What makes us fast during Navratri?

What makes us over eat during Diwali?

It is not about will power. It is not about habits.

It is a little about what is in the air and a lot about how we look at food. About our relationship with food.

If it was just not possible for us physically, to control eating, how do we fast without any compulsion for 9 days? It’s just that if we really want to do it, we do it. Relatives, friends, neighbors are also fasting…this helps.

Somehow many of us consider Navratri period as a period of strength. Some feel, the Devi makes us strong enough to do it. Some feel, we should do it and so manage to do it to keep up the tradition. Some also fear some harm coming to them if the days are spent eating as usual.

Whatever our reason, the fact remains that –

We are able to do that which we understand as important and essential.

2 weeks later, comes Diwali !!

I feel Diwali is no longer a festival of light. It is more like a festival of food.

Let me get the disclaimer in place first. I am not against enjoying or celebrating the festival. Nor am I against Diwali delicacies. But I wish to set the alarm against what it does to us on a mental level.

Diwali actually acts like a mirror. A clean one. It just reflects that which is there. That which has been there all through the year. It shows how we are just waiting for an excuse to let down the guard and eat all we what, as much as we want and even force others to eat like us saying “Are Diwali Hai”

It is like we have a valid reason to behave the way we are behaving. But whom are we giving the excuse and explanation to? Who is opposing in the first place?

 It is to that portion of our self that made the Navratri fasting possible. It is to our own sense of understanding that we are about to violate.

Year after year of celebrating Diwali like this, don’t you feel forced to ask WHY?

It is easy to understand if we look at it closely. It only shows a deep sense of dissatisfaction. How incomplete we feel. There is a strong inner hunger and we feel eating can satisfy that. But we fail to see that years of eating has still not satisfied us. So food is NOT the answer to feeling complete and good. Food is not the only answer to celebration.

What is the answer then? That is for each one of us to find on our own.

My job is to bring that question in focus and to point out – please leave the plate.

I feel the need to do that because I see on a daily basis what this unnecessary, abnormal eating is doing to your body. The harm it causes and the pain it gives. And all the while what you are really trying to do is just feel good.  Any food that goes in the body without there being a need for it and that which has no scope of being utilized by the body creates trouble. Worse is, the indigestion and toxins that block our subtle channels of intelligence only makes us crave more of the wrong things and we end up staying on the same track going round and round, only thickening the blockage.

Breaking out of this happens, when for once we stop to think-

“Why are we eating really?”

I hope we are able to remember our Navratri, when Diwali comes along…

I hope this Diwali really brings light to our lives.

The post Navratri Vs Diwali appeared first on AYURVEDIC ANSWERS.

These days it is almost a norm to have at least one ‘stressed’ and thus aggressive person at home or knowing at least one ‘hyperactive’ kid. With increasing numbers in mental, emotional or behavior issues it is necessary to have a look at the cause of these problems.

Our body is made up of the five basic elements of earth, water, fire, air and space. Its functioning too depends on the right balance between these. Imbalance among these elements is what causes diseases. While the body is well equipped to correct minor ups and downs by itself, in case of any strong and persistent causes of imbalance, it requires help. This stands true for the body and the mind. Lets talk about the mind today.

Common signs of imbalance affecting the mind –

1. Inability to concentrate or focus on a particular task till completion
2. Lack of attention
3. Excessive thinking (unable to switch off even during sleep)
4. Aggressive moods
5. Hyperactive behavior
6. Stubbornness
7. Impatience  
8. Being irritated by loud sounds or sometimes even by people talking

Other complaints like excessive thirst, tiredness even without exertion, dryness in the body, weight loss, palpitations etc many times appear simultaneously. Just as we are conscious of getting treatment for such complaints, we must give the mind or behavior symptoms a priority too in starting treatment.

The Cause

We are all aware of the causes of higher stress levels today as compared to a few decades ago. Many of us even try our best to take the necessary steps and keep stress under check with good lifestyle choices like a balanced diet and including yoga, pranayam, meditation in our routine. We also try to limit the use of gadgets. In Spite of these correct and informed choices that we make, we are not always able to solve the problem.

All the above mentioned measures are certainly helpful, but we have still not understood the cause that needs the actual correction. Many times, even though the symptom is appearing in behavior, the cause is physical.

Imbalance is there in the body as a whole and it is just expressing itself in mind function. It could be the result of past illness or medicines consumed in the past for any other issues, having had to travel to and reside or work in a place very different from the usual home conditions etc.. These factors bring about the imbalance and the body and mind struggle till balance is restored. These complaints are just signs the mind is giving to call for attention.

The wrong route

In the case of children, these complaints are noticed easily by parents as well as teachers as compared to in adults. Children are mostly only reprimanded for such behavior and labelled ‘hyperactive’ while adults put the blame on stress.

Taking dangerous medicines to suppress brain activity or induce sleep is surely only going to make things more difficult by creating dependency and delaying correction of the cause.

We must bear in mind now that these problems have causes in the body that need to be corrected by restoring balance between our fundamental building blocks…the five elements. Ayurved has the tools for making this diagnosis and correcting it by accurate treatments.

The post Mental health and Ayurved appeared first on AYURVEDIC ANSWERS.