JOANNA WEBBER
“Ayurveda is about living in connection with ourselves, as well as our daily and seasonal rhythms — something the rest of nature and all other species manage to do without even thinking about it! I love that this becomes a creative dance as nothing is ever still, and we must constantly adapt to thrive, especially around spring and autumn when the seasons change, leaving us a little vulnerable. It is about having the knowledge to live the best life you can. And fulfilling your true potential (dharma) and enjoying yourself on this journey of discovery as to why you are on this planet at this time.”
Joanna Webber is a fully qualified Ayurvedic Practitioner with a BSc in Ayurveda (Manipal, India, First Class Honours) as well as a Hatha yoga teacher. She has taught yoga in a range of settings including schools, drug rehabilitation projects, corporates and festivals. Her yoga classes often include an Ayurvedic thali afterwards for “Yoga Supper Club” or at the very least, a chai and an energy ball! She loves to weave the two sister sciences together to support a more integrated approach to health and wellbeing. She has completed 500 hours of clinical Ayurvedic internship training in India (Alvas Ayurvedic hospital, Karnataka; Dr Marda, Pune, and Jiva Ayurveda, New Delhi) and is a full member of the Ayurvedic Professionals Association. She also trained at the Ayuseva clinic in Brighton, and with Dr Vasant Lad.
Joanna lives in Somerset with her husband, three children, dogs, guinea pigs, chickens and bees. She spends her spare time growing, foraging, wildcrafting and cooking. Before practising Ayurveda and yoga, Joanna completed a Masters in Human Sciences at Oxford University and then worked in the field of corporate social responsibility and ethical investment. She also has a post-graduate Certificate in Education, and feels strongly about making diet, lifestyle and herbal advice more readily available, so people of all ages can make informed and empowered choices for themselves. She founded the Ayurvedic Yogi clinic in Bristol, co-founded The Ayurveda Academy, and is currently Head of Herbal Education at Pukka Herbs where she oversees the delivery of industry-leading education, enabling people to discover the power of herbs and learn to be well.
Follow Jo:
Website: JoannaWebber
Instagram: @ayurveda.with.jowebber
“Take some time to connect with yourself every day and be guided by your inner voice, intuition, heart wisdom — whatever you want to call it.”
What does Ayurveda mean to you?
Ayurveda is about living in connection with ourselves, as well as our daily and seasonal rhythms — something the rest of nature and all other species manage to do without even thinking about it! I love that this becomes a creative dance as nothing is ever still, and we must constantly adapt to thrive, especially around spring and autumn when the seasons change, leaving us a little vulnerable. It is about having the knowledge to live the best life you can. And fulfilling your true potential (dharma) and enjoying yourself on this journey of discovery as to why you are on this planet at this time.
When did you discover it? What drew you to Ayurveda?
My interest in Ayurveda was awakened as a tourist in Kerala in 1999, where I visited an old Vaidya (doctor) in a sleepy backstreet of Kochin. He asked no questions but held my wrist and read my pulse. To say I was amazed by what he could tell is an understatement and I remember thinking he was either a magician or this was a science worth studying. I made a commitment on the spot to study Ayurveda in the future. It was a very moving and profound experience as he also read my friend’s pulse and correctly diagnosed she had had cancer and which body part was affected, but that she was now free of this disease. Which turned out to be true as well. I trained as a yoga teacher first and then studied a BSc in Ayurveda with Manipal University, which included fantastic internships back in India. I’m so grateful to the inspirational teachers I’ve had along the way, though I’m most especially grateful to the old Vaidya in the Keralan backwater, whose name I do not know.
Has it helped you with anything major?
I had an eating disorder from the age of 13 to 23 and then lived life to the extreme working as an ethical investment analyst in the City in London. I had chronic insomnia for 4 years and felt I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders due to my job. I was full of excess heat, and my Vata was most definitely deranged. I’m thankful both yoga and Ayurveda provided the tools I needed to both nourish, ground and cool my system, bringing myself back into balance.
Is Ayurveda part of your everyday life or just for your medicine cabinet or fall-back routine?
