Reset
Hello and welcome to Reset!
If you're anything like me - you want a life filled with your own definition of success, the people you love and stories that will make the 90 year of version of your proud.
A life you're inspired by and doesn't burn you out in the process.
Each week, I'll be interviewing industry experts so that you and I can learn how to best navigate our careers, lives, health and happiness.
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Ash x
Ps. Let's connect on Instagram @reset____podcast + @ashcam____
Reset
Understanding the Female Body - Interview with Chasca Summerville Ayurvedic Practitioner & Author
12 months ago I attended a workshop that completely shifted the way I approached my work schedule, social activities and fitness routine.
It also helped me to fall in love with my soft feminine side and embrace the different versions of myself who show up each month.
The workshop was lead by Chasca Summerville - a qualified Ayurvedic Practitioner & Author of Ayurvedic Rituals.
She's a wealth of knowledge and I was so happy when she agreed to come into the studio and share it with us all.
Ayurvedic medicine is one of the world's oldest medical systems dating back thousands of years. It focusses on prevention, nature, nourishing our bodies and embracing what it means to be female.
In today's interview we cover:
* What is Ayurveda?
* How can a slower life help us become more productive?
* Why women's cycles sync with the moon?
* How to align your life, career and diet with your cycle?
* Men have cycles too... but they restart every 24 hours.
* How ancient wisdom can help us thrive in a modern world?
And so much more...
I loved this chat and know you will too.
Connect with Chasca on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/alchemyofayurveda/
Connect with Chasca on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/alchemyofayurveda
Visit Chasca's Website:
https://alchemyofayurveda.com.au/
Buy the Ayurvedic Rituals Book:
https://alchemyofayurveda.com.au/ayurvedic-rituals-book-shop/
Learn More:
https://alchemyofayurveda.com.au/journal/healthy-period/
Follow Ash on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashcam____/
See latest Reset Retreats, Workshops & Events: www.resetworkplace.com.au
Watch this episode on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@Reset.Workplace
Jessica, hey, welcome to Reset. Hi, thanks for having me. Oh, it's so good to have you here. I know that I did your workshop maybe about 12 months ago now, and I feel like after doing it, I was telling so many friends. I'm like, why didn't I know this 15 years ago? So I'm very excited to have you on the podcast. For those who haven't met you yet, can you introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I'm an Ayurvedic practitioner. I've been working in this space for about 10 years now and sort of came into it with that same sort of mindset, like looking for answers, not knowing much about what was happening, you know, within our own bodies and kind of took me on a bit of a path of searching. And Ayurveda came along and really just made sense to me, kind of gave me all the answers that I needed and took me into this rabbit hole. And here I am today. And
SPEAKER_01:for
SPEAKER_00:anyone curious, me included
SPEAKER_01:12
SPEAKER_00:months
SPEAKER_01:ago, what
SPEAKER_00:is Ayurveda? So Ayurveda is known as the world's oldest system of healing. It originated in India many thousands of years ago. So we've got our body, we've got our mind, we've got our spirit and our emotions. And it's about nurturing all of these quadrants and, you know, the connection between our mental health and our physical wellbeing. So it's not just about eating well and doing yoga. It's about nurturing all of these quadrants. Taking care of the quality of our thoughts and how we talk to ourselves and the frame of mind that we're in day in and day out. Ayurveda teaches us that this is really the precursor to imbalance or disease. It's a diet and lifestyle designed to support the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being so that We're not getting sick and looking at healing ourselves. We're really preventing imbalance or disease from occurring in the first place.
