248: Ayurveda is All About Self-Care with Chara Caruthers

The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast

The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast

248: Ayurveda is All About Self-Care with Chara Caruthers

Description:

As yoga teachers, we can forget that we need to take care of ourselves too. Burnout and exhaustion are common occurrences among yoga teachers, especially now, which is why self-care is so important. Chara Caruthers is on the podcast to talk about how ayurveda and self-care are intertwined for yoga teachers.

Chara Caruthers is a registered yoga teacher and certified yoga therapist who has been practicing yoga since 1993. She is a wellness coach, registered ayurvedic practitioner with AAPNA and professional member of National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). As the founder of Bliss Body & Soul, Chara offers ayurveda courses, workshops, and an ayurvedic living community. Chara also hosts the Live Like You Love Yourself Podcast, where she shares more about how to live, age, parent, and just be more vibrantly engaged in the process of “growing up” in a way that feels balanced, authentic, graceful and juicy.

What is the role of ayurveda in self-care? Chara explains that we are each a unique individual, and accordingly our self-care needs differ according to who we are, how we are, and the environments we are in. She shares tips for tuning in to our inner selves, why self-care is essential especially when we’re busy, and so much more.

If you’ve wanted to know more about how to integrate Ayurveda into your own practice, or are needing to integrate self-care into your life, this is a great episode for you.

Key Takeaways:

[2:51] Shannon introduces her guest for this episode - Chara Caruthers.

[8:12] Shannon gives a shout out to Schedulicity and a listener who left a review!

[12:04] What is the work that Chara does and who does she do it for?

[13:14] How does ayurveda connect to self-care?

[14:44] How does self-care change depending on your doshas and the seasons?

[18:28] Where can we start to find information about ourselves and how we are?

[22:16] What are some ayurveda self-care tips for yoga teachers on days that are overwhelming?

[26:04] What does Chara's personal practice look like, and what are the expectations she has for herself?

[30:39] What are Chara's thoughts for a yoga teacher who thinks they don't have time or are too busy for self-care?

[35:19] As yoga teachers, we model the way for others, including with our own self-care.

[40:10] Shannon and Chara discuss why it is so important for people to have their own regular practice before training to become yoga teachers.

[46:54] Many of us are wanting to go out and do something about everything we're seeing in the world, but we can't do that unless we take care of ourselves first.

[51:48] Things that require mental energy and mental work can also be tiring. As yoga teachers who are trying to hold space for everyone who comes to you, it is all the more important to practice self-care for yourself.

[54:33] What are some things that have helped Chara in her self-care journey?

[57:29] Chara shares more about how she works with yoga teachers in the ayurveda space.

[63:17] Find out more about Chara and her work on her website and her podcast.

[64:18] Shannon shares her biggest takeaways from this interview, and invites you to share your self-care tips and tricks.

Links:

• Chara Caruthers
• Live Like You Love Yourself Podcast
• The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 203: Do Politics Belong in Yoga? with Chara Caruthers & Maria Kirsten
• The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast Episode 173: Social Justice, Politics & Yoga with Chara Caruthers and Maria Kirsten
• Schedulicity (Coupon Code: CYT2MONTHS)
• The Connected Yoga Teacher Facebook Group

Gratitude to our Sponsors, Schedulicity, and Pelvic Health Professionals (Coupon: Connected2021).

Quotes from this episode:

"Ayurveda is really about living longer. It's a system of health and wellness that focuses on longevity and so when you think about it in that sense, you realize ayurveda is all about self-care."

"What your body wants us to understand is that the way that we actually care for ourselves is by understanding who we are and how we operate."

"What's going on out in the world is also going on inside of us."

"Ayurveda wants us to know who we are and to know how we are so that we can make smarter choices for the things that we engage with, whether that be food or people or environments or yoga."

"We have this responsibility first and foremost to make really smart choices for ourselves. And that it starts with tuning into where we are and how we are."

"If we're not going to take care of ourselves, our bodies, our minds, who will?"

"Rest is going to look different for everybody, and so I think we have that responsibility to tune in to what rest actually feels like, what it actually is for each of us."