THE SCIENCE OF LIFE
Yoga & Ayurveda
Balance within
As sister sciences, Yoga and Ayurveda can help put our lives into perspective in order to maintain physical, mental and emotional balance. Ayurveda means the science of life and is one of the oldest health systems and uses the principles of nature to promote a long, healthy life and to prevent and treat disease. Yoga is more than just physical postures. Yoga means union and it outlines the methods and the practices to liberate the mind from distractions, creating the path to uniting with our peaceful, loving, divine nature. Today, we can use Ayurveda with Yoga and meditation to support our wish for a healthy, vibrant, meaningful life. This is the bridge between ancient practices and modern life.
balance & Well-being
Ayurveda Services & Treatments
Ayurvedic Health consult - in clinic
“Prana is the ultimate healer”. Your in-clinic initial consult includes a pulse analysis and an evaluation of your health history, lifestyle and diet. Working from the Ayurvedic principle of “hetu”, getting to the root cause(s) of symptoms, you will be provided with a personalized health plan to relieve symptoms and balance your doshas- vata, pitta, kapha to harmonize your health with diet, routine, teas, spices, yoga and bodywork.
75-minutes | CA$130
AYURVEDIc Health CONSULT - ONLINE
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Ayurveda recognizes that proper diet and routine and correct detoxification are foundations to maintaining physical, mental and emotional health. Your consult evaluates your health history, diet and lifestyle habits to arrive at a personalized plan to nurture your body, mind and spirit through food, teas, spices and herbs, exercise and self-care routines, tailored to balance your doshas.
On-line
75-minutes | CA$130
AYURVEDIC OIL massage and marma Treatment
Experience the powerful effects of a combination treatment with transdermal marma therapy and massage. Your treatment begins with a pulse reading, followed by a warm oil massage and marma treatment with Ayurvedic herbal creams. Marma means “of a mystical nature”, and are energy points on the body that connect the nadis (energy channels), the chakras (energy centres), and all the organs and systems of the body. One of the most popular treatments I offer.
75-minutes | CA$130
THERAPEUTIC Ayurveda & YOGA SESSION
These private sessions are tailored to your personal needs. Ayurveda addresses diet and routine, the perfect companion to Yoga’s focus on postures, breath work and meditation techniques to address your health goals. These sessions also offer an opportunity to relax, rejuvenate and experience peace of mind.
60-minutes | CA$110
Ayurvedic Head Massage
This treatment focuses on the areas most prone to tension; the face, neck, head and jaw, and is a powerful treatment to aid restful sleep, relieve stress and clear the mind. This relaxing massage also balances energy throughout the entire body.
30-minutes | CA$70
SVA Samadhi Marma and Eye Treatment
With many of us working in front of a computer this deeply relaxing signature treatment of the SVA lineage coupled with transdermal marma for the eyes is the perfect combination. For relief of tired, heavy eyes and relaxing for the mind. Marma points of the upper body enhance the flow of prana in targeted areas that are over stimulated in our technological world. Clients have responded with saying, “…feeling so peaceful”, “more relaxing than massage”, my eyes feel better”. Marma means “of a mystical nature”, and are energy points on the body that connect the nadis (energy channels), the chakras (energy centres), and all the organs and systems of the body.
30-minutes | CA$70
Transdermal Marma Therapy Treatment
During a marma treatment energy points are gently touched to enhance the reception, flow and distribution of energy/prana throughout the body. A deeply therapeutic treatment of the SVA lineage that can help remove energy blockages and release accumulated stress and tension with application of herbal creams to specific points. Creams include brahmi for mind, ashwaghanda for stress, deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) to cool the liver, and arjuna or ashoka for emotional relief. Herbal creams and oils used in all Ayurvedic treatments are creations of renowned Ayurvedic doctor, formulator and researcher Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra.
30-minutes | CA$70
60-minutes | CA$110
90-minutes | CA$150
Full Body Abhyanga Oil Massage
Enjoy a full body massage with warm herbal oils designed to balance your doshas. Abhyanga massage stimulates the lymphatic and circulatory systems, reduces sympathetic nervous system activity to help relax the mind, and rejuvenates the whole body helping reduces muscle stiffness and joint pain, facilitate removal of toxins through elimination channels, and improve health of the skin.
60-minutes | CA$110
Deep Tissue Massage
Deep tissue massage, or vishesh, works the deeper parts of your muscles using more pressure and a firmer grip. This massage works powerfully to relieve stress, eliminate pain and help mobility with long-lasting results.
60-minutes | CA$110
“These treatments have been full of care, which I have found to be nurturing and rejuvenating. Evangeline takes a personal interest in your health. While in her care, she ensures that you feel the full physical and mental benefit of her professional attention. ”
Movement is Medicine
Yoga Services
“I am loving the virtual Yoga classes with Evangeline and look forward to Wednesday as my weekly routine. I have never taken yoga classes before and I am finding it is benefitting me, in mind, body and spirit.”
on-line introduction to YOGa, Breathwork & Ayurveda
These virtual classes are offered as an introduction to seasonal workshops and are free for you to enjoy!
therapeutic yoga
These private sessions are tailored to your personal needs. Your range of motion and functional movements are addressed with yoga postures, breath work and meditation techniques to achieve your goals. These sessions also offer an opportunity to relax, rejuvenate and experience peace of mind.
60-minutes | CA$110
“Like a flower bud, human life has the potential to blossom fully. Blossoming of human potential to fullness is yoga.”
Ancient Holistic Health
About Ayurveda
Ayurveda is an ancient healing system which helps us maintain a balanced, happy, healthy life, and improve the quality of our health and prevent disease. Ayu means life and ved means science. By definition, Ayurveda is the science or knowledge of life. Ayurvedic practices and treatments work from the inside out, bringing your mind and body into harmony so you can enjoy life with energy and enthusiasm.