SPEAKER_01:I love that, that kind of proactive approach. And it's so much to do with just getting really in tune with who you are and what you need in certain phases. And so the workshop that I came to was all about inflow. Can you talk to us a little bit about why you're so passionate about educating women and men about cycles?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I think that our education system really falls flat that in terms of women's menstrual cycles and women's bodies. And I, from my very first period when I was 14, had a really challenging journey as a lot of women do. I had really painful periods to the point where I was hallucinating, passing out. I was incredibly debilitated. I was on heavy pain meds. And when you're going through this once a month for multiple days, it really becomes apparent that something needs to be done. And I just was not finding any solutions. It really took me 15 years before I kind of got any clarity. We're often told by doctors that pain is normal and that it's all just part of being a woman. And our menstrual cycle starts to become something that we really dread and really fear. And as I was getting into this sort of more holistic way of living, I was recognizing that taking these painkillers was not a solution and that I needed to go deeper. And again, it led me down this rabbit hole of searching and trialing and experiencing until I finally found something that really helped me. And I've since been so passionate about helping other people understand their bodies, their partner's bodies, how we can support women throughout this time. And it still shocks me to this day that I can now say that my menstrual cycle or my bleed is my favorite time of the month, to go from something that I feared and loathed to something that I now treat as this little holiday from life where I can take my foot off the accelerator, give myself permission to stop and breathe and unwind and forget the deadlines and all the to-dos and really just nurture myself and slow down. I literally anticipate and look forward to it now. So that's been an incredible journey. What a reframe. Massive, massive reframe. So men and women both have cycles. Can you talk us through the different phases of each? So men are governed by a circadian rhythm. So it's a 24-hour cycle. So they wake up and cortisol and testosterone are the hormones that are released to wake them up. And they have their higher surge of these hormones first thing in the morning. And then it just tapers off slowly from there. So men are most energetic, most energetic. they have the most kind of gusto, get up and go. They want to take action. They want to, you'll notice that when guys, you know, they get up in the morning, you know, they're ready for the day, they're ready for action and intensity and they're ready to get stuck into it. And then as the day progresses, they, you know, the cortisol and testosterone start to drop and they become more soft and gentle. So in terms of men's needs, it's really great to allow them to utilize this energy first thing in the morning. It wouldn't be a great time to say, have a deep and meaningful conversation when they've got this energy to go and achieve. It's better to wait until the evening when the cortisol and the testosterone are lower. So they're naturally more inclined for softness, communication, affection, these kinds of things. Women on the other hand are much more nuanced and You know, it's for great reason. We have the capacity to grow a baby, to grow life, and we only have 12 opportunities to do that in our year, whereas men could have thousands of children. So we have a much bigger job to do and our bodies have a much bigger responsibility to make the conditions, you know, acceptable for conception. So women have four phases throughout their cycle and it usually lasts, we'll say for this example, around 28, 29 days. And the easiest way to really understand it is through likening it to the four seasons. This is just a general sort of metaphor, and it's not necessarily something that I would explain through the lens of Ayurveda, but without going too much into all the doshas and the energies and the qualities of the elements, if you look at a woman's cycle, our It is known as the winter. So this is when we withdraw. We want to sort of stay within, hibernate, take our foot off the accelerator and just allow ourselves to rest and recuperate and replenish. Then we come into our spring. So this is our follicular phase. This is our pre-ovulatory phase. This is bear coming out of the cave, getting excited to socialize. It's spring. So it's like we want to get out. We want to connect. We can be of service. We have energy for others. You know, if we look at it through the primal lens, this is when we're looking for the mate. So we're feeling extroverted. We've got this pre-ovulatory glow. So we've got the earth and the water elements that give us that little bit of extra shine and luster in our skin. We just have a lot more patience and compassion for others. This leads us into our summer. This is our ovulatory phase. This is when we're at our height of self-expression, of giving, of loving, of nurturing, of connection. After we ovulate, we start to enter our autumn. If we don't conceive... We enter the autumns. This is where the body starts to prepare for elimination of the endometrium lining. So this is where we're going into our winter. So we start to withdraw slowly. So we start to not have the same capacity and compassion for others, for caring, for caregiving. This is our body's way of asking us to just withdraw from those responsibilities and prepare to nurture the body while we menstruate. Because menstruation is detoxification. It's our body going into a cleansing phase and we need to support ourselves as we do that. And the more we spend our energy in outward ways, the less energy we have for healing and self-care. So this is where the mood starts to elevate, our partners start to be a little bit fearful of us or our family. We have a lot less of a filter. People think that we become the worst versions of ourselves, but in actual fact, we're becoming the most honest and raw versions of ourselves. It's all there within us. We just have more capacity to soften it, fabricate it throughout the other areas and seasons of the month. Whereas this is the time we can get really raw and real with ourselves. This isn't a great time for communication because we're lacking the compassion we need to connect and empathize with others, but it's a really good way to, or an opportunity for us to get real with ourselves. Do the journaling, write the list, just check in with how you're really feeling about the things in your life and then wait until you're in that follicular spring to action it and check in then as well. Is that how I really feel? Okay, if it is, what can I do about it? And then we come into our winter, so our menstruation. This is back at square one. This is going within, withdrawing and just allowing ourselves to really process rest and take care and not look after others and allow others in our community to look after us.
