33. Using Ayurveda to build resiliency in your body with Kristen Timchak

In this episode of the Heal with Grace Podcast, host Grace welcomes Kristen Timchak, a nervous system coach, Ayurvedic educator, and host of the Nourish Nervous System Podcast. Kristen shares her journey in Ayurveda, somatic practices, and how these disciplines have helped her manage her life and health, particularly her experience with Hashimoto's disease. She explains the basics of Ayurveda, including the elements, doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha), and the concept of Ojas. Kristen also discusses practical self-care practices, such as oil massage and mindful eating, to cultivate resilience. Finally, she emphasizes the importance of personalizing wellness practices to align with one’s unique constitution and life circumstances.

Kristen Timchak is a Nervous System Coach, Ayurvedic Educator, Mind Body Practitioner and host of The Nourished Nervous System Podcast.  Weaving Ayurveda and Somatic practices into her coaching work she helps women to gain clarity and cultivate more resilience in their lives.  

https://www.nourishednervoussystem.com

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Grace: Hello and welcome back to the health grace podcast. I'm excited for our guests today. We have Kristen Tim check.

She is a nervous system coach, Ayurvedic educator, mind, body practitioner, and host of the nourish nervous system podcast. She weaves Ayurveda and somatic practices into her coaching work as she helps women to gain clarity and cultivate more resilience in their lives. And I was actually just on her podcast.

And so I'm really happy to have her here to talk about her more specific specialty, into Ayurveda and what that even means, understanding that with the nervous system and somatic practices. So hi, Kristen. Thanks for being here. Hi, Grace. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, you're welcome. So let's just jump right in and tell us a little about you and what led you to become a Holistic Life Coach and Ayurvedic Educator.

[00:00:53] Kristen: Yeah, well, I have been in the Ayurveda world for over 20 years. I went to school at Kripalu many years ago and I worked at a small Panchakarma retreat center making herbal preparations and doing body work. And I've always been more on the education and body work part of Ayurveda and less in the health consultation world of it.

And I lived in California for a long time and I worked with herbs. I had a small herbal CSA and some small herbal lines and everything I did, both in the Ayurvedic work and my herbal work has always been centered around the nervous system. And then four and a half years ago, I had a baby and as happens when one has a baby, my whole entire life changed.

And when my son was four or five months old, the pandemic started and it was just a very stressful time on a lot of different levels. And when my son was two and a half, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's, which is an autoimmune hypothyroid condition.

That started this deep healing practice for me because I had always been interested in the nervous system, but when I had my child self care and the things I had been doing really fell by the wayside, and I felt like I was just. keeping my head above water a lot of the time. And so when I got this diagnosis, I realized that I really needed to get back to my roots and focus in on myself care.

And I'm definitely still in a healing process. It's something that I'm probably going to be working with for my life, but I've gotten to a place where I feel really solid and stable. And I wanted, as I went back into the work world, I really wanted to weave. What I know from Ayurveda and from somatic practices into some meaningful work.

And so I went and did a coaching training and started my podcast. And now I feel like I'm weaving all of the things I love together and helping people with their nervous systems, especially mothers. I love working with mothers because I think it is this really special portal that we go through and life is really different afterwards.

[00:03:33] Grace: So you were kind of inundated with Ayurveda, understanding the nervous system, somatic practices before you became a mom and was diagnosed, correct? Yes. Okay. And so then, then you were able to kind of blend the two. So then, Okay. Can you under, I mean, help us understand what exactly Ayurveda is? 

[00:03:54] Kristen: Yes, I'll do my best.

So Ayurveda, it's a mind body spirit health system that originated thousands of years ago in India. And It can be very complicated and complex, but to narrow it down into more basic terms, it's based on 5 elements, space, air, fire, water in earth, and everything in our world is made up of these elements in varying amounts.

So, like, a feather is going to have more air element where a rock is going to have more earth element and the same is true for our bodies. So, the elements are organized. Into our bodies in three specific dosha's or constitutions. So there's Vata, Pitta and Kapha. Vata is made up of space and air. Pitta is made up of fire and water, but the water is kind of like an oily substance and Kapha is water and earth.

