Episode #40: Interview with Victor Briere
Can ancient Ayurvedic practices offer powerful alternatives to modern medicine? Tune in as we delve into the transformative world of Ayurveda, unpacking its centuries-old wisdom and its potential role in today's healthcare landscape.
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Show Notes:
Part 1: Introduction to Ayurveda
Victor Briere, co-founder of the International Institute of Ayurveda and a yoga teacher, shares his journey to Ayurveda.
Discussion on Ayurveda as a natural alternative to modern medicine.
Victor's personal health issue at age 18 led him to explore Ayurveda after conventional medicine failed to help.
Ayurveda's holistic approach: emphasizes a lifestyle that is fundamentally healing in nature.
Ayurveda’s diagnosis methods: visual inspection, palpation, and pulse reading.
Importance of maintaining a balance in line with one's natural constitution.
Customized treatments in Ayurveda based on individual elemental compositions.
Part 2: Ayurveda in Modern Health
Relevance of Ayurveda in addressing lifestyle diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and dementia.
Three pillars of health in Ayurveda: intake (food, water, senses), sleep, and relational health.
Emphasis on psychological health and its impact on physical well-being.
Connection between emotional issues and physical ailments.
Importance of confronting emotional and spiritual aspects in healing.
Ayurveda’s alignment with spiritual teachings, including those of Jesus Christ.
Variability in the success rate of Ayurvedic treatment depending on the condition.
The role of community support in the healing process.
Healing as a human capacity, not just a professional skill.
Key Takeaways:
Holistic Healing Approach: Ayurveda provides a comprehensive approach to health, focusing on lifestyle, diet, and psychological aspects, offering a natural alternative to modern medicine.
Individualized Treatment: Ayurveda emphasizes personalized treatment based on an individual's unique elemental composition, moving away from the one-size-fits-all approach of conventional medicine.
The Significance of Emotional and Relational Health: Ayurveda highlights the importance of emotional well-being and interpersonal relationships in overall health, often neglected in modern medical practices.
Spiritual Dimension: Ayurveda's principles align with spiritual teachings, underscoring the importance of service to others and self-realization in the healing process.
Community Involvement in Healing: Success in treating diseases, especially lifestyle-related ones, often requires community support and a collective approach to health and wellness.
Empowerment in Healing: Encourages individuals to see healing as a capacity inherent in everyone, advocating for reaching out for help and responding to others' needs.
Transcript:
Welcome back to Better Than A Pill. Today I'm so excited to have Victor Briere on as a guest,
and Victor is the co-founder of the International Institute of Ayurveda, and also a yoga teacher.
So today we're gonna be talking about Ayurveda as a natural alternative to modern medicine.
So I'm so excited to have you here. Welcome Victor.
Thank you, Cari. Looking forward to our talk.
Excellent. So let's get started and just tell us a little bit about your story in terms of how you got
involved in doing this work.
Well, I'll tell the short version of the story, which is, I had a health issue when I was about 18.
Um, some back problems. It was, you know, in that range of like, It wasn't bad enough to be life-
threatening by any means, but it wasn't so minor that I could just ignore it and move on. So I
went to God knows how many doctors, um, in Los Angeles, you know, went to some of the best
people at the time. And long story short, basically one of the, one of the neurologists sat me
down and said, look.
You know, I was 18 at the time. I'd never heard of Ayurveda or yoga or anything like that. And he
said, listen, we're not gonna be able to help you. Um, just being honest, and I really appreciated
that he said, you know, you're, you're in that range where you, you don't have anything that's life
threatening. Um, it's not something that fits into our insurance rubric.
Um, so you're gonna need to look elsewhere for help. And so that kind of opened my eyes
because I grew up in Los Angeles and kind of in the normal realm, so to speak. And, um, having
this like a very professional person basically says, I. We're not gonna help, um, awakened me to
the reality of the system, you know.
So I started searching for alternative methodologies and basically came across yoga, which led
me to Ayurveda. Um, which basically in a matter of two weeks my issue was gone and that I'd
had for years. Yeah. That's powerful. Wow. Amazing. Yeah, so I was shocked and, you know,
opened up and that really affected me at a time in my life where I was, you know, looking for
answers and so I followed that path.
Well, that totally makes sense why you did follow that path and, and you had such a great
experience with it, helping your own body that you wanted to pursue and help other people.