SPEAKER_01:Can you talk a little bit about what a healthy cycle length should be for women, if that even is a thing?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, of course. So it is different for everyone based on your constitution, but generally it's within the range of about four to seven days. The bleed time, four to seven days? Yes. So the bleed time is within about four to seven days. And then the full cycle length is around 23 to 30 days based on your constitution and dosha. Can you tell us a little bit about what a constitution and a dosha is? So the doshas are Ayurveda's tools for recognizing imbalance and bringing the body back into balance. So it's based on the premise of the five great elements being air, space, fire, water, and earth. And it teaches us that every person has an innate constitution that is dominated by one or two of these elements. But then we also have our vikriti, which is known as our imbalances of where we are now. So you may be born with more of the pitta dosha, the fire element, but due to the nature of your lifestyle, work, fast pace, being on the go, traveling, you might have a vata aggravation. So this is the air element. What we really want to work with in Ayurveda is where we are now, because we want to bring ourselves back into balance. That's sort of the premise behind Ayurveda. It's like too much air, too much on the go and fast We want that fire element to burn off and transform these energies. The doshas are used as tools for recognizing which elements are out of balance for you and which elements do we need to bring more balance back into your life. So while the innate constitution is interesting to know, the imbalance is what we really want to work with. So each of these doshas is associated with different symptoms within the menstrual cycle. For example, if there's too much fire element or you'll find that you have excess bleeding. There's a lot of blood flow. Adversely, if there's too much of the air element, there might be a very scant light period, too much of that dryness of the air quality. So we can sort of start to use our menstrual cycle as a tool for recognizing which doshas are in or out of balance.
SPEAKER_01:That's really beautiful. So if a client was coming to you for the first time, what kind of process would you go through to help them understand
SPEAKER_00:where they're at? So it's a really in-depth process, the Ayurvedic consultations. I spend... Well, first of all, it starts with a client form, which goes into all of the facets of your menstrual cycle, your diet, your emotional well-being, your family history, your relationships, your work, your sense of self and purpose. It's a really beautiful opportunity to actually take stock of where all of those elements of your life are at, because Ayurveda really teaches us that anything that's manifesting physically has emotional roots. So if we're not feeling valued at work, for example, or if we're living in a household with flatmates or people that are really chaotic. All of these emotions manifest in our body and they show up primarily through our elimination portals, menstruation being one, digestion, perspiration. They're all really good opportunities for us to recognize what's going on inside the body so we can start to use them as tools so in a consultation the client fills out this form and I will have a look over it and I'll look for things that are popping out you know if I'm seeing there's a sense of emotional unrest if there's stress if there's you know what's happening physically how the state of digestion is happening their menstrual cycle you know what's going on there they're really good indicators of which of these elements are out of balance and I'll go through and explain you know what that means and how that looks and then provide a roadmap to bring yourself back into balance through diet, lifestyle and practices that calm the nervous system because we are ultimately our best healers. We just need to get out of our own way and allow our body to do what it was designed to do, which is to heal and be well.
SPEAKER_01:Really helpful, I think, for so many people. And we'll put links in the show notes to your website and social. So if anyone's wanting to dive straight in, like, please, this sounds like me. A lot of research clients, they live very busy lives, as you can imagine, but often they work in corporate and they can't necessarily control their schedules. How do you suggest that they go about sort of implementing some of these practices into a lifestyle that's not always within their control?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think that's a really valid point. In an ideal world, and there's certain countries that are adopting this mentality, and I hope that Australia does follow suit, that women are given at least a day off to really nourish themselves during their first day of their bleed. If you have the luxury of choosing when you have certain meetings, certain pitches, if things are somewhat within your control, get to know your cycle and start to integrate your schedule with your cycle and start to plug in those meetings where you require more of that extroverted energy around your spring, summer, so your follicular and ovulation period. If you don't have that control and you're really at the mercy of other people's schedules, which a lot of us are, then just adapt your diet and lifestyle accordingly. So say you're starting your bleed, instead of going to the gym and doing a HIIT class, a boxing class, and having lots of spicy food and coffee and alcohol, really start to limit that. So during the menstrual phase, we really want to be reducing our output. So really winding the physical movement back, either doing like a yin yoga practice or something really gentle, just gentle walk meditation. That's going to allow the body to do what it needs to do in terms of cleansing and detoxifying the womb. Making sure that you're having soft and gentle and simple foods, things like kitcheries and soups and stews and curries, porridge, rice pudding, things that are warm and nourishing and not too taxing because if the digestive system is overloaded and has all this work to do, then the immune system, which was responsible for cleansing and detoxifying, has to take a backseat. Also avoiding cold showers, swimming as much as possible. and anything that's going to interrupt the different kind of flow of the elements in the body. So it's really a time for slowing down and being as still and resting as much as possible. So just factoring that into your daily life as much as you can without having to uproot and change your whole lifestyle. It's just about supporting your body as much as possible by taking your foot off the accelerator.
