What you can control..

I’m not generally a doomsday-er. I wasn’t really concerned about Y2K or SARS or the swine flu. With the current coronavirus scare, I also haven’t gone out to the market to stockpile pasta, cleaning wipes or toilet paper. But even as a generally sunny-side-of-life person, it’s pretty hard to not get sucked into the constant fear-inducing newstream, isn’t it?

The way I see it, there are many things in this current ‘epidemic’ which I have no control over - who is next to me in the supermarket, cafe or yoga studio, whether they sneeze, cough or blow their nose, where they visited before our meeting, if they travel or what kind of care they give to their bodies. All outside of my control.. so in other words not worthy of thinking about. Instead, why not focus on what we can control - ourselves. And our own immunity.

The strength of our immunity is called Ojas in Ayurveda.

Ayurveda describes Ojas as the most refined and subtle essence of our body that provides immunity from disease and infection and brings inner contentment and even bliss. Ojas is the vital energy that our mind and body need for health, strength, and mental and emotional wellness.

While we might think of ojas, or immunity, as being a purely physical thing related to how much we sleep, the quality or quantity of our food, the amount of exercise we do and the like, Ayurveda views immunity in a deeper sense. Our experience of the world is not merely physical, right? We also have a mental and emotional experience of our life. This means that how we relate to work, our relationships, our daily activities, ideas we have about rest, play, eating, etc as well as our past impressions, worldviews and even traumas are all part of our immunity. They are all part of our Ojas.

Whether it is SARS, dengue or the current corona virus, certainly contagious viruses which affect large swaths of the population are not new. Of those exposed to the virus, some get affected severely and immediately, some only after some days and others not at all. So it is not just the severity of the virus (which seems to be the only real focus in the news these days) but also at least as important is the strength of the person's immune system to effectively fight it that matters.

What affects immunity, according to Ayurveda? When we are born we are given a certain amount of ojas - from our parents and ancestors, the physical, mental and emotional condition of both parents during conception, and the physical, mental and emotional care our mothers undertook during the pregnancy, what our birth was like physically, mentally and emotionally for mom and child, and the care given to us during our early childhood. This is like our congenital ojas. ....

Ever notice that ever since childhood, some people hardly ever get sick while others seem to be constantly fighting off one thing or another… and that this continues all the way to adulthood?

Sure, good genes play a part, but it is also the physical and emotional care they received as children, whether they were in a loving home with good communication and boundaries, were hugged and loved, got healthy food, and played and moved regularly as kids are supposed to do. Some people got this kind of deep, congenital ojas. A deep immunity from birth and childhood that rides all the way into adulthood. What luck (or karma rather ;)). Some of us had different karma. We were brought up in homes with unhealthy, processed foods, were brought up in homes where we weren’t cradled or physically loved, where perhaps we were criticized or worse by our families. These things all chipped away at our collective immunity -our ojas - and over time, can make it easier to pick up sicknesses, infections and the like.

So there is the birth/childhood/genes component that, as adults, we have no control over. There are also the choices we make EVERY DAY that affect our ojas. Whether we were born with strong or not so strong ojas, we all “pay the price” or “reap the benefits” for what we are doing day in and day out. Even those with deep congenital ojas can start to get sick, or digestive problems, or irregular periods, regular skin rashes or the myriad of other ways our bodies tell us our ojas is wearing down. Even those with deep congenital ojas can start to wear down their immunity by working 70 hours weeks, week in and week out, living on a diet of caffeine, wine and pizza, or regularly sleeping only 6 hours a night during the work week. This all wears down ojas, slowly for some, quite quickly for others.

What we do now. Every Day. This is our creating our immunity —What time we go to bed and what time we wake up, how much and the quality of sleep we get daily, the amount of living, unprocessed foods we eat, the number of hours a day we work, whether we stretch and move or spend most of the day sitting, mentally how we relate to our work and the need to do more, the amount and hours we use our computers/phones/devices, the wine/booze/marijuana or other downers or uppers we use to try to manage our mood, the conversations we choose to have, or not have, with ourselves and others — all these actions and behaviors either build up our immunity or chip away at it, emptying the pot. They all affect our ability to to cope with stressors like viruses and bacteria that are thrown our way.

Ayurveda says we build our ojas by living in harmony with the laws of nature and our outer environment.

What does that mean? Be awake and moving when the sun rises. Get to bed closer to when the sun is setting. Eat when the sun is highest in the sky. Slow down when the energy (the sun) goes down at night. Eat what comes from the earth. Pay attention to your use of things that mimic nature like computers, phones and devices. They contain the energy of the sun within them, so using them during the day makes sense.. at 10pm, not so much. Notice what foods you can easily digest and which you cannot. Notice how your body communicates when it is in balance and when it is not. Care for your mental and emotional bodies through regular rest, meditation and relaxation and practice honest, clear communication with yourself and others.

Simple things. That all affect our immunity. They all affect our ability to be and stay well. If there was ever a time to learn a bit more about how you function best and how to build your immunity, it is now, in my opinion. Learn about your own nature, which we call our primary energy or doshas, learn what foods and exercise is best for you, learn about immunity, diet and digestion, learn about how the earths energies govern your own 24 hour day, the seasons of the year and your life cycle. I cover this and more in my 6 week online Fundamentals of Ayurveda class Essential Ayurveda. Our immunity is not static. We have a lot of control within our own two hands friends! Good news in a time when there is very little good news on that.

So I’m choosing to focus on what I can control - maintaining my immunity. Want to learn more about this and the topics listed above? Enroll in Essential Ayurveda. It starts in 1 month!