WHAT DOES SILENCE HAVE TO DO WITH AYURVEDA?

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Many blessings of the New Year! 2024 is here and we are filled with the aspirations and potential of what newness holds. Although we are in the midst and depths of the winter season, there is a renewed spirit of going back to what is rather than what it should be. As we step into a new year, SILENCE beckons…always. Ayurveda is a lens we will look though for the next few weeks as it beckons us to embrace a rejuvenated and vibrant life through the remembrance of our true nature and the root cause of our suffering. I share my learnings from the Ayurveda Institute.

But, what does it mean to live a vibrant life?

To live in harmony with our true nature, our prakruti.

To live in harmony with the season in which we are in.

To live in harmony with our deepest aspirations and true intentions.

The transition into a new year presents an opportune moment to assess and realign our internal and external energies, ensuring a harmonious start to the upcoming chapters of the year. It is in these moments where we are able to pause and reflect on not only what brings us joy in our lives, but also what serves us the best on our path and journey–this can be in the way we spend our time, the foods we eat, the way we move our bodies. Taking time for self-reflection on our habit patterns of both external and internal activities allows us to find balance for our constitution.

The ultimate goal of Ayurveda is to be in balance with our natural state so that we are able to walk the path that brings us the most amount of happiness and joy in life. Below are a few questions to evaluate our daily routine and habits to realign ourselves with our truest and most vibrant selves.

Questions to Support My Agni (Fire element of my body and mind):

Are the foods I eat sit well with me?
Do I feel energetic after eating?
Do I feel joy in what I am eating?
Am I distracted at meals?

Questions to Support My Prana:

Do I wake up energized to take on the day?
What do I spend my free time doing?
Do I have a sense of joy and peace as I go on about my day?
Do I find time to move energy and prana within my body?
Do I take the time to be in communion with nature?

Questions to Support My Self:

Do I take time to process the day?
DO I TAKE THE TIME TO SIT IN SILENCE?
Do I have practices that support my peace?
Do I feel a sense of ease in my whole being?
In order to be fully present with my whole self, I must take the time to go inwards. It is in these moments that I become awake to what the universe is guiding me towards.

The reflection questions above are just a sampling of all the ways to understand ourselves more to truly live in alignment with our true nature, our peak potential. When we shift the way we live and the way we think, the ease in which we flow with the world around us becomes intuitive and natural. But, as we know, it takes just a small step forward to begin that understanding.

As we enter the dawn of a new year, Ayurveda can be one of our guiding lights towards a healthier, more balanced existence. By integrating its timeless principles into our lives from various rich traditions, ancient, contemporary and indgenous wisdom practices, we embark on a journey of self-discovery, well-being, and conscious living, ensuring that the chapters of the coming year are written with vitality, purpose, and fulfillment.

May this year bring you true joy, true happiness, true peace, and a true sense of self-awakening.

I have borrowed heavily from a message received from the Ayurveda Institute that inspires the topics to be shared in the upcoming weeks. And as always, I look forward to our sitting together in SILENCE wherein in true healing is unravelling eternally. WHAT DOES SILENCE HAVE TO DO WITH HEALING? To be continued….

Warmly, in deep gratitude for our sitting together,
Supriti (Atma Sindoori Ananda)

Where does your sense of self come from?

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Who or what is doing the experiencing, of our lives? This experiencing “I” in the question “Who am I?” Maybe we can just marvel at the efforts of people over millennia, from the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree to the modern philosopher and neuroscientist who has asked themselves the question “Who am I?” is at the heart of the debate about the self.

Anil Ananthaswamy

If I deny the experience of consciounsess, I deny the existence of a perceiver. Where does the sense of I come from?

Francis Lucille

Where does your sense of self come from? A scientific look: Anil Ananthaswamy

Maybe we can just marvel at the efforts of people over millennia, from the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree to the modern philosopher and neuroscientist who has asked themselves the question “Who am I?” Who or what is doing the experiencing, of our lives? This experiencing “I” in the question “Who am I?” is at the heart of the debate about the self.