And so basically. Most basic, simple terms is that we're recognizing that we are a part of nature. We are nature everything that happens outside of us and around us. It's also happening inside of us. And. So, when, you know, your own constitution, you have a constitution that you are born with, it actually happens at the time of conception and it's your specific combination of the elements of the 3 dosha.

And it's like your unique blueprint. So. What's healthy for you, what brings you into balance is going to be different than what brings somebody else into balance because your blueprint is unique. And just another principle I'll mention that's really important and central to Ayurveda is that like increases like and opposites balance.

So, if your particular constitution has a lot of air in space, we would call that Vata dosha. If you're flying in the airplane and doing a lot of movement and it's cold and it's dry outside things that increase Vata, your Vata might come out of balance. And so, in order to bring your Dosha back into balance, you want to apply.

opposite qualities. So that's just a basic overview. There's so, so much more to it, but just to keep it kind of simple and let me know if you have any other questions about that. 

[00:06:31] Grace: Yeah. Well, first of all, I, I love the idea or I love the fact that it's really specific to the person, right? So yes, there are these different types that we can understand, but So much about us learning about ourselves, really learning about the nervous system is learning about our specific signals of the nervous system, right?

Like we're all unique and we all need to understand, ourselves and our bodies and how we operate. And so I love how this really pulls on, okay, what's unique to you. And so what do you uniquely need? That's what we talk a lot about on here is, Yes, we can understand, not only just the nervous system, but mental health and certain skills and tools and coping mechanisms, but one, something that might work for someone else may not work for you.

It might not work for us. Right? So I love that there's this aspect of, okay, let's really tune into yourself and understand what that, what is going to help you and where you are. so I first wanted to say that because I think that's really important. And so then how do you. How do you understand, how do you know or find out what, what you are, what someone is, their constitution?

[00:07:36] Kristen: So there's, there's, on many websites, many books you can find about Ayurveda, there's like a list of questions that are asked that are about your physical, Body the way that you, digest eliminate all of these different aspects of our physical bodies. Also, your mental part of your body. it is just you answer all these questions and through these questions, you can get an idea of what.

Your primary dosha is and a secondary, if there's another one, that's really strong and you get a makeup of it. You can also, if you see an Ayurvedic practitioner who does pulse work, they can listen to your pulse and actually decipher what your particular constitution is through your pulse. And just the other thing I'll say about this is I mentioned the constitution, the blueprint that you're born with, and that we call that your prakriti, that's your baseline.

And then Always, though, because we don't live in a vacuum, there's always things that are bringing us out of balance. There's also a constitution called your victory, and this is your current constitution. So, your, your property, your base constitution might be like, mostly Vata, but if you've been doing a lot of things that are bringing Pitta out of balance.

Then, it's. You might have to work on Pitta first, if that makes sense. 

[00:09:07] Grace: Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah, that does make sense, because I mean, like, I think what you're saying is, yes, we're born a certain way, but, you know, obviously, environment, and, you know, just experiences and what we go through and our mind and body and emotions and, you know, everything matters and it all, it affects us.

And so I would assume that, yeah, things are going to ebb and flow. You might have a, an original constitution. that doesn't mean it's going to stay the exact same throughout your life because everything affects each other. Is that right? Exactly. Exactly. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And so I'd love to give some examples.

So I think it actually could be helpful. Could you share how IR beta has helped you with Hashimoto's? How does that affect? Yeah, have you how have you worked with it? 

[00:09:59] Kristen: So, for me, personally, and like I said, everybody's different for me. Personally, I feel like the Hashimoto's was really linked to, my adrenals to my nervous system and to kind of, Kind of going through a place of burnout, after having a small baby and not sleeping well for a long period of time and just the stress of the times. I think there's probably other factors too, but I think that was what kind of pushed me over the edge with it. And so, for me, it's been a few things.

