I had heard of Ayurveda in the 80’s when I was at school and the Body Shop had trendy small bottle natural perfumes and advertising campaigns were focused on living well naturally. Something Katie Rose my respected teacher on Women and Ayurveda said in a different course I did online many years later was around the owner and creator of the Body Shop Anita Roddick and I instantly knew that the message had got through to me there in the 80’s without me even realising it. I realised that business could be a force for good and that traditions and cultures only succeed if adapted by the current generation in whatever way they can be preserved and used for this good. I didn’t focus on Ayurveda specifically again until a few years ago living here in Australia when a whole lifetime of trying to balance so many aspects of living had passed me by and not so sure I had been doing it too well! Our bodies hold the score for sure. ( Brene Brown you have some incredible wisdom to impart, too! )

To be honest most people aren’t aware that Ayuveda is an ancient healing system with origins in India dating back thousands of years ago is literally one of India’s main health care practices. Ayurveda in Sanskrit the classical language of India roughly translates as “ A life Lived Well. “ Focuses on the individual ‘s constitution at birth and this as the person moves through the different stages of life. Linking this in relationship with the environmental seasons and the synergy of what is naturally available to create preventative practices for physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. ( A future blog as this is so in depth.)

I have always wanted to know how things work and why to be able to understand where it might fit in my life and how it might be of benefit for me. Ayurveda seemed a distant cultures practice that I really didn’t understand or know where to start finding out more and so I didn’t. Life was busy enough and there was never time, with family and work no matter what I did or how I planned I was always exhausted, overwhelmed and tired, sooo tired. Does this sound familiar? Most Mother’s will probably resonate esp ones with shared care or solo care arrangements, Women going through PeriMenopause and Menopause will almost certainly have had some kind of fatigue, and or issues with heat in their bodies. So many of these “Women’s Problems” go by without acknowledgement that the stages of life for a woman should be celebrated rather than dismissed as health problems. When we look at living as a journey in relation to the environment around us and the physical seasons then we can begin to see where Ayurveda holds so much Wisdom. As our children get older and move out, it can be a time of letting go of energy that we don’t need to hold anymore and an emptiness that we don’t need to fill every monument of with extra activities without taking time for the self. Taking time to rest and reset is not doing nothing. Elite athletes spend a great deal of time valuing rest! Why do we not realise this until we become Women in midlife?

I am only at the beginning of what maybe a lifetime of study and practices. I have fallen in love with myself again through studying the timeless practices of Ayurveda and it has given me strength when I have needed it in so many ways.

Ayurveda is said to be the Sister science to Yoga and it holds a flow of creative energy that when practiced in combination in a way that suits your own life style and is actually accessible and not a total chore then the magic slowly begins.

The focus at The Mat Connection is around slowing down and awareness of the Women that you are. Not societies image that leaves the house and shows up at work with a front that no one can possibly guess is holing it all together to provide food for the week, more the real person that is within and acceptance of this Woman as she is, with all the stresses and challenges she is facing.

Through specific traditional treatments of oil flow and massage that combine the use of plants and flowers that bring nourishment and promote relaxation to the body and space to the mind, I am wanting to create community and practices for Woman like you at whatever stage or age in life to be able to experience the Shakti, The Divine Feminine Wisdom in action and prioritised moments of connection over moments of striving for perfection. To find rest within their busy weeks and to find a renewed strength within the challenging times, to be able to pass on to their own families the benefits of better design making, of improved sleep, and creative thought processing, of the importance of self care as a practice not a luxury and that it can be done very simply through Ayurvedic wisdom.