SPEAKER_01:Ice baths, saunas, all these sorts of things, very popular, very trendy right now. What do women need to be aware of when they schedule activities like that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so that's a really great point because a lot of these trends like intermittent fasting and ice baths and saunas and all these things, most of the science that's done on them is done on men. And men have this very simple circadian rhythm, 24 hours. They can do the same things every day, whereas women, it's very nuanced. So When we're in our follicular stage in the first half of our cycle, this is a time where we have a slower metabolism. So we want to be reducing our input of our calories, but we need to be doing more exercise. So our metabolism is slower. So we need to be burning off the energy. Whereas in the second half of our cycle, we have more of the fire element. So we can actually eat a lot more, but we don't need to exercise as much. And at the same time, it'd only really be suitable to do, I mean, generally for a woman who's in her ovulating years, who still has a menstrual cycle, Ice baths aren't really recommended. They're very shocking, very jarring, and these kind of effects on the body can cause hormone imbalances very quickly. So the only time that it would be suitable, if you had a high pitta constitution, so you were a very fiery, active, almost hot-headed person that ran hot and had a strong metabolism, you could handle it during the second half of your cycle. If you're a vata person and you have a lot of dryness and a lot of, say, anxiety, bloating, digestive issues, constipation, a patient, having an ice bath is not going to be suitable for you at any time during your menstrual cycle. Having a sauna, on the other hand, is more suitable. Through the lens of Ayurveda, we never really want to overheat the brain, the mind. So Ayurvedic saunas are done seated and you actually have your head out. It's like a little sauna box that you can sit in. You can see them online. They're much more suitable. I don't really go with the trend of all these wellness spas and things opening up. But if you have a lot of dryness in your body, then moisture and humidity and steam is good. If you have a lot of moisture in your body, so you have oily skin, breakouts, really oily hair, congestion, edema, puffiness, then going and sitting in a sauna is just going to perpetuate that further. So I love with Ayurveda, although it makes it slightly more complicated, is that it's never a yes or no. It's you know, your constitution, your imbalances, your season, the part of your menstrual cycle. And the only way we can really get to know that is by getting to know ourselves. And this is a beautiful part of Ayurveda is that it really encouraged us to create a relationship with ourselves. You know, I was so disconnected from my body and my mind before I found Ayurveda, just living in the And Ayurveda has really taught me the art of slowing down, connecting with my intuition. And by doing that, you get to this point where you just feel for the answer and it becomes very clear. But it is a journey of getting to know yourself.
SPEAKER_01:I feel like there's this perception that slow means we can't achieve what we need to achieve in our life and it's almost unproductive. But I know you and I know what you have achieved since really tapping into your intuition and going slower, but with purpose and clarity. Can you talk a little bit about that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's a tricky one, isn't it? Because we want to achieve so much, especially in this day and age. And Ayurveda, you know, it has a whole plethora of daily rituals and different guidelines on how to live and how to eat. And everything seems to take a little longer, you know, we're cooking meals from scratch. We're waking up, we're doing our tongue scraping, meditation, oil pulling, yoga, pranayama. It's like, oh, people think, oh my gosh, there's so much more I need to fit in. But what actually happens as a result of doing these practices is that the quality of your sleep becomes so much more rejuvenative, meaning you don't need as much. So if we go to bed at night, overly stimulated, we've been on screens all day, screens all night, we're switching off the lights and expecting ourselves to drop into these deep restful sleeps. And we're not. So we're waking up, we're having broken sleep, we're dreaming a lot, which is very exhaustive, and we're waking up feeling like, I just want to go back to sleep. Waking up feeling exhausted is a really good indicator that your nervous system's overloaded, there's too much cortisol in the body, and that you're not having rejuvenating sleep. So having a beautiful nighttime ritual where you're going to bed Thank you so much for joining us. I mean, I've experienced that so many times in the olden days before Ayurveda where you feel really exhausted but for some reason you push yourself and you stay up past 10 and then all of a sudden you've got this second wind and you're like, I could write a book, I could take care of all of my to-do list, I feel like I could start preparing for my next meal. You've got all this energy and that energy is designed for deep healing and transformation in the body. But if If you're not asleep, you'll use that energy consciously. So it's really important to get to bed and be asleep before about 10pm or about four hours after sunset. so that we can utilize that energy appropriately. So the goal is that we wake up in the morning, we feel rejuvenated and we wake up early so that we have more time in the day to nourish ourselves, to make us feel grounded and to move through the day with the proper capacity to be able to do what we need to do well, rather than just scurrying around, starting a million things, never finishing anything and just kind of making a mess of all the things that we need to achieve. Let's talk about the moon for a second.
