Ayurveda Stories
Jeannine Rashidi
“I realized that I needed to come to terms with my past to stop the cycle of dysfunction from repeating in the next generations. This began my journey of resolving those unresolved emotions & experiences…”
She started by seeking help from psychologists, but they quickly became overwhelmed by her history and referred her to other psychologists. She had to keep reliving her trauma several times over. Finally, she was referred to a psychiatrist who offered her medication. She wondered at that time how a pill could help to solve the problem at its root. That’s when she turned to Ayurveda for guidance.
The Ancient Wisdom of the Indian people, Ayurveda, has been practiced and preserved for millennia. Ayurveda strongly asserts the Mind-Body Connection and emphasizes the need to resolve emotional issues to achieve optimal health. Jeannine took an appointment with Dr. Jayarajan Kodikannath at Kerala Ayurveda. She found the consultation, evaluation, and his plan for her to be fascinating. As she began to see positive benefits from the recommended plan, she became motivated to study Ayurveda for herself. Ayurveda spoke to her intensely and profoundly. She understood how she needed to use opposite qualities to balance herself. The light of Ayurvedic wisdom was her way out of the darkness she was in.
Jeannine immersed herself in this ancient wisdom and learned the fine art of understanding the Mind’s nature and using it as a tool to resolve past trauma. She experienced that the Mind was both the problem and the solution to her issues. Learning that while we cannot choose our life experiences, we can choose how we deal with them. This concept prompted her to go back and deal with her trauma, but she did it differently this time. Jeannine decided to treat herself as a precious object, reconnecting with her psych’s disconnected aspects due to the 25 years of trauma. She reconnected, mothered, and fathered that part of her that was still traumatized. As she experienced healing in herself, she experienced the burning desire to share her knowledge with others. Jeannine wanted people to benefit from what she had learned first hand – whatever the level of trauma, adverse life experience, including PTSD, she realized that it is possible to heal from it.
Today Jeannine is an Ayurvedic practitioner and worldwide inspirational speaker who motivates people to overcome their mental barriers to healing and growth. She has designed her modality for healing trauma, which is called EDHIR®. Details of which can be found here. The thirst to help herself bring her whole self to help others led her to pursue certification, first as an Ayurvedic Health Counselor, then Ayurvedic Practitioner. She is currently studying to become an Ayurvedic Doctor specializing in the Mind.
In her Ayurvedic practice, she notices that people often come in with digestive issues. However, when she goes deeper, both the client and she discover that the source of the health issues may be unresolved emotions. Due to her personal experience, she knows just the right questions to ask them, and her clients find they can relate to her very easily. Her practice has thrived, and today she runs a very successful practice of 18 years, called Goodbye Tension in the San Francisco Bay Area, where 99% of her clients find her via word of mouth.
Jeannine shares her observations below on what has helped to make her Ayurvedic practice successful. This is the foundation that she built her practice on.
1
Start with yourself.
“If you know how it feels to take Ayurvedic herbs and change your lifestyle patterns, you can relate to your clients when you make these recommendations and the challenges they may have .”
Jeannine recommends that if you are an Ayurvedic student, make it a point to get an assessment and plan with an Ayurvedic practitioner or Vaidya; an Ayurvedic Doctor to experience healing in yourself.
2
Practice what you preach.
“If you are recommending that your client goes to sleep early, make sure you are doing the same. Practice the Ayurvedic Lifestyle yourself, so you are a living example of the efficacy of this wonderful wisdom. Most importantly is to resolve your own emotions so that you can be fully present to help others.”
3
Focus on making your clients self-reliant.
“I intend to empower anyone who comes to see me. I want people to feel like they can do this independently, whether it’s body tension, making better life choices, or healing adverse experiences. I don’t want to keep the same client for their whole life. I want them to get better and heal. Naturally, they will share their experience with others, and those who need the guidance will come in. A revolving door clientele speaks volumes to the level of care one receives. It does not feel right to keep a client dependant on health services unless it is needed.”
4
Ask the right questions so that your client drives their healing instead of you.
“What I have found is when you’re working with somebody, you can directly tell them what is wrong, but the human psyche and ego does not like that. The human psyche is more open to solutions if it recognizes the problem itself. Meaning the professional’s questioning needs to be such that it leads the client to recognize their issues. Then it’s much more empowering for the client because now their spirit came through. So it’s more of an ability to ask the right questions that lead a person to realize, “Oh, yeah, I’m not quite connected there. I’d like to be connected there.”
5
Make everything relatable.
“Share your own story and successful case studies with your clients so they can identify and relate to you.”
6
Have an abundance mentality instead of a scarcity mentality.
“You might think that many Ayurvedic professionals are blossoming now, and people will not come to you. However, the truth is that everyone has clients that relate best to them. There are plenty of clients seeking health from within, and everyone can be successful as long as they can relate to their clients.”
7
Tap into your uniqueness.
“I found my niche in using the Mind as a tool to bring holistic wellness to anyone who has had trauma and adverse life experiences, including PTSD. It’s also important to realize we’re all unique individuals, and we all bring something special. You can bring in clients to your practice by looking at what you are good at. What comes naturally to you? What is your creative spark? See if you can use some of that to create your practice.”
8
Don’t let your fear get to you before starting your practice.
“If you already have a day job, don’t leave your day job at first. I already had a built-up massage practice. So I could easily integrate Ayurveda into my practice. But if this were a beginning step for me, I would have kept my day job and then slowly worked on building the Ayurvedic piece. Start by talking to people. First, you talk to your friends, talk to your family, and see if they’re willing to tell others. In the 18 years I’ve been in practice; it has all been word of mouth. So I have found that it’s really about relationships.”
Jeannine’s vision for the world is one of deep healing. Knowing that the more we heal the relationship with ourselves, the more we can offer to our families and our communities. That’s how our communities will heal. And then the communities will go out into the world, and the world will become healthier. There’s quite a need for this. There’s a need for inspiration, especially during this time, and she wants to be that inspiration for people worldwide.
You can find out more about Jeannine at her website: https://www.goodbyetension.com
Anumeha Gupta interviewed Jeannine Rashidi. Anumeha is an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor, continuing student of Ayurvedic practice, and a CAAM volunteer.
