Latest / The Inner Well Podcast / Better Together: Ayurveda + TM for Health, Wholeness & Deeper Relationships
Transcript
- The Inner Well Podcast: We all contain a space within that when enlivened and nourished will support us with unwavering stability, expansion, and peace of mind. Join us each week as we dive into honest, grounded conversations about transcendental meditation, consciousness, and growth, and what it means to live an integrated life supported by a foundation of creativity and calm. This is the inner world. Welcome back to the Inner Well Podcast. I am so excited to be here this week with my dear friend and TM student, Mary. One thing that I've found really fun lately is asking people to introduce themselves without telling me what you do for work. I actually love that you do this. So to me, that's such a clever way to because people get so caught in describing themselves by their word. I love to be outs outside. I love to be outdoors and to hike. I love to read. I'm very much a student of life and I love gardening. It's like probably my biggest hobby. And newest hobby is making sourdough. So ⁓ definitely love to Always be learning, engaging in new things. ⁓ dancing is the newest one that I really want to get into. And I know you do a lot of that. So fun. What kind of dancing? All kinds. So when I was younger, I actually did some ballroom dancing. My husband and I have been talking about how that's something we want to do. So definitely in the next few months, hope hoping to get into a schedule of doing that more. I love it. So fun. We're here because you came to learn transcendental meditation with me. Six years ago? I think it was six years ago. Yeah. Wow. Time flies. Wow. ⁓ and you initially came to learn this because you were a student at Maurishi International University. Yes. ⁓ tell me a little bit about that journey, what led you to studying there, and then you know how TM came into play. So I started studying at MIU because I was going through Health journey, and I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, and I think it was around 2018. And at that time, I was just doing some research on like how does somebody live like a really healthy, vibrant life. And so I stumbled upon Ayurveda. And you can get a master's degree in Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine at MIU. And so now I was originally just looking for a simple course. And when I saw that, I was like, okay, well. It's around 2020 and I had a lot of time on my hands. And I was like, okay, well, I'm gonna go back and get a master's degree. And to go through the program, you had to learn transcendental meditation. And I had practiced meditation prior to going to MIU and all that. And so I really kind of had a little bit of an ego about it and was like, I don't need to learn another meditation. I know how to do this. Like, you know, but I was open to it. And because I, you know, Wanted to be a good student. And so when I came, I was like, I know how to do this. Like this is fine. This is gonna be, you know. And that very first day that I learned, it was totally different than anything I'd ever experienced. And I had been meditating probably for four or five years prior. Mm-hmm. And so I thought, you know, I knew how this goes. I know how I know how this goes. And that very first session, I felt so much deep peace and relaxation that I had never felt in my life. I had so much stress and anxiety from just living a life of so fast-paced, being an you know, an entrepreneur and just really trying to live a life of that was fast-paced and that was accumulating, and I didn't realize it. And I love the expression that ⁓ one of your co-hosts used in another episode where she said, It was like turning on a light in a dark room that you just didn't know was dark. And that's literally what I felt that very first day. It was like I had jumped off this cliff and I was free-falling and just there's no ground below me. And I was just so light and free. And I just really can't express what I felt that very first time that I meditated with you. And it was life changing. And it just literally solidified my belief in the technique. And I It ever since. Wow. And I love hearing these moments. You said you'd done a bunch of meditations, different forms of meditation prior to that. What did your practice look like with the other techniques that you were practicing prior? So prior to it, I was doing more mindfulness practice and ⁓ other mantra-based practices to where you'd sit and you chant these ⁓ longer mantras and And the mindfulness, it was like being mindful of my movements throughout the day, things that I was doing, watching my thoughts as I was moving through the day. And while all those were great and still very, very helpful, they didn't give me what TM gave me that very first time that I practiced. The way that it let me transcend my thoughts and my mind and just really get into a place deep within myself that allowed me to just relax and know that. Life was okay. And it gave me this space within myself that I didn't even know that I had access to. And I you call it the inner well. And it's this space within myself that I could just be in life was okay. And I just hadn't been able to access that in any other form of meditation that I had been doing. I love that. That's often how I describe the effect this has had for me. And I feel really lucky that