It is so easy to pollute anything, even good things! Recently I prescribed yoga practice to a patient. However, she came back to me with weird queries like which yoga tracks and yoga mats are the best.
So, today, yoga has become a market. There is nothing wrong with this approach as it has helped yoga to become famous and accessible. However, it will be regrettable if the true spirit of yoga is lost amongst the marketing hustle bustle.
According to me, you need only a good Guru for learning yoga and nothing else. The essence of yoga is possessionlessness. This is the reason why yoga is excellent not only for physical health but also for mental health. It sets you free!
There are complications everywhere, anti-skid yoga mat, travel yoga mat, home yoga mat, and so on. You would be buying a pack of 5-6 yoga mats for each different situation. I will tell you one thing – you would genuinely excel in yogic balance if you do not have an anti-skid yoga mat, so please do not buy that at all!
Ayurvedic Minimalism will help you to live an organic life and prevent all kinds of disorders. It is critical to realize that we do not have to do different things to prevent different diseases. We just have to preserve the health of our body, and no disorders can find the weak link inside it.
If you are mentally and physically strong, you can Ace almost all kinds of diseases. At the same time, if you can maintain a tremendous digestive capacity in spite of your illness, your body will be able to burn away most of the disorders.
Minimalist Ayurvedic Life is all about how to live healthy with less. And when we are in deep contact with nature, we have everything that we need to live a healthy and fruitful life.
In the above video, Daaji, my meditation teacher, talks about different layers of existence. According to ancient yogic science, we have five layers of existence. And energy feeds all of these layers differently. We all know about hybrid cars. Hybrid cars can run on liquid fuel and electricity. Also, there can be multiple options of energy – coal, solar energy, wind energy etc.
Here is an interesting thing – any liquid fuel (petrol or diesel) produces energy through combustion. Combustion releases some power, but more amount of heat and worse – poisonous gases. This is similar to the way our bodies process the food.
Annamaya Kosha
The first layer is called annamaya kosha. This layer absorbs the energy from food and passes it to other layers. Most of us live on the basis of gross energy absorbed by annamaya kosha. And therefore, people dependent solely on food for survival, live out their lives stuck in this kosha. This kosha is like a diesel or petrol car. It takes in material fuel and gives out smoke. Compared to other kosha, this is the most basic and most primitive mode of survival. However, dependency on this kosha is only the first step towards a subtler life.
Pranamaya kosha
The second layer is called Pranamaya kosha. This is the subtle energy of the body governed by prana vayu or the air. This is also called Chi in Chinese spiritual tradition. In primitive stages of spiritual development, this kosha receives its energy from the lower kosha – annamaya kosha. However, in a more developed state, pranamaya kosha can sustain life without food and even water! This state is like an electric car, that is directly connected to the pure source of energy.
In the Daoist tradition as mentioned earlier, bigu is the art of surviving only on air and yes, it is possible! This concept is called Breatherianism and many people are actively following, it across the world. In the Vedic tradition, it is mentioned as the stage of pranayama. This is a stage when a person can survive only on the air. So, in the stage of pranayama we are supposed to master the art of living on the air and establish our existence in our energy body.
Here is another person has survived on air for 60 years – Prahlad Jani
Still another way to charge up your body without eating anything is sun gazing. And no wonder, all of the ancient civilizations worshipped the sun. Probably, it was more of a subtle scientific mode of feeding than anything religious. For more information on sun gazing, please watch the following video. Besides, there is a lot more information available on –
The third is the manomaya kosha. This is the mental layer that governs the functioning of the mind, the sensory organs and the dreams. This layer is the basis of the our interconnectedness. The miracles of telepathy, prophetic visions and super-natural sensory powers emerge from this layer.
This layer is more powerful than both annamaya and pranamaya kosha. Vedic literature mentions sages who stopped breathing as a part of their penance. It is believed that Guru Nanak stayed under water for 3 days and came out of the river – alive! I hope that some day we are able to experiment on this concept. If this is true, leave apart food, and water, you might not even need air to survive.
However, powers of manomaya kosha can turn against us if not managed properly! In an under-developed state, this layer can get affected by the negative vibrations. According to Ayurveda, there are two fields of diseases – mana (mind) and sharir (body). And the mana or the mind is the primary factor for getting sick. And therefore, it is important to preserve manomaya kosha against wrong or negative thoughts.
The disease might start in the body and reach to the mind (psoriasis leading to depression) or start with the mind and reach the mind(skin allergy triggered by stress). If you have a weak body but a strong mind, you will not fall sick. But if you have a weak mind, then even a strong body, good nutrition and loads of health supplements will not be able to help you.
