Ayurveda speaks - watch your Clock

Ayurveda, an ocean of never ending wisdom states that one has to plunge deeper to get precious pearls out of it. One can never understand the essence of the science by fragmentary understanding of the matter. It is a life of science, which is based upon self experiences and strong observations. Ayurveda theory is based upon five basic elements of cosmic evolution which are Ether (Akash), Air (Vayu), Fire (Teja), Water (Jala), and Earth (Prithvi). These five elements join each other in different permutations and combinations to evolve three biological forces called as Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. They are the trinity of biological humors that regulate our body when in equilibrium, and also result in diseases when get vitiated.

Biological humors coexist in the body in such a fashion that they do not hinder each other’s functions and simultaneously control each other in order to perform desired physical and physiological functions. Being primary constitutive factors of the body, they are directly influenced by our conscious or subconscious actions. Having said that means even a smallest change in our life style has an impact over the positioning of these Doshas. Trinity of Doshas also gets influenced by time and predominate each other at different parts of the day and night. This natural fluctuation of Doshas maintains our health and regulates our physiological routine. Ayurveda explain it as Natural Biological clock.

If we divide 24 hours in day and night, individual dosha has four hours of predominating cycle. Each dosha increases for four hours during the day cycle and repeats the same during night. This cycle is directly proportionate to the physiological performance of the body. For a better understanding, this clock could be understood as,

In a Day cycle:

• From 6 am to 10 am Kapha predominates
• From 10 am to 2 pm Pitta predominates
• From 2pm to 6 pm Vata predominates

In a Night cycle:

• From 6 pm to 10 pm Kapha predominates
• From 10 pm to 2 am Pitta predominates
• From 2 am to 6 am Vata predominates

One needs to have a fair understanding of this biological clock of the body to regulate the daily routine and maintain life style accordingly. For example, at night cycle Kapha predominates between 6 am to 10 pm. Kapha or adhesive force of the body is also responsible for inducing sleep. Ancient wisdom recommends sleeping during this Kapha predominant phase in order to experience a peaceful sleep. Once this time is elapsed, follows the predominance of Pitta phase. Pitta also depicts enlightenment, awareness which also suppresses the natural urge of sleeping. It makes the mind alert again, even if you are physically sleeping or feeling sleepy.

Understanding your biological clock can help you to deal with minor daily niggles with ease and helps to maintain a disease free life. It is just a walk towards the general principles of life to live in harmony with your inner peace. Ayurveda suggests that one should constantly engage in learning new things, because “the true knowledge is a power, rightly said.”

Ayurveda – The rising of a new world

Since the time ancient civilization earmarked itself on the pages of history, chronicles related to the development of ancient system of healing could well be found scattered around various texts. It is evident from the time immortal that quest of longevity is deeply inscribed in the mind of human beings and adopting a healthy life style including the freedom from life threatening diseases remained on the top of the agenda through out the evolution of mankind. When history was first written on the pages in form of a script, along with the furtive of evolution were penned down the secrets of healthy living for the references of ancestors. Vedas are full of such kind of wisdom. It was the time when such references were used and various parts of information were brought together in form of an authentic knowledge by some of our eminent sages to establish the holistic system of healing. As far the history concerned, Ayurveda is all about the wisdom arising from the constant observations and a science purely based upon the self experiences. The principle of five elements and theory of evolution are an example of strong metaphysical understanding of the mass. Induction of massage coating an example of moulding a strong wood with constant smearing of oil followed by hot fomentation is another excellent piece of mind application.

It was a discussion amongst some altruistic sages that brought out the best and the oldest system of medical fraternity who were worried about the decline of the social health around the globe. Acharaya Bhardwaj was the first among those who professionally started imparting Ayurvedic wisdom to his immediate descendant Acharaya Atreya, and the latter took an initiative to set up the first school of Ayurvedic Medicines. It is the time when Ayurvedic wisdom which was transferred orally until now took a form of written scripture. Agnivesha, a student of Acharaya Atreya framed his knowledge in form of a text and his work was upheld across the arena of intellectuals. He named his book as Agnivesha Tantra. Till date the book remains the main pillar of Ayurvedic wisdom and is famous by name of Charaka Samhita. It is mandatory to mention the probable time of this creation at this point, which dates back to astonishing 2500 B. C. back. Only the legacy of Agnivesha who is least rewarded for his work sustained the time and till date benefiting the man kind.

While the conservative system of medicines developed to its heights of success, at the same time land of snake charmers gave rise to another legend in the field of operative medicines – the Sushruta. With his excellent and mind boggling surgeries, he laid down the foundation of Modern surgery. He is the one to innovate the famous lithotomy position widely used across the globe. He again has the famous incision point under his belt for eye surgery, and no doubt why he is father of modern surgery today. It was his own legacy that he dared to successfully operate under the non availability of strong and reliable anesthesia. Both of the branches vis- a vis Ayurvedic Medicines and Surgery developed together and wrote a new script of success with a vision of futuristic social health. Later it was well carried upon by then gallant human beings, that by virtue of their hard work they laid a foundation of modern pharmacology and pharmacogonosy. It is the time of Acharaya Vagbhatta and other eminent sages, who went into the field of research and intensive pharmacological evidence in form of Nighantu and other texts are available till date. At the same time when other fields were developing in the field of traditional medicines, a new lease of idea gave birth to the development of alchemistry; a branch of medicine that deals with the study of metals and their property of healing. Mercury, the most poisonous metal was used to cure the life threatening diseases. None the less, this art was also used to create the lost wealth of then spend thrift kings by turning mercury into the Gold. Ayurveda, considered as Ashtang comprised of eight fully developed branches having their own specializations. The maestros of the field left back their footprints in form of their written scriptures on papers for their descendants, alas! Hardly could be restored and saved; thanks to the lack of print and electronic media, and also to the generations riding high over money making machines at the cost of their own health.

