KOMAL GEORGE
“I’m by no means perfect, but you know what? In Ayurveda, that’s OK too. Living Ayurvedically is a journey, and one which really can transform peoples lives. It’s what has formed the foundation of my work now as a holistic pharmacist and health coach, where I help my clients develop and implement lifestyles suited to them and in doing so improve their health and wellbeing.”
Komal is a Holistic Pharmacist. After 15 years’ experience in the field of pharmacy, she decided to take a leap into helping people change their health in a holistic way. Having created and developed her own turmeric supplement, she became drawn towards Ayurveda and holistic health. Komal is a health coach and habit change specialist, and draws upon Ayurvedic principles and functional medicine to educate, guide and support her clients to make the lifestyle changes that are right for them and, in doing so, transform their health and wellbeing. She considers herself to be a lifelong student in her practice, and loves seeing her clients transform themselves through the course of her programmes.
Follow Komal:
Website: Komal The Holistic Pharmacist
Facebook: Komal George - The Holistic Pharmacist
Facebook community: Holistic Health With Komal
Instagram: @komaltheholisticpharmacist
“Nature developed to provide us with everything we would ever need to survive as humans, and it’s this connection, symbiosis or synergy that modern medicine has lost.”
What does Ayurveda mean to you?
Ah, Ayurveda! My experience of Ayurveda has been intertwined with my heritage and upbringing. The truth is, like many children of Indian immigrants, I rejected my heritage for a long time, always asking questions and never really feeling like I had solid evidence-based answers to them. Why do we eat what we eat? Why do we cleanse the house? What is so great about turmeric? Questions which really plagued me for years. I guess feeling unsatisfied with the answers was perhaps what led me down a very traditional educational route and how I became a pharmacist.
The thing is, much of what we learnt in pharmacy also has the same root, but I was completely unaware of this, until Ayurveda reappeared in my life when I created my own turmeric capsules. Take for example the array of modern drugs we take: many of these originate from botanicals, herbs and nature, which we’ve spent centuries trying to extrapolate and manipulate into a pill, medicine, tincture, etc. The truth is we evolved to live in harmony with nature and nature developed to provide us with everything we would ever need to survive as humans, and it’s this connection, symbiosis or synergy that modern medicine has lost. This is what Ayurveda reminds us of, this is what Ayurveda helps us to seek out and this is what Ayurveda brings us home to.
Many of the traditions and habits I developed were steeped in this ancient teaching, but I didn’t learn this until I began studying Ayurveda in more depth. Brushing my teeth upon rising in the morning or scraping my tongue, habits which most Westerners would find strange, were completely normal to me. Reaching for the turmeric, lemon, honey and ginger at the slight sniff of a cold, was perfectly normal too. Chanting the Gayatri Mantra, which for so long I rejected thinking it was religious — as I wasn’t a religious person — but it brings me comfort when I recite it. I’m left with a joyous feeling I cannot describe. To hear the sound of om, the sound of life itself which reverberates through everything gives me a deep sense of connection and self.
This is what Ayurveda means to me. We can often become bogged down with the question of what is right for us, how we should be doing things based on our Dosha or age or status or whatever other label we decide to place on ourselves. None of this matters when we simply observe ourselves and become curious in a non-judgemental way. We recognise that our bodies are carriers of our souls but that mind, body and soul cannot be assumed to be isolated entities. We become curious observers of ourselves and our true intuition is what forms the basis of self-awareness. I’m by no means perfect, but you know what? In Ayurveda, that’s OK too. Living Ayurvedically is a journey, and one which really can transform people’s lives. It’s what has formed the foundation of my work now as a holistic pharmacist and health coach, where I help my clients develop and implement lifestyles suited to them and in doing so improve their health and wellbeing.
What’s the one thing you would encourage everyone to try or you think would benefit the majority of people’s health for the better?
I believe that we’ve lost our ability to live with the seasons. Our bodies crave this, it’s the reason why I encourage everyone to eat seasonally. We have so much amazing produce in the UK, and by eating seasonally we are truly connecting with nature at its peak.
I actually think that laughing yoga is also a massively under-utilised form of yoga. I have a very funny experience from a few years ago during a trip to India, of being woken up at 5 a.m. one morning to what I thought was a flock of birds squawking away, only to find that in fact, it was a group of the local residents taking part in a laughing yoga class in the park opposite where I was staying! Laughter is infectious! Everyone needs to belly laugh on a regular basis, it’s great for the mind, body and soul!
Do people around you/in your circle of friends know about Ayurveda?
Everyone in my family knows about Ayurveda, whether they practice it or think it important is irrelevant really because in my culture you really can’t separate yourself from it. It’s in our food and traditions, and that’s what I believe is so nice about Ayurveda, it shows itself subtly in the way we live and we don’t have to label it as Ayurvedic or otherwise.
How does Ayurveda fit into your everyday routines?
It took me a long time to shift my daily routine, mainly because most habits were undertaken without even thinking about them and what Ayurveda forced me to do was to look at them from the perspective of whether they were serving me or not. I start every day with breathwork or Pranayama, even if I can’t get up before my kids (which at the moment rarely happens). I take a moment to focus on my breath even whilst lying in my bed. My first drink is always a glass of warm water, and I use it as another opportunity to connect with my surroundings, I always take a moment to observe the outdoors whilst sipping my water. Sometimes it’s a quick gulp, other times it’s a more relaxed experience, either way it’s the first thing I do. I also always brush my teeth and tongue scrape around 30-40 minutes after having my water. I like the feeling of having a fresh tasting mouth before I consume anything.
The most profound learning for me has been listening to when my body needs food and when it doesn’t. I don’t always get it right, but for me I rarely need breakfast and usually my first meal is around mid-morning or lunchtime. On weekdays I usually live on two filling meals a day, one around 12 p.m. and the other around 6 p.m. I really enjoy experimenting with ingredients so I like having lots of roasted vegetables, plenty of spices of course, but I equally enjoy experimenting with flavours like miso, or fermented bean paste. I take inspiration from many different cuisines as well as the seasons, so you’ll find me cooking chapati and pumpkin dal one day and tofu with stir-fried vegetables and noodles the next. I find that when you eat most traditional meals you will get those 6 tastes of Ayurveda in your meal, helping to satiate you. I aim to eat every meal without distractions, so no phones, TV or music. The great thing about shifting our eating habits means we always eat as a family together on weekday evenings and I usually have my kitchen clear by 8 p.m. at the latest!
I rarely watch TV in the evenings, I prefer it that way. I like taking the time to read or learn something instead. I always take a moment to reflect on my day before bed time, to remind myself of what I’m grateful for and to thank all the wonderful people in my life. I aim to be in bed by 10 p.m. although it doesn’t always happen, but my absolute latest is 11 p.m. because I’m usually up to the sound of my kids waking up by 6 a.m.!