SPEAKER_01:That was something from your workshop. I was like, no, it can't be true. Turns out there's stats to back it up. Can you talk to me a little bit about Are women synced with the moon?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So it's such a beautiful part of this wisdom is that it teaches us how connected we are to nature or how disconnected we are from nature. So there's two common forms of the cycle. So there's a red moon cycle or a white moon cycle. So during the full moon on earth, the earth is the most fertile because it has the most light from the moon and the most light from the sun. So this is a time when crops grow. And traditionally, this was a time when we would ovulate. So if you are still ovulating around the full moon and menstruating around the new moon, you've been connected with the white moon cycle. This is common for women who are wanting to conceive or in a mothering or pre-mothering phase of their life. Adversely, if you're menstruating on the full moon, and ovulating on the new moon this is known as the red moon cycle so these are women who are utilizing their creative powers for business for projects for art for creativity for healing so a lot of the sort of doulas and medicine women these were a lot of the women who were the red moon cycle. And it allows women to nurture each other. So when we're menstruating, ideally, we're not supposed to be cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids and responsibilities. So by nature dividing women into those two categories, we could take turns of looking after each other's responsibilities. This is an ideal way to check in, but if you're not bleeding on either of those new periods just coming at any time throughout the month, which is very common, it just means that you're not connected to the moon in that way. And the only way we can be connected to the moon in that way is to actually be outside under the moonlight and to be connected to nature. If we're not seeing the moon and we're spending all our days in artificial light and on screens, we can't have that connection. So if you do want to kind of get more connected with nature, it's a really beautiful opportunity to do a bit of moonbathing. It's a really amazing way to harmonize hormone imbalances is to bathe under moonlight. So go out on a full moon or go out during the month, any day of the month and sit under the moonlight and also sit under the morning sun as well just to reconnect back to nature, walk on the ground or the sand with no shoes on, just to actually, you know, forge that connection again because so many of us are very disconnected and then these sort of rhythms won't apply.
SPEAKER_01:If someone's in a season of their life and they're like, I'm building my career, I'm hustling, and then they decide, you know what, I'm going to consciously change and explore motherhood and try to conceive, will their cycle change with them?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So usually even just by starting to think about that, like your body will be aware that you're looking to conceive and it will start to have a different sense of intuition. It will be more drawn towards the things that are going to promote for fertility in the body. So you will find that, yeah, the menstrual cycle, you'll have, you know, the cycle might become irregular for a little while. Like, oh, it was five days earlier. It was five days late. And that's the body's way of reconnecting with the other moon cycle. So spending that time again out in nature is going to help to do that.
SPEAKER_01:What if people are traveling between time zones? So they're going Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere. Will that impact their cycle if they're moving
SPEAKER_00:around the world? Yes, absolutely. It's a really, unfortunately, is... a really big precursor to hormone imbalance and all sorts of imbalances. We're not designed to travel as human beings. We've become very removed from the way in which we were designed and intended to live. And flight attendants are a really prime example for this. So many flight attendants have missing periods, hormone imbalances, irregular cycles. So it's really important if it is the nature of your work and your lifestyle that you do have to travel a lot to make sure you're balancing that out. So it's not about removing all of the triggers and the root causes of these things, but it's about how can we balance ourselves out. So things like warm oil massage really helps to ground us down. Again, spending time in nature with the shoes off under the elements of the sun and the moon, all of these sorts of things and, you know, nice home cooked nourishing meals, all these things help to cultivate more balance. So we're more resilient to this kind of change. If someone's
SPEAKER_01:listening and they've been on the pill for quite a long time, which is very common, I think I went on it when I was 17 or 16 and just thought, oh, it's the thing you do. Came off it quite a few years ago now and had to rediscover my cycle and myself. If someone's listening and they're in the process of coming off the pill, how long will it take for their cycle to find some form of normality again?
SPEAKER_00:There's... Not a clear statistical, it's three months. It depends on your lifestyle. So if you have a very fast-paced lifestyle, your body doesn't have the chance it needs to recalibrate naturally. So as much as you can, just try to slow things down a little bit. And Ayurveda provides so many beautiful rituals and routines and recipes for us to be able to support our body in healing and recalibrating. It would be ideal to do an Ayurvedic cleanse as well. So anywhere between three and 14 days cleansing just to help shed, detoxify, remove any lingering hormones from the pill in the body and to invite the body to start naturally producing its own hormones again. So unfortunately, there's not a generic answer that I could give to that. It's going to be a case-by-case situation, depending on how long you've been on the pill, your own constitution. So it's going to be different for everyone. But I would say You would want to allow between three and six months ideally if you were wanting to conceive or to give yourself that window at least so that your hormones have the supportive environment to start to produce and to work succinctly in the body again. And what's involved in a Ayurvedic cleanse? an online program that's available worldwide and you can do it self-paced. So it's an at-home cleanse. It's basically utilizing a lot of kitchari. So that's rice and lentils cooked in spices and either ghee or coconut oil. You eat that as a mono meal for anywhere between one to 14 days. I like to now do it one day a week, but for bigger cleanses around the equinox, I'll do it for 14 days. The change of each season, I can do it for three days, depending on how much capacity you have. But what it's really doing is it's taking the burden off the digestive system so the immune system can go in and do this deep healing. So it's really about nourishing over restricting.