It's been really working with my nervous system. So, in the beginning stages, for me, that meant, Practices like yoga, Nidra practices like oiling my body, which,what I want to say about that. I'll get into that in a little bit, but, practices that really helped me to slow down to nourish my system, taking herbs like ashwagandha that are rejuvenative and nourishing to the nervous system.

The other. piece of it was digestion. And In Ayurvedic thought, everything always starts in the digestive system and it's through kind of chronic imbalance in the digestive system that then turns into disease in other places in our bodies. So I really had to. Work on my digestion. I took gluten out, sugar out, alcohol, and really focused on foods that through listening to my body, I knew felt good.

I knew that I digested well. And I don't, I don't know because I don't work with, I don't work with Ayurveda in a clinical way, but what I feel with Hashimoto's with autoimmune disease, I think it's this. kind of trifecta of working with the nervous system, working with digestion and working with immunity with what we call OGIS.

So those are the things that I've worked with in my own personal journey. 

[00:12:09] Grace: Okay. So it's been again, I mean, actually we're kind of bringing it back to learning about your specific body, your nervous system, your digestion, how it all fixed affects each other and, and probably your lifestyle and environment.

Right. So they play a role. Right. And irate. It gives you the lens in which to look to that or look through that with, is that kind of what you're saying? Exactly. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And then you mentioned this concept of Ojas. can you explain what that is? 

[00:12:40] Kristen: So Ojas is, it's a biological protoplasmic substance in our bodies and it relates to immunity to our sense of vibrancy in vigor.

And The creation of OGIS in our bodies depends on consuming high quality food and the quality of our digestion and in Ayurveda, it's not just the digestion that happens in your stomach, but at each layer of the body. Tissues being formed, there's a digestive process that happens. So it's all of the digestive processes working well to create this substance.

That is, and it can be depleted by too much stress by overwork by over exercise. Like, if you think about burn out, it's like, we've literally burnt out the just and so they just has this sort of milky substance. If you think about a baby and the way that their eyes glow and the softness of their skin and just kind of how they radiate this health and vitality, babies are full of OGIS.

And as we move through life, just because we're living in, especially I think for our modern Western worlds, we're living in a world that's very stressful, that where we often overwork, where our diets often, Are not high quality, or even if we are eating, Lots of fruits and vegetables, even the quality of those vegetables has diminished from what it used to be.

And so the, oh, just diminishes. And when is depleted, we're less resilient. We're more susceptible to getting sick. We're more susceptible to burnout and. So the more that we can do things that help to both protect our OGIS and create OGIS, the more health and vitality that we experience. Mm. 

[00:14:53] Grace: Okay. I kind of reminds me of thinking of like life force energy, right?

Going moving through us, moving through our bodies and, and how much of that matters when it comes to the relaxation response of our nervous system. Right. So I'm hearing that, you know, again, it's not just one thing, right? Like it's not just diet. Sure. You know, nutrition affects our bodies, but That's just one little piece of the puzzle.

There's so many things that affect us. And if we're learning about how to take care of that, take care of our bodies, take care of our nervous systems and the way that fits us again, I, I keep bringing it back to this because this is kind of what you're saying. And I love it though. I love this message that it really just.

Yeah. It really depends on, what's specific to us and how you're taking care of yourself. So that's an interesting way. I, I like the idea of all of understanding actually that, that biological substance that's going on, that's happening within us. So that's interesting. 

[00:15:52] Kristen: Yeah. And it's funny what you said.

There's, it's kind of like the Ayurvedic nerd joke is, you know, whenever somebody asks a question, the answer is it depends because just like what you said, it all, it all depends on so many different factors. Yeah. 

[00:16:09] Grace: Yeah. And I mean, yes, of course it depends. And also, you know, it sounds like, like you were even sharing with, about yourself that, There are still some of these it depends, but there are some of these, areas or structures, if you will, like, buckets of.

What we can do to help ourselves, meaning helping ourselves through environmental changes. what we're putting in our bodies, we're putting around our bodies who were with, you know, all of those things affect us, but the details of each one might be different for person to person. 

