Foundation II and Ayurveda
Even though I promised myself to take it easy, only one module a month, I’m still very busy with it. And, I am hopelessly behind on blogging for you. Meanwhile I finished two modules, and it was my intention to write a blog about each one of them. So now I will make a summary of the two of them for you.
Foundation II
The second module of the foundation was very interesting. We got to practice an intake with our fellow students, which was so nice. It is nice to get to know someone you study with on a personal level. And of course I really liked practicing. There is an art to asking questions which I haven’t mastered yet. We have an intake form with a lot of questions and I hear myself asking, do you suffer from this? Do you suffer from that? I laugh about it and try to formulate my questions in a more supporting way. I love the fact that there is a lot of emphasis on making people feel good. Not only focusing on the pain and hurt, but on the person as a whole. I really think this approach is missing in our society. We often look at people and their diseases as their identity. And people often do this to themselves too. But we are so much more, and making people come in touch with this is what I love to teach. This is a big part of my yoga classes already so I feel right at home in this approach.
Another thing we did and I really loved, was observing two intakes from Montserrat. We get to be detectives and try to find out what people are not saying. I am glued to the screen, and make so many notes on both women during the intake. Later we discussed both intakes, and I found the comments of my fellow students very interesting.
I am totally ready to start, but the institute recently changed their regulations. We have to finish all our modules first. When I heard this, at first I was very disappointed. But then they explain why, that it is for your client’s safety and that you will feel more confident practicing. I couldn’t agree more. Even though practicing now would make me happy, it is not safe.
Ayurveda
The next module is Ayurveda. I think Coen and Lies don’t know we are studying the Spanish way (Montserrat is Spanish). Very intense but with long tea/ coffee breaks and even longer lunch breaks. Someone says I don’t have time to walk my dog during my lunch break anymore. We are trying to adapt to this different rhythm, but it is not easy. We are on five minutes tea breaks and one-hour lunch breaks. And even though it is an introduction to Ayurveda, it still is a lot. We learn about the five elements, the six tastes and of course about the doshas. We receive a thick pack of reading material.
Coen and Lies are fantastic and very entertaining teachers. Halfway through the week they ask how everybody is doing and most of us feel overwhelmed and tired. It is a combination, I think, of all the Sanskrit words, the amount of information and yes, the not so Spanish breaks we got used to 🙂 But when we get to practice a case study and find out what we could do to support someone in an Ayurvedic approach we all have a lot to say. So I feel I did learn a lot, which makes me feel energized.
I have one week off for the next module, and we are working very hard on remodeling our garden, so little free time. Although of course being outside all day is a nice change from being in front of a screen. Meanwhile I try to digest all I learned in the Ayurveda module. When I eat I think, is this supporting my Agni? (fire) which I really like. I look at the gardener who comes to remove a tree and think about what dosha he could be. It is nice to look at people through Ayurvedic glasses. Instead of labelling something good or bad, it is more balanced, and it makes it more light. My husband gets worked up about something and I think to myself. Maybe we should eat, he seems to have a lot of pitta dosha going around. And of course it helps 🙂 It is a good thing that everything is recorded, because when the garden is finished I would like to look at some recordings again.
My next module is about the reproductive system. I don’t know much about this subject, so that will be interesting.