I think about it all the time, and especially enjoy my occasional Ayurveda dreams! It’s such a part of my worldview I can’t ever switch off the internal Ayurveda dialogue to be honest, but I wouldn’t want to. Food is indeed medicine and we eat three times a day so it needs to be working for us. I used to be quite dogmatic though, with beginner’s enthusiasm, which sometimes caused problems as I wanted to stick 100% to the rules (perhaps some Pitta there?). Thankfully, I’ve learnt to go with the flow when not everything is within my control and have a steady 80/20 attitude to incorporating Ayurveda into my life. My mum has learnt to make the kids’ fish pie with coconut milk instead of dairy to make it more digestible but my mother-in-law serves lasagne on every visit. I’ve learnt one can’t get too obsessive about food, or the emotional impact can be more damaging than the odd incompatible meal.
What are your top 3 Ayurvedic tips that have worked for you?
Hot water on waking, or fresh ginger tea — to cleanse the digestive tract and prepare for 3 or 4 meals. You wouldn’t paint a wall before wiping off any greasy dirt, so why would you want to eat before giving your digestion a nice clean?
Chewing food well and leaving enough time between meals for food to be really digested. So, waiting for real “rumbly tummy hunger” as opposed to all the other reasons we might choose to eat or drink something beyond herbal tea or water.
Minimising raw food to summer when it is happily growing in my garden. This feels right for me in the cold, damp UK, and indeed most traditional cultures cook their food. I believe the “raw food movement” was birthed in the hot, dry Arizona where it makes sense, but has now spread far and wide which I feel isn’t to everyone’s benefit.
What surprised you most about Ayurveda?
How relevant it still is to our lives today. Ayurveda helps what would have been called “householders” in ancient India live healthy, fulfilled lives. I was initially a yoga teacher and spent many happy months in ashrams (often cooking in the kitchens). So yoga was my first love but felt more about supporting the path of the spiritual seeker that supporting someone who wanted to raise a family. Of course, we need both Ayurveda and yoga, and David Frawley has written a fantastic book on this. They are two sides of the same coin, but their relevance may shift at different life stages. I was surprised to find that Ayurveda talked about using meat as a medicine, as yoga is a strict vegetarian science. I was drawn to this flexibility as I found it hard to remain vegetarian when I was pregnant and breastfeeding my 3 children. Interestingly, now that phase of my life is over, I have no desire for chicken soup. Another example of this relevance is that Ayurveda doesn’t forbid alcohol, like yoga, but talks about how it can be “nectar” when used correctly — essentially one of its medicines draksha arishta is red wine in fact. Again, I found this refreshing as I do enjoy the occasional glass of organic red wine and make my own wine out of herbs such as dandelion and elderberries.
Do your children/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?
My two eldest kids (aged 9 and 11) know about Ayurveda and sometimes roll their eyes and ask me to “stop being so Ayurvedic!” But they also respect I’m trying to help, and we follow the key rules of Ayurvedic food combining. My daughter once got sent home from primary school as she had vomited. She seemed fine so I asked what had happened and she said she had an orange with a glass of milk, an aggravating combination according to Ayurveda. It was a good opportunity to phone the school and remind them that’d I’d requested they not be given fruit and milk together. We eat seasonal foods, mainly plants and not too much snacking. I make small changes all the time, such as substituting smoked haddock in “kedgeree” with sprouted mung dal to turn it back into “kitchari” which they loved. Having had an eating disorder myself, I really want them to have a wholesome and happy approach to food, without any hint of faddiness. For me, what is key is to connect them with growing and foraging for food. They each have a raised bed and my middle child can’t eat enough rhubarb at the moment – she is so proud she grew it. My oldest also loves foraging with me.
What is your favourite Ayurvedic recipe or go-to ingredient?
Kitchari! Ayurveda’s one-pot dish of rice, mung dal and vegetables, made with home-made ghee and warming digestive spices. It is a staple of my annual spring and autumn cleanse, as well as whenever I feel the need to lighten the load. I could eat it till the cows come home really, combined with whatever is in season, and varying the spices as to what I feel I need that day. When I was pregnant with my first child, I lived in Delhi. I was very sick and ended up in hospital needing extra fluids. A kindly neighbour made me kicthari with just a little cumin and fennel — I hadn’t been able to eat properly for days and it was so nourishing when I was so in need. I’m a big fan of ghee as well and wrote my dissertation on ghee from the yogic and Ayurvedic perspectives. I nearly ended up turning it into a book, with a Californian ghee company (Ancient Organics).
