Digital Nomad Stories

Embracing Balance: Ayurvedic Health Tips for Digital Nomads

• Anne Claessen • Season 2 • Episode 182

Share episode

Elia and she started her Digital Nomad journey as an online French teacher. She not only transitioned to a fully online business but also found a new home in Mexico, where she discovered the profound balance that Ayurveda and yoga brought into her life. 

In this episode Elia shares her story and talks through the complexity of Ayurvedic wisdom, particularly the concept of doshas, and how this ancient knowledge is crucial for those of us living the ever-changing digital nomad life.

Connect with Elia:

Connect with Kendra:

Speaker 1:

Hey Nomads, welcome to Digital Nomad Stories, the podcast. My name is Annik Klaassen and, together with my co-host, kendra Hasse, we interview digital nomads. Why? Because we want to share stories of how they did it. We talk about remote work, online business, location independency, freelancing, travel and, of course, about the digital nomad lifestyle. Do you want to know more about us and access all previous episodes? Visit digitalnomadstoriesco. All right over to Kendra for today's interview.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to Digital Nomad Stories, the podcast. My name is Kendra and I'm your host today. Today I'm joined by Elia, and she started her digital nomad journey as an online French teacher and now she's working as a yoga teacher and Ayurvedic health counselor. And that's why I'm super excited to have her here today, because me, as a digital nomad, I also experience how important it is to be also connected to our body, to our entire health, like body, mind and soul, so I think it will be super interesting and enriching conversation. Thank you for being here, elia. How?

Speaker 3:

are you, hi, kendra? Thank you so much for having me here. I'm so excited about our talk today yes.

Speaker 2:

So maybe we just start like maybe you present yourself also a little bit as you're currently in this transition, maybe you let us a little bit know how your journey started and where you're heading?

Speaker 3:

yeah for sure. So as far as I remember, I can say that you know, I had a pretty unconventional lifestyle. So that's interesting because when I reflected about being a digital nomad for this talk with you, I was like, oh, am I really a digital nomad? You know what is a digital nomad? And then I realized that actually, for the past 10 years of my life I've just been living abroad and I think I really started to enter this path of becoming a digital nomad when I first became my own boss, let's say, in 2020. And I opened my own business, my own business about French classes, when I was based in Canada. So that was really the first steps for me towards freedom and towards, yeah, being by myself, having my own accountability, doing what I wanted. But at that point I don't think I was really seeing that I would become a digital nomad, because I was still based in Canada and all of my clients were, for the most part, people that I would meet in person. So the transition for me has really been COVID time actually. So it can sound funny, but it became a silver lining for me.

Speaker 3:

I certainly was able to transition all of my clients online and even if at first, because of everything that was happening, we, we were, um, I was still in Canada after a while. I was just okay, why, you know, why, wouldn't I just go teach from somewhere, somewhere I'm called to be? You know, it was so cold in Canada and after like more than a year, kind of stuck, I was like, yeah, I want to, I want to take my chance and go somewhere else. So I would say that's really when I started to to work online truly and exclusively, and, uh, and I, that's when I moved to mexico, where I'm currently based, and I, yeah, I continue to to teach and to to develop my business a little bit for the past three years until I really, uh, decided to transition towards what I really love and what I'm really passionate about and what we're going to talk about today in more detail.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, perfect, it's like so funny, like COVID seems to be really like a game changer. So for you it was like to start the digital nomad journey, but then, as you are now like in the transition to become your ayurvedic health counselor, and for me, when we were talking about it in person, I thought I need to invite you to this podcast because this, for me, is like really a topic we, as digital nomads, maybe don't think about, but it can really like I experience that. For me it can be really like important when we arrive to a new country, to a new place, where it's like maybe different climate, maybe we like our body unconsciously feels like this pressure, the stress of being at a new place. So then helping it with nutrition, with movement, it's, it's really important. But let's start from the beginning, because some of our listeners might be but what does mean Ayurvedic? Can you maybe start with a little introduction? What does Ayurveda mean?

