My Experience with Agni Therapy: A Place to Share, Heal, and Transform
Once again I found myself at a place of precariousness. At the edge of magic unfolding, yet still grasping on to the cliff. I had become quite ill over the winter. I was living on a biodynamic farm school in Northern California with minimal and rustic housing (think canvas tent and bucket toilet). I had thought my soul needed less. Less stuff, less distraction. It was an attempt to seek and understand my truth. I loved sleeping next to the cow fields and rising with the sun to milk them.
But the Lifestyle came with many challenges, especially keeping warm and staying nourished. By Christmas I found myself unable to walk across the farm without taking a seat to gasp for breath. This was familiar. I had severe asthma for most of my life.
When I first came to Ayurveda I was doped up on toxic steroids to keep my lungs open. When I cleaned up my Diet and lifestyle, my noisy, often constricted breath began to flow. That day on the farm a sense of panic returned as I wheezed and gasped for breath. What I’d thought was fixed, had returned.
Afraid, I sought help in western medicine. The stark white walls and fluorescent lights made me uncomfortable as I sat there waiting for the doctor and my results. They listened to my chest and alas, asthma. I felt desperate, so I let the chemicals in again in hopes of relief.
I had reached a place where I was beginning to feel better. The chemicals bought me some time to reevaluate how I wanted to move forward with my health. I could breathe again, but I knew this quick fix chemical dependency was not for me. I said goodbye to the prescriptions and I prayed.
I felt myself longing to be back at Hale Pule and the light of my being I’d felt while there. I thought I had tried my best, that Ayurveda was just too hard to incorporate into life outside Hale Pule, but I was determined. Shortly thereafter I enrolled in Agni Therapy.
The pandemic had just set in on top of all of this, chaotic and fearful energy seemed to be ruling all. But there in my inbox was the only reminder I needed to settle, that everything would be alright. The connection back to my inner flame, a moment of quiet around to listen within. And as I went inside I felt the certainty that I was still learning. Though I had strayed and gotten lost, there are greater energies at play to always guide me back; take it as a lesson never a mistake.
I was a bit apprehensive at first, to join the online community where Agni Therapy was hosted. However it became clear that the intention was genuine, thoughtful, and loving. Women from all over the world were there with common goals: to heal, to support, to change.
The first day was hard; a recalibration. But I stuck with it and my sluggish mornings transformed. I would wake up alert and focused, ready to deepen my dinacharya, daily routine. I was able to fine tune my routine in ways that felt more spacious and each day felt lighter.
My mind calmed down and I felt that my choices were more in alignment with nature and myself. My body changed too. I had energy, my skin cleared up. I felt as though I glowed.
Agni Therapy is the reminder that your light never goes out, sometimes it just needs a reset. It is an opportunity to set an intention and explore it with yourself and others. A place where all questions are acknowledged and curiosity is welcomed. It is a program that will transform you no matter what. For me, it has reshaped how I live and how I view health.
My health is a direct result of the choices that I make. Each moment, I have the opportunity to act in a way that will promote sattva and harmony, balance and ease. I thought I knew it, but now I’m living it.
Agni Therapy is deeper than a cleanse. It is a dynamic and loving community – a space in which to reflect and to share the emotions that come up, the struggles, the joys, all of it. I began to see the others in the program as dear friends, and cheered them on as we journeyed together. It is such a motivation to hear from others and to bond through the experience.
It continues to be a place where I feel safe to share, heal, and transform. It also is a place where I can be a supportive witness in the journey others also take.
Agni Therapy was the wake up to my soul that was feeling distraught and confused by the pull of cultural norms. The yes I needed to say to myself and the program to reshape how I have lived since.
Originally Published on https://www.halepule.com/blog
