Ekadashi Fasting: Amazing Effects in Dental Problems

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!

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What We Can Learn Today From Ayurveda

Today, when the world is facing this extreme corona crises , we can learn a few very important things from Ayurveda

Holistic Approach

The entire body is well connected, one cannot treat one organ and leave the other organ unaffected. So, a holistic approach is the only way to achieve any cure in the human body. All Ayurvedic medicines have multiple effects on different organs of the body and harm no part of the body in the process of treatment.

Natural

Everything whether it is product or service it is derived right from nature in Ayurveda. Infact, Ayurveda medicine is the next step in the treatment, the first step is always healing the body by itself. Simple things like air, water and earth can also heal the body.

All Ayurvedic medicines are derived from plant and made in Holistic Manner, manually from hand. No Ayurvedic preparation requires heavy machinery or artificial methods. In this way Ayurvedic treatment has zero carbon footprints.

Whole

All Ayurvedic medicines are derived from nature. According to Ayurveda, everything on earth, living or nonliving, has medicinal value. Besides, instead of using chemicals extracted from herbs, the entire herbal part of medicinal value, like fruit, root, stem, etc, is used. The chemical of medicinal importance is balanced by other coexisting chemicals and roughage provided by plant cellulose. This wholeness of Ayurvedic medicine is a contrast to herbal extracts, where a single chemical compound is extracted in hope to produce a faster and better effect. This singling out destroys the possibility of an overall balanced impact of the unique naturally co-existing chemicals.

A singer works with his mouth, a painter works with his hands. But will you get a faster result of you cut out the mouth of a singer or the hands of a painter? Will the hand work faster than?

The effect of a medicinal herb is like the beauty of a flower. How can we appreciate its beauty by dissecting it? We fail to realize the life resides and sustains itself in wholeness and not in fragments.

Disease Eradication

Ayurveda does not aim to treat or subdue the symptoms. For example, impure blood is considered the cause of acne in Ayurveda. Therefore blood purification Therapy is the main treatment for acne and not the application of topical creams.

Ayurveda believes that all treatment comes from inside the body and not from outside. According to Ayurveda, any disease happens only when the body is weak from inside. And any permanent cure can come only when we remove the weakness from inside the body. When the body is strengthened to its natural form, it can fight back the disease and treat itself come on even without any external intervention.

Side Effects 

No Ayurvedic Medicine is reported to cause hormonal imbalances or allergies even when used for a long duration.

However, most of the people do not know that this is true only for Herbal range of Ayurvedic medicine. There is another range of medicine which come under rasashastra. Medicines of receptive contain heavy metals like mercury, lead etc. Combination of Mercury and sulphur is highly praised in rasashastra medicine.

However these medicines containing heavy metals can bring severe Side Effects if they are not properly prepared. They can even be fatal if not used properly.

However when used in a right way these medicines can bring immediate improvement in severe conditions like facial paralysis kidney failure extreme fever etc.

Prevention

Ayurveda elaborately describes healthy food and lifestyle to avoid diseases. The motto of Ayurveda is “ to keep people healthy and treat IF anyone falls sick”.

As far as I know, Ayurveda is the most elaborate preventive system in the history of medicine. Ayurveda sees that prevention is a daily task and not something which you do once in a while.

Besides Ayurvedic treatment extends to a wider region and covers much more than only vaccines for health supplements. According to Ayurveda the most effective prevention comes from inside the body. It is a known fact today according to all scientific studies, that stress is the leading cause of 99% diseases. And therefore the most effective prevention in Ayurveda is aachar Rasayan.

According to the tenets of Aacharya rasayana, A person should not get stressed, angry, greedy, jealous, or sorrowful. Avoiding all these negative emotions can help to preserve the the ultimate mental homeostasis which reflects in a complete hormonal balance and nervous balance in the body. And when these two control systems in the body are completely balanced there can be no disease.

Ayurvedic prevention starts from herbs, dinacharya, ritucharya, but it goes beyond the physical dimension to the mental dimension of prevention period and therefore it is a whole and perfect prevention.

Individualistic Approach 

All human beings are unique, they have different body types (Prakrati), therefore Ayurveda advocates personalized treatment for everyone.