One of the fundamental principles of Ayurveda is how prana or energy is expressed in life. Inside we are made up of energy or prana. Prana or energy is ultimately derived from the universe. We get prana from air we breath, the water we drink and from the food we eat, therefore, prana infuses life into everything on Earth. In Traditional Chinese Medicine prana is called chi.
In my practice, special attention is paid to prana, the liver, digestion and the physical and energy channels.
Prana and its Components
Prana has three components which come from the vibrational energy emitted by the moon (soma), the sun (agni) and the flow and movement of soma and agni (marut). We know how good it feels when we eat a fresh home cooked meal, or when we are out in nature breathing fresh air. This is prana, enlivening you. The more processed or denatured a food is, the less prana it has, and denaturing also applies to water when filtered, chlorinated and processed. Prana infuses our body, our cells with nature’s intelligence and travel in our energetic channels called nadis.
The Five Elements, The Five Senses, The Three Doshas
5 elements of nature- space, air, fire, water and earth
Our 5 senses are associated with the 5 elements of nature:
Sound- space
Touch- air
Sight- fire
Taste- water
Smell- earth
The three doshas: vata, pitta, kapha are created from the five elements of nature, and their source is prana.
Vata dosha is made up of space + air elements and receive marut energy. Marut energy allows for agni and soma to move and flow.
Pitta dosha is made up of fire + water elements and receives agni energy from the sun.
Kapha is dosha made up of water + earth elements and receives soma energy from the moon.
Ayurvedic Doshas
The three mind-body types or doshas in Ayurveda are vata, pitta and kapha and their source is prana. The doshas are governed by the five elements of nature, which in turn are derived from the components of prana: soma, agni and marut. By definition dosha means that which is out of balance, or trying to stay balanced. Your doshas are affected by what you eat and do throughout the day, by the environment and your digestion.
Vata: space and air elements- governs movement and flow
Pitta: fire and water- governs heat and transformation
Kapha: water and earth- governs structure and fluids
Vata dosha is considered the “king of the doshas”. Pitta and kapha doshas cannot move in the body without vata.
Vata governs all movement and flow in the mind and body.
Pitta dosha is responsible for heat, transformation and metabolism.
Kapha dosha governs structure, lubrication of the body including joints, the stomach, lungs, brain and spinal cord.
Vata, pitta and kapha doshas each have 5 subdoshas, making a total of fifteen subdoshas.
Of the three doshas, vata goes out of balance first. To avoid aggravating vata, maintain a steady routine, don’t push your bed time past 10pm, eat fresh, warm, unctuous meals on time, try not to rush around too much and have daily quiet time.
By understanding the energetic qualities: soma, agni, marut, and how the doshas: vata, pitta and kapha play out in us and interact with our senses, we can understand our symptoms by identify imbalances, and make appropriate adjustments in our lifestyle and diet. We can then bring ourselves back into balance by drawing on food and drink, herbs and spices, colours, environments and lifestyle choices as medicine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Help?
How does knowing my Dosha help me with my health?
The Ayurvedic doshas: vata, pitta, kapha are a gateway to deeply valuing one’s health. We all have vata, pitta, kapha qualities, with varying degrees of each. By knowing the doshas and their energetic qualities you can acquire a deeper insight on the cause and effect principle of food, environment and behaviour on your health. For example, when you go to bed late, or skip a meal, your vata and pitta energy goes high. With these repeated behaviours, high pitta can manifest symptoms like feeling overly emotional, quick to react or anger; high pitta can also lead to acid stomach or skin problems. High vata can disturb circulation and can lead to increased anxiety, dizziness, headaches or blood pressure issues. By curbing imbalances, we protect our body from developing more serious health problems later on. Disease does not happen overnight. Ayurveda recognizes various stages of disease starting with accumulation, which lead to imbalances. Imbalances left unattended can further develop and manifest as chronic conditions or disease.
How does something as old as Ayurveda help me today?
Though the principles of Ayurveda go back thousands of years, they are still relevant today. The knowledge of Ayurveda is timeless, understood by ancient rishis who were completely in tune with their body and mind, and understood the laws of nature and eternal truths. They developed principles on how to live and sustain a healthy life, by living in harmony with nature. For example, the sages understood that most diseases can be traced back to poor digestion or how grains, legumes and vegetables are difficult to digest in humans and thereby need to be cooked. With modern science we know these substances are phytates, lectins, oxalates and other compounds which can create digestive and other potential health problems. Even though these ancient sages could not understand this on a microscopic level, through the use of technology, they understood these facts nonetheless and were aligned with health-promoting ways of living.
What is the significance of yoga, beyond the postures?
There is more to Yoga than postures. Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word yuj, which means to yoke, or unite. Yoga can mean different things to people, yet it is very practical. There is known to be six paths to Yoga: Hatha, Raja, Karma, Bhakti, Gyana and Tantra - all leading to self realization. We can think of Yoga as a very useful manual on what to do to truly understand about our whole self, mind and senses. Just as there are eight limbs of Ayurveda- the sister practice to Yoga for health maintenance, cures, and prevention of illness and disease, there are eight branches of Yoga, as written in detail in the infamous Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, around 2nd century BC:
1. Ethical morals- Yama
2. Self-discipline- Niyama
3. Postures- Asana
4. Control of the breath- Pranayama
5. Drawing in the senses- Pratyahara
6. Concentration- Dharana
7. Contemplation and meditation- Dhyana
8. Union with self- Samhadi
Heart Lotus Health • Lawrence & Yonge, Toronto