According to my understanding, when the mind is affected, its negativity spirals down to reflect in the form of a metabolic loophole. This metabolic loophole invites and incubates various disease causing factors. And that is why a depressed, tensed, angry or anxious person has all the doors open for diseases. This helps me to understand why those happy and content little slum children don’t fall sick!
So basically, annamaya, pranamaya and manomaya kosha are subject to imbalance. But they can be healed by the higher absolute sources.
Vigyanamaya Kosha
The fourth kosha vigyanamaya kosha or the wisdom body is the seat of intellect or Buddhi. This is the kosha responsible for personal entity, and therefore ego. It is beyond mana or the emotional mind. It is beyond beliefs, thoughts, emotions, prejudices and all the mental fog created by them. Vigyanamaya kosha is the layer of discretion, where imagination dissolves and we come face to face with reality.
As far as I understand, this is the seat of pure energy. So, if you are stable in this kosha, you are beyond a car, you are electricity itself!
All the supernatural healing powers descend from this kosha.
Rice experiment
Water has memory II – Prof. Bernd Kroeplin Water research Germany
WATER, Thank you, I hate you, Your stupid, and Ignore
Anandamaya Kosha
Writing anything about this kosha will be dishonest as only an experienced person should elaborate on this topic. I hope to know more about it. As of now, I have this information that this is the seat of complete bliss.
I am writing all this not because I have any spiritual experiences. However, I am floating these thoughts so that someone who really knows might get back to me :). May we all grow together through sharing!
Recently, one of my relatives who has extremely bad teeth, tried Ekadashi fasting. He had a terrible toothache for past few days and there was no dentist to treat his condition because of corona lock-down. Every night, his tooth would pain terribly.
So, he decided to give a break to eating and went for Ekadashi zero food, zero water fasting this month on 18th (18th May 2020).
Very surprising, the toothache stopped. And he did not take any pain killer or any other medicines. He also did not make any other kind of dietary or lifestyle change. We can attribute it to not eating anything the whole day. And so there was no food stuck in his cavities that might cause pain. However, the tooth did not ache even the next day when he started eating food, and for few days after that. It started aching again on 23rd May 2020.
And this got me to think about our dental problems in a different way. probably, our digestive system is the source of all our disorders, even the dental ones.
Digestive system is the source of all the body fluids, including the saliva. And saliva is the fluid that creates the oral environment. Now, we know that all body fluids share some basic features. For example, if the digested juice is acidic in nature , everything right from blood to urine will turn more acidic. No wonder, what goes inside, makes the body.
And wrong food can turn all the body fluids slightly more acidic than normal. And we can imagine what can happen if our saliva is slightly more acidic than normal on a regular basis.
Normally, the food stuck in teeth gets softened and slips out after some time, along with saliva. Tongue also helps to clean the teeth. However, what if the environment around teeth is not healthy?
Acidic environment in the oral cavity can weaken the gums, cause mouth ulcers, help the germs to thrive and thus trigger rapid tooth decay. And probably that’s why we see that some people rapidly develop tooth problems, whereas many others do well even without a strict dental hygiene.
A few decades back, a lot of Indian had bright white teeth,without use of any tooth brush or tooth paste. However, they used to fast regularly, used neem twig as brush(and this twig provided both natural bristles and a bitter tooth cleaning solution). Besides, the overall quantity of sugar in the food was very low.
Sugar in our food does not affect our teeth that much by getting stuck on them. I personally believe that what sugar does to the overall body fluids is more important. It creates a rapid sugar surge that takes some effort on body’s part to control. Very frequent sugar surges tire out the pancreas and promote rapid decay across the body, including the teeth. Probably, that’s why dental problems are far more severe in case of diabetics!
If all of the above logic is correct teeth health is directly related to gut health. Probably, it is impossible to have healthy teeth , if your gut is not healthy. And therefore a dentist should also prescribe a healthy diet and lifestyle to keep the digestion healthy, because that’s the root of all dental problems.
Most of the women experience rapid tooth decay during pregnancy. Probably, it is because they eat all kinds of things, that too in a huge amount. This abnormal diet puts an extra pressure on the digestive system. And it gets derailed. The toxins thus produced due to under-digested food alter the composition of saliva and thus accelerate tooth decay.
So, now I believe that dry fasting for 24 hours can actually bring back not only your digestion, but also all body fluids to a completely balanced state. It definitely helps to remove excess sugar from all the body fluids, but also deep cleanse the body tissues and rejuvenate them! And if we do not spoil its effects by random eating afterwards, monthly Ekadashi dry fasting can extrapolate and multiply the health benefits exponentially.