I got to learn this technique when I was A kid. So I don't have that contrasting moment. I honestly don't really remember life before TM because I learned when I was so young. ⁓ and sometimes I wish I had that dramatic life-changing story and that clear, you know, before and after. But the w way I often describe it is just this kind of deep connection with a place where I know everything is okay. Yeah. And that even when it's not, even when we're dealing with life, because life is always thrown stuff at us. And that's just part of the human experience that we're always going to inevitably deal with the ups and downs, but the ability to very quickly, even in the midst of whatever might be going on, very quickly return to that place where things are okay. I was very anxious and I struggled with a lot of like excessive thinking and just just didn't have the best mindset regularly. So within weeks, my husband really started to notice notice a shift in how I was like showing up in different situations, whether it be with roommates or with him, and different things that would normally stress me out or feel overwhelming. I was more focused at work and just being able to handle my day easier. And so it intrigued him enough to want to learn too. Within several months, it was probably like six months later, I think he learned. And it helped him so much, but in different ways. So it helped him, because he's an entrepreneur and that is very creative and a musician. And so it helped him be even more creative with his songwriting and his business ideas and then also just the stress of being an entrepreneur can be very, very overwhelming with business. And so to have this place that he could go to just connect with inside himself, get clarity and to just release that accumulating stress. And it's so simple. You know, it's effortless and you can literally do it anywhere, anytime. As long as you're not driving, you're fine. It's that easy. I love that. You would be surprised how many people ask me if they can do it while they're driving. I'm like, please don't. Just you know, for the sake of maybe mindfulness mindfulness practices maybe would be best there. Be mindful of your driving. Yeah. It's a good way to put it. ⁓ Well, speaking of mindfulness practices, just I wanna circle back a little bit more to this distinction because TM is a technique that utilizes a mantra. And you mentioned that you've done other forms of mantra-based meditation and that there were very different experiences for you. Will you elaborate on that a little more? And think everybody probably has a different experience with any form of meditation. but my experience with other mantra-based practices. is that the mantras were usually a little bit longer and they had meaning was one of the biggest things. And so it really kept my mind focused on love or peace or some sort of thing that this mantra meant. And so I was constantly thinking about that versus letting go and just letting my mind transcend everything. And so that was like the biggest difference to me was that activity of my mind and keeping me super engaged in what I was doing with those other practices. So well said. I think that that is really one of the key pieces that makes TM so simple and and in that simplicity so effective is that the mantras are meaningless. Yeah. ⁓ and that's intentional because. when we like you're describing, when there's a meaning that engages our intellect and keeps our mind caught on that more active, concrete level of thinking. And, you know, this whole this word transcend, which I heard you you use once, but it simply means to go beyond. So in this technique, the whole premise is that we're allowing naturally our mind to settle down, to go beyond that active thinking level, to go beyond that more concrete level where meaning resides. And by having a meaningless sound, ⁓ it allows that to take place automatically without us trying or forcing or straining or kind of manipulating the mind in any way. It happens so easily. It's just effortless. And that and that's like one of the other things that I love so much about it is that I don't need to have a mat with me. I don't need to have these cushions. I don't need to sit in this a very specific way. I don't need to hold these mudras with my hands or do any Anything elaborate, it's just so simple, the technique. And so you literally have it with you at all times, anywhere you are. And that's one of my favorite things about it. And so Logan and I also, ⁓ it's so special that he also knows because we practice every morning together. We usually always get the second one in together because he'll be at work and you know I might be somewhere else. But that morning one, we always get it together. And it's so beautiful. how that's affected our relationship. It's grown us in ways that I can't even, you know, explain of how connected we are now with having that practice to where we're more present with each other, peaceful, mindful of just how the other ones showing up and ⁓ being more understanding. It's broadened us in just our conscious awareness of ourselves and then bringing that to the relationship, which is just so magical. I love that so much. It is such a beautiful thing to be able to share with your partner. And you've also taught my mom. Yeah. How is she doing? So she's doing amazing. So she learned ⁓ shortly after it was actually I think a few years