Correct. Yeah, absolutely. That really influenced me. So it was, it wasn't, uh, I started practicing
yoga pretty religiously, but um, it wasn't maybe until six years later that I met the person who
introduced me to Ayurveda, and then I took it from there.
Okay. So I don't, I am not familiar with Ayurveda, and I know a lot of people listening today aren't
either. I'm just curious as to, can you kind of give us a basic description as to, you know, what it
is for, you know, just so we understand a little bit more about it to start. Yeah, absolutely. I mean,
so Ayurveda was created by women thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago.
Um, you know, it is, it's okay. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's. Intuitive based
medicine and, you know, to a lot of people, especially men, frankly, um, it's like, whoa, you
know, what does that even mean? I need it to be scientifically backed. I need it to be rational. I
need it to be logical. But unfortunately, in our modern day, we've kind of been fooled into thinking
that that's the only way to go about living life, um, the proper way of going about living life.
Which is very unfortunate because there's a whole other reality that's present with us right now
that actually contains much more of the truth about healing that allopathic medicine is just
starting to catch up to. Um, and that is the whole psychosomatic intuitive realm of knowledge.
That, um, is accessible to every human being.
Okay. You, you've got me curious. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. So Ayurveda comes from that lineage
as many eastern medicinal arts do. And basically, you know, in a nutshell, what it proposes is
that we as a human being are so complex and we have so many functions in our body that it's
impossible to piecemeal ourselves into systems.
That contains knowledge of the whole. So instead, what Veda proposes us to do is to develop
an entire lifestyle that is fundamentally healing in nature, so that not only do we prevent disease,
but that when we do come across the inevitability of disease, that we are resilient and equipped
to actually maneuver ourselves through it to the point where we can.
Um, return ourselves to a state of homeostasis in our body without resorting to surgeries or, you
know, extremes, um, or medications that basically just serve as a bandaid to the reality or the
causal nature of our disease. Okay. Yeah, so that absolutely makes sense. It sounds like, you
know, like a lot of other alternative practices, it's, it's lifestyle based and, and you're looking at
the whole person.
Um, but what makes it unique and different? What, what's, what is the, for example, are you
using herbs or how do you use nutrition? Or explain a little bit more on that if you would. Sure.
Yeah. So of course I already use herbal medicine. Of course it uses, uh, food. Food is medicine,
right? Whatever we put into our body, be it breath, uh, liquids or food, um, has a profound effect
on our system.
And we've lost touch with that, with kind of the modern idea of dietary, uh, principles like calories
and stuff like that. That's just. It's just not enough to capture the range of what a human being is.
And so Ayurveda tries to combine and synthesize all those to help us stay in balance with what
our constitution was when we were born or actually conceived, really.
So the idea in Ayurveda is that you're conceived and you have a balance point. That's set at that
conception and everybody's a little bit different. Although there are archetypal themes and going
through life, you want to stay as close to that balance point as you can. And the way to do that is
to honor your nature.
And that's the whole, that's the whole art and science of Ayurveda, is how do you honor that
nature? So by, you know, what you put into your mouth, what you perceive through your sense
organs, sight, touch, hearing, smell, taste, um, all that. That's all part of what we consume, and
then our body digests what we consume.
And our body's ability to transform that into our bodily tissue determines how healthy we're
gonna be. Okay. And so we all have different natures, right? Yes. Yes. And how, how does a
practitioner. I guess put, you know, how do you make use of the different natures and, and
what's different for each person in terms of how you treat them?
I guess I'm wondering, Yeah, of course. So like for example, let's take you for example, right, if
you don't mind. So you have almond shaped eyes. Your eyes are blue, you have blonde hair,
your complexion is reddish. All those things tell me as an Ayurvedic practitioner that you are a pit
for crew T and those are fancy Sanskrit words that you don't need to memorize, right?
But basically it gives, it gives me a sense that your body is geared towards a certain elemental
composition. And if you were to stray from that elemental composition, you're gonna get sick. If
you maintain that elemental composition, you're gonna be healthy. So for example, if you go out
and eat a bunch of spicy food, drink a bunch of acidic drinks like coffee and alcohol and so on,
so forth, you're going to overdo yourself, right?