The above explanation looks logical. However, I have no experimental proof for the above hypotheses. Anyways, I look forward to conduct some experiments on this concept in future. If you already have similar experiences or are doing some kind of related research I will be more than happy to know about it, please share!
May all of us achieve the ultimate aim of human life through shared wisdom!
I have been practicing traditional intermittent fasting as was practiced by my ancestors, to understand its effects and I have come to observe incredible results.
It is a saying that Hindu people have thirteen festivals in three days (teen din me terah tehvar). Most of these festivals are associated with some of the other deities. However, one noticeable thing is that all these festivals form a deep mesh of intermittent fasting, based on the position and state (waning/waxing) of the moon. And it is now scientifically proven that the lunar phases have an impact not only on the tides, but also human circulatory system, menstrual cycle, nervous system, and hormones.
I started a study of ritucharya as a systematic preventive regimen against seasonal disorders in 2015. However, now I realize that it is not only a preventive system. It is much more rigorous than that. There is a huge possibility that this system can actually stay the entire aging process.
And ritucharya is more outside the ancient Ayurvedic text. It is mentioned in an indicative fashion in the classical text. However, the real practice of ritucharya is deeply ingrained in Hindu religious practices. I now believe is that a person living in a Vedic manner, should ideally not age at all.
Today, it is Ashtami (the eighth day of lunar waning) and I have been observing dry fasting (zero food and water) on each Ashtami, which is twice a month. Today, it was hotter than the rest of the days and therefore, I thought that I would rather continue with fruit and vegetable-based fast rather than a complete dry fast.
I ate fruits in the morning as I was really hungry then. In the afternoon, I was not hungry at all, but still, I had a good amount of cooked vegetables and watermelon. By 3.00 pm in the afternoon, I felt so abnormally drowsy that I was not able to keep my eyes open. This is a rare incidence for me as I also practice sleep fasting or ratri Jagran multiple times a month (zero sleep for 24 hours).
I drank approx 200 ml of coffee in the afternoon to prevent sleeping during the day. milk-based Coffee is anytime a better option than sleeping during the daytime. Normally, even 50 ml of milk-based mild coffee will keep me up for the entire night. But even after drinking this coffee, I fell asleep.
Sleep is a way of the body to counter excessive heat. Even animals like snakes and other reptiles sleep in order to cool off their bodies. This naturally happens as our metabolism is drastically reduced during sleep and therefore this helps to reduce the heat production ion the body as well.
In normal dry fasting, I would not have anything including water throughout the day. During Ashtami, I would drink water and eat one meal after the sunset. In Ekadashi, it is 24-hour fasting. And the incredible thing is that during all these fasts, I never feel weak, or tired, or sleepy. In fact, I feel lighter, cooler, and more energetic.
However, today I missed the fast. There is a reason to conclude that our body does not only have a bio-clock, it might also have a bio-calender. I believe that my body was expecting no food or water today and had other things planned for the day.
But since I had food, in addition to the increased day heat, the body had no option but to shut off the system and go to sleep.
Normally, I would sleep for 5-6 hours a day without any problems at all. But today even after sleeping for one hour extra during the day, I felt so tired and heavy in my head after waking up.
In Bihar, (a state in India), there is a highly revered festival of chatt (which includes48 hours dry fasting). It is a very tough vrata and the follower is strictly advised to never drop the annual fasting routine. Even if one has to drop the fasting ritual, there is a special procedure for it. Otherwise, the follower may invite the wrath of the presiding deity -the sun. It reinforces my belief in the annual calendar memory of the body.
I assume that body metabolism has as its own inertia of momentum and when this natural rhythm is obstructed in some manner, there is an equal and opposite )and probably not very pleasant) reaction – the wrath of the diety!
It is interesting to note that all human body parts have a presiding deity, for example, the eye is the abode of the sun god, the nose of the abode of vayu (air god), and so on. Similarly, each day of the lunar month has a presiding deity according to Vedic astrology. And today, I can definitely feel the wrath of the presiding deity of Ashtami – shiva 🙂
I will try to document all my personal experiences of Hindu Traditional Fasting and I sincerely hope that it might help to throw new light on the lost science of ritucharya!
Hope you are all doing well and keeping safe in these uncertain circumstances.
One of my clients is an Ayurveda teacher in US. She was practicing Ayurveda for more than 10 years …..and she did not know the very basic concept of ritucharya!!!. There are so many people who want to practice real Ayurved, however all quality information is either very expensive or very hard to find. Therefore, I am trying a new way to make authentic Ayurvedic information available in easily understandable manner.
Many people recently suggested that videos and animations are a more expressive way to explain Ayurvedic concepts. It is true because I understand better when I see something. Besides, video is always a better way to present a procedure.
