yoga

58

december 2018 / january 2019

yogajournal.com.sg

HERE’S MY TRUE CONFESSION:I do not choose to relax. I like to imagine what it would be like

to live a life of leisure, lounging by the pool, sipping on cucumber-infused water, biding my time

until my next spa appointment. I admire the people who can do it. But in truth, that’s not me.

No, I like to work. I like long hours and extreme effort and as much tension as I can possibly

build up. I may like tothinkabout relaxing, but given the option to actually do it, I’d rather sit in

front of my computer for hours on end, spinning away on whatever project I happen to have on

hand (they all feel, to me, utterly urgent).

Even my vacations tend to be effort-oriented, if you can call them vacations at all. For one

thing, I don’t take many, and they’re usually short. And for another, they always happen for a

reason: to further my career (think story research, job interviews); or to better my body (yoga

conferences, detox intensives). Work, in other words, must be getting done.

And so it was, a few years ago, that I found myself at the Chopra Center at Southern

California’s Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. At the time, I was the editor of a magazine dedicated

to the merits of leading a healthy, balanced life. Ironically, I had been working 12-hour days for

months. My staff was begging me to take a few days off; my boss kindly, then rather firmly,

suggested that I do so.

I decided that at Chopra I could work on my yoga, do a little detox, log some meditation

hours, and maybe even get a future story out of the mix (et voilà!). What’s more, I would

deepen the typical spa experience by getting treatments based in the ancient Indian healing

art of Ayurveda. I would take a little vacation, yes, but I would not waste my time. I’d sign up

for a crash course in the Perfect Health program (normally a five-day program; I would do it in

three), then get back on the job—informed, rejuvenated, and acceptably refreshed.

DOSHA DIAGNOSIS

Situated in Carlsbad, California, just north of San Diego, Omni La Costa Resort & Spa is breathtak-

ing and luxurious. Surrounded by glowing, clearly affluent families in their matching golf attire,

I had never felt so out of place. But when I set foot through the door of the Chopra Center, I

knew I was at home. It was slightly darker and a little funkier... still lovely, but with the signs and

symbols of yoga all around. There was Ganesha smiling down on me. It would be OK—I could

apply effort here; I could have ease.

The yoga, meditation, and cooking classes offered at the center confirmed this hunch. It

was during one of these group sessions that I had an “Aha!” moment that would change my

attitude toward relaxation—if not forever, at least for the course of this particular vacation.

We’d all just had ourdoshamakeup diagnosed and now knew whether we were an airy,

creative, changeablevata;a driven, intense, fierypitta;an earthy, loving, steadykapha;or

some mix of the above. (Most of us are made up of a combination of doshas, with one or

possibly two that are predominant. To learn more about your dosha mix, take the online

quiz atyogajournal.com/ayurveda.)David Greenspan, a former corporate executive who

has served as Chopra’s lead educator in Ayurveda and meditation, was giving a talk on the

interplay of the doshas within each of us when someone in the class asked, “What dosha type

do you see most often at the Chopra Center?”

Greenspan didn’t have to think for long. “Vatatypes,” he answered. “Vatas go out of

balance very quickly, and they are the quickest to take action. Generally, when vatas go out of

whack, they start to feel anxious and overwhelmed, and they want to do something about it.

Vatatypes come here saying they need to slow down so they can think clearly.”

The least likely to show up, he said, were kapha types. “Imbalanced kaphas feel withdrawn

and sluggish, and they don’t do much of anything unless they really feel inspired,” he

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PHOTOS: DAVID MARTINEZ; MODEL: JOHANNAEPPS; STYLIST: LYN HEINEKEN; HAIR/MAKEUP: BETTEN CHASTON