Speaker 3:

So Ayurveda basically means the science of life. Ayur means life and Veda is knowledge in Sanskrit. So it comes actually from traditional texts, the Vedas, and it's known as the sister science of yoga. So yoga made its way to the West kind of one century ago and Ayurveda is taking a little bit more time, but it's really an inclusive practice. So yoga is included into the practice of Ayurveda. So when we're talking about Ayurveda, basically it's really the knowledge or the science to how to tune ourselves with our environment. So first of all for that we need to be able to know ourselves better.

Speaker 3:

And Ayurveda uses as a framework the concept of doshas or doshi constitutions, and basically those constitutions are combinations of elements. So we all have, we are all made of, the five elements is really what Ayurveda is based upon. That everything is creation of the five elements made of the five elements. So we all have those five elements in us. When I'm saying the five elements, sometimes you forget what. So there is ether is considered an element air, earth, water and fire. But then we probably going to have a predominance for a few elements, a couple of elements which are called doshas. So this is determined at the time of fertilization. So basically, as soon as the ovum and the sperm fertilize together, your constitution is decided and it depends, and actually even at that moment, the time of the year your parents are conceiving, the season, their own constitution, are all going to be parameters that's going to influence your own constitution. So, understanding what your constitution is, it's really it's not again to categorize ourselves and label ourselves oh, I'm more pizza or kaffha or justify you know our behaviors, because we know that these are tendencies of specific doshas but it's really to have a better understanding of ourselves and to understand that because we have a predominance of a certain element, we're going to react in a certain way to certain things. So, basically that we have our constitution that has been determined at the time of fertilization, but we most of the time live in an unbalanced way and the idea is to always get back to this balanced constitution that has been determined. Idea is to always get back to this balance constitution that has been determined. And how do we get unbalanced? Concretely, by internal and external factors.

Speaker 3:

So, as you were mentioning, when you're traveling, you're exposed to different environments. So, for example, let's say, you're coming from europe, so you, your whole lineage, lived in Europe for their entire life. So in Europe it's a specific climate. Right, we have the four seasons, we have more temperate climates, but if, let's say, you move to South America where it's really jangly, you can be noticing a lot of discomfort because your body is not used to that Specifically if you grew up your entire life in this country as well. So it's really taking into account all of these parameters that are going to influence where you are at this moment. Your age is also an important parameter. Your mind or your mental state is an important parameter. Your mind or your mental state is an important parameter. So all of these things are going to also determine or influence your current state of being.

Speaker 2:

So the idea with Ayurveda is to have a box of tools that you can use, understanding who you are, to be able, when those moments of unbalance in short, in your life, to be able to get back as soon and as close as possible to your, to your state of balance, your natural state of balance yeah, thank you, and I feel like we, as the genomics, we have many moments where we create unbalance moving countries, moving cultures and like depending on our lifestyle, but in short periods of time for our body, you know, because we are not maybe staying for four or five years, like maybe even just months, others maybe just weeks.

Speaker 2:

So what do you like would suggest a vector man when we are like maybe coming from Europe to Latin America? I experienced that like coming to Mexico now. I was a little bit there and it was like so hot, you know. So normally I'm not a person who is like dealing with heat or sweating. I'm like super chilled. I'm like super chilled and they're like, for the first time I realized my body needs like a lot of um nutrition more than usual because of the heat. So there I was like in this, this, this balance, right. So just to give us like an, an example so people can better understand what we mean by this balance, what would you like recommend in these situations? How can we work with Ayurveda there?

Speaker 3:

For sure. So again, everyone is different and everyone is unique and I think it's really important as a baseline for Ayurveda is understanding that there is no one-size-fits-all. So I'm saying that because your reaction to coming to South America or to Mexico, like Central America, going to be different from somewhere else. Why? Because, as I talked a little bit at the beginning, the genes where you grew up, but also your own constitution. So if I look at you, you have a good amount of pizza in yourself, like physically and mentally, because I know you a little bit, I know that there is a lot of fire in you. So if you think about the qualities of fire, fire is hot, fire is sharp, fire is. So it's fire but also water which would create the constitution of PITAC. So your main constitution is PITAC, the combination of fire and water. So we have the heat of the fire, we have the sharpness of the fire, but we also have the humidity of the water. So we have the heat of the fire, we have the sharpness of the fire, but we also have the humidity of the water. So when you're going to a country like Mexico, which has those qualities in the air, it's going to increase what you already have, your fire is going to be increased. So the way we want to act is really understanding those qualities that I just mentioned and basically act with the principle of opposites. So if it's really hot, if everything is humid, if you can notice like more sharp emotions for example that's usually the case when PETA is really high we're going to notice more irritability, more impatience and sometimes, if it's been for a little while and it's becoming more than an acute condition, it's possible that it's starting to show up, for example, at the skin level. So maybe you're going to have like an outbreak of acne, or even, you know, I had for a while this fungus from the sun on the skin. So everything is really related and it's understanding that those conditions are manifestations of a pitta that is too high in my body. So, to answer your question, we want to cool down the fire. So naturally, you know we're going to be drawn to those things.

Speaker 3:

When you move to a country or to a place where it's really hot, you're going to need to drink more. So we have this body intelligence, we have this wisdom telling us, hey, you should drink more. For example, Masundi, where we met, is full of coconuts. It's not, you know, it's not just like random. There are coconuts because nature also balances those aspects. So drinking more coconut water, for example. I usually recommend to people to drink at least one coconut a day to really stay hydrated, but then it's also increasing your conception of hydrating foods.

Speaker 2:

So, just like for our listeners, the first step is really to understand what is your constitution right and then work from there.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, understanding what is your constitution is really going to be the baseline to be able to see what you need to do to adjust. And I was talking about food because it's usually the more obvious right, the more obvious things you can act on. So, as I said, like hydrating yourself, more limiting pigeon tastes, you know, like spicy foods, stimulants all of these are definitely going to aggravate your PETA. So you want to pacify your PETA using other opposite qualities and you can also do that with other practices. It's not all just with nutrition and spices and food, which usually people think Ayurveda is. Ayurveda is also really including everything that is practices. So yoga, meditation, meditation is really important for Pitta people, learning how to surrender, specific breathing as well. We have, for example, cooling breathing, cooling breath, shitali.

Speaker 2:

So all of these techniques can be used to help you deal with those changes, for example yes, Amazing that you are saying it, because my other question would have been okay. What are, like, the factors of, like all the techniques from ayurveda we can work with and we you just said, like it's food, the nutrition, meditation, breath work or breathing, and like yoga, like body movement, anything else we could there, like include?

Speaker 3:

it's if we want more like encompass all of this thing that you just said.

Speaker 3:

It's all about lifestyle.

Speaker 3:

It's all about adapting and adjusting our lifestyle to the place we are physically and mentally, because, again, it depends If I'm more agitated, for example, if I'm more in a vata state, because it's also important to mention people who are digital nomad.

Speaker 3:

Usually they move, they move around, so this is going to aggravate their vata, which is a dosha made of air and ether. So when you're moving too much, changing place all over, you know your routine is kind of changing and there is more air. So you're going to need more grounding practices and that's when, for example, you want to emphasize all of the breathing techniques that are going to be more air. So you're going to need more grounding practices and that's when, for example, you want to emphasize all of the breathing techniques that are going to be more grounding. Same for food. So it's always adapting, always using the right practices and also being inspired by the place we are, because, as I said, nature created the natural cure for us. So if you look at the place, you are to look at the environment, you'll be able to see the plants that grow here, naturally, the fruits, all this thing that would support your health physically and mentally yeah, it's amazing and also that you're just saying like this grounding, that then we have more air.

Speaker 2:

Because, like I just realized that for me I was like now moving like quickly Mexico, then like Spain and Germany, you know, like two weeks, always with different people, and I'm now calming down and realizing it's amazing to have this freedom as a general nomad and to move quickly. To have this freedom as a general nomad and to move quickly. But what, sometimes we are maybe forgetting that our body maybe needs a little bit longer than our mind to fully arrive to this place. And I just realized, when I take care of this, like really thinking, what does my body need? My well-being is like way higher, you know, and that is why I see that's like so valuable having this conversation with you, and I hope some of the listeners are now opening their mind to learn more about it.

