Ayurveda Ireland

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the immune system and how you can boost it at this time of the year.  I have included this question at the bottom of this section for those interested in what I had to say, but I wanted to talk about your immune system and how to keep it healthy ALL the time.

The most powerful way to keep your body healthy and immune system functioning at top efficiency is to be following your dharma or life’s purpose.  This doesn’t have to be something grand or over the top, but it’s what your heart and inner drive has been driving you to do all along.  Some people don’t know what that is, but most of us do.  And what stops you from connecting to your dharma is your drive for money.  Did you know that if you followed your dharma that you would be completely supported?  Not only that but your health would improve and life becomes sweet again.

But on a more grounded practical level the immune system is responding to the impulses of your mind.  When you eat something and you tell yourself that it’s bad for you and you feel guilty because you ate it, your body will treat the food as if it was bad for you and you will feel awful.  On the other hand, if you ate something that wasn’t necessarily “good for you” but you enjoyed every last, tasty morsel and you sent the message from the mind to the body that it was fantastic and was just what you needed then that food is able to assimilate with your body and create health.

The most perfect example of the mind impulses guiding the body is with the placebo effect.  If you truly and utterly believe you will see the results in your physical body then you will.  To me this is one of the most important aspects to our health, the use of the mind to tell the body that it is healthy, but there has to be complete belief in that or you will not get perfect health.

Stay focused, positive and look at things as having purpose and meaning and you are sending a strong message that all is well in your body and so your immune system is strong and healthy.

Is there anything quick and easy one can do at this time of year to kick-start a jaded immune system?

A: The immune system is our bodies defense against disease and at this time of the year we are all more susceptible to low immune systems.  To boost yourself you can do the following:

1. Make sure all of your food is fresh and seasonal.  Fresh, seasonal foods keep us balanced no matter the time of year.  Nature provides you the right food at the right time in the same country so honor that and eat fresh and seasonally.
2. Avoid ice cold anything.  The temperature outside is cold and we need to make sure we are eating foods that are opposite to what nature is giving us.  Ice cold foods will lower your immune system and make you more sluggish, tired and cold and will hinder the digestive system.
3. Eat warm, moist, cooked meals.  Warm, moist, cooked meals are the best body boosters right now.  These are the easiest foods to digest so keep it simple and make sure your foods are cooked (at least in the Winter months).
4. Eat foods you know you can digest.  If you get gas/wind, acid reflux, indigestion, constipation, burping or anything that isn’t perfect digestion then make sure you are aware of those foods and eat simply.  Whole grains, 1 protein and cooked vegetables with a little oil will keep your immune system happy.
5. Do what inspires you.  Nothing boosts your immune system more than doing what makes you feel connected and inspired.  No matter what it is, do it!!  Your passion to do whatever inspires you is one of the reasons you are here on this earth and when we are doing our life purpose we not only boost our own immune systems, but we inspire those around us.

I have been on this spiritual path for as long as I can remember and I’m just now understanding things that I had questions for so long ago.  I suppose the time had not been right until now.  One of my main questions while journeying on this path of remembering was how did I know the difference between God’s will and my will (ego will).

I brought this question to a priest of a church I was once a member of and he answered, “You will just know”.  I brought this question to the Swami at the ashram I was living at and she said, “Ask your question and wait for the answer.  In that way you will know it is God’s will and not your own. God’s will take’s time while your will wants the answer now.” I remember having this question for a very long time and everyone I brought it to did not give me an answer that satisfied or “felt” right.  Yet, I continued to ask as I believed that someone other than myself must be able to answer this question.

The answer to this question came to me once I realized I was on my own and had nobody else to ask.  It came to me as an epiphany.  I was going through, once again, a life drama and wanting to know if I was making the right decision.  Now, to me the “right” decision is about what my divine guidance would want, not what my will would want.  And just that easily I had a “feeling” that gave me the answer.  This feeling was not an emotion but was more of a deep, intuitive, gut feeling.  I was without a doubt of what I was supposed to do.  And with that, I was also without a doubt how I know the difference between God’s will and my ego will.  That “gut feeling” came from the center of my being and told me what I should do.  What had been missing all along is awareness of that’s where I should have been looking in the first place.

Now I want to help others find that area of intuition.  I want to help them connect so they know in what direction their soul or God’s will wants them to go in.  We should all be checking into that area every single day with every question we have until it just becomes second nature to tune into that area for everything.  I will always begin by guiding people to what foods are best for them because if you are not eating healthy foods that are balancing for your body it is very difficult to tune into that area and to “feel” or sense the answer.  And secondly, I will look at lifestyle habits that are creating blockages that are keeping you from tuning in.

We all have this innate ability and it is God given.  We need to connect with it again to guide us in making the choices and decision for our health, well-being and spiritual growth.