Indie Foolheea is an ayurvedic practitioner, yoga teacher and holistic therapist. Having always been interested in creating and making with her hands, Indie has had a wide variety of experience on her path towards becoming a holistic practitioner. From jewellery maker to fashion journalist, Indie explored her North Indian cultural heritage along the way, and this was the start of Indie’s next chapter.
The question arose for Indie of needing to ‘do something for myself, but what?’ Having trained as a yoga teacher, she began exploring the topic of Ayurveda more and more, and from Indie’s deep dive and dedication to the topic, ‘the penny dropped and everything made sense’. Having found something that felt so connected to her, Indie knew she had to find a way to utilise this knowledge to help not only herself, but also others.
Ayurveda is an ancient healing practice which Indie describes as ‘a sister science of yoga, so they overlap very deeply’, the practice of yoga being for our minds and Ayurveda being for the body. Ayurveda is the true lifestyle science, with ayur meaning life and veda meaning knowledge, science or light in Sanskrit. Indie recalls watching her mother and grandmother following Ayurvedic principles when she was younger, but it was only once she had trained and learnt the vast practices she understood more about what lay in her cultural roots.
Indie shares that ‘Ayurveda sits deeply in [her] everyday now’ and as a practitioner offering yoga and Ayurvedic consultations, ‘I take the responsibility of these two very seriously. As it is an ancestral practice for me, it has to be authentic’.
With the rise in interest for holistic healing, the term ‘doshas’ has become a popular keyword associated with Ayurveda, however as Indie shares, ‘the way we have come to understand the doshas is incorrect. In Ayurveda we look at two points; the imbalances that you are currently living with, and then what your true nature is’.
A dosha is one of three key energy patterns (vata, pitta and kapha) in the mind and body, and understanding your own unique balance of the three can help you navigate how to best support and nurture your own constitution. The dosha quizzes now readily available often focus on one point – current imbalances – and not our true nature as well, so we are not getting the whole picture.
A consultation with Indie involves different diagnostic tools (such as the tongue and pulse) alongside questions to ascertain what is happening on the surface and being displayed, but also what may be lying below the surface. ‘I focus on what [the client] is saying, what they are not saying and how they are saying it. I feel into the person and really tune into what is going on, so that I can understand the best and tailored approach we can work with what lifestyle we have got to work with’. Indie shares that she likes to describe her initial consultations as a mix of a GP and a psychologist's appointment, blending the two to get a full holistic view of the mind and body.
Ayurveda's invitation
As we continue discussing wellness, Indie discusses how she believes ‘the wellness world has become so complicated. We need to simplify it all again, as we are not complicated’. She also shares why it is hard for us to take a step away from this messaging system on wellness, because ‘to simplify it requires patience’. We all want instant results with little effort, but simple steps are more sustainable, as they lead to longer term change.
‘We don’t need to be on 100 supplements to be well’, says Indie. ‘We live in a turbulent world where we cannot control everything, so it is instead about thinking about how we can support ourselves in the things we cannot control, and asking ‘How can I be the best version of myself in the situation I am currently living in?’
Many people think Ayurveda is a rigid and regimented lifestyle, but it’s far from that. Indie’s approach is more fluid - her advice is to do your best most of the time, and then have the self-awareness to understand how you as an individual respond to events, foods and situations so that you can support your body and mind when you are ‘indulging’. According to Indie, ‘there is always a learning opportunity. It’s not rigid: it’s about helping a client to understand themselves’.
I ask Indie what her number one tip is as an Ayurvedic practitioner is, and this is what she tells me: ‘stop and breathe. Actually stop, actually rest, actually breathe’. She says it is less about the techniques and more about noticing and reflecting on it.
Reflecting the Seasons
Ayurveda is very personalised to the individual, and will see a client requiring different supporting practices across their lifetime as changes come and go. There is not a go-to Ayurvedic practice for everyone. However, Indie does suggest that we all pay attention to the outside environment, and to notice shifting seasons and circadian rhythms. Ayurveda is ‘based on the belief that what we see outside of us reflects within us. Take inspiration from the world around [you] to heal yourself’.
Think about how these external cycles affect you as an individual. By becoming more aware of the outside cycles, we can get closer to our own internal cycles. For example, during the transition into spring, the focus for our inner worlds is about gently beginning to shift the stagnant density of winter and starting to soften it, mirroring how trees slowly unfurl their leaves and the sun becomes warm. So, ‘working with food and movement that bring a warming, stimulating, activating and energising effect to our bodies, we are wanting to gently awaken the digestive system’, Indie says.
She continues by saying that Ayurveda is a tool that is available to ‘anyone and everyone, from babies to the elderly’ and although it cannot cure terminal illness, even in terminal cases it can be a great support in helping the individual in managing symptoms. ‘The focus of this ancient science is about preventing [illness] before it manifests’. By understanding how our bodies function and bringing our awareness to own needs, we can bring to the surface the knowledge that our bodies hold deep within us, to live a life that is holistic in its nurturing of our mind, body and soul.
Indie Foolheea offers Ayurvedic consultations and therapies in Brighton and London, as well as holistic facials and yoga classes which can be found through her website here. To stay updated on Indie’s workshops and events, give her a follow over on Instagram.
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