Jasmine Hemsley on How Ayurveda Changed Her Life

Jasmine Hemsley is a London-based wellness and nutrition expert, co-founder of Hemsley + Hemsley, TV presenter, bestselling author, and champion of Ayurveda. 

With a passion for home-cooked food and natural remedies, she released her first solo book 'East by West', last year. In it, she presents her own version of Ayurvedic cuisine and wisdom inspired by her travels in India and Sri Lanka. It has since become an an Amazon bestseller and winner of Women's Health Wellbeing Book of the Year award.

Here, she tells us how Ayurveda changed her life. 

What inspired you to learn about and lead an Ayurvedic Lifestyle? 

Right about the time when I first started hearing about Ayurveda, in the early 2000s, the health culture was very much about low fat diets and punitive workouts, none of which considered our holistic health. It was the opposite of a nurturing lifestyle and it seemed so unnatural to me – I knew there had to be a better way to live. Enter Ayurveda, with its consideration of each person as an individual, its emphasis on preventing illness rather than just treating the symptoms, and its view of digestion as the key to good health… I was hooked from the very first book I picked up on Ayurveda, and I’ve been learning something new about it every day since. 

What are your top 3 recommendations for leading a happier and healthier lifestyle? 

1. Go to sleep and wake up with the sun, following the circadian rhythm of the earth and our natural rhythm, rather than fighting against it with artificial lighting and other overstimulating factors. 

2. Eat your biggest meal at lunchtime, when your digestion is at its strongest and a lighter supper two to three hours before bed. 

3. Whatever you do, practise being present – being more mindful has helped me achieve a more consistent state of calm and a kinder approach to myself and others. It’s a practice worth practising! 

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