Ayurveda for Longevity

Recognition and fame come with apparent glory and value, for which Ayurveda stands as the best exemplar. This ancient healing science has attained worldwide recognition because of its most glorious holistic healing methodology that makes one cohesive with nature. Most of them consider Ayurveda as the mother of all healing sciences since it soothes the mind, relaxes the psyche and makes us to self-realize the true value of ourselves, thus making life worth living. Bestowing humanity with infinite boons, this ancient medical science leads the path to ‘LONGEVITY‘, which is one of the prime crave of mankind.

Longevity – What Does It Mean??? : In the eye of a commoner, longevity simply means living a long life. But Ayurveda views it in a different aspect, as it precisely defines longevity as ‘ Slowing down the aging process with a well balanced mind, body and spirit without which one cannot taste the true essence of longevity that lies in purely enjoying a state of permanent peace and tranquility’.

Why Ayurveda for Longevity??? : In this fast moving world, irrespective of the nature of the problem, every individual is in search of a remedy that yields a very quick result at a rapid pace. It becomes so natural for one to even think about Ayurveda as a means to attain longevity. Even though enormous growth in today’s modern medical science may seem to increase the life expectancy of human beings, it fails to focus on the mental part of an individual that is teemed with stress, anxiety, depression and so on… thus losing peace, which is the main purpose of leading a long life. Nothing is worse like leading a long life without peace of mind!

Ayurveda plays a vital role in making one to taste the true spirit of a long life by bringing a balance between the mind, body and spirit of an individual thus helping one to experience the eternal solace of being one with nature.

Ayurveda provides a unique holistic individualized approach of healing based on the unique natural constitution of every individual, ‘Prakruti’. It increases the quality of life of every individual, which in turn leads to increased life expectancy.

Ayurvedic Regime for Longevity: Natural harmony is one single source of solution for all our woes. Ayurveda defines a pattern of procedures to safeguard and sustain natural harmony of every individual that is often impacted by physical, emotional and environmental factors. I’ve listed down ‘the trios’ of the heartening principles of Ayurveda that will help us to step-up elegantly in the ladder of life!!!

  • Panchakarma – Detoxify Your Body First! : Once human entity is stuck with natural imbalance, it gets loaded with toxins that target every single cell in our system. To rejuvenate the body and bring it back to its natural state, Ayurveda suggests Panchakarma, which is the process of detoxifying the human body, strengthening the immune system and restoring the constitutional balance of the doshas (Governing forces of the human entity).
  • Healthy Ayurvedic Routine for the long run: Today’s world of challenges has left people with less option to redefine themselves with some powerful holistic tools like Ayurveda. Ayurvedic routine comprises some simple yet most powerful day to day practices of everlasting outcome that will urge mankind to stick to it! ‘Following a healthy Ayurvedic diet that suits the individual’s unique constitution of psyche, an Ayurvedic lifestyle that comprises of stress-free physical exercises, mind nurturing practices like Yoga and Meditation, effective usage of Ayurvedic essential oils that best suits your needs , enjoying proper sleep, binding the mind with positive thoughts that cultivate self-awareness of who you are! And acting young to stay young’ are some of the secret ingredients of the scrumptious food called ‘Health and Longevity’.

These top 3 Ayurvedic regimes for health and longevity when followed with utter adherence and discipline will definitely degrade the ‘Markers of Aging’, most important of which are Stress and Improper Stress Handling and Cell Proliferation. Thus Ayurveda serves its sole purpose of leading mankind with its holistic approach of helping humanity to lead a quality life full of virtues, making you to feel younger from within by cutting down the numbers (Age) in a lustrous way!

Stick to the Ayurvedic command and discover the magic in you, which can transform every single speed breaker of your life into a stepping stone for success! Act Young and Stay Young!! Have a long Ayurvedic life!!!

