LAURE CARTER
“It’s interesting to me that in life we learn how to do everything. We learn how to drive a car, use a computer, create a business, but we never learn how to do us. Ayurveda helps people do them in a truly authentic, healing and non-judgmental way.”
Passionate, caring and intuitive, Laure Carter is on a mission to mentor women to value themselves, their health and their wellbeing. She coaches women on how to experience vibrant health, feel whole and live in balance utilising the feminine wisdom and medical science of Ayurveda. Laure's extensive training and multi-modality practice as a licensed Massage Therapist, Experienced Yoga and Meditation Teacher, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Sedona Release Method Coach and Ayurvedic Whole Plant Chef has brought deep healing and profound transformation to her clients. Her multi-cultural upbringing in the US, Paris and Martinique and extensive travel in Thailand, India, Egypt and Africa has uniquely prepared her to connect deeply with ALL women, from all over the world, understanding how cultural differences can colour our individual experience. Her vision is to help women be healthy and whole, expressing their Highest Vision of Themselves, and become agents of change in a world in crisis.
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Website: Laure Carter
“It’s not about what you eat, it’s about how you digest.”
What is your Ayurveda story?
I’ve been coaching women about conscious eating and having a healthy relationship with food for over a decade. I love it. I love what I do. I love to support women taking care of themselves, having a loving relationship with themselves and with food that is emotionally and physically healthy.
I also love food. I’m French, what can I say, it’s in my makeup. Every weekend and holiday, my mom and I would go to the countryside of Alsace to see my mémé and my tonton Chorles. We ate what they were growing. I remember waking up in the morning and watching my mémé milk the goat, pour the milk in a glass and hand it to me still warm. I remember running down the stairs as soon as I heard the hen cackling to fetch her freshly laid egg. My mémé would crack it open and I’d eat it raw with the bread she’d just made. I always had a wonderful relationship with food and I’d always experienced good health.
Then in my mid-forties I transitioned into menopause and my body changed, my health changed and it freaked me out. Some of the symptoms I experienced were debilitating digestive issues like gas, bloating, constipation and burning indigestion as well as night sweats, migraines and hot flashes. As the digestive symptoms got worse I started gaining weight and especially fat around my belly. I gained 25 pounds. Some of you might think it’s not very much, but I have a small build and I completely lost track of my body with that extra weight. I felt disconnected not just with my body but with life, I stopped enjoying life. I stopped going out to eat with friends because I was so uncomfortable no matter what I ate. I stopped wearing the clothes I loved and wore clothes to cover my body. I looked everywhere for solutions and could only find generic information. The only thing I could see ahead of me was more weight gain, potentially adult onset of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
One day I found an online Ayurvedic cooking course with Maharishi University of Management. The course not only focused on recipes but on making the recipes digestively sound. When I started experimenting with them, something soon shifted. This experience was my turning point. I understood that it’s not about what you eat, it’s about how you digest.
I decided to study Ayurveda and train as an Ayurvedic practitioner. I also trained as a plant-based culinary health professional and learned from Dr. Swami Shankardev to understand the connection between food and emotions. I experimented with the skills I acquired until I got results. I lost 17 pounds of fat, I got relief from my digestive problems and even from my menopausal symptoms barely 6 months after I started on my Ayurveda journey.
Today, I share the science and wisdom of Ayurvedic Medicine with my clients. Ayurveda is not just a way of life, it’s become the way I look at life. The fundamental principle of Ayurvedic Medicine is to understand the unique nature of the person, their imbalance and the treatment. As an Ayurvedic Practitioner, I work like a detective. I guide my clients through the same journey I went on, a journey of self-discovery and self-compassion as they slowly shed the habits and beliefs that created the imbalance and uncover the truth of who they are.
It’s interesting to me that in life we learn how to do everything. We learn how to drive a car, use a computer, create a business, but we never learn how to do us. Ayurveda helps people do them in a truly authentic, healing and non-judgmental way.
What is your favourite Ayurvedic recipe or go-to ingredient?
Ghee! Ghee is a super food. In the ancient Ayurvedic texts it is said that it takes on the qualities of the food it's cooked with and when cooked with spices, like cumin, coriander, turmeric, etc., it actually reduces the effect of oxydised cholesterol. Furthermore it's one of the best medium for herbs that nourish the nervous system and the brain, because it seeps through the tissues.
What do you wish was easier in our society to make an Ayurvedic lifestyle more accessible?
It's a great question, but I don't think there's an easy answer. From my perspective, how we think about health has to change. We live in a society that's conditioning us to look for the quick fix. Here in the U.S. we allow commercials for medications and so in some ways people are brainwashed to believe that they just need to Band-Aid their symptoms instead of addressing the whole person in mind, body and energy. So I think that what would make Ayurvedic medicine more accessible is education and a paradigm shift around 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?
In my experience, mindset is most important. So what would benefit the majority of people's health in my opinion is: the idea that health is a personal responsibility. That it's not about being perfect, but about creating balance. And that can only happen with a great deal of self-discovery and self-compassion.