SPEAKER_01:Let's just talk about digestion for a little bit. I've heard you talk in the past about giving your body time to digest. If we were planning an ideal day and eating meals, what would it look like in terms of timing?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So first thing in the morning, it's ideal to eat something that's rich in rasa. So that's like papaya, grape juice, chai one prash is an Ayurvedic jam that's got lots of dried fruit and dried herbs in it as well. Something like this within about 30 minutes of waking up and then anywhere between or 30 minutes and an hour after would be an ideal to have something like porridge. So a porridge with maybe some stewed fruits cooked separately, some toasted nuts or seeds, and then no snacks. So Ayurveda cancelled snacks. And then we want to allow about four hours so that we can break down and digest this food. And then we'd have our next meal around lunchtime. This would be our biggest meal of the day. So our Agni which is known as our digestive fire. It works in accordance with the sun's energy. So the midday sun, our acne is our strongest. So we have our biggest meal during lunchtime. And then again, a period of about four hours, and then we'd have a light dinner. So you know, the sunset, light and soft and soupy and warm. So something like a kitchari, soup, stew, dal, curry, something like that. That's quite gentle on the digestive system so that we're not going to bed with, you know, a full belly and, you know, all of our energy needs to be used for digesting the meal. We want that energy to be used for healing.
SPEAKER_01:If someone's listening and they don't want to change their diet to be full Ayurvedic diet, do the principles still apply of when you should eat and let your body digest?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's really important to note that the Ayurvedic diet isn't exclusive to Indian food. It can actually be used for any cuisine. So I make Ayurvedic pizzas, Ayurvedic Mexican nights. Japanese food is very Ayurvedic in that, you know, with sushi they have... Wasabi, which is pungent, so it gets the digestive fire happening. There's ginger, also supports digestion. There's miso, which is rich in probiotics and liquefies the meal. So it's this holistic meal. It's covering all six tastes and it's bioavailable. So it's not just having... dry toast with Vegemite on it. It's actually having a broad spectrum meal. So there's lots of different cuisines that you can apply this to as well. Ayurveda is largely plant-based, but if you do eat meat and that suits you, then having meat at lunchtime. So you have the most capacity to break it down. And by the time you go to bed, you've broken down that food. So it can definitely apply to all different types of cuisine. I
SPEAKER_01:feel like in Western society, Australia, we've often view anything from the East as alternative. Whereas, as you mentioned at the start, it's actually been around for so much longer than Western medicine. Talk to me a little bit about how East and West
SPEAKER_00:can work together. It's such an interesting, I often giggle at that, that Ayurveda and, you know, they're considered alternative when really they're eternal. So there was never a time where these five elements didn't exist on earth. And nature obviously provides everything that we need to thrive and be well. So it's not that they're alternative. It's more that they're original, but they are alternative through the mainstream lens. But there is a really beautiful place for Ayurveda and allopathy to work together. And I see this a lot with my clients. We'll use test results, bloods, x-rays, ultrasounds, things like this, investigative tools to work together with Ayurveda. And then I will, you know, because it can be a bit of a long game approach. You know, we're working with the elements, we're pacifying, we're adjusting certain parts of the diet and lifestyle. And allopathy really shortcuts that. It's like, this is the problem. And then I can provide the solution that's very direct and formulaic. So there's a really beautiful synergy between the two.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I love that. And I think it's such a beautiful, proactive lifestyle approach rather than band-aiding the symptoms. It's actually just getting to the core of what is going on. Absolutely. I can't let you leave this interview without talking about another concept that I learned for the first time in your workshop. What is yoni steaming?
