An Ayurvedic Look at Violence

Published: Thu, 04/01/21

In 1999, in Pinellas County (Florida) home invasions of jewelry store owners had increased dramatically. Millions of dollars worth of jewelry was being stolen every month. Of course, it was only a matter of time before Tim got involved. He was hired by a private investigation company (Enigma) to find out why this was happening and what could be done to prevent it.

The number one thing Tim noticed, right off the bat, was that the jewelers were always highly aware while at their store but the moment they left their place of business, their awareness would start to gradually decrease. By the time they got home, their awareness was pretty much at level zero, as the false sense of security had overtaken them.

So the first thing Tim started teaching his group of clients, was what is called "situational awareness". Situational awareness is a concept that has been studied and applied extensively, for a few decades now, in quite a few aspects of life, ranging from military to business.

However, it turns out that it is nothing more than a really cool term for the essence of Ayurveda. Ayurveda says that for optimal health, at any given situation, we should be in a dynamic balance with our environment, no matter what our environment entails. Dynamic balance does not mean we have to sit still, or try to always be nice, or run away from bad situations. Dynamic balance means that we always adapt to our environment by following the path of least harm for ourselves and our environment / community. Notice how Ayurveda talks about the path of least harm, NOT the path of least resistance.

The natural question now arises - ok great, how do we do that? Well, Ayurveda has the answer.

Become an observer. Start paying attention to the stuff that matters, and discard the stuff that does not matter. The more information you have about your environment, the simpler it will be for you to adapt through taking the proper action. Action is always quicker than reaction.

Pay attention to your surroundings, no matter where you are at, whether at home, on the road, at work, or out in nature.
Pay attention to the way you walk, move, talk or just stand.
Pay attention to the cars around you while driving. Is your car driving on its own?
You don't need to be checking your phone while you walk. If you need to check your phone, stop, put your back against a wall and check your phone.

By now, you probably wonder what happened to Tim's clients. :) We will be discussing that and a lot more during our upcoming podcast series: An Ayurvedic Look at Violence

If you have not already subscribed to our PaleoAyurvedaPodcast, you can find it here and on all popular podcast sites.

Before we say "until next time":

Until, next time much much love from both of us!! Na'maste Kala!

-Tim and Vie