About six years ago, I started thinking about studying something related to natural medicine and nutrition.

I was already eating mindfully, mostly cooking at home, exploring different approaches to nutrition, and whenever I felt unwell or got injured, I was naturally drawn to herbs, plants, lotions and other forms of natural care.

I was fascinated by the medicinal power of plants and by the relationship between what we eat, how we live and our wellbeing.

At first, I thought I would study naturopathy. It felt like the obvious direction. I had naturopaths among my friends and colleagues, consulted with them often, and it was a field that felt quite close to the way we live here in the West.

But for some reason, I never took that step.

The idea stayed somewhere in the background. A dream I knew I would return to one day.

Then something clicked

About a year ago, while I was leading a 300-hour teacher training, our wonderful Ayurveda teacher gave one of her classes on the cycles of the day.

Something clicked.

Suddenly, I saw what had been in front of me all along.

Ayurveda.

I started wondering why I had never thought of studying it before. I had loved the Ayurveda classes during my own teacher training, and when I looked at my own approach to food and daily life, I realised that much of it already followed Ayurvedic principles.

Perhaps naturopathy had simply felt more familiar. Perhaps it felt more connected to our Western way of living. Perhaps Ayurveda just hadn’t crossed my path in quite the right way yet.

I’m not sure.

And I’m not sure it matters.

The important thing was that the seed had been planted.

From curiosity to practice

From that moment, I started exploring Ayurveda more intentionally.

I began bringing more of its principles into my nutrition and daily routines, and paying closer attention to the way I responded to different foods, rhythms and habits.

What fascinated me was not simply having another set of rules about what to eat or how to live.

It was the invitation to observe.

To notice patterns.

To pay attention to the relationship between ourselves, our environment and the rhythms around us.

And the more I experimented, the more curious I became.

Some of the changes I made seemed to support me particularly well, especially around digestion, sleep and energy. More importantly, they made me want to understand the principles behind them rather than simply follow them.

The more I explored, the more I wanted to understand.

I wanted to study.

Really study.

Finding the right place to study

When I eventually started looking for somewhere to study Ayurveda seriously, I wasn’t simply looking for a course.

I was looking for an approach that made sense to me.

When I found the school I’m about to study with for the next three years, one of the things that immediately drew me to it was that it is based around an actual Ayurveda clinic.

The theory they teach is closely connected to working with people here in the West.

That felt important to me.

I’m deeply interested in ancient traditions, but I don’t believe that respecting an ancient tradition means keeping it frozen in time.

For me, there is something beautiful about taking an ancient body of knowledge, respecting its roots and wisdom, while allowing it to evolve with the times, the culture and the environment we live in.

And that is very much how I feel about Yoga.

Yoga has travelled across cultures and continents. It continues to evolve, while still carrying something of its ancient roots.

For me, the challenge is not to choose between tradition and evolution, but to stay connected to the essence while remaining responsive to where and how we live.

That was one of the things that made this particular school feel right.

Suddenly, everything fell into place.

A new three-year journey

And so, I’m about to begin another three-year journey of study.

Which, honestly, is something I’m very excited about.

I love studying.

I love being a beginner again. I love having my assumptions challenged, discovering connections I hadn’t seen before, and going deeper into something that initially felt like a curiosity.

I’m excited to explore Ayurveda as a medical science, but also to explore myself through this new lens.

And I’m curious about what will happen when this knowledge begins to meet everything else I have been studying and practising over the years.

Yoga. Breath. Movement. Nutrition. Touch. Observation. The relationship between practice and everyday life.

I don’t know exactly where all of this will lead. And I like that.

For now, I’m happy to simply begin.

To study.

To listen.

To observe.

To learn.

And, over time, I hope that what I learn and integrate will become another way of serving people. In my classes, workshops and courses, and eventually, perhaps, in a clinical setting too.

Another path has opened.

And I’m very curious to see where it leads.

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