SPEAKER_00:So yoni steaming is the ancient practice of sitting over a pot of steam and allowing the steam to permeate the yoni, the Yoni is the Sanskrit word for, it translates to abode, which is really beautiful, but it encompasses all of the female genitalia. So the ovaries, the fallopian tubes, the womb, the vulva, the vagina. So there is no Western or English word alternative for that, which is really interesting. So yoni steaming is this practice that heals all gynecological disorders through inviting this steam into the yoni and what the steam does, it It attracts warmth. It brings warmth into the yoni. And the warmth carries fresh blood, which carries fresh oxygen. And oxygen heals everything. We know we're hearing about all these oxygen therapy clinics popping up around the world. So oxygen has the capacity to heal any imbalances in the body, be it endometriosis, PCOS, fibroids. I've literally heard of clients watching fibroids dissolve and coming out through the vagina. It's really amazing postpartum. If anyone has any issues with their menstrual cycle, without even needing to investigate and know too much about what the issue is, yoni steaming helps to create fresh blood, fresh blood flow, fresh energy, and a lot of healing to the womb. It's been done for thousands of years. It was the only gynecological therapy that they used. So any issues, it was all treated through yoni steaming, infertility included. So it's a really amazing ancient ritual. There's no side effects. There's no scary risks involved like scalpels and drugs and all these things that can really affect women's fertility and hormones. So it's a really beautiful, gentle, non-invasive therapy. It's basically free to do. It's been the thing that has really healed my own endometriosis and my own battle with painful periods this is the only practice I was actually on a wait list for a laparoscopy for I still haven't had the call so it's been about seven years and I thought while I was on the wait list you know I just heard whispers of yoni steaming and I thought what could be the worst thing that could happen you know I'll give it a try but And within three months, my pain had reduced so much that I was off painkillers. And after six months, my period was just like another day. There was no pain. I was completely liberated. There was no medicine. There was no surgery. There was nothing invasive. It was such a beautiful ritual and experience that I had. So I can speak for it firsthand. And I've now worked with many clients and guided them on how to perform a safe at-home urinary steam. And the only risk is having the steam too hot and that's the only risk or complication that could go wrong. Otherwise, it's totally non-invasive and if anything, a very spiritual and emotional way to connect with your womb, forgive past traumas and to invite a lot of fresh flowing energy and healing into the womb.
SPEAKER_01:You've got some posts on social media that we can link to if people want some more information on yoni steaming. But it's interesting, I even saw a clinic pop up on, what do you call it, a clinic or a wellness center on the Gold Coast that is dedicated space that you can go and do yoni steaming. So it's becoming more and more common and it's such an interesting activity, I guess.
SPEAKER_00:I will say one thing on yoni steaming is that it has a lot of Haters. So it's interesting. Anytime I post about it, I get a lot of haters. They all come from the very strict Western culture. where they say, this is pretty much their only argument ever, is that there's no science on this. There's no science to say this is safe. And no, there is no science from Harvard. There's lots of anecdotal science. There's lots of research online and there's lots of case studies, myself included. So many people have their own personal experiences, but no, Harvard haven't done any studies. So everyone in the very Western gyno world will shut down anything that hasn't been peer-reviewed studied. I just find it kind of hilarious because it's like I'm speaking from first-hand experience and I've worked with so many clients who have had such amazing results when there's no side effects, there's no risks involved, there's no harm in trying something yourself. So if anyone's out there who's curious about trying it, who has spoken to anyone else who has put it down or shut it down, I really just encourage everyone to listen to their own intuition, try it for themselves and don't listen to the haters because I think there's a lot of conditioning and there's a lot of fear around anything that hasn't been scientifically documented or isn't in the textbooks at uni for medical school. And we're learning more and more that there's a whole world outside of that world that exists. And this has been done for thousands of years. So I think just trust your own intuition and take my word for it. It's incredibly effective.
SPEAKER_01:Let's talk about the science for a second of the rest of the Ayurvedic practices. There is a lot of science now coming out around the nutrition and meditation and things like that. Can we talk a little bit about?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's really incredible. You know, science is now proving to us what Ayurveda has known for thousands of years. And there's, you know, science and studies being done daily on all of the different herbs. I mean, ashwagandha is kind of in the spotlight at the moment as a really amazing adaptogen. We're seeing more and or the powers of meditation and yoga for the nervous system, Ayurveda is really being backed by science. And it's funny because in the community, in the world of Ayurveda, that sort of documentation isn't really important to us because it's much more of an intuitive and a knowing. But for a lot of people, it is really important to have that scientific backup there because Because I think in a world where there's so much information overload, it's really hard to choose what is right for me. And so much of science contradicts other research. So I think when it comes to finding the path forward that's suitable for you, it's about listening to your intuition. And for me, everything about Ayurveda really made sense. I knew that yoga was good for my body and for my mind. I knew meditation was really allowing me to pacify my nervous system. I knew that I didn't want to take synthetic drugs and undergo surgery. I knew that a plant-based diet really worked for me and cooked foods rather than cold and cool and raw foods. I knew that the Ayurvedic diet was really supporting my digestion. So it just worked for me. It just made sense to me. And I've become so passionate about it and I've pursued it because of that. Not everyone's going to have that experience. Different diets and different lifestyles are going to be suitable for different individuals. So I think it's really about listening to your intuition, trialing it out. If you feel called to experience this and you feel called to create balance and harmony in your body, try it out and see how it feels. And if it feels good, dig a little deeper and take on the next thing. Don't think that you have to take on this whole diet and lifestyle overnight. It's a relationship and it is an ongoing process. That's really