Speaker 2:

So, like this, then this okay, we arrived to a new place. There was like a lot of air activists, so we do some more groundings, like we both maybe know what we can do for grounding. If someone hears it for the first time do more grounding. What would you recommend? What is like, what do you do when you need to ground yourself?

Speaker 3:

So there are and, just as a reminder as well, everyone needs grounding in our society nowadays. You know, like Pitta and Vata dosha, so being airy and being fiery, in a sense, are the two doshas that are really increased nowadays in our society. But in order to ground, there are many techniques, like you know. We talked a little bit about the food. So think about grinding fruit. You know you want earth, you want earthy veggies. So you just go to what's that, what is grounding as well, and that is an opposite quality of vata. Vata, which is air and ether, the quality is going to be mobile, going to be cold, going to be rough. You want to counterbalance that. So you want everything that's going to be nourishing. So, as I said, earthy veggies, but also warm soups, for example, warmth. You want some warmth to help your body ground. Or, you know, using lots of oil, so in your food, for example, can be really helpful. So I'm talking about good oils or ghee. You know I'm talking about coconut oil, sesame oil, ghee, but also extenuities. So there is a practice in Ayurveda called Abhyanga, which is basically a practice you can do on yourself. Abhyanga, and it's oiling yourself with love. So it's warm oil.

Speaker 3:

Usually we use sesame oil and there is a specific way of doing it and we massage our whole body and that's really grounding and we end with the feet. Why? Because the feet are the connection to the earth. So not everyone gonna need, gonna want, to do self-massage, but working barefoot, you know, on the beach, for example, the beach is really grounding if you are a place where there is, uh, water going to the ocean, going to the beach.

Speaker 3:

And then obviously there are more spiritual-based practices, such as breathing. We were talking about cooling breath earlier, but for someone who has a really erratic, active mind, we want to do breathing that's going to calm the nervous system. So now they show the nice, pretty popular, you know, the alternative natural breathing. It's a really good technique for that. It's definitely the best technique. If you want to pick one pranayama to do every day, that's definitely the one that's going to help regulate the nervous system and balance the nudges of the body. So, yeah, there are many, many things to pick from, but again, I really encourage the people who are listening to listen to the body.

Speaker 2:

Maybe can you explain a little bit this breathing technique. So just being like, maybe not everyone knows what this breathing technique is. You just said Alternate nostril breathing.

Speaker 3:

So we basically are turning the breathing from one nostril to the other. So naturally we're changing nostril every hour or so. So we do that. We don't realize, but we're breathing from one and then the other, and in yoga and Ayurveda each nostril is associated to the lunar channel and the solar channel. So by doing this breathing we're basically balancing our brain, we're harmonizing the two hemispheres of the brain, but at a more spiritual level we're also cleansing the nadis, cleansing the channel. So how do you do it? You basically just inhale through the left nostrils, take a deep breath in, then you plug your left nostril and you exhale to the right slowly. At the end of the exhale you inhale to the right, you block the right nostril and you gently exhale to the left. So that's a complete cycle and you can do that as many times as you want, usually between 10 and 16 times Going to be really effective.

Speaker 3:

If you need to ground, you know it's even a technique you can use, like if you spend lots of time on your computer. For example, lots of digital nomads, you know, use the computer. So you can do that when you're switching tasks, when you want to shut off. Also, you know, when you're in the middle of the day and you want to go. I know how hard it is, for example, to go and just be like, okay, I'm going to make lunch and eat no. A really grounding practice can be to do that before eating. Or, again, take the time to prepare your meal, take the time to sit. The way we eat is also equally important to ground ourselves and to have digestion. So making sure that we take the time all of these things are going to be essential if we want to help our bodies and our minds to grow.

Speaker 2:

That's amazing. I think there were already a lot of recommendations and ideas we can do. Anything else you have on your mind and you feel like, okay, imagine yourself in the lifestyle of a digital nomad. What from Ayurveda could help us like besides, like what we had, like being aware of your doshas.

