In today’s fast-paced world, many of us are searching for holistic approaches to wellness. Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system of medicine, offers a comprehensive approach to health and well-being. It’s more than just a set of practices; it’s a philosophy of life that promotes balance, harmony, and self-care.
Join us as we delve into the world of Ayurveda with Alexa Berman, a passionate Ayurvedic practitioner. Discover their journey to Ayurveda, unique approach to personalized treatments, and insights into common health concerns.
Can you tell us about your journey to Ayurveda? What inspired you to become an Ayurvedic practitioner?
My journey to Ayurveda started in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I have had chronic migraines my whole life since I was a small girl. It wasn’t until I was attending college that I truly understood that even though I thought I was “healthy,” I didn’t feel healthy. I was fatigued, constipated, bloated, overweight, angry, uncomfortable, hungry, and had an anxious distrustful relationship with food.
I moved to Thailand to teach English for two years to fulfill a dream of mine to travel in Asia, and one of my adventures there was attending a yoga festival. Now this was back in 2008, way before yoga was the conglomerate that it is today, and the event was small, and intimate and offered a few classes on Ayurveda. I will never forget that moment I was sitting listening to the teacher speak about doshas, seasonal eating and living, and this holistic perspective on health that I had never been exposed to before.
I left that festival and booked myself a treatment at the nearest Ayurvedic spa I could find. Before I knew it, the husband-and-wife team became my primary care for those two years, and I was moving back to the US to pursue an education as an Ayurvedic Practitioner.
Ayurveda taught me self-care and helped me cultivate a deeply intimate relationship with my body where I learned to prioritize supporting it through compassion and love versus strict rules or avoidance. My migraines went from 1-2 times a month to 1 or 2 times a year, my gut is functioning at a high level, my relationship with food is positive and nourishing, and I continue to create a life I truly love living all with the supportive base of Ayurveda.
What is your unique approach to Ayurveda? How do you personalize your treatments for each client?
Working with Ayurveda is deeply personal – it is based on the knowledge and acceptance that you are truly unique and that what works for you in health does not work for anyone else. Within the beauty of the 5,000 years of structure and guidance Ayurveda provides, my approach is rooted in the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time you are eating, drinking, and self-caring in support of your highest self. 20% of the time you are living your life and indulging in your desires and joys. Sometimes giving yourself that treat is the best medicine, so I like to make sure that whatever “plan” we put you on, these joys and indulgences are baked into our goal of your most aligned, nourished life.
For each client that comes in, we dive into how you feel in your body, your medical history, your emotional history, your daily diet, habits, and lifestyle so we can get a full, holistic picture of where you are in your wellness journey. I offer the very traditional art of Ayurvedic Pulse Reading and will handpick and hand blend an Ayurvedic herbal formula for each client as part of their treatment.
Each plan of guidance is tailored specifically to what the client is going through and what is best for them at this present moment. My promise to you is to meet you where you are, judgment-free, and help you make this a permanent change in self-care.
What are some of the most common health concerns that you see in your practice? How can Ayurveda help address these concerns?
Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old medical system so it addresses every health concern. I would say Ayurveda is most famous for its gut health and cleansing or detoxing protocols. I will see women for these concerns as well as allergies, weight management, women’s health concerns, skin conditions, mental health, anxiety, depression – you name it.
However, in my practice, the deeper drive and motivation I see from the women I work with is a need to love their bodies and learn what harmony looks like in their own lives between what is on their plates and what they can truly handle. These beautiful women have a need to be validated in their experiences, and lovingly supported and guided to learn to care for themselves the way they’ve always wanted to be cared for.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions about Ayurveda? How can we help to educate the public about this ancient healing system?
Some misconceptions about Ayurveda are that you must be vegetarian, alcohol-free, and generally very restrictive. That is not the case! Ayurveda wants to instill the concept of seasonality into our routines. There are yearly routines, daily routines, and even season-of-life routines. Every food and drink and form of exercise has a seasonal time and place where it is most beneficial or most harmful.
What are your thoughts on the integration of Ayurveda with modern medicine?
Right now, Ayurveda can complement modern medicine well. Our Western model is a curative system – our medical doctors are not taught about how to live a healthy life, they are taught how to address disease. Living a healthy life for them is taking medication to manage symptoms.
But Ayurveda is based on preventative care – if we can adopt a diet and lifestyle that is in true alignment with our own bodies and our own lives then we can prevent disease in the first place. If for some reason we cannot prevent it, modern medicine is helpful to take care of that acute, emergency situation. Managing symptoms is not a vital lifestyle, Ayurveda teaches us how to get out of our own way so that our bodies can self-heal.
