Ayurveda offers a wealth of profound knowledge about healthy habits. Dinacharya, for example, is a set of positive habits that form the basis of our daily routine.
Three of the original founders of doshaguru.com,Ted Wallace, MS, Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, and Samantha Wallace, are releasing a new book about habit change, Total Brain Coaching: A Holistic System for Effective Habit Change – For the Individual, Team, and Organization. This book integrates the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda with modern scientific research on habit change. Ted Wallace was CEO of Maharishi Ayurveda Product, and is now a professional Agile coach, Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, was the pioneer researcher on the Transcendental Meditation technique and the founding President of Maharishi International University, and is now in charge of several online degree programs in Maharishi AyurVeda and Integrative Medicine. Samantha Wallace is a prolific artist and writer, who was once a famous Vogue model. Dr Wallace and his wife have written a number of other books on Ayurveda including Dharma Parenting, Gut Crisis, and The Rest And Repair Diet.
The first step in Total Brain Coaching is to assess the client’s Energy State. “Energy State” is an expression which corresponds to the time-tested Ayurvedic assessment of the three main mind-body types (doshas) referred to as Prakriti and Vikriti. Prakriti refers to a person’s basic nature and Vrikriti refers to any imbalances that might be present. A growing body of scientific research reveals a correlation between the three main Prakritis, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, and distinct genetic, biochemical, and physiological markers (1).
Ayurveda determines how different factors influence your Energy State, either positively or negatively. One of the simplest but most important, for example, is diet, which creates either balance or imbalance in the Energy State. Modern science has only recently discovered that different foods turn genes on or off. Ayurveda has known the effect of food on our mind and body for centuries and considers food as medicine. Each of us is different and we react differently to environmental triggers. We can go so far as to consider Ayurveda as an ancient science of epigenetics, which explains how environmental factors affect our DNA without changing its basic structure.
Once you know your individual Energy State, it is then easy to determine what environmental triggers are that cause you to go out of balance. Understanding your Energy State makes it much easier to adopt and maintain new positive habits.
There are a number of ways to assess your Energy State, and the simplest is a quiz, located in both Total Brain Coaching and its companion book The Coherence Code—a business fable about a company on the brink of failure which is save by the techniques of Total Brain Coaching. (For a more detailed of the same quiz go to totalbraincoaching.com.)
Total Brain Coaching recommends specific strategies for habit change. Some of them can be used by everyone, while others are tailored for your particular Energy States. For example, if you are a P (Pitta) Energy State person, you have strong will power and good discipline, so it easier for you to adopt a new habit. It is not surprising, therefore, that most habit change books are written by P Energy State people for P Energy State people.
If you are a K (Kapha) Energy State person, it will probably take longer for you to make a habit change, but once you do, it will be easier for you to stick to it. A V (Vata) Energy State person, on the other hand, can change a habit quickly and may even want to make two or three habit changes at the same time. However, it will be much harder for them to maintain even one habit change because it is the nature of their attention to move rapidly from one topic to another.
Total Brain Coaching takes great care to balance a person’s Energy State before attempting to change their habits. Habit change requires energy, and if you are out of balance and lack energy it will be much harder to adopt a new beneficial habit. One of the unique features of Total Brain Coaching is that not only the neuroplasticity of your brain is taken into consideration. but also the state of your gut.
Total Brain Coaching uses 4 different coaching approaches: Self-coaching, Personal coaching, Group coaching, and Environment coaching. Self-Coaching is something we all do whether we are aware of it or not, but keeping a journal or using an app, among other things, can help the process. One of the most powerful tools you can use is self pulse diagnosis. (See the resource material in Total Brain Coaching for details regarding self pulse.)
Personal Coaching is best accomplished with a qualified Total Brain Coach, although a knowledgeable and supportive buddy or partner can help. The process of change can be subtle, especially in the beginning, and requires a trained expert. Your Total Brain Coach will work with you to determine your goals—which new habit you want to adopt—and help you to set a up a habit map and plan that identifies specific strategies and protocols suited to your particular Energy State.
Group Coaching may be in person or online. In both situations, it can be very reinforcing to be part of a group and discover how others are coping with the challenges of sticking to a new habit. Environmental Coaching helps to identify the triggers which are negatively affecting your ability to make positive change.
Total Brain Coaching integrates the wisdom and expertise of thousands of years of practice in Maharishi AyurVeda with latest finding of modern science on the brain and the gut-brain axis.
References
- Total Brain Coaching: A Holistic System of Effective Habit Change For the Individual, Team, and Organization by Ted Wallace, MS, Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, and Samantha Wallace, Dharma Publications, 2020
- The Coherence Code: How to Maximum Performance And Success in Business, Coaching for Individuals, Teams, and Organizations by Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, Ted Wallace, MS, Samantha Wallace, Dharma Publications, 2020
- Dey S, Pahwa P. Prakriti and its associations with metabolism, chronic diseases, and genotypes: Possibilities of new born screening and a lifetime of personalized prevention. J Ayurveda Integr Med 5:15‑24, 2014
- Gut Crisis: How Diet, Probiotics, And Friendly Bacteria Help You Lose Weight And Heal Your Body And Mind by Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, and Samantha Wallace, Dharma Publications, 2017
- The Rest And Repair Diet: The Rest And Repair Diet: Heal Your Gut, Improve Your Physical And Mental Health, And Lose Weight by Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, and Samantha Wallace, Andrew Stenberg, MA, Jim Davis, DO, Alexis Farley, Dharma Publications, 2019
- MIU Degree Programs in Maharishi Ayurveda And Integrative Medicine: https://www.mum.edu/online-ms-in-maharishi-ayurveda-and-integrative-medicine