Speaker 2:

Maybe I do like a little summary and you see if there's still anything missing for our listeners. So what I would remind what I, what I do remember is like knowing your constitution right and then understanding where you could be in an imbalance to get back your balance through nutrition that can help you through food, meditation, breathing, yoga, like really there's activation and then arriving to a new place. We can take some time for us to really ground, also with this earthy food, the breathing we adjusted, maybe like massaging our body to fully arrive, anything else you think could like benefit, to feel, really be in a well-being, like really be like all this time we are like in the air, we are going to one place, to another. Anything else we would need to understand from the ayurveda practice that can add benefits to our lifestyle so we talked about the different branches, right, the different things you can implement.

Speaker 3:

I didn't really mention a lot about spices and herbs, which are really a big part also of ayurveda, and when you're traveling around, you know, sometimes it can be. For example, you know ayurveda is really based on agri, our digestive fire, and basically we have a big interest in your bowel movements, so we will you will always be asked how is your poop and how it's going on, and when we travel a lot, actually it affects a lot as well our digestion. Uh, because of the food that's changing. But also, as we talked about like being that time traveling we're going to have more dryness and more constipation is likely to happen. So, also knowing you know like, so also knowing you know like the tips, basically you can have like the things you can do. For example, if you're a little bit constipated arriving to Mexico, you can take as a mind max added aloe aloe vera it's a really good mind max added to blend with the leaves. So you know all of these things like starting to to have kind of, as I said, a toolbox, and that's really what I'm offering to the people I help is like having this toolbox and now they know what they can use, which techniques they can experiment, which herb they can maybe take as a supplement for a little bit.

Speaker 3:

And again, it's really intuitive. It's not about you should do that. We don't want to have this rigidity that we usually have in the West. It's all about getting in touch with our own body, intelligence, noticing the healthy cravings for everything what practices, food, herbs and doing something about it so we can prevent the, because we can prevent the aggravation of the doshas basically, which can lead to a chronic situation. So it's just becoming more aware, but also using the things you like.

Speaker 3:

If your nervous system regulator is doing ice bath, great, you know, like, everyone has their, their own practices, and I think it shouldn't be just exclusive to what we consider spiritual. It's also about knowing oneself. It's about being in your own body and being able to notice what feels good, you know. So, more than having techniques and tools, it's really about observing, but observation, understanding, understanding and also honoring, because we can be observing, we can be understanding, but honoring our bodies and needs. Doesn't everyone do that, you know. So it's also. It's a big yeah, it's a big path, uh, to lead towards more self-love, towards more like embodiments, towards more freedom.

Speaker 2:

Basically, yeah, that's beautiful, and like if someone now thinking, okay, I want to start about like, learning more about it, understanding more, what would you like recommend as like the first steps, like, or what would be like the first step we can do to start this path to learn more about it?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, and you know, usually when you hear about Ayurveda, people are like oh, I'm this, dosha. I'm this dosha because they do dosha quiz on internet, which is not wrong, you know. But we again using our Western mind and our Western way of doing things to level ourselves and be like, okay, I'm this and I would invite people who are listening to take the more global approach of Ayurveda around again. It's really just about that Starting to have a self-journal. I think it's the first step.

Speaker 3:

The self-journal when you're noting when, when you're and I actually created this material for for the people I'm working with like every day, you take a little while to note the phase of your cycle, if you're a woman, your level of energy, also the practices you've been doing, and starting to have like kind of a food journal, not just to be like the police and be like, oh, I shouldn't have had this snack, but to be like, okay, when I'm eating this kind of food, am I going to the bathroom afterwards? So you also want to track your bowel movements. So starting to notice the changes in your body. If you don't want to be that omitted, you don't need to write it down. But it's nice for accountability to have it.

Speaker 3:

But I'm just starting to observe and track, just to bring to awareness some stuff that are good for our body and some stuff that, on the other hand, are not that helpful, you know, and then you will be able to develop the knowledge and notice oh, when I'm in Europe, I can eat that and I feel great, but when I'm there, it doesn't work. I need to change. My breakfast needs to be different, you know. So it's just really about being able to adapt for every situation. So every time you can find your way back to balance.