And you're gonna develop diseases based on those qualities. And so an I R A prac already has
a lot of this type of quality, which namely is acidity, and you are going to need to develop a
lifestyle that actually counterbalances that.
Okay, so the, so explain a little bit about, 'cause you, so acidity seems to be a key here and
Yeah. Okay, so, so you're trying to, is that what, what's unique to the person? Like how much
acidity they get into there. Diet, for example. Correct? Correct. Yeah. Okay. So for you it's gonna
be acidity for someone else, they may need more acidity.
Right. Okay. And that's what an Ayurvedic practitioner is trained to do, is to tell those sorts of
things just by looking at you because our makeup, um, exposes us, let's say, right? So,
someone else who has a much, uh, less acidic system by nature is going to actually need to. It's
the same substance that you should avoid, and that's something that allopathic medicine
doesn't take into account much, right?
So Allopathy kind of just says, okay, you have a symptom, you have a disease, here's a pill for
that disease. But Ayurveda would say, no, no, no, no. The same disease can come from many
different sources, and we gotta identify the cause. So Ayurveda is always focused on what the
cause is of the disease. For example, if you have hyperacidity, the cause may be different from
someone else who has hyperacidity.
And so the treatment is gonna be vastly different even though the disease and the symptoms
are the same. I see. So they're, they're assessing, a practitioner is assessing you by the outside
and, and getting some information. What, how, how else do they diagnose and, and recommend
treatments besides the visual component?
Besides the visual component, there are two other components, which is the touch, which is a
big component. So like if you go into my office and you sit down at my clinic, you'll get on a
massage table and we'll palpate your abdomen. We'll feel your skin, we'll check underneath
your eyes, we'll check your tongue, all that kind of stuff.
And we'll read your pulses And pulse reading isn't just about finding the pulse rate. It's an
ancient knowledge known to Chinese medicine in Ayurveda, uh, to assess all the internal states
of someone's organs and tissues and so on and so forth. So the body is constantly talking to us,
and if we know how to speak the language, which is what a healer is built to do, then we can
derive tons of information about that person's system just by using our own five senses.
That's pretty fascinating. Yeah. And so a lot of, a lot of allopathic doctors, not modern day, but
maybe in the forties and fifties, relied on the same techniques. I see. And so this is something
that you've, you've seen in your experience obviously work, right? Of course. Yeah, of course.
All the time. Yeah. And, and what, what, um, what are you, what specific illnesses, um, are you
dealing with when you're treating somebody?
Well, you know, so Ayurveda in the modern day is relevant, especially when it comes to
diabetes. Um, which is called prameha in Ayurveda. And diabetes is largely, or swiftly, I should
say, becoming the number one disease in the world. And it is perfect in a way that it's, that that
disease is becoming so gue because it is the quintessential lifestyle disease, right?
People are sedentary, uh, people are eating the wrong foods, people are depressed. Um, and all
those things combined create what is known as diabetes. It's not a coincidence. Right, right. So,
you know, in the United States there's some ungodly percentage of people who have
prediabetes and diabetes, and it just goes to show that we're all living so disconnected from
what is actually healthy for us.
We're developing these lifestyle diseases. So of course there are others besides diabetes,
Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, dementia, you name it, it doesn't matter, right? They're all coming from
basically the same source, which is with, which is that we're ignoring the fundamental principles
of health in our life.
Um, and people can blame genetics all they want, but I'm sorry, it is not genetics. Um, it is the
way we're living. Yeah, no, I agree with you a hundred percent. I mean, why not if there, there's
so many things we can do to, you know, change things by starting with our lifestyle. A hundred
percent. Yes. Right. And, and Ayurveda is one of those things that can be helpful for somebody
who wants to look outside of what's going on in, let's say, mainstream medicine and, and maybe
address the lifestyle right.
Right, which is very hard to do. And you know, the problem is that Ayurveda says that, okay, so
you have three pillars of health. The first is what we take in. That's food, water sense
perceptions, right? That's one pillar. Second pillar is sleep. How well do we sleep? And the third
pillar is why? The second pillar is because sleep is.
Primarily responsible for our rejuvenative capacities. The third pillar is the hardest to deal with,
and that is our relational health, the way we relate to others. Single biggest factor in health and
completely ignored by the modern health system. So our psychological health is based on how
we relate to others, which is basically based on how we are.