[00:16:41] Kristen: Exactly. And another part of that is that when it comes to resilience in the nervous system.

Mm hmm. A Vata person who's air and space, like, if you think about the qualities of air and space, it's light and dry and mobile and erratic and subtle. And vata rules the nervous system.

It's related to the nervous system. So that person who has more of those air and space qualities, those subtle erratic qualities, they're going to go out of balance more easily than a person who has more of the copper qualities, which is earth and water, which is more strong and stable and slow, and they just have a more kind of solid constitution.

So it's going to take it. A lot they're gonna be able to handle a lot more stress before they go out of balance. Pizzas. Also, the fire constitution can also be a bit more subtle. I feel like they have a stronger constitution for. Then then Vata, but they have a tendency to burn out because they push really hard.

They have that fire and that motivation and that drive. So, yeah, basically, just just what you're saying that. It all depends, and depending on your constitution, you might be more or less susceptible to to your nervous system going out of balance. And we live in a world. That's very Vata aggravating. We live in a world where we're moving quickly.

We're rushing. There's a sense of urgency. We're on screens, which are mobile and subtle. We're doing all these things that are already creating a lot of Vata. So I think most. people can work on unbalancing Vata in their lives. 

[00:18:29] Grace: That is really validating. You don't, whoever's listening to this, she does not know this, but you're basically, you're really helping me because I'm much more Vata and it's very validating to understand this.

You know, I, I learned about it when I went through yoga teacher training and, I, I haven't delved a whole lot into it, but. learning a little bit more about Vata has helped, but even just you describing it and understanding that, you know, the water and the air and how to balance that. and how, yeah, I mean, when I think about it, I just always feel so much more sensitive.

I can't handle as much maybe stress and things, you know, as maybe the person next to me. And it's been a journey of really honoring that and having to understand it and, kind of being pulled out of that and Yeah, it's, but it's, it's helpful to hear you talk about it. 

[00:19:18] Kristen: Yes. And it's, it's not a weakness.

It's not, it's just the constitution and that constitution brings other gifts as well. So I, I totally relate because I also have a lot of thoughts on my constitution and we have to work, especially in this world. If we were in maybe, you know, living thousands of years ago in a more indigenous Society, it might be different for us, but in this present world that we're in, we have to work a little harder to keep our nervous systems in balance.

But there's other gifts that come with that, like the flexibility and the creativity and the vision. And so it's just, yeah, accepting all, all of the package. 

[00:19:58] Grace: Yeah. Which I think what you were saying is relating to this resilience. We can understand ourselves a little bit more. We can understand how we're a little bit more resilient within our, within our constitution.

Yeah. Yeah. Is that right? Right. Exactly. Exactly. Okay. So what are some practices that help with cultivating this resilience within ourselves and our specific constitution? 

[00:20:24] Kristen: So like I said, it depends. It depends on your constitution, but, but within, within that, I think there's different and I'm sure you.

Talk about this as well, but there's different areas that I think are really important for cultivating resilience. And so I think, you know, what we put into our bodies, the food, if we're taking herbs or supplements and, um. It doesn't matter necessarily. I don't think there's one specific diet that's right.

I think that we all need to discover that either through help through a practitioner or through listening to our own bodies, but being mindful of the food and the herbs and how you eat as well. If you're eating on the run all the time, or if you're actually able to sit down and eat a meal at a table, you know, I think creativity and learning are huge for cultivating resilience.

I think that exercise and like everything else, it's going to depend on your constitution, what kind of exercise, how often you exercise, how hard you exercise, what's going to be best for you in your specific situation. I think. What we take into our minds is as important as what we take into our bodies with food.

I think the, the sensory. Perceptions that we take in what we watch what we read what we listen to it. We have to, we have to digest and process that information the same way that our body has to digest our foods. So it's not to say, like, don't don't do it. Binge out on, you know, a show or anything like that.