Ayurveda is a person to describe the park Prakriti or individual body constitution for each person. Each person is naturally susceptible to one range of diseases where as he might never get others. Therefore Ayurveda AIMS for a perfect prevention and a permanent treatment by ascertaining the body type of a person.

It is best to go for the battle when you know the war field. Without knowing your body, any treatment or prevention is like shooting arrows in the dark.

Psychosomatic Approach

Mind rules the body. Many lifestyle disorders like diabetes, hypertension are directly linked to stress.

We have already discussed about aachar Rasayan in previous paragraphs. However aachar Rasayan is the preventive method. Most interestingly, Ayurveda has the most extensive range of treatments for all kinds of mental disorders. Ayurveda underlines the Treatment of the mental base of all diseases through Satvavjaya Therapy.

And it is very interesting to note that shock treatment, music therapy, arts therapy, counselling, meditation, mindfulness et cetera are all discussed as parts of mental treatment in Ayurveda.

Body-Based Treatment 

Diseases might be caused by pathogens, but a weak body defense provides the safe harbor to the pathogens. Therefore Ayurvedic Treatment is never focused on the removal of pathogens but enabling the body to prevent or fight against diseases.

For more interesting information on these lines, please check out Ayurveda and Law of Attraction-II

Humanitarian Approach

The word ayu means the duration for which body, senses, mind, and soul come together and form a living creature. Therefore Ayurveda is not applicable only to human beings but also to plants, animals and birds. It Aims to serve all living creatures without any discrimination.

According to Ethics of Ayurveda, no Vaidya or Ayurvedic doctor should charge a consultation fee. All consultation on medical advice should be free of cost to all people. And therefore even if a person is not able to pay he should not be denied medical advice.

And in the case of Ayurveda, even medical advice can help help to treat a person. As he can try various home remedies for Herbal medicines to cure himself. This is a true Holistic Si system which is all inclusive without any discrimination against financial status of the patient.

Even medicines for free for the poor. According to Ayurvedic ancient text, Vaidya or Ayurvedic doctor can keep 1/11th part of all the medicines prepared for the rich. These medicines can be used for the Welfare of the poor people.

Conclusion

In the end, I would say that all knowledge or wisdom that comes with the intention of healing the pain is Ayurveda. It is the science of life and no matter where it emerges and with whatever name, it should be treated with respect. And therefore it is useless to find out which is the best system of medicine. We should try to integrate all healing wisdom across the globe for the Welfare of all living creatures.

Fast Health! Through Ayurvedic Fasting

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Fast your way to Health

We can prevent all disorders by nipping the buds of diseases. And this can happen through fasting. Besides, it is really important for us to detox today as we are eating all kinds of chemicals along with the food.

According to Ayurveda, we all have a unique body type or body constitution. It is called Prakrati (the nature of the body). Prakruti is made up of a combination of 3 dosha (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha). This combination is different for each person, for example for one it might be Vata, Pitta, Kapha or Vata-pitta, or kapha-vata etc. Dosha are basically physiological systems that run the body. Because of this different combination of Dosha, each body reacts differently to the external stimuli.

Therefore anything that suits one person might not be equally good for the other. Similarly, the procedure of fasting also cannot be same for everyone. The best for you cannot be general, it has to be unique like the way you are!

Fasting comes under a broad range of Ayurvedic treatment approach called “Langhan”. Langhan is a Sanskrit word which means “the process which makes something light or small”. It is similar to the Sanskrit word “Laghu” or small/light. Langhan is basically used to remove excess fat, mucus, toxins or any undesirable material from the body. Langhan is a wide term, it includes many tools like exercise, internal cleansing, sunbath, use of digestives etc. Fasting is one of the tools used for the process of langhan (detoxfying or lightening the body).

Not too Fast!

This is a general guideline regarding prohibition of fasting. The two sutra to be understood here are –

1). Nothing is good all the time,

2) Any kind of excess is never beneficial.

Following people should avoid fasting without medical supervision.