Anil Ananthaswamy

If I deny the experience of consciousness, I deny the existence of a perceiver. Where does the sense of I come from?

Francis Lucille

We continue asking: Who Am I – and what is Silence n this context? 

Verbalizing how the Waking, Dream, Sleep and Deep Sleep States are experienced by us. What is it that experiences these states? Are we aware of our 1st thought upon waking and last thought before sleeping?

The age-old analogies with Sky and clouds, of the Stage vs the actors ont he stage, also explored soaking in the teachings of consciousness having an experience in the realm of matter and our lives described through a lens that reveals: The journey from matter to consiousness and back, where the fear of death is dissolving.

WINTER with AYURVEDA

We continue unravelling the age-old teachings of Ayurveda, balancing the elements of air, ether, water, fire and earth, that make up this universe of which this body is part of.

Daily Pranayama:1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7tth and 8th in the sequence practiced today completing the sequence!

8 UTGEET: We added Utgeet, Vocalizing “Hari Om” a Primordial sound, to our set of seven Pranayamas.

  1. Bhastrika (Bellows breath) 
  2. Kapalabhati follows (Shining Skull)
  3. Anuoma Viloma (Alternate Nostril Breathing)
  4. Agni Sara 
  5. Brahmari (Bee’s Breath)
  6. UTJAYI Breath (Breath of Victory)
  7. SHEETALI & SHEETKARI -cooling breath – for anger, irritbility, cand other “fire” aggravated aspects of our body and mind.

Tyler Wauters: Walk in the Woods

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When we walk through a forest path, there is a vibration sent out that is a form of communication, a form of language. When we enter a forest, it is up to us to learn how to communicate with it by communicating with our own inner workings, mending the relationship, by igniting the knowing that the forest is the nature within us, that we are not separate. Our work here is to connect to our inner nature and to connect to nature that is all around us.

“Yatha Pinde Tatha Brahmande”

(Universe & the Human Body is Homologous).

“This Mind & Chitta is also subtly & Deeply linked to the COSMIC- Mind & Chitta ““A clear understanding of this REALITY will not only give one a Blissful Experiences but also reveal to us the Mysteries of the Universe….within and without.”

“During, the process of Meditation , the Universal Mind & Chitta (psychic Ether) undergoes the same subtle process. The same transformation as Matter in the Process of FISSION & FUSION.”

Enteric brain; Powerful microcosm of our gut – constipation and what we eat and think.

And like a door or a pathway, activating a marma energy point, opens into the inner pharmacy of the body. The body is a silent, universal, biochemical laboratory—operating every moment to interpret and transform arising events.Touching a marma point changes the body’s biochemistry and can unfold radical, alchemical change in one’s makeup. Stimulation of these inner pharmacy pathways signals the body to produce exactly what it needs, including hormones and neurochemicals that heal the body, mind and consciousness.

Dr. Vasant Lad, Ayurvedic Physician

WINTER with AYURVEDA

We continue unravelling the age-old teachings of Ayurveda, balancing the elements of air, ether, water, fire and earth, that make up this universe of which this body is part of.

We continued developing a sequence of 8 Breathworks:

Daily Pranayama:1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th and 6th, 7tth in the sequence practiced today.

  1. Bhastrika (Bellows breath) 
  2. Kapalabhati follows (Shining Skull)
  3. Anuoma Viloma (Alternate Nostril Breathing)
  4. Agni Sara 
  5. Brahmari (Bee’s Breath)
  6. UTJAYI Breath (Breath of Victory
  7. SHEETALI & SHEETKARI -cooling breath – for anger, irritbility, cand other “fire” aggravated aspects of our body and mind.

What time do you tend to wake up at night? Is there a connection to the times during which a certain organ is most active?