after my dad passed and I had learned TM and she was seeing these amazing benefits in me also and just how I was you know communicating with her and you know talking with her about what she was experiencing and I encouraged her to learn TM because she was dealing with a lot of ⁓ depression, anxiety, and just learning to live without a partner that she's had for many, many years. And so she came up here to Tennessee and went and learned with you. And since then I remember when I checked in with her, it was just a few, it was probably a month or so after she learned. When I checked in with her, she said that she felt like she could live another hundred years and be perfectly fine. That she felt so at peace with life and how it was evolving and she was okay with it. And that she had a deeper understanding with herself and what she was moving through. And so the beauty of the technique is that it it touches people in so many different ways. Like you know, me struggling with, you know, mental, you know, ⁓ anxiety and all that, and my mom with, you know, loss, and then my husband with being an entrepreneur. So it's like there's so many ways that it can touch you. And it doesn't matter what you're going through or what your situation is, there's benefits. And it's just so matchable. Why do you think that is? Like on some level it sounds Almost too good to be true. Right that something so simple, 20 minutes twice a day, you're sitting down, doing this technique, and it has had such a profound impact in these really different ways for the people closest to you. Why do you think that is? I think it's really giving us that space to connect with ourselves deeper and dive. deep into this inner well that you speak of to connect with our true self and not be so caught in the situations that we're dealing with and how life can just really, you know, have so many things going on. And we get so identified with those things. And it gives us this space to pull back and really sit with inside of ourselves and connect with something deeper. And I don't know the mechanics of it, but I've seen it touch so many people. And even so after I graduated from MIU to be an Ayurvedic practitioner, the my clients that I've sent to you also have had incredible experiences with it too. And the way that it touches you in so many different ways, it's usually not just one way for me. It's helped expand me beyond just helping with anxiety. It's helped me be more creative and just you know, grounded and present with everything in my life. What are the ways that creativity has showed up for you? So painting and then also digital art. So I've really gotten into creating, like so for our business, I do a lot of the graphic art design and I absolutely love it. And so branding and stuff like that for businesses is something that I really enjoy doing because it's brought out the side of me to where I look at life in a different way. And it helps me blend it into digital medium. And it's just a lot of fun. So I really enjoy it. How cool. I love that. And I didn't know that about you, the art, you know, the art piece so much. ⁓ well, you've mentioned your businesses. I wanna hear about you. So you did your master's in Ayurveda. And actually, will you briefly explain to us what Ayurvade is all about? Yes. So Ayurveda really it means the science of life. So Ayurveda isn't just a wellness practice. A lot of people limit it to that, which it is. It is very powerful in how it can help you find balance and healing in your life, but it really looks at your life in a holistic way and helping you understand how to live life in balance with all of nature and everything that's incorporating from your relationship to your business to your health to How you're showing up, you know, just in the world in general. It helps you look at it through a lens of seeing it and understanding it and just bring harmony and bring it all together. That's so beautifully described. And where does it come from? So Ayurveda originated in India. It's over five thousand years old. And it actually ⁓ came to the West through several teachers, one of the biggest ones being Maharshi. ⁓ in Also the founder of Transcendental Meditation. And the program there at MIU is absolutely beautiful in the way that it really teaches you not just how Ayurveda looks at imbalances, but it also showed us how Western medicine looks at different disease and imbalances in the body. And it helped us to see both sides of it, and then how Ayurveda also sees a very similar imbalance in the body. But goes far beyond the understanding of what Western medicine has. So there's been so many studies here recently to show how Ayurveda is actually proving what was known so long ago. Today, our understanding of like how the body works and integrating these ancient understandings of the body today and proving that they knew it so long ago. And it's fascinating to To see this. And it's just been beautiful as I've personally integrated Ayurveda into my life and my husband and how the transformation in our own personal lives it's had. And so we've ⁓ our other business that we started, we run Nashville Ayurveda here, which is our local practice. And then because of the transformation that Ayurveda has to offer the world, we've started Vedaville, which is a global online Ayurveda community for people. To come together all around the world and connect and learn and