Speaker 2:

That's super interesting and I hear you saying like in my words, so maybe we also can talk a little bit about this that you are offering, also like mentoring people on that path. Like maybe you can explain a little bit about what, about your work now thanks for asking.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'm starting. So I'm still in a transition, but I'm starting to to also, basically, you're very counseling for women, so my focus is really to help women finding more freedom and finding more harmony in their bodies. So I want them to this mentorship program. I really want them to become more empowered in the day-to-day choices so, as I mentioned, you know, being able to have this toolbox of practices and routines and herbs and food, but also I want them to be sobering of their own health.

Speaker 3:

So when I'm talking about health, I'm talking about, like, their digestion, their menstrual health their cycle is really also important in Ayurveda and their emotional health, so they can really become more attuned and they can start to thrive in their bodies. So that's really the work that I'm doing with them and, even if there is a baseline of all the things I just mentioned, we really pick what is needed. It's really personalized according to every person, every history, because we all have our different issues, our own disorders, our own imbalances. So these are the three main focuses mental health, emotional and mental digestion and menstrual health. But from there we adapt and we create a program that works for them.

Speaker 2:

That sounds super interesting. So, if anyone is interested in learning more, we have like your instagram in the show notes for sure, and anything you would like to share like maybe. Like in your personal lifestyle, anything like since you started integrating the ayurveda practices more into your lifestyle, anything you feel is different than before. I know for sure there's many, but maybe something you want to highlight.

Speaker 3:

I would say, because I'm breathing yoga and Ayurveda together and I started yoga years ago, doing a little bit of Ayurveda on the side, but I would say, just a peace of mind. I think that's the biggest piece of yoga and Ayurveda. I feel more in myself and I feel more authentic. That's really the work, you know. I feel more authentic to myself and more embodied. Authentic to myself and more embodied. So, yeah, if you're, you know, if you're a woman and and you feel that you're not fully connected to your body and and you want to dive more into this relationship with your body, I think that yoga and ayurveda are really, really beautiful paths to to start a journey. And again, they are paths, they are long life journeys, but it's it's a beautiful, beautiful way, beautiful traditions and I feel that's also the fun part about it.

Speaker 2:

You know, like this lifelong journey, that we always can learn something new, can connect in another way to ourselves to our essence, our body, to be this authentic us. That's beautiful. Um, yeah, coming to an end of this episode, anything you feel I should have asked you, anything we haven't talked about. Anything you feel should be part of this episode, something you want to talk still about your journey or about ayurveda, anything open I.

Speaker 3:

I think we tackled the essential. You know, ayurveda is such a vast topic that it's difficult to go into it in 30 minutes, but I hope that it sparked the interest for people to start like their journey towards reclaiming their health as well. You know, becoming sovereign of your own health. I think it's also an important aspect I didn't necessarily mention, but it's like owning your own health and not just doing the Western way of grabbing the pill, grabbing something when it's wrong. It's just really understanding where it starts and you feel so empowered when you're like, hey, I can actually take this herb or do that and that's going to help my condition. So, yeah, that would be my last word, Ramdar.

Speaker 2:

Beautiful. No, then I say thank you. I think it was perfect 30 minutes to get an idea what Ayurveda is and how we can include it also as a digital nomad. There were some recommendations and then, obviously, just to make sure it's not different because we a digital nomad, like, there were like some recommendations and then, obviously, just to make sure it's not different because we are digital nomads, it's, you know, like every person's different, but that maybe we have like. For me, it was mind-blowing when you told me about it, you know like, oh, you're changing locations all the time. I was like, yeah, true, I haven't thought about thought about it. So I hope that gave some inspiration to some of our listeners and I'm sure it did. Thank you so much, elia.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much, Kendra. It was so lovely to chat with you. Thank you.

Speaker 2:

Bye, and also to our listeners. I hope you got some inspiration from it. Thank you, bye.

Speaker 1:

And that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate it very, very much. I would appreciate it even more if you could leave a review on apple podcasts for me. That way, more people can find this podcast, more people can hear the inspiring stories that we're sharing, and the more people we can impact for the better. So, thank you so much if you are going to leave a review. I really appreciate you and I will see you in the next episode.