AYURVEDIC LIFESTYLE THERAPY
Lifestyle as Therapy
The Ayurvedic lifestyle is more potent than any medicine. It is simple, easy to follow, pleasantly addictive, and totally free! It is not rocket science. You can adapt it easily.
No individual can be happy and healthy without a healthy mind and a healthy body.
Hundreds of health problems are easily preventable or easily treatable simply through lifestyle changes or, more appropriately, lifestyle re-orientation..
Ayurveda lays great emphasis on an ideal lifestyle which is universally applicable for all kinds of people, and which is remarkably easy to follow. If you follow the lifestyle principles suggested in Ayurveda, you can easily avoid or treat many life threatening diseases.
We come across so many hurdles in the ordinary course of our everyday life: environmental pollution, professional work loads, proliferating stress, unhealthy lifestyle choices, dietary indiscipline, mindless sleeping habits, etc. These hurdles add up to create conditions like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, depression, joint pains, fatigue, arthritis, metabolic disorders, premature degenerative disorders, early ageing, improper digestion, disorientation, constant state of agitation, etc.
The Ayurvedic lifestyle does not eliminate the hurdles; it conquers the hurdles – by immunising you against them, emotionally, mentally and physically. The hurdles, in effect, disappear.
‘Lifestyle’ denotes the way people live, reflecting the whole range of activities and attitudes of every day, from sunrise to sunset.
The Ayurvedic lifestyle emphasises a systematic routine:
Dinacharya in Ayurveda looks at the cycles of nature and bases daily activities around these cycles. Routines help establish balance, and understanding daily cycles are useful for promoting health. Each day two cycles of change occur that correlate with the Ayurvedic concept of dosha. Routines covered by dinacharya include: waking time, elimination, hygiene, massage, exercise, bathing, meditation and prayer, meals, study, work, relaxation and sleeping.
Ritucharya is the term for the dietary and lifestyle regimens that are based on the Earth’s seasons. The belief is that illness can be prevented if both diet and lifestyle reflect the changes in weather conditions. The term comes from the Sanskrit, ritu, meaning “season,” and charya, meaning “to follow.”
Achar Rasayana (you can call it behavioral medicine) implies moral, ethical, and benevolent conduct: truth, nonviolence, personal and public cleanliness, mental and personal hygiene, devotion, compassion, and a relaxed lifestyle. Such behaviour rejuvenates the body-mind system. It gives you all the benefits of rasayana therapy without physically consuming any material rasayana remedy or recipe.