  • Person with severe mental or physical trauma
  • Person involved in hard manual labour
  • Person involved in active military service
  • Person working in night shift
  • Emaciated
  • Weak or debilitated person
  • Very old
  • Very young (children)
  • Person suffering from Vata diseases like joint pain, body pain, migraine etc.
  • Pregnant women
  • Lactating women

Apart from the above stated people, there are certain conditions in which no should observe zero food / zero water fast–

  • During long journeys
  • In extremely hot or extremely cold climate
  • During medical treatment
  • During panchkarma
  • During recuperation period

However, once you get habituated to fasting, most of these rules might not be applicable to you.

Fasting from the scratch!

The Fast Observer

If you have never fasted or are uncomfortable with the idea of fasting, you should have a slow graduation from no fast to regular fasting.

Ideally you should start with one meal fast. You can also start with the fruits and milk fast if you are fond of fruits.

The type of fasting depends on your lifestyle as well –

  • If you are a person who is involved in work of high manual labour, for example if you are an athlete, you have minimum requirement for fasting. Your body metabolism is fast enough to drive away all the toxins at a break-neck speed. However, regular detox from intermitent fasting is like a provident fund that you use in your later less active years.
  • If you are a person with medium manual labour, you can choose any kind of fasting.
  • Fasting is excellent for people with low manual work and high mental engagement. Benefits of fasting (link to previous article).

Fasting also depends on your stamina or your body strength –

  • If you are a thin, weak or emaciated person, ideally you should not observe zero food fast. However, fruits and milk fasting can help in the case of anorexia (lack of hunger). This kind of fasting will ignite the digestive system and help you to actually gain weight!
  • If you are a person with moderate or good stamina, you can go for any kind of fasting. However, you should ensure that your body has enough time to accomodate fasting and gain best benefits from it.
  • If you are a person with vata disease, fasting like zero food fasting can actually aggravate the disorders, as fasting increases the Vata dosha.

Fasting: Timing and Cycle

Ideally, you should make a convenient routine of fasting, instead of practicing random fasting. According to this research, Cyclic fasting has the maximum benefits. You can start with one day fast, once in a fortnight and then gradually proceed to the 3 days or 9 days continous fasting.

Seasonal Fasting

The best time to fast is the Varsha or the rainy season. The digestive system is at its worst and there are chances of more digestive problems. Fasting during rains helps to prevent severe blows to a weakened digestive system. And therefore, it also prevents the aggravation of diseases. It preserves the natural immunity.

Interestingly, most of the fasting festivals like Parivarjan Parva of Jains, Ramadan, or the Navratri fasting, all are celebrated near to the rainy season! Sharvan somvara or solah somvaar vrata (fasting for 16 Mondays during the 4 months of rainy season) is a traditional Hindu festival that is obersved during the rains. These festivals help to preserve our metabolic balance during seasonal changes.

Varsha Ritucharya

Best time for zero food fasting

Zero food Fasting should be observed during the spring as it is the season for Kapha prakop or vitiation. Kapha causes excess mucus, congestion, slow digestion, sluggishness and heaviness in the body. This is the season that invites cold and cough, seasonal flu, conjunctivitis, indigestion etc. Cyclic zero food fasting is an excellent preventive measure for this season.

Worst time for zero food fasting

The worst time to fast is the Hemant or the mid-winter season, when it is really chilly. During cold climate, body maintains the body temperature by heat produced during digestion. Digestive fire is the strongest during this time, which if left unfed, will burn down the body tissues. It is important to avoid zero food fasting or any kind of fasting during this time, unless medically advised.

Extreme summer is also not a great time to plan an intensive fasting if you are not habituated to it.

Light fasting on fruits, milk or single meal is ideal for summers. In summer, the body wants to loose heat. Therefore the digestion is slowed in order to prevent the heat production. Once you get used to it, summer is a great time for water based fasting. Infact, eating without hunger is more detrimental during summers and rains than in any other season.

There is a special mango fasting that can help you detox completely – Amrakalpa

For more details on Ritucharya (Ayurvedic protocol of different seasons), please see – Ritucharya for 6 Seasons

The Most Important Step In Ayurvedic Treatment

In this series, I would soon publish some more articles and videos. Thanks for reading.

