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.”
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.
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.
Food as medicine/therapy
Ayurveda puts emphasis on Ahar (Diet) and Anna (Food) and believes that healthy nutrition nourishes the mind, the body and the soul. Ayurveda does not discriminate and say that something is a good food or a bad food. Instead, it emphasises the various factors that influence food – such as its biological properties, its origins, the environmental factors, the seasons, the method of preparation, the freshness – and logically explains how to balance different foods according to one’s dosha and physical needs. Food taken in the proper quantity provides strength, vigour and a good complexion and nurtures the health of the tissues.
It is difficult to understand the principles of Ayurvedic nutrition from the western point of view which concerns itself with factors such as serving quantity, calorie intake, etc. Ayurveda advises that a diet can be vegetarian (plant based) or non- vegetarian (animal based) and portion size should be customised for each individual according to one’s own needs, body constitution and agni bal (digestive power). Also, the quality and properties of the food – such as heavy, light, oily, etc. – should be taken into consideration.
According to Ayurveda the use of wholesome food promotes health, while unwholesome food manifests itself in the form of diseases.
At MAHC, each day starts with a unique yoga session, in small groups, conducted by Dr. Avani Pandya, a certified yoga teacher from Lakulish Yog Vidyalaya, Kayavarohan.
Yog & Meditation
Yoga and meditation are an integral part of wholesome health. In general yoga and meditation are perceived to be non-pharmaceutical measures or complementary to drug therapy for the treatment of lifestyle diseases like mental stress, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Yoga in fact means the union of individual consciousness with the supreme consciousness. It involves eight rungs or limbs of yoga, which include yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. Intense practice leads to self-realisation, which is the primary goal of yoga. It is a holistic way of life that leads to a state of complete physical, social, mental and spiritual well-being and harmony with nature.
Systematic studies and research have been conducted to prove the effectiveness of yoga in controlling or alleviating diseases like obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, COPD, etc.
Awareness lectures
To achieve wholesome health the awareness about health and diseases is as important as Panchakarma, medication, yoga and meditation. Awareness is the first and most important step in achieving a disease-free life. It has been observed that due to lack of knowledge and awareness many people face various kind of illnesses which are otherwise easily prevented with a simple understanding of Ayurveda and diseases.
At MAHC we conduct group interactive sessions with patients and lay persons on matters relating to health, nutrition and the Ayurvedic way of life. These sessions include a wide range of lectures on related subjects such as Basics of Ayurveda, Panchakarma, Incompatible Foods, Daily Routine, Ayurvedic Aspects in Various Diseases, etc.
Please visit our vlog section to view these lecture sessions.
Ayurvedic Herbs (Medicines)
Ayurveda pharmacology is called Dravyagun Shashtra. Dealing with herbs and their uses, Dravyagun Shashtra is an integral part of Ayurveda. It deals comprehensively with the Ras, Guna, Virya, Vipak, and Prabhav of herbs. It also includes the identification, collection, storage, and preservation of the raw materials which have their origins in plants. Knowledge of the medicinal values of plants has been collected over centuries. The standards of Ayurvedic Pharmacology have been tested and proven in western countries using modern sophisticated scientific techniques and in vivo and in vitro studies.
The herbal preparations used by MAHC are made in a GMP certified Pharmacy. GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certification is a system for ensuring that products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards.
We follow global standards of packaging. Our medicines are always safely and hygienically packed, using the latest high barrier packaging techniques. Safe tamper-proof packaging makes for a safe product.