Here’s a common scenario:
A friend recommends you to consider Ayurveda for your stress or maybe a health concern. Immediately you do a google search. There’s a lot out there, you read some articles, maybe take a dosha quiz, hop from website to website. Your enthusiasm grows, there might really be something for you in Ayurveda.
No harm done, right? Well….maybe.
I see a clear pattern in people who come after diving into Ayurveda through browsing the internet, and it might surprise you to hear this from a practitioner’s point of view.
It breaks my heart a little to see people who’ve tried some things, then after wasting a lot of time and money end up in my office saying things like, “But I thought that was good for me” when actually it’s going against their health.
Here’s how not to fall into common pitfalls
The problem:
- Isolation v teamwork. Ultimately solving your health concerns has to happen in a community, not in isolation. The web search experience promotes the habit of isolation – not reaching out and finding a group experience that will transform you. Even the Ayurvedic medical texts prescribe a team of no less than 4 people on the healing team.
- Scattering your attention & depleting your energy. Surfing the internet is the time that depletes energy. Think about it – when’s the last time you came away from a ‘quick’ search without getting lost on the web, with the 1 piece of info specific enough to you to transform your health picture?
- Lack of prana exchange. There is a fundamental aspect of healing which requires the intervention of another person(s). In yoga, this energy exchange is called prana. It’s palpable and powerful.
- Dissipates your enthusiasm. Your attention is a valuable resource, and the internet knows it! The moment you access your digital world, there is a competition for your attention. Would you rather dissipate your motivation to take action or shine it like a laser in a direction that will regenerate new health, vibrancy, and enthusiasm?
- Creates overwhelm. Your enthusiasm is right. Your taking action to inform yourself is right. But the overwhelming information tends to confuse people. Ever heard of a thing called “decision fatigue”? It’s when you go to select something, but then you see so many options that you give up and walk out of the store. It applies to our health decision-making, too! When you’re not 100% with your health & energy, you need every drop to be intentionally directed at something effective, not zapped away.
- Inaccurate info. Difficult to find the gem of expertise in the midst of all the inaccurate info. We assume this equation is true: MOTIVATION + PROPER INFORMATION = EFFICIENT ACTION. But without proper guidance and being in the right conversation with like-minded people moving you forward, it doesn’t matter how motivated or how much information you have, the whole thing falls apart.
- Not tailored to you. The biggest strength of Ayurveda and I would argue any effective medical system, it its ability to make the advice individual. What’s counterintuitive is I’ve found I’m able to give better-tailored advice with people following my group programs, because you have the basic foundation and habits in place, so I can give you the advanced specific advice you’re longing for.
- Action is hard. Even if you do get reliable information, the next hurdle is to act on it. Knowing is not doing. Doing is doing. But implementation is hard. Successful implementation happens when you tap into guided implementation experiences.
So you’re a smart, savvy person who is ready to take action for her own health, what *should* you do to avoid wasting time and resources stabbing at the dark on the internet?
What you need to do is find someone who is committed to seeing you through until you come back into full vitality.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to a real person. Whether or not that’s me, I’ll try to connect you with an experienced professional who can give you specific advice and committed support that fits your health needs at this moment. Schedule a free Health Strategy Session today.
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