to, you know, meet others on a holistic journey for health and help them understand, you know, they can be a part of a supportive community to integrate these practices into their life. You can kind of think of it almost like Facebook, but for Ayurveda and specifically dedicated to Ayurveda, no ads, nothing like that, to where it's just a place to connect. You can find other practitioners there in your area. It's not. necessarily a marketplace platform. It's more of just like a community that is dedicated to connection and sharing the wisdom of holistic health and with the roots in Ayurveda. It's an incredible platform. I've checked it out. ⁓ If someone wanted to find that, where would they get connected with Vedaville? So you can go to ⁓ join.vaitaville.com and then ⁓ you can also ⁓ connect with us ⁓ On social media at Vedaville, and then our local practice is NashvilleAyurveda.com or Nash.veda on social media. There was one piece there that I think is so important to dive into a little more. They come from this same ancient Vedic tradition. And the fact that these practices and techniques and this wisdom that has been around for thousands of years is so relevant and I would say essential to our lives today. And that that they knew, you know, what even though it was a a different time and the stressors and the pace of life and the things that people were dealing with may have been different on the surface. There's this kind of universality to the principles of of balance and peace that are equally as relevant today. And that now we have this lens of modern science to kind of look at it and validate it. I just think that it's ⁓ a incredible thing and such an important thing because so many other forms of meditation that are out there today ⁓ just don't have that depth of connection to a lineage, to a tradition of of wisdom and and teaching. Mm-hmm. That's been time tested and proven for decades. Any other thoughts that you'd like to share? My ⁓ greatest TM moment I think in the beginning that kind of stands out to me is when I it was only it was probably a few months in when I was practicing and I remember being in my car and there was like so many life things going on that I I had started a new job because at that point I was you know transitioning into working more with my husband and you know figuring out navigating all that with school and there was just a lot kind of swirling and I remember sitting in my car being like why am I not as overwhelmed as I think I I should be and I remember thinking that it felt like I was like in the eye of the storm. Like I was resting in this place with inside myself that was so calm and so peaceful. And where it seemed like there was so much chaos kind of swirling around me. And it was just life. But I remember just being so peaceful and I was like, this is okay. And at that moment, it like really deepened my practice because I was like, I really think the it's TM. It's really what's having that impact on my life to allow this space to continuously grow within me. And it has. And I even today I feel like My car broke down just the other day and I'm having to find an old new car. I was like, could have been super upset about that. I was like, ⁓ I get to find a new car now. And you know, and I don't have worries before I felt like I would be so caught up in that, I'd be so stressed out about it, like worried and anxious, and it's just another thing that's kind of just presented itself that I need to, you know, move through. I love that that you know, we get to continue to see. How the effects of this unfold over time. Like it's a lifelong practice, not because you know you have to keep doing it in order to get good at it. Like you're good at it from day one because it's so natural. You have the experience from day one. And then with the consistency over time, just kind of new layers of the effectiveness ⁓ or the effects of it in our daily life continue to unfold. And deepen and show up in different ways. One of my favorite little gems that Maharishi would sometimes say, he'd say, you know, see the job, do the job, stay out of the misery. And I feel like that just naturally grows when we're when we're doing this. Yeah. Absolutely. What does the inner well mean to you? Ooh, that's a great question. And I love that you didn't give this to me beforehand so I could like think about it or anything. So the inner well to me is this. connection deep with inside myself that is a place where I am my truest self, and that when I'm in that space, what comes forth from me is just in harmony with everything around me. It's this space within myself that allows me to express my fullest being and allows me to just move through life in a way that I'm more present and able to serve. those around me in the highest way. So perfect. I love that. And I love that it's different for you know every person we've asked that to. because it's that universal. Absolutely. Well thank you for having me. Being here and sharing about your journey with Learning TM and those in your life. Thanks for being my teacher and teaching me this amazing practice and changing not only my life but my husband's life and my mom's life and Thousands of other people. That's a wrap on today's episode of The Inner Well. Please subscribe and leave a review. Your support means the world and helps others find us. 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