lifeline and anchor of hope, but as a deep healing tool
• The practice of Ho'oponopono and how it changed Sam's life

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Before you dive into this episode listen to What is health: part 1 and What is health: part 2.

Yahoo, we continue our conversation around What Is Health. Today, we talk all about the 5 layers of our being. Yep, that's right we consist of five distinct layers not just one.

You have, of course heard about the body-mind-spirit approach. Dah, right? But what does that mean exactly? It's a bit of an aloof concept if you ask me. It sounds good, but without breaking it down to what it exactly is, it holds little juice. I will get practical with you about how to feed each of those layers.

You feed your physical body, don't you? Think food, exercise, sleep. Maybe you get a massage once in a while. Well, the other 4 layers need to be fed too. But how do you do that? Listen in and find out. Because you need to feed each of those layers abundantly to create the YOU that is alive, vibrant and irresistibly beautiful.

• The 5 layers of our body
• The food & medicine to keep your five layers healthy

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Loving oneself is not an easy task. Many of us have to cultivate it. Trauma, experiences and belief systems are in the way to truly tap into the heart felt warmth for ourselves that we may already feel for others.

Andrea made the choice of leaving a promising career behind in favor of taking care of herself and her Self. Today she bathes in an abundance of self love. She shares with us her trials and tribulations and the top three strategies that allowed her to embrace herself the way she is.

• The reassurance that self love can be cultivated
• How to use your older Self to mentor yourself today
• Using inter-generational friends as inspiration to grow and thrive
• External approval and affirmation can be helpful but are ultimately crutches to achieving self love
• guru = teacher, heaviness, heavy with wisdom
• Judgement kills self love
• the link between romantic love and loving yourself
• Self love is a choice
• What self love, self worth and money intersect
• How to cultivate self love

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Health is hard to define. It is many layered. Just as we humans are complex so is the definition of health. Every medical profession has their own definition.

In part 1 of "what is health" we discussed the allopathic definition of health and the 6 stages of disease manifestation. In this episode, we look at the Ayurvedic definition of health.

Ayurveda looks to the Sanskrit word svastha to define health. Svastha means ;to be established in the Self". It leaves us with a philosophical debate on what health entails.

Another way to describe health comes from one of the ancient Ayurvedic texts called Sushruta Samhita. The definition goes like this.

sama doṣāh samāgniś ca sama dhātu mala kriyaḥ

prasannātmendriya manāḥ svastha ityabidhīyate

Sushruta Samhita, 15.38

One who is established in Self, who has balanced doshas (of Vata, Pitta and Kapha), balanced agni (digestive fire), properly formed dhātus (tissues), proper elimination of malas (waste products), well functioning bodily processes, and whose mind, soul, and senses are full of bliss, is called a healthy person.

To find out what this exactly means, listen to this episode.

• Two Ayurvedic definitions of health
• The complexity of what it means to be healthy
• Svastha = to be established in the Self
• The capital S self = our higher Self, our undying self; the place where we have access to our power
• The small S self = our lower self, it's our ego self

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What is health. No really, what is it? We throw around the term all the time.

You probably wish for abundant health at major junctions in your live. At birthdays, new year, whenever someone asks you. But do you ever stop to think what it really means to be well and what it all entails?

Pause right now and think: What does health mean to YOU? What words would YOU choose to describe it.

The definition of health from the Western medicine perspective is "the absence of symptoms" or "the absence of disease". Kind of a dry perspective if you ask me.

And the question arises what kind of symptoms we are talking about? Those symptoms that jump right at your face? Those that cause me so much pain, they are hard to ignore? And do we include those that are so subtle we hardly notice them? And what about symptoms in the mind? Are they included?

Many questions, I know. I attempt to answer them by outlining to you the 6 stages of disease as they are taught in Ayurveda. Knowing these six stages helped me a lot to place where I am at on my healing journey and what measures I needed to take to get me back to balance.

There are degrees or levels of feeling well. Have you noticed?