Marma Points & Autumn with Ayurveda

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MARMA POINTS

Murdhini: Moment to moment awareness, another tool in our spiritual tool belt. (sister tradition with Acupressure points).

Acupuncture and Patricks story as well as Emily – car accidents, trauma, freezing and moving forward.
Tools priming us to stay “centred” – breath, pranayama, yoga, teachings reminding us of our true nature – with no sense of lack. 

  • With intelligence to do the right thing
  • With courage and life giving and sustaining cellular intelligence 
  • Not freezing in time and space – simply moving on, flowing with the gifts of life.

AUTUMN with AYURVEDA

We continue unravelling the age-old teachings of Ayurveda, balancing the elements of air, ether, water, fire and earth, that make up this universe of which this body is part of.
We continued developing a sequence of 8 Breathworks:
Daily Pranayama:1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the sequence practiced today.

  • Bhastrika (Bellows breath)
  • Kapalabhati follows (Shining Skull)
  • Anuloma viloma 
  • Agni Sara follows 
  • Brahmari (Bee’s Breath)

We continue our practice together  –  more tools in our tool belt!
We clean house to invite the “king”. Pranayama is “cleaning house”
In silence it is peace, in action it is joy.

WINTER with AYURVEDA

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We were meant to listen to this video last week but ran out of time….here it is…for todays session.

“And like a door or a pathway, activating a marma energy point, opens into the inner pharmacy of the body. The body is a silent, universal, biochemical laboratory—operating every moment to interpret and transform arising events.Touching a marma point changes the body’s biochemistry and can unfold radical, alchemical change in one’s makeup. Stimulation of these inner pharmacy pathways signals the body to produce exactly what it needs, including hormones and neurochemicals that heal the body, mind and consciousness.”

Dr. Vasant Lad, Ayurvedic Physician

WINTER with AYURVEDA

We continue unravelling the age-old teachings of Ayurveda, balancing the elements of air, ether, water, fire and earth, that make up this universe of which this body is part of.

We continued developing a sequence of 8 Breathworks: Daily Pranayama:1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th and 6th in the sequence practiced today.

  1. Bhastrika (Bellows breath) 
  2. Kapalabhati follows (Shining Skull)
  3. Anuoma Viloma (Alternate Nostril Breathing)
  4. Agni Sara 
  5. Brahmari (Bee’s Breath)
  6. UTJAYI Breath (Breath of Victory)

We continue our practice together  –  more tools in our tool belt with Utjayi Breath  –  Strengthening THE IMMUNE SYTEM for WINTER along with the marma points for Thyoid. our immune system.

AUTUMN with AYURVEDA

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We continued developing a sequence of 8 Breathworks:
Daily Pranayama:1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the sequence practiced today.

  • Bhastrika (Bellows breath)
  • Kapalabhati follows (Shining Skull)
  • Anuloma viloma 
  • Agni Sara follows 
  • Brahmari (Bee’s Breath)

We continue our practice together  –  more tools in our tool belt!
We clean house to invite the “king”. Pranayama is “cleaning house”
The visit with the King of course is the most important happening. However, without cleaning house, and without the invitation, the visit will be incomplete.
As the dust clears, the clouds dissolve, our true nature reveals itself – ever present. In silence it is peace, in action it is joy.

What is Ayurveda?

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The Sanskrit word Ayurveda translates to āyuh, life, and veda, knowledge or science. It is an ancient healing system rooted in India that has been practiced for thousands of years. Ayurveda’s scope encompasses all realms: physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual, and thus addresses the whole person, body, mind and consciousness.

The universe is composed of five elements: ether, air, fire, water, and earth. These five elements combine in varying proportions to create the three doshas: Vata, the principle of movement, Pitta, the principle of transformation, and Kapha, the principle of cohesion or building block material.These elements and doshas that comprise the macrocosm also make up our individual constitutions. The purpose of Ayurveda is to bring balance to these doshas and elements amidst the changing times of day, seasons, and phases of our lives, in order to promote and maintain quality and longevity of life.

