Ayurvedic Magazine - Joyful Belly Journal

Happiness, beauty and abundance are the fruits of alignment. We feel the impulse to make decisions to improve our lives. But, behind the impulse to decide is resistance to what is being offered to us, dissatisfaction and ego. We struggle with making decisions instead of acceptance. We can let it happen instead of making it happen. We can let go of the impulse to decide and start noticing and being with the truth.

We climbed the Deccan Plateau, our driver blasting Hindi and Hip Hop, while overhead, tropical, moist trees encroached the new super-highway connecting Bombay to Pune. I felt comfortable, easy, and at home. Somehow, I've become as easy in India as the USA, they both seem beautiful, exotic, familiar and full of surprises.

We arrived a month early and eager to spend time with Ayurvedic doctors, in herb gardens, and bookstores. We toured a wonderful charitable hospital in the center of Pune offering services to the poor. Everywhere we went, our hosts were gracious and offered us perspective on Ayurveda in the land of its birth. All in all, Pune was a profound experience. With a more complete picture of the breadth and many different styles of practicing Ayurveda, I felt I emerged from Pune with a more clear perspective of my own unique gifts and personality as an practitioner.

What follows are some of the specific moments and stories that left their impression on me.