• The definition of health from the Western medical perspective
• The 6 stages of disease
• What symptoms are related to each of the six stages
• When to plug into those stagest to create health
• How long it takes to reverse the disease process

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Five percent of the world's population suffers from depression. It is common after giving birth aka postpartum depression and when transitioning through menopause. Then there is seasonal affective disorder where depression rises with the lack of sunlight. Followed by severe depression in the form of bipolar disorders and manic depressive illness. Depression is a common human experience.

Getting out of depression depends a lot on what choice we make. Are we choosing the light or the darkness. This sounds overly simplistic, but ultimately what it comes down to according to Or Sahar's experience. What thoughts, words and actions are you choosing to align yourself with?

Having gone through periods of depression myself, I know that while in the darkness it is incredibly hard to make a choice but I also know it is possible. And I also know that there are tools and practices we can do to clear ourselves of those negative emotions. One of which is to detox your body regularly.

Or Sahar shares her trials and tribulations through depression. At one point she admitted herself to mental hospital as she felt dangerous to herself. But through the tools and practices of yoga she built herself a stable foundation to navigate dark times by herself and with the tools in her toolbag. Interestingly, her name Or Sahar means "the light of the dawn".

• The role of yoga in navigating depression
• Changing your outlook = liberation = reduces depression
• The diagnosis of bipolar disorder does not have to be a life sentence
• The power of watching, embracing and changing your thoughts
• Curing vs. healing
• What does practicing mean?
• Non-violence as a pathway to navigate depression
• How toxic speech harms our mental well-being
• Practice as an invitation not an obligation

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Food is about more than just taste. Food is nourishment for the five layers of our being. It impacts not only your physical body, but our minds, emotions and spirit as well. Many factors play a role: the prana or lifeforce in the food, the quality of the soil, the attitude of the cook and the mindset with which we eat our food.

Shifting your attention away from solely tasting food to asking yourself "how does my body want to be nourished today" and "how does earth intent to nourish me today" provides for a completely different approach and culinary experience.

Food can either facilitate connection or it can hinder it. Food can make us feel deeply connected, nourished and loved. It can either make us feel alive or dead. As Dr. Seuss said: "If we eat dead food, we feel deadened". I add: "If we eat alive food, we feel alivened".

Alec and I rap around the idea of food facilitating an experience of life. And who better to talk to than Alec, who is not only a culinary artist but also a yogi who is tapped into the subtler realms of existence.

• How to choose food for it's resonance rather than solely for its taste
• How to satisfy cravings
• The 5 sheaths of our existence and how we can feed them
• How the attitude and attention of the cook impacts your food and body
• How mindset about eating food impacts your level of nourishment
• 3 simple practices to make food more wholesome

When IM-balanced, we crave what keeps us OUT of balance.

When IN balance, we crave what keeps us IN balance.

What do you need to feel nourished?

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The average age of menopause is 51 in the US. Entering menopause before 40 is considered premature and brings with it a higher risk of heart disease and osteoporosis.

Brodie Welch, herself an accomplished Chinese Medical practitioner, Yoga Health Coach and carrier of wisdom entered menopause prematurely at the age of 35. She shares her story. And she shares the advice she gives to herself and the wisdom she passes on to her patients.

"The body gives us interesting puzzles to figure out" Brodie Welch

• The cycle of 7
• Reasons why the hormonal well and juice gets drained
• The jet plane vs. the helicopter version of menopause
• Menopause as a lower gear metabolism
• The monthly yin and yang cycle of a woman
• The answer to "What does being empowered about your health mean?"

"Menopause is not enough coolant in your system to hold the rising heat" Brodie Welch

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The four stages of life describe our focus, aim and role in life over a 100 year time span. They were outlined in ancient Indian texts.

Being able to verbalize the four stages and what they are about helps us become more conscious and choose our orientation, engagement, actions and attitude in a certain phase. In a way, knowing them gives us permission to be who we are and focus on what is present in the particular stage we find ourselves in.

• Brahmacharya or student/bachelor
• Grihasta or householder
• Vanaprastha or forest dweller
• Sannyasa or renunciation

Each stage comes with a certain focus or aim.

• An understanding the 4 stages of life and how it shapes your role
• How the stages influence your actions, attitudes and orientation
• Permission to be who you are in each phase
• The transition from material focus to spiritual focus

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