So, I welcome you all to the Ayurveda Channel! Here you will find authentic Ayurvedic information direct from the original Ayurvedic texts. Initially, I will cover the basics of Ayurvedic preventive healthcare, very simple and easy to implement. Yet, these basics are the very foundation of Ayurvedic preventive healthcare. Some of the topics are –
Orientation (Essential steps for true Ayurveda immersion)
Nidan Parivarjanam Series(eliminating the cause of disease)
Ayurvedic Meals (How to choose, process and consume food)
Dinacharya ( Ayurvedic daily regimen)
Ritucharya ( Ayurvedic seasonal regimen)
I know that it is hard to change some harmful habits. But we all are intelligent creatures. And I believe that instead of telling you what to do and what not, I can present you with simple logic and leave the decision to you.
And I am sure that once you understand something, you feel empowered and more prepared to make a change. You can find a list of health habits everywhere. But I will try to explain the logic behind the Ayurvedic tenets in all my videos. I sincerely hope that it empowers you to make a positive change in your life!
There is tons of “Ayurvedic” advice floating online. And they are meant to direct you to some “product”.However, many times they do not have any base in classical Ayurvedic text. I hope to create videos and animations on the authentic Ayurvedic text, with a logical explanation.
But, Ayurved is healing wisdom. It should be free of marketing clutter. I want people to know that they can keep healthy without any expensive medicines, health supplements, therapies, or exotic herbs. No one needs to buy health. Health is an innate gift given to all. Ayurved teaches us to preserve the gift!
This is a short video(1 min) to emphasize on the need of authentic Ayurvedic information for the layman. I hope that you enjoy watching it!
Initially, I will focus on the basics and preventive measures. I hope that these videos help people to find natural ways to prevent and cure diseases. We need to understand that true health, beauty, and happiness come from within, and not without. I want to make these creations freely accessible to all. If you like my content and feel that I can make a difference, please contribute on https://www.patreon.com/theayurvedachannel / Paypal (dockanikaverma@gmail.com)
Welcome to the Ayurveda Channel. This is my attempt to put my ideas about Ayurvedic medicine in visuals and I hope that it will help to convey them in a much more effective manner.
There is so much “Ayurvedic information” available online. However, most of this information is not directly derived from any authentic Ayurvedic text. This information is a just a bye-product of the growing Ayurveda market. Unfortunately, this unverified herbal info eats on the reputation and authenticity of classical Ayurveda.
The Ayurveda Channel is an attempt to make authentic Ayurvedic information, based on classical Sanskrit text available to a layman. This is the link to a short introductory video to the Channel. Please share and subscribe if you like it. Also let me know about the Ayurvedic topics that you would like to see on this channel.
I hope that we discover the bliss of Ayurveda together, with the Ayurveda Channel.
If you are happy with my answers, please consider a small donation for the afforestation project at Kanha Shantivanam (Home | Green Kanha)
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Also, check out my new video on the Ayurveda Channel
Ayurvedic treatment starts with stoppage of any disease aggravating factor. Appropriate food, which is easy to digest and creates minimum toxins while getting digested.
The digestion normally becomes weak when the body is faced with a disease. Non-vegetarian food is a little harder to digest and absorb as compared to the vegetarian diet. Therefore to avoid any extra burden on the digestive capacity of the body, it is advisable to avoid it.
However, it is not compulsory to avoid the non vegetarian diet. The point is to have easily digestible food. In this light, even heavy or oily vegetarian food should be avoided!
Also, Acharya Charak prescribes non vegetarian soups esp. chicken soup for early recuperation in case of Shaya(tuberculosis) if the patient is very weak. Here you can find a list of best non-vegetarian food suggested by Acharya Charak – Best Foods in Ayurveda
The food and medicine should be “satmya” or agreeable to the patient. if the patient detest the medicines or the food, he might not get the full psychosomatic benefit from them. If a person is a vegetarian by faith, chicken soup will make him more sick, if he is non-alcoholic by faith, alcoholic cough syrups might have 0 effects or side effects. Because mind controls all body responses on conscious or subconscious level. In fact, the feeling of guilt or stress due to eating non-vegetarian food, or an alcoholic cough syrup might trigger severe degrade in immunity. How stress kills your body
Similarly, an active person, for example a soldier, will benefit immensely from a light non vegetarian diet, because it is compatible to his nature. It will be unfair if he is denied his best suited diet.
Unfortunately, Ayurveda is tinged with the religious thought process. It will take sometime for the saffron fog to clear!
