Understand the ancient studies of health and existence that can change your view of life
If you view yourself as a multidimensional being, then you begin to see your health as multidimensional. When we say “holistic” we mean that everything is considered, not just one part. If you are a mind, a body, and a soul, then all of these parts of you must be healthy for you to say that “you” are healthy. Just as we would say that you aren’t healthy if only your foot is healthy but not the rest of your body, we wouldn’t say that you’re healthy if only your body is healthy and not your mind and soul.
This is a fundamental approach of Ayurveda, the five-thousand-year-old system of health and wellness from India. In the ancient Vedic teachings, we can learn how to become healthy beings by taking all parts of us into consideration.
As a certified Ayurveda instructor, I want to help you understand how to heal by approaching health spiritually.
Your Levels of Existence
According to ancient Vedic philosophers, we are bodies, minds, and spirits, and there are coverings that keep us in a state of individuality. These coverings are like veils that lie between us and our oneness.
We are primarily conscious beings. We are souls. Our truest nature is in the field of pure potentiality. We are all one, and we all have access to the same energy fields to create, experience, and make choices. Our identities have a root in this unity consciousness. There, we begin to experience individuality as a separate soul and consciousness.
We are souls that are manifested into the mind and body.
Ayurveda teaches us that life is energy. Life is a conscious experience. Our health begins at the spiritual level. We are individual souls carrying memories and tendencies in the form of karma, and when those memories move our personality to a place of stagnancy and fear, we are unwell.
We also have the layer of our minds. We become more separate from the oneness and other souls as we move into the realm of ego and thoughts. We see ourselves as individuals more and more.
At last, we are manifested physically into these bodies, in a constant exchange with the environment — our extended bodies. We experience ourselves as separate beings, able to use our five senses in our bodies to understand our individuality. We see and feel these bodies and hear our voices expressing our thoughts, and this convinces us that we are individuals.
When something goes wrong in the body, we are so used to looking at only the body for the solutions. Maybe we ought to be looking at all the levels of life instead.
Ailments Span All Three Levels of Existence
In our purest form, we are in a state of perfect health. However, as life brings us experiences and challenges, we begin to change and take on karma. It is inevitable.
We accumulate changes in our bodies as we move through life, and we also move through changes in our minds and souls. We are very familiar with the body’s ailments and the effects of aging. We know when something is wrong with the body— usually, a doctor isn’t even needed to tell us when something is wrong in the physical realm.
Unfortunately, most of us overlook the health of the mental and spiritual realms.
If something is wrong in the body, there’s some related component in the other realms. Perhaps the problem began in the physical and then moved to the mind, as we have all experienced sadness or other responses toward our bodies not working at their prime performance levels.
Perhaps the problem began at the karmic level in the spiritual realm, carrying over from a previous experience or lifetime, causing us to run into trouble in our minds and bodies. This happens.
Sometimes our minds aren’t flowing smoothly through experiences and thoughts. This causes our souls to take on that baggage as karma. Our bodies could also respond by being unable to build and regenerate themselves properly with the energy coming from the non-physical realms. The lifeforce energy needed for our bodies to be healthy can be blocked.
Consider all three levels of your existence every time you run into trouble in life.
How to Start Healing by Looking at More Than the Body
So, how does one heal by looking at all three levels of existence? The answer: by being mindful. This is a central concept of Ayurveda.
You can think deeply about all the habits you’re forming in your body. Consider the food you’re eating — is it nutritious? Consider your habits, too. You need restful sleep. You need exercise and meditation. You need to nurture yourself at the physical level because you aren’t separate from your body and there’s no quick fix for physical health, as much as the world today wants you to believe.
At your mind level, stay aware of your tendencies. Are you often giving in to depression, or running from confrontation? Are you identifying with fear, and is it causing you to feel stress? Your mind is within your realm and yours alone. Tend to your thoughts. Move your mental habits into a lighter, positive place so you can experience life for all its beauty.
Spiritual health is all about staying aware of your true nature.
To be mindful of your spiritual level of existence, you need to wake up. Maybe you’re already awake. Keep waking up. Don’t ever abandon the pursuit of spirituality. Meditation and inner analysis help. Staying connected to all parts of the universe is important.
Conclusion: Heal Your Mind, Body, and Soul
Health is spiritual. Your existence is not just physical. To truly heal and be glorious human beings, we must attend to all parts of ourselves in a holistic approach to life. Love yourself and allow self-care to be a real part of your days.
Radical change may be in the cards for you. Many of us have allowed ourselves to be too attached to the things that lead us to imbalance and unhealthy tendencies on all levels. Bring yourself back. You’re important — we need you.
Since we are all connected, none of us are winning unless all of us are.
The divine in me recognizes the divine in you.
