My Selfcare Revolution, Part 1

In June of 2024, I was diagnosed with an ‘incurable’ condition. I’ve put it inside quote marks because I was never of the mindset that conditions were incurable. I was always of the mindset that if you weren’t born with it, you could work through it. It was caused by your environment, including emotional factors. I never under-estimated the work required to heal from a disease, but I always believed that you could.

Healing From a Disease

We’ve all read the stories. How I cured my cancer or arthritis or Parkinsons and the list goes on.
I will caveat this with the fact that actually, I’m not an expert in anything. I have a deep interest in all things health and over the decades, working as a therapist and trainer I’ve studied and/or taken an interest in all of the following

  • Diet & nutrition
  • Counselling
  • Ayurveda
  • A multitude of holistic therapies
  • Womb and hormonal health
  • German New Medicine

Specialist Holistic Practitioner

I’m a specialist holistic practitioner and I was always told to say that I’m not ‘medically trained’. Whilst I have the greatest respect for many professions, I don’t believe that ‘medically trained’ supersedes other health professionals such as naturopaths, homeopaths, acupuncturists, holistic therapists, hypnotherapists and certainly not Ayurvedic doctors.

I’m firm in the belief that the medical system is just that, one SYSTEM and one way of looking at health. It treats symptoms and cures many people of ailments and disease. We can’t live without it when it comes to accidents, emergencies and surgeries. Often, it doesn’t address the root cause or look at the person holistically.

Ayurveda

I grew ever more keen to learn about Ayurveda following my diagnosis and a chance meeting with an Ayurvedic doctor set me on a path.

In November 2025 I had 15 days of Panchakarma therapy. Again, the full story is for another day but my biggest takeaway and what I’ve implemented is the nutritional advice. My family originates from the Pakistan side of Kashmir, so this way of eating is actually ingrained and part of my heritage.
Right now, I’m creating a small booklet with all my learnings and if you want a copy as soon as it’s complete, please join our mailing list – sign up at the bottom of the page!

Good Health

Diet plays an important role in the maintenance of good health and in the prevention and cure of the disease; the proper balanced food is the most important factor in the promotion of positive health. The foundation of Ayurvedic nutrition is based on the idea that the human being is the result of what, when, where, how and why they eat. Ayurveda explains that food should be eaten mindfully and with gratitude, and that it must be fresh, of the highest quality, digestible, delicious, lovingly prepared and satisfying to the senses. Ayurveda offers a balanced approach for preparing, eating and digesting food based on unique body-mind type or Dosha, as well as the time of day, the season and the period of life cycle and the living place of the person.

Basic Principles

Of course, as the text suggests, eating habits should vary based on your dosha but I’m going to share some basic principles which can apply to everyone. These are all principles which I’ve adopted.

  • Breakfast is not the most important meal of the day (that was a Kellog’s marketing campaign)
  • Eat 2 meals a day, the first around 11am to 1pm and the second by 7pm at the latest.
  • Don’t snack and leave at least 4 hours between your meals
  • Keep fruit for the morning and eat as much as you like. Just don’t worry about the calories!
  • Stop eating junk food – try to eat food that was alive at some point. No, that doesn’t mean just meat, it means plants so vegetables and whole food such as rice, grains and pulses
  • Have a green juice daily which includes leafy greens
  • Always bathe/shower before a meal. Never immediately after. This will slow down or stop digestion.
  • Use millets instead of flour
  • Always eat plenty of salad before your meal
  • Don’t eat bananas, yoghurt or peanuts at night. They will close the ‘channels’. Yoghurt at night blocks the channels like ‘mud’ and could cause weight gain. It’s a superfood during the day
  • Don’t eat and then go straight to sleep or even lie down. Yes, this one got me!
  • Make lunch your main meal. Digestion is strongest during the day
  • Keep dinner light
  • The stomach should be empty at night to aid detox
  • Eat freshly cooked food as much as possible. Avoid too much refrigeration and especially freezing
  • Ditch the microwave and non-stick pans
  • Each meal should consist of 1/3 food, 1/3 liquid (warm), 1/3 space – my dad, God rest his soul was a big advocate of this

Final Thoughts

I realised that most of these principles were taught to us by our dad. He followed them himself and he lived a healthy life until the age of 95. At the age of 82, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, made a full recovery and lived another 13 years.
I love the Ayurvedic approach, and it’s become my new way of life.

Over the coming months, I’ll share more about my selfcare revolution, my diagnosis and my mindset around it. I encourage anyone, even if you are healthy and disease free to research Ayurveda and its role in the prevention of disease.

In the meantime, if you or someone you love is facing a health challenge, please reach out and I’ll be happy to introduce you to my Ayurvedic doctor. He doesn’t live or promote on social media but is happy to help anyone.

Thank you for reading this months blog, My Selfcare Revolution, Part 1. If you would like more information about How to create Holistic Fusion please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Have a lovely day,
Sughra

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