Thought for the day:

Ayurveda is a sister philosophy to yoga. It is the science of life or longevity and it teaches about the power and the cycles of nature, as well as the elements.                                                                                    -By Christy Turlington

Suggested Reading:

  1. Ayurveda: Life, Health, and Longevity By Robert E. Svoboda B.A.M.S.
  2. The Ayurveda Encyclopedia: Natural Secrets to Healing, Prevention, & Longevity By Swami Sadashiva Tirtha
  3. Health Rejuvenation and Longevity Through Ayurveda By C.M. Ghai

Reference Links:

  1. Rasayan – The Ayurvedic Perspective by Mishra RN
  2. An Introduction To Panchakarma by Vasant Lad
  3. Ayurveda’s Longevity Secrets by Gerald Lopez

The Ayurvedic Routine

Health is not a one day activity instead it is a never-ending and continuous mission until your soul departs your body. To stay healthy is to stay on par with the flow of nature without interrupting the natural temperament of your system and Dean Ornish rightly said that ‘Health is not something that you need to get; it’s something you already have if you don’t disturb it’. That is what the ancient remedial science known as Ayurveda suggests mankind to simply tag along the cadence of nature. A daily systematic life that strikes perfect balance with the natural pace of Mother Nature needs no cure or meets no disastrous diseases. Such an inspiring Ayurvedic Routine is popularly termed as ‘Dinacharya’ and seasonal routine is known as Ritucharya.   

Ayurveda strongly states that there is a time for everything with a natural meaning in it. If things are done at the right time, you are striking balance with nature and your body functions perfectly and in close connection with your mind. This natural tempo controls our predominant natural urges like food, sleep and sex, also known as the three pillars of life. Today’s modern living has sickened our lives and has forced us to lead it as blindly as a lost kitten in the middle of the forest. Only when we practice certain vital things on a scheduled time, we can live in harmony without the compulsion of any other external factors misleading our lives. To remember it easily, I have listed the daily Ayurvedic routine as 11 simple points to follow as per the Ayurvedic body types. They are:

  1. Wake up early in the morning before sunrise. For Vata it is just about 6 AM, Pitta it is approximately 5:30 AM and for Kapha it is around 4:30 AM. This aids your senses to rise above and ascend along with the sunrise.
  2. Gargle your mouth and drink a cup of warm water with few drops of fresh lemon juice and one teaspoon of raw honey. This supports your body’s normal bowel movement in the morning and helps the digestive system to function properly. Regular bowel movement will aid in eliminating the toxin from your body and make you feel refreshed without carrying the toxins of the previous day’s food.
  3. Brush your teeth twice daily early in the morning and before going to bed. Scrape and rub your tongue thoroughly in the morning to clear away toxins or the poisonous particles sticking on your tongue from the remaining of the previous day’s food items known as ama in Ayurveda. You can either use a good tongue scraper or a stainless steel spoon to clean your tongue front to back. Clean your nasal passages, ears and eyes regularly.
  4. Go for a brisk walk for about 15 to 20 minutes. This helps in improving your blood circulation and aids you in enjoying the healthy rays of the sun fully filled with Vitamin D and other essential nutrients required to boost the functions of your brain and uplift your skin from within. Vitamin D deficiency might end up in skin cancer, rickets, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment in elderly people, muscular weakness and much more.
  5. It’s time to caress, pamper and massage your skin with Abhyanga, the Ayurvedic massage therapy with the use of Ayurvedic essential oils all through your body and your head. Leave it at least for 20 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, you can practice the life saving skill nothing but the great sibling of Ayurveda, popularly known as Yoga. This grants you strength, endurance, resistance and the potential to enhance the functionality of your entire system.
  7. It’s time for a revivifying bath with few drops of energizing Ayurvedic essential oils like lavender essential oil, bergamot essential oil, rose essential oil, jasmine oil, sandalwood oil, grapefruit essential oil, cinnamon essential oil, orange essential oil and few other citrus essential oils to give a right start to your day.
  8. Offer prayers to the Almighty and a calm meditation for about 5 minutes will give you all the energy that your mind needs for accomplishing your challenging tasks all through the day. A powerful meditation influences self-realization and mental strength.
  9. Eating right is very important than just filling your stomach. Taste your food, like it and chew it well as it promotes quicker digestion and absorption of essential energy required by your body. Ensure that you take up a rich and nutritious breakfast between 7:00 to 8:00 AM in the morning.
  10. Have your lunch in between 12:00 to 1:00 PM. Let the not-so-easy to digest food items find a place in your lunch rather than during any other meals of the day because there is enormous time to digest and the Agni or the digestive fire is very active during this time. If possible, go for a small walk after lunch to help easy digestion.
  11. Ensure that your dinner is taken before 8:00 PM and you floss and brush your teeth before going to bed to keep away from harmful germs. Go to bed by 10:00 PM at night making certain that you have enough rest after working throughout the entire day and for gifting a dynamic start to the day ahead. Spend 5 minutes before sleeping to recollect all that you’ve done for the day. Think whether you have accomplished all that is required or have something left behind to finish? This will keep you informed about where you are and direct you towards where you want to go. Utter a small prayer and thank the Creator for all He has given you and sleep peacefully with the hope of being in a new day at dawn.