But just knowing that, how can you balance that out? If you go down that route, how, what are some things that you can do to feed your mind? Is there meditation, breathwork, inspirational reading, other things that you can help to balance that out?, so the other piece that's really important is connection.

So whether that's connection to other humans in your life, feeling a sense of community, it can also be connections to pets, to animals, connections to plants, whatever it is, but finding connection in your life that feels meaningful for you is really, there's been a lot of studies that show that it's really good for the nervous system.

And. Also connection to something bigger and that can look so many different ways that can be, connection, connecting with nature to the cycles and seasons that we're in. It can be connecting if you have a religious or spiritual practice, it could be connecting in that way, but having those different types of connection can really help with resilience and nervous system health. And then specifically for Vata constitution, the qualities of Vata are light, dry, cold, subtle, mobile, erratic. If you're working with the Vata constitution, which relates with the nervous system, which, as I said, is very prevalent in our current society.

I would say some practices that are really beneficial for that are using oil, whether that's maybe putting some healthy fat and oil in your food or actually putting warm oil on your gut. Body. So if, if like increases, like an opposites balance, I just told you the qualities of Vata. So the qualities of oil of warm oil are heavy, unctuous, slow, smooth, warm.

grounding. So when you put oil on your body, it helps to physically balance out the vata dosha. And one way that I do that is I keep a little bottle of oil in my bathroom. I warm it up before a shower. I just underneath the sink, I run, I have like a glass bottle and I run it under hot water underneath the sink.

And then I just put a bunch of oil onto my dry skin. If I can, I will hang out with that for five or 10 minutes, let it soak in. And then I just take a hot shower and let the oil penetrate into my body. And in Ayurveda, there's a word for oil. The root word in Sanskrit is snehana, which is like oiling oneself.

And sneha is also a root word for love. So it's this idea of putting this coating of love. and protection on your body. So that's a specific practice that can be very helpful for Vata. I love that. Does it matter the kind of oil? It can also depend. Sesame oil is more warming, so that's great for wintertime, fall and winter.

That's great if you have a lot of Vata in your constitution. Coconut oil is cooling, so that can be good if you've got a lot of pitta, if it's hot out, the heat of summer. Coconut oil can be great or like almond oil is, or sunflower seed oil is more like neutral. You can also, if you go to a place like a website, like Banyan botanicals or another Ayurvedic website, you can find specially formulated oils for your constitution.

I've had 

[00:26:01] Grace: that practice done before actually on me. I've done one of those oil. I can't remember what it was and it was wonderful. And, you're not reminding me that. That was very much so needed in my life right now. So thank you. Yeah. And it's a, it's a wonderful self care practice. Like what you're talking about is yes, of course it's going to, neutralize or really balance out, what we're trying to balance and at the same time, even the act of it, even the act of applying and taking time and slowing down and giving to yourself, that practice could be really nourishing.

I mean, some of the. Vegas nerve and nervous system practices that we teach are giving yourself really slow and gentle touches, right? And massages and just opening up the, I don't always say this, but opening up the naughties and things like that. You know, I mean, Really having to understand how to slow down and give ourselves what we need.

means practicing the slow down, practicing these practices. And yes, maybe it is five minutes before the shower, but that five minutes can mean a lot when you're really intentional and you're breathing and you're just paying attention, you know? So, I love the example of that practice. Thank you. 

[00:27:18] Kristen: Right.

Cause it's also, it's, I think that's something as a Mother that I've discovered is that I just really don't have a lot of time, but that doesn't mean that I can't still slow down and give myself the self care. It's just prioritizing it. And, and knowing that that five minutes is still something like I don't have maybe the hour to spend doing it right now in this stage of parenting, but I can take that five minutes.

And it does, like you said, when you're present to it, it does make a difference. It does help. So I think that's. An important part of all of it as well is not thinking, Oh, I don't have time for these things, but finding, finding the time. 

[00:28:03] Grace: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And, and again, yeah, like you said, it does not have to be an hour.

