My Tryst With Ayurveda

For several years, I had been feeling a sense of exhaustion. My body constantly ached, and I felt like everything was an effort. I couldn’t sleep at night and I suffered terribly from palpitations which would wake me up with a start. My heart would be thumping in my chest and I believed it was caused by stress.

I couldn’t keep myself—mind or body—still. I craved sugar and my diet was very unhealthy. I was never told I was fat or that I had put on weight but my clothes started to get tight, and when I stood on a scale, I discovered that I was almost 10kg up from my ideal weight.

The crux of my issues came to the fore when I was on a family holiday in Italy attending a wedding. I was rushing to get ready and when I went to put on my shoes, my feet wouldn’t fit into them. My hands and feet were so swollen that I realised there was something terribly wrong with me. On returning home, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease (a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland).

It was soon after that that I broke down and decided that I needed some help. I was adamant to figure out how to reverse the symptoms using holistic therapy, and I booked myself into an Ayurvedic wellness centre in India. Once there, I was looked after by a specialist who oversaw my lifestyle and dietary needs. The therapies were bespoke, based purely on what I needed, and I left there feeling like a new person in just five days.

Determined to continue on this journey, I started researching Ayurveda and started to study it about three years ago. It is a very complex science but using a few of its techniques can make a huge difference. I felt it was the perfect philosophy for me as it made complete sense. I had to make many lifestyle and dietary changes but was able to reverse my symptoms.

Having seen what it did for me, I decided to introduce this powerful science to Lagos and launched Samkhya Ayurveda. Considered one of the oldest healing sciences in the world, Ayurveda originated in India some 5,000 years ago and has its roots in Vedic culture. It believes that each individual is unique and governed by his/her own constitution which is a combination of his/her physical, mental, and emotional qualities. An imbalance in this order causes disease in the body and applying the techniques of Ayurveda can help to restore—and going forward, maintain—this balance.

Ayurveda believes there are three principal energies (called doshas) in us and around us. It categorises these into three types—vata, pitta and kapha. All of us have all three within us but in varying proportions, so while the vata may be more dominant in some, others may have a predominance of kapha or pitta. (This is what makes us all different and therefore when it comes to tackling disease, the one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work). When there is a deficiency or excess of any one of the three energies, the cells in our body are unable to function properly and this is the primary cause of disease. Restoring this balance is Ayurveda’s main aim. While changes in diet and lifestyle work towards this aim, there are certain treatments and daily practices that are also extremely beneficial.

At Samkhya, we aim to help you identify your unique composition and then tell you how to maintain the balance between the energies. Once you start to understand this science of well-being and apply it to your own life, you will find your mind and body becoming the best version of themselves, and I promise you, there will be no looking back.

Call or email Samkhya to book one-on-one consultations, specialised massages, and detox therapies. No: +234 908 568 9321; suchitasamkhaya@gmail.com and follow us @suchita.samkhyawellness on Instagram