One of the subtle healing practices that Ayurveda guides us into is Meditation and Breathwork (Pranayama).

Remembering Wednesday. Jill’s gentle companion dog.

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On the occasion of the death of a beloved pet – Wednesday, Jill’s companion, dog, we sat in silence, her presence palpable. Sending love and peace to Jill and her family and Wednesday, through this mysterious, familiar transition and a knowing of eternity,, our true nature.

AUTUMN with AYURVEDA


Rough, Cold Dry yet Damp…FALL and CONSTIPATION – Macro and microcosm mirroring. VATA – Air and Ether elements aggravated inside and out.
Alleviating and soothing with warm and unctuous foods….
Mind and Body grounding and calming….

We continued developing a sequence of 8 Breathworks:

  1. Daily Pranayama:1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th 6th in the sequence practiced today.
  2. Bhastrika (Bellows breath)
  3. Kapalabhati follows (Shining Skull)
  4. Anuloma viloma
  5. Agni Sara follows
  6. Brahmari (Bee’s Breath
  7. Utjayi breath (breath of victory

Why do I sit in Silence?

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More of a rhetorical question, shared this evening. Giving ourselves the space and time to transcend space and time, to just BE, remembering our true nature, to rest in the perfume of silence, what no words can express: Truth, love, beauty, understanding, peace and joy.


We watched a snippet from Francis Lucille’s video:
The teaching is the silent transmission|

AUTUMN with AYURVEDA

We continued developing a sequence of 8 Breathworks:

  1. Daily Pranayama:1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in the sequence practiced today.
  2. Bhastrika (Bellows breath)
  3. Kapalabhati follows (Shining Skull)
  4. Anuloma viloma
  5. Agni Sara follows
  6. Brahmari (Bee’s Breath)
  7. We continue our practice together – more tools in our tool belt!
  8. We clean house to invite the “king”. Pranayama is “cleaning house”


The visit with the King of course is the most important happening. However, without cleaning house, and without the invitation, the visit will be incomplete.
As the dust clears, the clouds dissolve, our true nature reveals itself – ever present. In silence it is peace, in action it is joy.

What is rest?

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(Sharing from a newsletter from Ayurprana)

The beauty of Ayurveda is that it allows for the concept of rest and resting to be different for each person, with each of us living in our very particular constitutionalparadigms, but rest can also look different even moment to moment for each individual. By allowing our rest to be framed differently for each of us day to day, season to season. 

What if we moved beyond the need to just “crash” due to the intensity of our day-to-day living, and rather sought to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature, seasons, and the world around us? Proper sleep, proper diet, proper activity all yield natural periods of rest within our day-to-day – allowing us to rethink how we spend our time, and especially how we frame periods of rest. When we spend time replenishing our being, these actions can permeate the many layers of our bodies, minds, and consciousness. 

As we restart our Fall sittings, we ask you to take a moment to be present with yourself, and reflect on the idea of what rest is needed in the moment. What does it take to replenish all the levels, layers, facets, and aspects of yourself?  Remembering in this process that there is no judgment, no right or wrong when it comes to personal rest. You’re perfection, beauty, and wonderment incarnate and in you is a bright glimmer of the divine; and when we are present and balanced we shine this divinity into the world!

Look at what is with all your mind,

with all your heart

and all your gut.

Then your grief, your attachment,

your longing or your discontent

will burst into pure bliss.

This is your true nature.

This life is most unique.

Don’t waste it on trifles.

Every moment, live it completely.

Everything is here.

The entire Universe is throbbing

in your heart.

The entire existence is breathing

in your lungs.

No religion can give you that.

No guru can give you that.

Do you have the gut, the courage

to be with what is?

~ By Vasant Lad

Taken from Vasant Lad’s book of poetry Strands of Eternity