Writing this post brings fond memories to me. During my college days of learning Ayurved, I would share all the new health knowledge I gathered with my family. Mom and dad would agree with a lot of it and share their own experiences while my brothers had a jolly time making fun of the new Sanskrit words I said and the food or other changes I suggested..

After all the ayurvedic dos and don’ts they had to listen to from me…invariably their concern would be ‘can we never eat this or do that?’

And how pleased would they be with my “Na. Na..kyarek chale” answer!

(kyarek chale is the Gujrati for ‘its alright sometime’)

Coming back to the topic of this post…It is Abhyaas.

Abhyaas means continuous, repeated practice.

Ayurved says that which is done daily or regularly is what creates an impact and a corresponding effective consequence.

Think about this.

Do we start to suffer from chronic ill health by consuming the wrong food once or twice or occasionally?

No, we do not.

Same way, we cannot get well having the right food or medicine once or twice, irregularly or occasionally.

Anything that is consistent bears results.

Good health is a consequence of forming right, healthy habits. Habit means making it a part of everyday life. 

Bad health is naturally a result of wrong habits.

Just as planting seeds and then watering it daily makes it develop roots and grow gradually, then forming stems, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits step by step, similarly the roots of any action performed repeatedly must grow strong and deep for it to have an effect.

Nothing happens overnight. Everything is eventual. It is just that we are rarely aware of all that which goes into the  making of the eventuality.

Occasional indulgences, relaxations of principles and out of routine behaviors are totally fine and must be done too…

It’s alright to have curd one night with your favorite dish. But it is not alright to make eating daily curd and at night a habit.

Tasty but junk hotel food is alright once in a while but it is not alright every weekend.

Who doesn’t enjoy an ice cream for dessert sometime? But having chilled drinks daily or frequent ice-creams is very different.

Staying up late or waking up late sometime is not a crime, but if done daily it has the potential to impact our complete life.

Laying on the sofa one rainy day is so ok, but not the lack of  physical activity on most days.

So, the bottom-line is, be consistent in the good, sensible practices… only then will they bring you wellness.

Stay occasional and rare in the unmindful indulgences, if you must…only then will they be stopped from causing you much harm.

Kyarek chale.

The post The ‘Kyarek Chale’ Episodes appeared first on AYURVEDIC ANSWERS.

What we don’t realize is, that, the opposite is also equally true. We have simultaneously become unduly relaxed about important stuff. Things that should draw attention have stopped ringing the bells!

One such thing is body odour that stays in spite of maintaining good hygienic practices. Foul smell from the body or mouth, from the nose or smelly socks. It can be a source of great nuisance for the person as well as those around him. 

What causes body odour?

Let us suppose you walk into your kitchen and notice a bad stink. Where is it that you will look for the source?

1. A garbage bin that may been forgotten to be emptied
2. Left over and now rotten food over the platform
3. A blocked kitchen sink

These are the top few..so the answer is clear.

ACCUMULATED WASTE is the cause of a bad smell.

Simplistic as this may sound, it is the real fact.

How does this waste accumulate?

The food that we consume daily needs to be digested and then the nutrients are absorbed while the waste is to be discarded through the channels of stools, urine and sweat. When these wastes are not passed out regularly, they start accumulating in the intestines and soon show its effect on the blood as well through absorption of toxins.

1. Digestion is impaired grossly, when the amount or quality of food does not match the digestive capacity and when the level of physical activity is too low.
2. Wastes also fail to pass out well when the urge to pass motion or urine is ignored or delayed repeatedly due to other preoccupations.
3. Constantly staying in air conditioned interiors greatly reduces sweating and thus the output of the waste that must pass through with it.

What is the solution to body odour?

Avoiding accumulation of waste is the only solution to body odour.

Ayurvedic principles as mentioned below must be bought into practice after proper understanding.

Treatment for processing and evacuation of already collected toxic load is necessary. This will lead to blood purification.