More about The Ayurveda Channel

Namaste,

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!

Most of Ayurvedic Information has no link to Authentic Ayurvedic Text!

Namaste, ​

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)

The Ayurveda Channel

The Cure Without Medicine!

Hi all,

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.

Some Organic Info

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Some Good Info –

I have a personal good experience with the above vendors.

Please find below some other good people who need help to grow! However, I don’t have a personal purchase experience with them –

If you have an eco-friendly and sustainable venture, please let me know. I will post about it free of cost.

Also, check out my new video on the Ayurveda Channel

The Ayurveda Channel

Why is a patient not allowed to have non-vegetarian food during an Ayurvedic treatment?

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

Regards

Some Ayurved Tips on Corona Virus

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.

Panchkarma

Ayurveda prescribes therapeutic vomiting for vasant detox. Vaman or therapeutic vomiting is the best treatment for excess kapha. Kanika Verma’s answer to Is panchkarma really effective?

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

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Health Basics of Ayurveda

Today, most people above the age of 35 years are suffering from at least one lifestyle disease. Digestive disorders, sleep problems, and stress are more common than a few decades back.

These primary disorders are the base of severe lifestyle diseases like hypothyroidism, diabetes, hypertension, etc. And this is because of the unhealthy dietary and lifestyle habits that we are following.

The Root of Lifestyle Disorders

We have severe defects in our daily routine that interferes with our healthy metabolism. They lower our immunity and makes us more susceptible to diseases and rapid aging.

Most of the people today have no fixed routine or time for eating. They skip their meals when they are hungry. On the other hand, they eat voluptuously when they are not hungry but have time to eat.

Similarly, most of us skip sleep in the night, the natural time to sleep according to the bio-rhythm of the body. Instead, they sleep till late. They miss the healthiest time of the day – Brahma muhurat and an opportunity to reset their metabolism.

Image par Elias Schäfer de Pixabay

Flow with the Nature

However, if we review and re-tune our bodies to the natural biorhythm, we will ensure 100% prevention from all diseases and have a life full of vigor and vitality. Ayurvedic ritucharya (seasonal health regimen), dinacharya (daily health routine), and sadvritta (moral and social conduct) ensure a healthy body as well as mind.

Ayurveda defines the wrong food and lifestyle as the root cause of all diseases. The aim of Ayurveda underlines the importance of a healthy lifestyle. According to Acharya Charak the objective of Ayurveda is –


Preserve the health of the healthy |
Treat the ones who fall sick||

Compared to Ayurveda, modern preventive medicine depends mainly on health supplements. It is vague and lacks a precise and natural order of prevention. In fact, it has been only a few decades since modern medicine accepted the therapeutic importance of food or meditation.

Ayurveda is one of the oldest sciences to have an elaborate preventive system. Ayurveda defines the ideal food, cooking methods, and food habits. It defines daily lifestyle (Dinacharya), seasonal preventive lifestyle (Ritucharya), and overall prevention of all diseases by maintaining the homeostasis of the body in all kinds of external conditions (Sama Dosha).

Dinacharya

Dinacharya is the ideal daily routine, according to Ayurveda, that should be followed to maintain the health regularly. It constitutes the dos and don’ts for everything, right from brushing the teeth to ideal sleep habits. Dinacharya regimen of Ayurveda specifies even the wood(datun) that should be used for cleaning the teeth by the people of different body constitution or prakrati.

It underlines the importance of having an optimal amount of food at the right time and in the right way. It also mentions various other preventive measures like the use of Kajal (Kohl) for the daily prevention of eye diseases, the use of Ayurvedic nasal drops for the prevention of all the disorders in the head region. It stresses the benefits of the right exercise and sleeps patterns for everyone.

Our bodies are exposed to disease-causing factors every second. And therefore, we must actively prevent diseases 24X7. And Dinacharya makes this daunting task completely effortless! It provides a precise and comprehensive guide to complete health preservation. It is a complete code to prevent diseases daily.

Dinacharya also constitutes “Achar Rasayana,” a comprehensive guide to prevent all mental problems like stress, anxiety, etc. It is the ideal spiritual and social code of conduct that, if followed, can save us from various psychological and social problems.