That five minutes really can matter. That 10 minutes really can matter just slowing down and being present. But we often, our minds conceptualize that five minutes as a big deal or a big time commitment. And Honestly, I think part of that is because it is harder for us to slow down and be present. Things can come up if we, if we do that, you know, so there's definitely other layers to it as well.

but even just getting started with something physical, a physical practice to slow down can be really helpful to engage your mind and your body. Yeah. And I agree. And yeah, it makes sense. I mean, we're using your, our bodies to slow down and that's exactly what you're, you're doing. Talking about an engaging mind, body, and spirit.

sometimes we just disengage from the body so much that that is maybe one of the areas we need to go to first. Yeah. Okay. Is there anything else around what we've talked about that you feel is important? 

[00:29:07] Kristen: well, one little tidbit about the. That kind of along with the self massage is that I know you talk about neuroplasticity a lot and I know there's been some studies that show that physical touch that having, um, that having that.

The, how do I want to say this to having that physical touch basically helps the body to complete stress responses, which can help with our neuroplasticity and it doesn't have to be touched from somebody else. If you give yourself that slow nurturing healing touch, it can actually have the same effect as getting that touch from somebody else.

So that's another piece that I find really interesting. And yeah, I think that's it. 

[00:30:05] Grace: Yeah. Thanks for saying that. Thanks for noting. It's I think a while back I did a, there was a trend going around and I think I followed it of putting saying that when you put your hand on your heart, it activates the same part of your brain when you get a hug from someone.

So that's what it made me think of because yeah, it is, it's very much so important and it creates those neural pathways that helps you feel connected. So, yeah, yeah. Awesome. Okay. So, let us know where can people find you and how do you help people right now? 

[00:30:36] Kristen: So right now I am mainly working one on one with people and I, like I said, I like to bring in the Ayurveda.

I'm also, Have done a lot of somatic practice in my life, and I'm currently in a somatic training to kind of formalize all the practice and knowledge that I have. And so I would like to bring somatic practices into the work I do with people. And, I have a podcast that you can listen to called the nourish nervous system.

And eventually I will also have some more. Classes, online classes and courses and things like that to offer. But right now it's basically the, the one on one work. 

[00:31:18] Grace: Awesome. Okay. And I always like to ask each guest that comes on, what are you loving right now in your wellness journey? And this could be anything from like, a new book or recipe or new practice or anything truly.

[00:31:35] Kristen: Hmm. Gosh, so many things. I think this is a really great question. I think something I've really been loving lately is just this little practice I've been doing of zooming out. And what I mean by that is, I think sometimes I can get so stuck in my head, especially as a parent, and to feel like, Oh my God, time is so short.

I'm always so busy. Busy and to kind of focus on the negative, which, as you know, that's like what our nervous system in our brains tend to do. We tend to focus on negative and so any like little moments. I can I try to zoom out and almost look at what's happening as if I'm. watching a movie without my mind, without my story around it, but just really witnessing.

So for example, you know, being outside with my child and having the story in my head of just like, Oh my gosh, there's so much work I need to be doing. I should be going inside. I should clean the kitchen, but then just be able to like zoom out and. Take a moment to like notice his chubby cheeks and the garden and my cat walking through and just to have that moment of a freeze frame to really be just.

see my life for a moment instead of narrate my life. And it's been a, just a powerful reframe for me and it might only last a moment, but it really helps me to have some perspective and to have this moment of pause into my nervous system through not perpetuating my stories constantly. That's 

[00:33:18] Grace: yeah, I love that practice and the ability to do that is well, first of all, it truly is a practice.

It takes, you know, doing it over and over and over again. and you know, being able to do that can really help you bring you back into the moment and the present and, be good with your, be okay with yourself. So amazing. Thanks for sharing that. And thank you so much, Christian. I think this was really, really awesome to hear and learn about, and I know will help our listeners.

[00:33:44] Kristen: Thank you so much, Grace. It's been such a pleasure. I really have enjoyed speaking with you. 

[00:33:48] Grace: Yeah, you as well. Okay. Talk to you soon. Talk soon.