1. Keeping digestion optimum
2. Being conscious in the choice and quantity of food consumed. Light, easy to digest, nutritious food with fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid packaged, stale, deep fried, sugary,  bakery and fermented items strictly along with milk and milk products.
3. Enough water intake
4. Regular physical activity
5. Timely passage of stools and urine
6. Exposure to normal climatic conditions that favour natural sweating

Why should body odour not be taken lightly?

Maintaining good hygiene and use of mouth fresheners, deodorants, talcum powders and perfumes are the logical steps taken by most people facing the issue of body odour. In itself this is required, but it should not limit our effort to solve the root cause of the problem. 

When we understand what the body is trying to convey through this sign it is most likely that we will work to resolve the cause. If left untreated the accumulated wastes will only progress to create further damage to the body. Blocking of important channels in the body happens gradually and leads to serious issues like high blood pressure, heart troubles, deep seated skin diseases etc. 

It is only wise that we must take the teachings of Ayurved to understand not just this but all of our health issues and then take the necessary holistic steps to safeguard our health.

Understanding is the key!

The post UGH….WHAT IS THAT SMELL? 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.

LONG AGO, 

We had the concept of a ‘family doctor’ This doctor knew and treated the entire family and was like family too. He felt accessible and friendly.

He KNEW his patients. That means he was aware of what type of food they ate, their basic lifestyle, business or job characteristics, possible hereditary factors, nature etc etc.

Any health problem that was bought to him was analysed against this background and a decision was reached. These were the good old days.

COMING TO THE PRESENT,

We have a general practitioner who prescribes medicines for a week or two and soon refers you to a ‘specialist’ that you must see.

A specialist is a doctor who has gained in depth knowledge of a particular system in the human body and so he becomes so and so specialist. In no way do i mean to downplay the extensive knowledge these doctors have or the years of hard work they have spent gaining it. (I am not talking about surgical branches here) 

But it is also a fact that this speciality usually comes at the price of missing the full picture.

THE PATIENT

A patient is one whole person. A combination of one body, one mind and one soul. 

Any problem that he may face can start at any of these levels, but if it continues for long, sooner or later, it affects all and is affected by all. Broadly, these facets are all interdependent and not independent. 

On the physical level too, various systems of the body work harmoniously through their cooperation.

HOW DISEASE HAPPENS

If one part is in dis-ease, it affects the other parts too.

For examples- 

If the stomach is frequently irritated by too much spicy food, this irritation is felt by the blood too and the blood circulates in the entire body. The spicy feel even reaches the mind and it is then no surprise that this mind will not be too able to handle day to day stresses easily, the blood vessels may have the tendency to rupture and cause bleeding in the brain. 

A body that has a big collection of wastes or undigested material in it, is forced to let these wastes travel to other parts of the body. If they land in the joints, they cause a joint disease. If they are lodged in the skin, it manifests as a skin issue.

Of course this is a very brief description, missing the technical points, but it is enough to give us an idea of how it is all connected. 

HOW IT IS TREATED BY SPECIALISTS

Now, a specialist is trained to look at a particular part too much and modern medicine has no practical concept of inter relation of systems. So these problem areas are treated while ignoring its source. The patient is never told what he is doing wrong.

When one specialist doctor is done with his part of treatment, the patient is sent to another specialist to solve another problem. No one will realize that this ‘another’ problem has occurred in the ‘same person’ simply because the offending imbalance was just pushed away from one part. The patient becomes a football and is played around until he gives up trying to get well.

WHAT SHOULD HAVE  BEEN THE TREATMENT 

If instead of this sad picture, the patient was educated about his wrong eating habits and how it was affecting his body, he would have had the option to stop the source soon. Then treatment should be provided for the imbalance already present. This would stop progress of the disease immediately and make recovery possible. 

AYURVED SAYS

All disease arise from the gut

The first treatment for any disease is avoidance of the cause

So,the most natural question to specialists giving special treatments is – 

But .. what about the gut??

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