Experiencing ourselves is kind of the final frontier of medicine. And Ayurveda and Chinese
medicine and many eastern medicine arts have been addressing that forever. And, but because
people don't wanna face that dragon, so to speak, um, we've resorted to taking a pill. Ah, so. So,
that makes sense because that component, which what you're saying, the relationship
component to our lifestyle is the one that most people are running from, they don't wanna avoid
and it begins with their relationship with themselves, right?
Yeah. Both the relationship with themselves and relationship with others happens concurrently.
We're social animals. We're not wired to live alone. Um, as much as the, you know, depiction of
the Marlboro Man would suggest otherwise. Um, it's just not true. And it's a lie that we've been
told and people really struggle with that.
'cause that's where the hurt is, right? That's where the real wounds are, is, um, I can't cope with
this because I've been betrayed. I've, I don't know how to do a relationship and so I'm gonna
resort to unhealthy behaviors to cope with my pain and, you know, That's where most disease is
coming from. Really?
Yeah. And I find that so fascinating and I think the more I delve into all this work and hear
people, that totally makes sense to me because Yeah, we do want to, to address the physical
side of everything. A hundred percent, right? That's one, one part. But this piece, what you're,
what you're talking about your're is the hardest part, right?
By far. By far, yeah, by far is the hardest part because we have to do things we don't want to do.
We have to wake up to our own shadows and, um, you know, when we get sick, it creates an
opportunity for us to, not that I wish sickness upon anyone, but it creates an opportunity for us to
see why, why have we gotten sick?
Right? And again, I repeat this only because it's, it's, um, you know, kind of driven into our
modern language, but. We can't say I got cancer because of genetics. That's very rarely true.
I'm not saying it's never true, but it's very rarely true. And we have to look at the fact that we've
made choices out of fear in our life and then that sets up behaviors and then those behaviors
are what drive us to get sick.
Yeah. And so you're seeing this a lot, Victor. So are you, um, addressing, let's say things with
people at an emotional level? Like it sounds like there could be. The angers, you know, that are,
are stored in them that could be causing things and the fears. Tell, explain a little bit about how
Ayurveda can help with that and what you do with that.
I think it's fascinating. Yeah, it's very hard, but Ayurveda encourages people to have proper
relationships and, but what does that mean, right? What does a proper relationship mean? Well,
in a nutshell, it means you're gonna dig into yourself to the point where you acknowledge the
honesty of that one you want a relationship, right?
A lot of people have disowned that and said, I'll just do it myself, or I'll be okay by myself. Right?
And once you've acknowledged that, you gotta ask yourself the question, well, how do I find that
in this world? And what do I do to create that? And that's a harrowing task. No one's saying that
that's easy.
But what it comes down to is basically living in service to the spirit of other people. Not, not what
they proclaim that they want, but to their spiritual needs. And so Ayurveda at its core is a
spiritual science and asks people to do whatever it takes to connect with that. Of themselves so
that they can honor that in others, and thus forge a relationship that is both honest and uplifting.
Yeah. Yeah. So that, so you hit on the nail there and I think there's gonna be a crossover. Um,
when it comes to, we're talking about spirituality. I know as a Christian, I'm sitting here listening
to you and I'm like, yeah, I can relate to all those things. Right? But you're addressing it, you
know, in just a different manner.
And so, so spiritually we're here to help other people, you know, share and pass on, is what
you're saying, uh, be of service to others. Okay. Yeah. And so we can talk Christianity. I love
Christianity. Um, and so you take Christian's greatest teacher, which is Jesus, of course, and
you know, he, it's all over his testimony.
Like, you know, it's just the kingdom of heaven with his within, um, you know, um, love thy
neighbor as thyself. I mean, it's all about relationships and the self right and right. He's one of
the greatest teachers of all time. And a completely heart-based approach and Ayurveda would
completely align with the heart of Jesus.
There's no question about it. Wow. That's powerful. Yeah. So that, so, so this, um, wow. So
there's so much more to Ayurveda All these levels. I mean, now. And, and, and when you do
that, are you helping them? Is it like talk therapy or, I'm just curious as to exactly how you do it.
Well, I gotta say, I don't think I found the answer myself. Um, okay. So yes, it is talk therapy. Um,
it's encouraging people to aspire to a greater part of themselves that is not so easy to aspire to.