This might appear as a huge or an impossible list to many but you’ll certainly feel its simplicity and its greater benefits on your healthy and harmonized living once you start practicing it as the celebrated adage ‘Practice makes a man perfect’ appropriately fits in this context and a regular following of these Ayurvedic routine in your life will indeed make you perfect, peaceful and proficient. Start with one and its positive impact will naturally influence you in choosing the whole lot.

Best wishes for your methodical living in the pink.

Thought for the day:

The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they’ll ease
Your will they’ll mend
And charge you not a shilling.

-Nursery rhyme, What the River Knows, 1990, quoted by Wayne Fields

Suggested Reading:

  1. Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide, Revised and Updated Edition by MD Deepak Chopra
  2. Yoga for your Type: An Ayurvedic Approach to Your Asana Practice by Dr. David Frawley, Sandra Summerfield Kozak
  3. Dhanwantari: A Complete Guide to the Ayurvedic Life by Harish Johari

Reference Links:

  1. Dinacharya by Ayurveda Alchemy
  2. Vitamin D Deficiency by WebMD
  3. Agni(Ayurveda) by Wikipedia

Ayurvedic Pledge On The Constitution Day

Hurray! It’s Constitution Day and Citizenship Day and time for keeping all your illness at bay. It is the Constitution’s 225th year and as a proud and patriotic citizen of the United States, I feel great to look back the way that the Constitution has changed the history of US. As most of us know Constitution day is celebrated on September 17 since 1787, when the United States Constitution was signed at the time of the Philadelphia Convention. Every year people of US are invited to observe the Constitution week from September 17 to September 23 especially in schools, churches and few other appropriate places with the most suitable bustles and ceremonies. I can read the doubtful rays on your face now, which says ‘Everything about Constitution day is ok…but what is the relation between Ayurveda and Constitution day? And first of all what is an Ayurvedic Pledge?’ I always love explaining things in a simple way and have a strong reason behind everything I say.  Look for those valid reasons as your eyes surf through the content below.

I still remember the special Constitution day when my school was delegated to take up the Constitutional celebration. Each one of us will have our own favorite Presidents and special reasons for retaining them as our favorite. My favorite President is James Madison, Jr. He was the 4th President of the United States and is called as the ‘Father of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights’ but for whom the US Constitution would have failed to succeed. He was the oldest of the twelve children of his family and had lot of struggles and values in his life left behind for most of us to learn. Constitution day is a memorable day to think about the glory, achievements, struggles and difficulties of our admirable leaders, which will help us to lead a determined life filled with their inspiration.

I would suggest you to take up a pledge or an oath on the Constitution day just like your New Year resolution to do something that would benefit you as well as your society. This year, let your pledge be all about practicing the spiritual healing science called as Ayurveda. This ancient medicinal system has innumerable benefits to your health physically as well as emotionally, helping you to mold yourselves as a perfect individual.

Ayurveda is an intimate ocean for those who already knew about it and for those who are new to this concept; I would rather say that you have missed a miraculous healing method in your past.  This holistic healing method treats the human body as a place of worship, which influences one to keep the body, mind and the environment clean and hygienic for your spirit to live in genially. Ayurveda respects every person and their specific feelings as it believes that every human being is a unique creation. It identifies the individual body types and treats you completely as an individual instead of just treating your illness alone. It aims at treating your sickness initially and proffering you the real strength from within to prevent it in the future.

With Ayurveda, you will soon realize that you have already started to lead a systematic life with appropriate time for everything, right from the time you wake up till the time you go to bed. It suggests the healthy practice of taking a balanced diet with regular physical exercises, focused meditation, habitual yoga practices and natural remedies like plant extracts, Ayurvedic essential oils and much more. Take this Constitution week as the trial week for taking up the Ayurvedic way of living, I am sure you will never regret later. As the Constitution changed the history of US, undoubtedly Ayurveda will change your lifestyle in a dignified manner.

Best wishes for your sparkling days ahead with Ayurveda and happy Constitution week. Let’s take the Ayurvedic Pledge now and say together ‘We the People’ of US ‘Let’s be the People of Strength’ with Ayurveda.

Reference Links:

  1. History of the United States Constitution by Wikipedia
  2. Constitution Day by the National Constitution Center
  3. James Madison by Wikipedia