One such golden chance is to do a Backlog clearance for our body.

It is a very simple, do-it-at-home detox. We can use these 3 weeks (or 2) for systematic fasting and give our body a chance to recover from all the burden we keep on loading on it day after day.

Why must we do it now only?

Eating less food is possible and beneficial only when our activities are limited too.

This is probably the only time in years when we get a full 3 weeks of minimal activity. No rushing to the office, no travelling, no deadlines, no school, no tiffin, not even shopping…nothing.

What are the benefits?

• First and foremost, it will help keep the body environment non conducive for infections. Worms, insects, viruses and bacteria thrive where waste is available. Never in clean spaces.
• It will strengthen the digestive fire.
• It will help clear out stored waste from deeper tissue and organ levels. As soon as the daily food load on the stomach reduces, it gets time to clear out the backlog.
• You will feel a great sense of lightness and flexibility in the body. Energy levels improve.
• Minor aches and pains, gases, indigestion, acidity etc will vanish without medicines. Skin blemishes will reduce.
• Soon the mind feels relaxed and alert too. Can lead to creativity, clarity and insights on topics that we usually don’t have time for. Much better able to handle daily chaos

What is the diet to be followed?

It is very simple. Eat as per the following ONLY after feeling a strong sense of hunger.

• Wake up latest by 7am
• Have warm water throughout the day whenever thirsty.
• Can take your morning tea/coffee. Keep it to half a cup only. Add ginger and cardamom to It.
• Skip breakfast. Wait till you feel really hungry.
• Then have lunch. That will be green gram (moong) soup. (Not to be cooked in a pressure cooker. Soak well and let it cook till soft) Add only cumin, curry leaves, ginger, salt and turmeric.

Alternatively, 

*Can have mixed vegetable soup.

*Salad

*Papaya or Sweet Lime or oranges (Avoid fruits if having a cold or cough)

• Then again wait till good hunger sensation and have dinner. This should not be later than 7pm. Any simple vegetable with chapati (wheat/jowar/bajra/ragi) Chapati quantity should be half of how many you usually have. Or Moong dal khichdi
• Do not have anything post dinner except sips of water.
• Sleep latest by 10 pm.

What else can be added to this regimen?

• Herbal tea like tulsi+ginger+turmeric+coriander seeds with little jaggery or honey
• Honey in boiled and cooled water.
• Triphala churna with warm water at bedtime
• Mild yoga
• Meditation

Note

• Totally stop all fermented, dairy, bakery, stale and fried foods.
• At any point when you start feeling hungry, stay with the feeling. Eat when you feel energy levels dropping. That is real hunger.

You will be surprised to know how much food we really need and how much we eat!

Go ahead..give it a try and make the most of this lock-down.

The post Health improvement during lockdown appeared first on AYURVEDIC ANSWERS.

Also, once the crisis has passed away, we conveniently tend to forget all about it…till the next acute phase begins.

How does anything acute happen?

Acute occurrences happen only when and where it has a background laid for it. A stage has to be set by small daily events and then on one fine day something big happens.

Be it negative happenings like terrorist attacks or crimes against women or welcome things like the launching of a new satellite, none of it happens overnight.

This is true even for acute corona virus attacks.

There has to be a potential background. 

What is the background needed for a virus to be able to cause disease?

In our body, a dangerous background is provided by 

• Toxin accumulation
• Weak immunity

Toxin is anything not helpful or required for the system’s functioning. 

Just as any process has some waste being produced, even our physiological functions regularly produce waste. Ideally, this waste needs to be discarded at intervals. This mainly happens by daily output of stools, urine and sweat and if seasonal regimens are followed.

If this waste is not discarded it provides a substrate for viruses to multiply, to grow and cause active infections. Just as insects like mosquitoes or cockroaches easily reside where waste is available, so do viruses.

How do toxins accumulate?

As mentioned earlier, wastes are largely thrown out through regular urine, stools and sweat output. Unhealthy diets and weakened  digestion produce these wastes in a larger than normal amount and the system is not capable to discard them.

Another factor is lack of seasonal regimen being followed. Ayurved has beautifully laid down the procedures to be done at different seasons to discard accumulated wastes at regular intervals. These are the Panchkarm therapies.

What is the major factor in a good immune system or the lack of it?

The main factor is the strength or purity of body tissues and organs. Just as the strength of a family is the unity and good understanding among its members, the immunity of a body is the harmony among its tissues, organs and channels.

The food that we daily consume and the life that we lead is what forms our body (tissues)

Qualities consumed are the qualities that stay in each cell and organ.

False calories, harmful chemicals and lack of good nutrients leads to dosh aggravation, toxin accumulation and compŕomised tissue strength.

Non veg food and toxic load 

Non veg food basically stays in our intestines for way too long and then naturally decomposes in the track. The human system is not ideal for processing this kind of food. So waste accumulation is an obvious consequence.

Another factor is that, along with the other organism being consumed, non vegetarians also end up eating the viruses or other microbes in that organism which again the human body has no defence against. Rather than expecting the body to develop an immunity to this kind of an intruder, it is far more wise and easier to stop such an input into the system.

The first thing that flowing Ayurvedic principles of living gives us is a minimal or no toxic load in the body.

What is the role of Preventive Ayurved in viral infections?

The first thing that flowing Ayurvedic principles of living gives us is a minimal or no toxic load in the body. 

A diet based on individual constitution and as per the season along with a suitable daily routine are the small things we must do everyday to avoid dangerous acute infections.

Preventive Panchkarm therapies done as per the season clear the body of any vitiliated dosh (dosh vitiliation naturally occur as the seasons change) and accumulated toxins leaving no scope for any microbes to be able to reside and infect our body.

Corona virus and Vaman Panchkarma therapy

The months of February and March is the time for natural increase in the Kaf dosh ( the humor responsible for causing colds, cough, respiratory diseases and fevers )

Vaman is the Panchkarm procedure designed to clear out this excess Kaf dosh from the chest and sinuses as well as all body channels before it leads to any disease.

No toxin and dosh accumulation means no medium for the microbes to survive means no infections.

From the larger point of view..

It is wise to bear in mind that irrespective of all the precautions we may take, some things are inevitable in the entire scheme of things.

Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin. As we advance scientifically and technically and try to get a lot of things under control eg. Higher antibiotics and vaccines for various infections, we also, simultaneously create resistance among these organisms to stop our steps. Wide scale antibiotic use has lead to stronger microbe strains. Indiscriminate vaccinations have raised the rates of auto immunuty.

Nature finds its ways to reduce loads through wide scale deaths by infectious diseases, natural calamities etc.

These are its ways and at that time, the fittest will survive. This has happened since ages and will continue as we evolve more and more.

Preventive steps to be taken for safety from corona infections

1. Following a diet suitable to your body type and the season
2. Warm or boiled water 
3. Honey intake daily. (Not to be mixed with hot water)
4. Avoid milk and milk products
5. Fasting and rest at the slightest sign of indigestion, fever or reduced apettite. Ayurvedic medicines at the earliest if needed.
6. Vaman panchkarm procedure
7. Dhoopan (Herbal, panchgavya, ajwain dhoops should be done at all homes daily)
8. Allow sunlight into your homes. Do not keep all windows and curtains shut all the time
9. Avoid crowded placed 
10. Hands and feet need to be washed well through the day
11. Changing bed and pillow covers frequently. 

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