SPEAKER_01:beautiful. I often ask my guests about a book that has made a positive impact on their life. But today I want to ask you about your book and the positive impacts that it's made on people's lives. It is one of the most beautiful books aesthetically, not only the content, but like it looks great. Can you hold it up, please? If you are listening to the audio, we'll link to this, but have a little look on camera. Gorgeous. Tell us what can people expect to see in your book and what are some of the beautiful things that it's done for people So
SPEAKER_00:this book is really a great place to start when it comes to Ayurveda. It is broad and there is a lot to learn and to explore. So it's really an amazing introductory, if I don't say so myself. I went through all of my textbooks as I spent years studying Ayurveda. At a diploma level, it was very dry. It was very kind of in the masculine. It was notes printed out here, there, and everywhere. So I wanted to create a resource that would was really accessible and we've sort of designed it in a way where you can almost just flick open to any page and learn about it it's not a textbook there's lots of imagery there's lots of recipes for food for elixirs teas but there's also lots of recipes for DIY beauty and personal care products so things like dry shampoo deodorant toothpaste oil pulling blends and all of these kinds of things because at the core of Ayurveda, we're trying to limit our exposure to toxins and a huge pathway for toxins is through synthetic beauty products that we're putting on our skin. So by taking matters into our own hands and making products that are all made from edible ingredients, we're giving ourselves a much better chance at nourishing ourselves without any of that exposure. And Ayurveda teaches us that if you can't eat it, you shouldn't put it on your skin. So these recipes are literally you could take a spoon and eat them. The dry shampoo is made of chickpea flour, cacao, activated charcoal. If you've got dark hair, cinnamon, things like this. They're actually edible ingredients. Sounds delicious. They really are delicious. They're super safe. And there's also lots at the end of the book, there's a plant-based first aid kit. So it's an apothecary. So utilizing more ingredients that you'll find in your kitchen for different skin ailments, nosebleeds, hangovers, dandruff, whatever it is that you're going through, it's sort of a one-stop shop resource. And The kind of feedback I've had about this book, it's really overwhelming. I've had hundreds of beautiful messages from people all over the world who have used it as a tool for reconnecting with themselves, for healing their imbalances, for healing their issues with food as women. So this is sort of a tool for really helping people to nourish and nurture themselves. their physical, mental and emotional well-being. I've had women stop me on the streets and tell me that it's healed their relationships with their daughters because they've started, you know, making rose body butters together and started making lip balms and started doing these little projects together and it's been a way for them to reconnect. So, yeah, it's been a really, really incredibly well-received book and such an honour to have brought it into this world.
SPEAKER_01:Chaska, it's been so lovely to have you on the podcast. Before we wrap up, is there anything else that you think people should know or any advice that you want to leave us with?
SPEAKER_00:The only thing that I was going to mention, which I've sort of mentioned before when I was talking about yoni steaming, is that we all have sort of a responsibility to take care of our mental health first and foremost. This is the trigger for a lot of our diseases, even if they're hereditary, to manifest in the body. So Taking care of our mental health is really at the core of, you know, we can nourish ourselves with good diets, we can do the yoga and the abhyanga, but if we're sitting in stress and tension all day, we're not going to be able to be well. So at the core of Ayurveda, it's really about pacifying the nervous system. And The one thing that's really stood out to me with Ayurveda is that it's not about removing the stress. If we were to remove all the stressful things in our life, we might have to quit our jobs, leave our husbands, move out to a cave and just live completely isolated. It's not about that. It's about how can I exist in this world and not be stressed by the things that are stressful. So it's about creating resilience. So creating a strong anchor, having an emotional anchor, a sense of dharma, our purpose, and and just not allowing these things to take a hold of us like we do. A lot of our reactions and responses to things come from our old wounds, our childhood traumas, our emotional deficiencies that we've adopted in our youth. So now it's time to rewrite those programs and develop the tools that are going to enable us to be resilient to life's ebbs and flows. And it's really our personal responsibility to do the work and create the relationship with ourselves, do the healing let go detach so that we can exist in these modern lives and thrive and be well
SPEAKER_01:Thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure having you on. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I wanted to say a big thank you for joining us today. My team, our guests, and I pour so much love and time into making these episodes for you. So it would mean the world to us if you'd hit that follow button. If you feel like inspiring a friend today, you might like to share this episode with them too. I hope you have the most beautiful day. I'll see you soon.