After my pulse diagnosis, I truly felt like new! Fresh energy filled my body and I was determined to open up a new chapter in my life. So I went directly to the health food shop and bought myself the Ayurvedic “basics”, such as oatmeal, ginger, garam masala, basmati rice and green tea. I bought three bags full of vegetables – careful to buy only those types that Dr Mishra had recommended me to eat. Then I cooked a large quantity of rice, put it in the fridge, soaked the porridge, made an apple-pear compote (I was to consume these two fruit varieties cooked) – and I felt like the healthiest person on Earth!
Over the next days, lunch involved basmati rice in all its variations, up served with courgettes, carrots, herbs or turkey meat. I drank lukewarm water, as drinks for those with a Vata constitution should not be too cold, as well as green tea with a little agave syrup. For breakfast I had porridge with my stewed apples and pears, sweetened with a little coconut blossom sugar, and in the evenings I had a vegetable stir-fry or cooked delicious “zoodles” with almond butter sauce. I carefully did my breathing exercises straight after getting up and just before going to sleep and I must say – I noticed the change in my body. Of course a few little culinary “sins” crept in here and there, perhaps a biscuit or a piece of raw vegetable. But I let it go with a clear conscience as the ultimate aim was not to punish myself! I simply wanted to eat much more consciously in general.

Do you remember? In my last blog post I wrote that – probably on account of anaemia – I had always fallen asleep in the early evenings. This however changed after just a few days of Ayurvedic living. At least I no longer felt completely exhausted after a normal day’s work, meaning that I could once more enjoy my evenings! And even my airways felt somehow freed up. These were of course only small steps, but they produced a tremendous feeling of motivation! And so for several weeks I stuck to Dr Mishra’s tips.

After a few weeks and great progress I relaxed my regime, not because it was too hard – it was not. I first forgot my morning breathing exercises, just like that, so to speak. Then I stopped doing them in the evening because I had to work longer and I didn’t want to think of anything else, not even breathing properly. My “normal food” crept back into my diet, because I would be invited to dinner and I didn’t want to cause any trouble with special requests, or because I didn’t always want to cook separately for myself and because my family did not only want to follow an Ayurvedic diet. But I did not forgot the Ayurvedic tips – on the contrary: my copy of the pulse diagnosis is still on my wall where I can see it every day. I know exactly which vegetables I can eat, the fruits I should avoid, and how much spice I can use in my food.

Now, even though I sometimes eat raw vegetables, I try at every opportunity to eat cooked vegetables instead. Although I eat red meat, it is the exception – one that proves the rule: if I can choose, I instinctively make the correct Ayurvedic choice. I drink almond milk instead of cow’s milk, I buy turkey ham instead of smoked ham, I have given up speck and somehow I don’t miss it. And, although I no longer do my breathing exercises, I take a breather at regular intervals, making sure to breathe deeply, because what goes deeper lasts longer. What is left of my Ayurvedic day and Dr Mishra’s pulse diagnosis is a heightened consciousness – and a really good feeling! So, while my life is not Ayurveda, there is Ayurveda in my life.