Birthing the book- 'Calm The VATA Down'

Transforming ADHD challenges into medicine with Yoga and Ayurveda.

My name is Kay, and I live on Vancouver Island in Canada.

I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 6.  I took Ritalin from age 6 to age 19.  At this time, I decided that ADHD was not a thing, and I ignored and denied it.  But leaving ADHD unchecked and unacknowledged meant that it was running my life, and a lot of bad decisions were made. Coming to Ayurveda and understanding vata dosha enabled me to understand and work with it in a new way.  I’ve come to understand that there is a volume switch that I can control as I learn how to turn it down. 

This is precisely how Ayurveda has helped me. I have wrestled with mess and frustration for decades. But the practices of Ayurveda have changed my health and my life.  I came to Ayurveda through Yoga, and it has provided me with a way of life that has helped me get healthier, happier and in control of my habits. I’ve spiralled into control, and I’ve learned to trust myself again.   

I feel mentally calmer, with more concentration and focus.  I am so much less scattered, and my mind is way less cluttered.  This means I’m sleeping better, and this has had a knock-on effect on all my other self-care choices.  My emotions are less extreme, and I have more agency over them. Deep and refreshing sleep makes me choose better food, say yes to exercise and show up for meditation.  All this is changing my brain chemistry and neural pathways, making it easier to automate new habits rather than constantly letting myself down.  The mental circle that was once quite viscous is now much more benevolent. On the whole. Of course, I still have ups and downs. But this is the nature of Life.

I’ve lost weight, got rid of arthritic pains and have so much more flexibility and strength.  I’ve overcome addictions, bad habits and compulsions. I’ve transformed my relationship with sugar, exercise, Ritalin, nicotine, alcohol and eating in general.   My self-care is miles better, and I have a daily routine that makes me happy.  Regular meditation and Yoga asanas have provided me with a container for all these remarkable changes to happen.  These practices are changing the way I think and feel.  Learning how and what to eat is helping me to want better and better food and is changing the kind of food that I desire.  I’m not saying that life is perfect, but I have so many more tools to deal with things and inner resources to cope with whatever life throws at me.  Now that I’ve calmed vata dosha down, I can see the woods for the trees and know how to change the things that once felt impossible to change.  And I’m still a work in progress.

Not only have I experienced profound healing, but countless others I know have too.  I’m part of a vast Ayurvedic community of people who are thriving, and I’ve seen it happen time and time again.  We meet together regularly to actively work on our own personal evolutions, and we also explore how we thrive as a collective.  We share candidly about the things that matter, and as a community, we seek solutions to societal and planetary wellness.  I’ll share stories of the kinds of extraordinary and heartwarming leaps that my people make every day throughout this book.

Please know that I am not promising some kind of overnight miracle here.  There is no magic wand or one-off pill. Ayurveda is a way of life, and as such, you are required to show up every day and get real and honest with yourself.  It’s just like Yoga; the more you show up on your mat, the better you get.  If you practice sporadically, you won’t get as much benefit as you would if you showed up every day. Doing little bits every day is better than doing a big session every now and again.  

It’s not that this is cured once and for all; it’s a way of life that, if practised every day becomes automated and easy, but still requires the practitioner to return to the mat for it to work.  Occasional lapses are ok.  Frequent consecutive ones destroy the integrity of the container. The good news is, the practices are deeply satisfying and enjoyable, like a delicious meal that leaves you wanting nothing. It’s a good way of life. 

You don’t have to get it 100% right; just be willing to keep showing up and stop abandoning yourself if you mess up.  Although there is no magic wand, if you follow the practices, magic will happen. And the magic grows and gets better over time.  You will clean up your brain chemistry, strengthen and detoxify your body and find emotional resilience and energy you didn’t know you had.  Possibilities of who you want to become and opportunities in life will open up and astonish you.  

But first things first. If this sounds like something you want and you are ready to roll up your sleeves, you’ll more than likely have to calm the VATA right down first! Don’t worry; even if you don’t even fully get what vata is yet, you will soon be an expert if you keep following these posts.

Love Kay x