Um, it asks you to do things you don't want to do, right, because of your own fear and
resentment. One's own fear and resentment.
Um, but I mean, just to keep on the Christian line, I think fundamentally Ayurveda asks you to
touch your own heart. And to see yourself as sacred and to live that out and to cast out your
own personal demons, um, and to fight that fight, that's what Ayurveda is basically asking you to
do, and it's asking you to do it in a very real and practical and earthy way.
Wow, that's powerful right there. And that totally resonates with me. I can see how, I mean, isn't
that where it's at? Going deep and getting in tune with our hearts, you know what, where, what
we are from an authentic level meant to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. And so, you know,
When someone is going through the darkness of disease, which is a darkness, right?
Let's not lie to ourselves. Um, they need support and they need someone who is sitting there
willing to listen and who understands maybe something that they may have gone through at
least part of it, right? Yeah. And they need someone to help say, hey. Look, there's a way out of
this, but you gotta choose it.
So, you know, one of my closest friends one time told me, uh, I asked him, Hey, what's the
difference between nice and kind? Right? And he says, well, you know, nice is being there for
someone, but kindness has teeth. And, um, I'll never forget that because. What I had asked you
to do is basically, for the practitioner and, and the person sitting in a chair across from the
practitioner is to say, Hey, man, have some teeth, right?
You gotta bear your teeth at this disease and you gotta fight for yourself a little bit because what,
how you have been living is not honoring the level of yourself that you could live. Not an easy
thing to do. No, a hundred percent. But that's, that's really powerful work that you're doing and,
and that's where it's at.
And, and let me ask you, like, are you seeing people, like, what's the success rate would be my
question with, with people that you're with, that you're helping with, with this approach? Um, the
success rate, I would say is, okay. So like when you're dealing with something like, Acid reflux,
right? The success rates are very high.
It is not that hard of a disease to combat a few changes you can make it happen, right? When
you're dealing with something like depression, the success rate is very low. So, yeah, so, and
when you're dealing with something like diabetes, the success rate in the middle, um, the
heavier the disease, the lower the success rate, so, But I think success rates are a little bit of a
misleading word.
The more, the deeper the disease, the deeper the psychological patterns that hold that disease
in place and the more intense the therapy needs to be. And when I say therapy, I don't mean
talk therapy. I mean presence in one's life, um, from not just the practitioner, but from parents,
family, siblings, friends.
Um, Spouses, all that stuff, right? And these days people aren't showing up and the support's
not showing up, right? And I think that's what creates the low success. So I think what that really
is, is a call to human beings to when someone's sick in their community, it takes a lot to step up
to that. But, It is vitally important because if we don't, what are we doing?
We're just damning ourselves to more sickness and it's gonna come hit us eventually. So we
gotta rise to the challenge. I mean, I think that's what Jesus would do anyways. So, Absolutely.
Yeah. Yeah. Very well said. Well, this has been fascinating, so much information and you know,
and, and I know you're also addressing the levels, like you said, of nutrition and you're doing
herbs and it's more than, you know, it's just everything combined.
And so thank you so much for sharing all this today. Of course. Anytime. I'm happy to talk about
it. I love to talk about it. And, you know, I just, uh, like the last words, I'll just say that. Healing is
a divine practice that we all are capable of doing. Um, I'm an Ayurvedic practitioner and so I
know I have knowledge of plants and foods and things like that.
Everyone in their own heart is capable of healing another if they would just reach out. And I think
that's what human beings need. And so I don't consider healing a profession. I consider it a
human capacity. Oh yeah, that's well said. And so thank you for saying that too, because if
anyone here is listening today, I mean, taking that first step just to reach out and ask for help, I
think is the biggest step of all.
Yeah, definitely to take a step and reach out for help, and then for the person who hears that
reach to respond, you know, is some, yeah. A hundred percent. Wow. If you would like to learn
more about Victor's work, which I'm sure he has a lot more than we could fit in today, but we got
a little information here, which I'm, I'm very grateful for.
I'm gonna include the link to his website in this podcast episode. And again, thank you so much,
Victor, for coming on with us today.
Thanks Carrie, really appreciate it.
And remember, we do new episodes every week on Wednesday, and I look forward to having you join me then.