Please visit the link for more information – Satmya
Ayurveda believes that any disease is not about germs but the tendency of the body to fall sick. And therefore, Ayurveda is not about killing coronavirus inside the body. It is more about developing the internal resistance to not only coronavirus but all the diseases. Ayurveda and Law of Attraction-II
The single most important factor for coronavirus and for all diseases is “body receptivity” for the pathogens. In a state of perfect metabolic balance, there is no space for the viruses to survive. And therefore, nidan parivarjanam is the primary and the single most effective treatment for coronavirus – remove the internal cause of the disease.
Spring is a transitional junction where the winter changes to summer. The body also follows the seasonal cycle. And this seasonal change is the time, where the body is changing its physiology, suitable to the new season.
We all need a changing room. Similarly, the body also needs a secure environment to make a huge shift from the cold weather to the hot one. When the body gets exposed to pathogens during this vulnerable period, we get disorders.
Right now, the spring is coming to end and the summer is going to start. According to Ayurveda, this season brings Kapha prakop or Kapha vitiation in the body.
In short, this is the time when the body is coming out of the heat preservation mode (good hunger, digestion, less blood flow to the skin, etc. ) to heat elimination mode( suitable for summer).
According to Charak Samhita, in this season, the Kapha dosha ( includes mucus, phlegm, and other fluids in the body) melt like ice and overflow from their natural station. This excess mucus handling is extra stress to the body. And it provides a good residence for the pathogens to thrive.
And therefore, this Kapha vitiation makes us susceptible to all kinds of respiratory disorders. This is an annual cycle. A young body with a vibrant metabolism rapidly flushes away the extra mucus from the system. And that’s why there are no major systems. However, if you have weak digestion, and a week immunity, you will have to go through the cycle of seasonal disorders.
In the case of coronavirus, it is one of the many pathogens that can find a suitable abode inside your body. And therefore, the fundamental treatment is to make the body invincible for coronavirus and avoid contact with sick people.
The first and elementary factor is – digestion as it is the base for survival for all others. Here are some of the ways to boost your digestive system –Ayurvedic Lifestyle for Excellent Digestion
The second factor is the seasonal detox. In every season, one or the other dosha gets imbalanced. It is a natural cycle. Brief Ritucharya for 6 seasons
Fasting Detox
Dry fasting is the easiest, cheapest and very effective detox in case of excess Kapha in the system. Intermittent dry fasting creates an immediate Kapha balance. However, you should not be extremely weak, skinny or facing any physical trauma while dry fasting.
In Hindu tradition, there are provisions of dry fasting at least 10 days every month – Chaturthi (4th day after full/new moon), Ashtami (8th day after same), Ekadashi (11th day after same, sometimes extends for 48 hours), Chaturdashi (14th day of the waning moon), Amavasya (no moon), Poornima( full moon). There can be many more occasions of fruit/milk/no grain fasting like Shasti(6th day), Pradosh vrat(13th day), etc. Lots of other details can be added here. but this is enough to get started with.
My granny was fasting almost 15 days in a month for almost 70 years. And she doesn’t fast all that much now, but she is all upbeat when her children have developed hypertension, hyperthyroidism, IBS, migraine and a hoard of other lifestyle problems.
Bottom line is that fasting can be a good way to combat coronavirus. It is not scientifically proven in the case of coronavirus, however, fasting can reverse a lot of disorders, even cancer and is a healthy and uncomplicated way to detox.
You can try a simple vomiting procedure by drinking a lot of warm water (with a pinch of salt) and putting a finger on the back of your tongue to induce vomiting. However, you must not try it more than 2 times. Frequent touch of the finger on the inner tongue can deposit germs and irritate the outer lining. It might also induce cold and cough.
Morning is the best time to try this procedure.
Besides, it is good to go to a panchkarma center with a DEMONSTRATED history of panchkarma treatment.
Herbal Detox
Traditional food meant for preparing the body for seasonal transition is the best detox. And awla is the star ingredient you must have with every meal. In fact, you can do an awla detox in this season by having awla based recipes. Try following recipes –
Awla kadi (kadi prepared with boiled awla or Indian gooseberries)
Awla candy, Awla halwa, Awla murabba, etc. (good for kids)
Awla chutney varieties
Awla sabji
Awla tomato carrot soup
Note – normal temperature awla juice is cooling in nature and therefore use it very carefully if you are prone to cold and cough.
Interestingly, the traditional Indian festivals are centered around the main health supplement for the season, for example – awla Ekadashi for this month, Shat-tila (the six types of sesame preparations) for the end of winter! all these are a part of a very comprehensive Ayurvedic detox process!!!
Will keep updating this answer, thanks for reading
Ritucharya 