Image par OpenClipart-Vectors de Pixabay

Ritucharya

Ritucharya is one of the most interesting Ayurvedic preventive systems. It is one of its kind as it deals with a preventive regimen for each season.

Seasons affect the body due to continuous changes in the external temperature and the environment. These seasonal changes disturb the physiological balance of the body and can cause severe disorders in the long run. Most of the problems in the body first reflect as seasonal disorders.

Ritucharya describes in detail the Ayurvedic concept of seasonal changes and their effects on body metabolism. It is the comprehensive ayurvedic preventive system that helps the body to adjust seamlessly to the changing external environment and prevent any metabolic disturbances.

Ritucharya constitutes the food habits, ideal food for each season, lifestyle changes to be incorporated with the seasonal changes, and so on. The most admirable aspect of Ritucharya is it’s a proactive approach. It makes the body immune to seasonal changes, instead of treating seasonal disorders!!!

Here are some interesting links related to ritucharya

Ritucharya

Effect of Ritu (seasons) on Dosha

Seasonal Ritucharya

Ritu Haritaki

Healthy Sleep Patterns for different seasons

Sexual Orientation During The Seasons

Asana for different seasons

Therefore, the one who will follow Ritucharya will never fall sick through the changing seasons and maintain a very high level of immunity. Ritucharya is the fountain of youth. The one who drinks from it will stay in the spring of health and youth always!!!

Unrestricted Metabolism


Ayurveda stresses the preservation of natural and unrestricted metabolism. It strictly prohibits artificial control of natural urges.

Animals live in an environment free from social bondage. And probably that’s why they stay free from diseases too. Esp. Wild animals do not have any access to medicines. Still, they usually remain healthy and live out their average lifespan, just because they do not exert unnatural control over their bodies.

However, humans lose a lot in the name of civilization and society. We tend to control our natural urges like thirst, hunger, urination, defecation, etc. very frequently. Due to social influence, we tend to control our natural urges forcefully and hinder the natural metabolic rhythm.

Ayurveda suggests that the body should be allowed the freedom of natural conduct. Most of us today have become insensitive to many of our natural urges like thirst, hunger. We might overlook thirst, hunger, or defecation if we are working or watching TV! This outrageous conduct daily impedes the brisk rate of metabolism and lowers immunity.

All classical Ayurvedic texts have a separate chapter elaborating on disorders resulting from unattended natural urges and their treatment. So, it’s a significant health issue.

Next time you are in an important meeting, don’t be sorry to sneeze or cough!

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Satvavjay


Satva means the mind, and the term satvavjay is the victory over the mind.

According to ancient Vedic wisdom, the body is nothing but a projection of the mind. If you are a “Matrix” fan, you would agree! And, therefore a sensitive, meditative, and balanced mind is the core of a healthy Ayurvedic lifestyle. It is a healthy mind that is unoccupied by external noise or clutter. A soul that listens to the body and let our social obligations, stress, fear, or anxiety take a back-seat, is the very foundation of perennial health.

Each set of human mind and body has its own dharma – swadharma. Hindus whisper “tvama vedosi” in the ears of a new-born child. It means – you are the infinite wisdom. You see, your soul, your body knows what’s best for you. And a meditative mind can help you to discover a distinct and utterly personalized approach to health. Therefore, connecting with the body through meditation is the ultimate cure to all worldly diseases.

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Jivem Shardah Shatam

The key of Ayurveda is balance! and with this key, Ayurvedic lifestyle can enable us to have a long, healthy, and fruitful life. Vedic Sutra “Jivem shardah shatam” means – let us live a hundred years(autumns). Ayurvedic preventive lifestyle, armed with healthy daily routine( Dinacharya), healthy seasonal routine (Ritucharya), ideal mental and social conduct ( Achar Rasayana), and other health habits, is the most comprehensive preventive system in the world.

Besides, these rules are simple and easy to follow. They can be readily observed by the sick and the healthy, the rich, and the poor alike. Ayurveda makes no distinction for imparting health to all. Let’s follow these age-old and time-tested tenets of Ayurveda and live a prosperous and healthful life.

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