How does Ayurveda fit into your day-to-day routines?
I prioritise connecting with nature, and look after the pillars of health — sleep, digestion and how I use my energy. I try to live closely connected with daily and seasonal rhythms as I feel this is at the heart of living an Ayurvedic life. So, each day I get outside for some daylight/sunshine exposure to support my sleep; I try to do more intensive work in the morning and more creative tasks in the afternoon; I try to minimise exposure to blue light in the evening and so on. I also try and eat something wild every day as it’s great for my gut biome and gets me out in nature. I’ve loved learning from The Red School about tuning into our monthly moon cycle as well, taking it easy in the week before my period, but living life to the full around ovulation. I’m now 46 and am conscious that the more I invest in rest over the next few years, the easier my menopause transition will be, so that is adding another dimension for me, beyond traditional Ayurvedic wisdom.
What do you wish was easier in our society to make an Ayurvedic lifestyle more accessible?
Better education, without a doubt. Having worked as a primary school teacher, I’ve thought long and hard about how we educate children and what is prioritised. Essentially maths and literacy above all else. If we could really teach children about how to care for their individual health and happiness, we wouldn’t need the sort of NHS we’ve got. We also need lessons on the healing nature of connecting with nature, how food is medicine and the need to invest in rest. As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This is the key reason I’ve set up an online Ayurveda learning platform called The Ayurveda Academy for anyone who wants to learn more.
Do people around you/in your circle of friends know about Ayurveda?
Yes — I naturally share what inspires me! I recently also discovered what an amazing community exists on Instagram at the beginning of lockdown last year. Sharing how I was living Ayurveda every day became like daily therapy for me and inspired me to forage or make something most days. I’m finding it a great outlet to express my Vata creativity really and help inspire others to make small steps to self-care and more creative lives, especially busy mums. It’s also a great record for the book I would still like to write on what you can make, forage and grow according to the seasons, inspired by Ayurveda of course.
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?
Great question! As much as I want to jump in with one answer relating to sleep, digestion, etc., I love that there is no one-size-fits-all approach in Ayurveda. So, my answer would have to be to spend time exploring your Dosha, what may be out of balance and what is right for you. Once you’ve put on your Ayurveda glasses it’s hard to take them off as it provides a personalised user’s manual for life and helps you wade through the “health myths” out there (such as everyone needs breakfast, 2 litres of water a day, 8 hours’ sleep and so on). Once you have this insight, take some time to connect with yourself every day and be guided by your inner voice, intuition, heart wisdom — whatever you want to call it. It’s the best gift you can give yourself and will also add new insights into understanding your family, friends and colleague once you start to look at them through the “Dosha glasses.” I’d also love everyone to really listen to those early warning signs that things are getting a little out of balance — bloating, skin rash, feelings of lethargy. It is so much easier to act now and bring back into balance versus 20 years down the line.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m so excited to share the launch of The Ayurveda Academy, co-founded with my dear friend and fellow practitioner Kate Siraj, who I studied my Ayurveda BSc with 15 years ago. We’ve since had 6 children between us, so life has been busy, but at the start of lockdown last year we birthed the idea of offering practical and engaging courses combining Ayurveda’s ancient wisdom with modern insights on how to live well. We’ll be starting our “Introduction to Ayurveda - The Science of Life’ course in September 2021. This is a 3-month online immersion course with a focus on understanding yourself and your close community through the Doshas. All the course content is drawn directly from the classical Ayurvedic texts, combined with modern interpretation, and supported by research where possible. It’s been designed to cover everything you need to know to start applying Ayurveda’s wisdom on diet, lifestyle and herbs to your daily life to improve your health and wellbeing. With a range of content (including webinars, PDFs, a community forum, health diary, quizzes and case studies) we hope there is something for everyone!