COLETTE PARK
“When I started studying Ayurveda, I remember that I was amazed by how incredibly vast it is and how there are recommendations that can be applied to all aspects of life, not only to our physical health, but also to our morals, ethics, social life and career. Ayurveda felt like this vast ocean from which I was taking a teaspoon of knowledge at a time.”
Colette Park (BSc Hons Ayurveda, MSc Clinical Nutrition) is a fully qualified Ayurvedic Practitioner, working full-time within the Ayurvedic field since 2010. After being awarded a first class honours degree in Ayurveda from Mayur University in London, she embarked on a 6-month internship in India. After returning from India, her interest in the healing aspect of foods led her to complete (with Distinction) an MSc in Clinical Nutrition.
Since then, she has worked and managed at prestigious Ayurvedic spas and lectured at an Ayurvedic academy and yoga teacher training schools in London. Colette now enjoys giving Ayurvedic consultations, herbal prescriptions and a wide range of therapeutic treatments. Her main focus is digestion, hormones and the skin, and she has helped many women bring more balance to their lives.
Since 2015 Colette has served as an executive committee member of the Ayurvedic Professionals Association (APA), the UK's leading professional body for Ayurveda.
Follow Colette:
Website: Colette Park
Instagram: @coletteparkayurveda
“When you love Ayurveda you can’t help but look at everything through an Ayurvedic lens.”
What does Ayurveda mean to you?
Ayurveda gives me a roadmap to understanding myself and those around me. Not only does Ayurveda look at the health of the body, but it also looks at larger universal cycles. By understanding the cause and effect of the elements and their opposing qualities, Ayurveda gives context and allows me to make sense of situations.
On a more practical level, it helps me to feel more connected to my body and how I am feeling, enabling me to understand what my body needs to remain balanced.
When did you discover it? How long have you been practising it? What drew you to Ayurveda?
I feel really blessed to have discovered Ayurveda during my childhood in South Africa through my mom. She started doing Transcendental Meditation via Maharishi Ayurveda and brought Ayurveda into our lives with some simple Ayurvedic herbal remedies. She also gave me the opportunity to learn TM at the tender age of 10. Her faith in Ayurveda was the start of my love for it.
By the time I was a teenager, I knew that I wanted to be an Ayurvedic Practitioner one day. At the age of 20, I came to the UK to work and travel, with the view of saving up and studying Ayurveda in India or the US. However, within a few months I had discovered that there was a BSc (Hons) degree available in the UK and by that September I started my degree in Ayurveda. I’ve been working full-time in the Ayurvedic field in London since 2010.
Has it helped you with anything major?
Ayurveda has offered a big shift in my relationship with food, as it helped me overcome a mild eating disorder that I had at the age of 19. At the time, I had been to see a wonderful Ayurvedic Practitioner in Cape Town for some hormonal issues. During that one consultation she completely shifted the way I thought about food: where I had been fixated on having small portion sizes and avoiding all forms of sugar, she shifted my perspective towards eating warm, nourishing and grounding foods to balance the Vata imbalance that I had. I remember her telling me it was OK for me to have a nice warm dessert or a slice of carrot cake now and again, which really changed things for me. Within 5 days of having my first Ayurvedic consultation and eating in a more balanced way, along with doing some grounding self-massages, I experienced my first menstrual period after 6 months of amenorrhoea.
Is Ayurveda part of your everyday life or just for your medicine cabinet or fall-back routine?
When you love Ayurveda you can’t help but look at everything through an Ayurvedic lens, which informs the way I experience the world around me. Ayurveda is part of my daily life in the small habits that I mostly don’t notice I’m doing anymore, such as eating in a slow, calm manner, and having food that suits my constitution, etc. My practice does go through stages too — at times I’ll be more focused on my daily self-massages, at other times I might be more focused on taking herbal remedies. I mix and encapsulate my own herbal remedies and am currently taking herbs to improve my strength, keep my skin clear and my hormones balanced.
What are your top 3 Ayurvedic tips that have worked for you?
Drink warm water and herbal teas. It is amazing what a big shift such a simple practice can make.
Warm food. Ayurveda says the perfect meal is warm, moist, soft, slightly oily and easily digestible. I feel much more grounded when I’m eating warm, freshly cooked meals.
Try not to eat before your previous meal is fully digested. I try not to snack until I know my previous meal is fully digested, which goes a long way towards avoiding bloating and other digestive imbalances.
What surprised you most about Ayurveda?
When I started studying Ayurveda, I remember that I was amazed by how incredibly vast it is and how there are recommendations that can be applied to all aspects of life, not only to our physical health, but also to our morals, ethics, social life and career. Ayurveda felt like this vast ocean from which I was taking a teaspoon of knowledge at a time.
Did you integrate it gradually or overnight for any particular reason?
I slowly integrated different aspects of Ayurveda into my life over many years. It has definitely changed how I view life and the choices that I make. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been gravitating towards a Pitta-reducing diet, which helps keep me balanced, as I tend to suffer from eczema when I don’t!
Do your family eat an Ayurvedic diet? And if they do, do they know it’s Ayurveda or do they just think of it as home cooking?
In our household I’m generally having to cook two meals at mealtimes. Whilst I’m vegetarian and enjoy a wide variety of food, my husband has a very conservative palate (he is a meat-potato-and-green-peas-man). We are total opposites when it comes to food, it is rather ironic!
What is your favourite Ayurvedic recipe or go-to ingredient?
I love mung beans, coriander leaves and fresh cardamom! Mung beans are an absolute staple of Ayurvedic food and are very nourishing and filling in the form of a soup or kitchari. Whenever I have friends over for dinner, I make a delicious homemade Ayurvedic chutney with fresh coriander leaves, ginger and soaked raisins, which is always a hit. Lastly, I love cardamom on almost anything.
I’ve got an ever-growing collection of Ayurvedic cookbooks which I love to cook from.
How does Ayurveda fit into your day-to-day routines?
When life is busy I try to stick to the simple principles such as drinking a warm drink, having warm food and trying to eat at set mealtimes. During quieter times I love the sense of spaciousness and peacefulness that a self-Abhyanga (massage), followed by a meditation, brings to my day.
Do people around you/in your circle of friends know about Ayurveda?
When I first started studying Ayurveda, no one seemed to have heard of it or knew what it was all about. There has definitely been a big shift in awareness about Ayurveda in the last decade and I find that I no longer need to explain what it is that I do.
Most of my friends know a little bit about Ayurveda, as it is such a big part of my life. I also feel very blessed to have studied with the most wonderful group of supportive women during my Ayurvedic degree, and we are all still very close.
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?
The power of touch can have a great impact on the body and mind and Ayurveda has such a wide range of unique body treatments to offer. I think the world would be a better place if everyone could have an Ayurvedic massage or therapy at least once a month. During an Ayurvedic massage you always learn more about yourself and you start noticing tense areas that you were not previously aware of — it offers a sense of space to reconnect with yourself.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Ayurvedic herbs (and all other herbs) are pure magic. Preparing herbal remedies for my clients is my favourite part of my practice and I love seeing the positive impact that herbs have on a wide range of issues.