While knowing my own roots, I came across an interesting story about the name of Kangra town situated near to the famous hill station Dharamsala, it is also the abode of Goddess Durga – Bajreshwari. The place used to be called as Trigarta (valley covered on three sides by peaks) or Nagarkot. There lived a family who was engaged in the business of stitching the torn earlobes of the ladies fancying heavy metal rings. They were so good at the business that later the place itself came to be known as Kaan Gad in local language which means to stitch ear lobe. Due to the ease of pronunciation it became Kangra later. How true the story is, nobody knows but it left a great deal of impression on my mind about a family that had the courage and skill to change the fate of a dynasty.

A system that fulfilled the medical and social demands of man kind had its downturn not because there was a fault in the system but just political reasons were enough to destroy the wealth of the wisdom. Foreign invaders, wherever they came from had an agenda of destroying rich Indian culture and heritage. Nalanda University, then abode of the knowledge was set on fire which kept on burning for entire 6 months turning the knowledge into the ashes. Few of them took away the literature for their sake, and left a big lag. Even before that with up rise of King Ashoka, Ayurveda Surgery had to bear a major set back. Once the king turned Budha, all the surgeries were banned and anyone who practiced it was held responsible for prosecution. Many of the eminent personalities shirked their shoulders from the profession to avoid social embarrassment. Adding an insult to the injury, while British invaded India they slapped everything they had on India, and Indian culture

As the evolution rode over the fast track of development, and the world saw a major power shift from east to the west, India started looking tame in its own boundaries. British rule in India made life difficult f

or the survival of its heritage and the way western system of healing was pasted over Indian society, played a major role in uprooting the age old system from the land of its own. Faster results produced by the western system of healing lead it to the top priority in the world of healing, and the lack of evidence based practice further pushed Ayurveda on the back foot. It was also the reason that developed nations refused to accept Ayurveda as a medical system and it ended up in a folklore practice only.

Also was the fascination of top authorities of this nation to please the developed countries and to keep dancing on their tunes that further deteriorated the image of this system and much of the credit goes to the practitioner of this science also, who felt privileged to be called upon Doctors instead of Vaidyas.

But, life is like a clock and the one that goes down has to rise in any circumstance. The might of Ayurveda could never be denied and the science that has the strongest basic principles rises again just like phoenix. The world realizes once again that being healthy is a bliss, and it is far better to maintain health than spending your hard earned money over an illness; and that is what the aim of Ayurveda is, “swasthasya swastha rakshanam i. e. to maintain the health of a healthy being.” Ayurveda, a science of life stresses upon adopting a healthy life style in order to avoid potential health hazards, and incorporates daily and seasonal regimens of well being, and one should always put constant efforts to follow the simple advises in order to remain healthy.

Obesity – a problem of plenty

Obesity, that has a problem of plenty is growing rapidly across the globe. It is a condition where body weight increases to an excess where it may affect general body health condition. Ayurveda has enlisted this disease in those which are treated with difficulty. Medoroga as named in Ayurveda, not only creates a social stigma but also increases the likelihood of various ailments like diabetes, hypertension, arthritis etc.

 

Calculating your Body Mass Index(BMI) can help you to define your health condition by comparing your height and weight. BMI is just an estimation and does not represent a clear idea about your total fat percentage. But definitely it helps to get an idea when the bell rings. BMI can be calculated with the help of simple formula:-

BMI = weight [in kilos] divided by height [in meters] X height [in meters]

 

Body Mass Index weight categories and conclusion

 

BMI rating	Weight assessment
Under 20 (men) Under 19 (women)	Underweight Underweight
20 – 24.9	Normal weight
25 – 29.9	Overweight
30 & above	Obese

Management of weight is a more psychological game play than just following a regular routine. Causes of obesity are more attributed towards a sedentary life style and in certain cases due to a long standing illness for which patient had been treated with specific drugs. Family history, bad food habits, and genetic factors can not be ruled out too. But more often it has been seen that in the beginning patient does not take his/ her weight seriously and once the vicious circle of fat manufacturing starts in your body, it becomes difficult to reverse the changes.

Before going for weight reduction mental make up and a strong belief is utmost necessary. Crash diet course should be avoided strictly, they may result in sudden weight reduction but regaining of it also occurs at the same pace. It is advisable to calculate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) before deciding your diet. It is the minimum caloric requirement needed to sustain life in a resting individual. One can calculate his/ her BMR with the help of following formula:

For Women

BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kilos) + (1.8 X height in centimetres) – (4.7 X age in years)

For Men

BMR = 655 + (13.7 X weight in kilos) + (5 X height in centimetres) – (6.8 X age in years)

Based on above calculation, one can calculate his/ her approximate daily calorie need.

• Sedentary life style/ little or no exercise, calorie requirement = BMR X 1.2
• Lightly active individual(mild exercise 1- 3 days/ week), calorie requirement = BMR X 1.375
• Moderately active individual (moderate exercise 3 – 5 days/ week), calorie requirement = BMR X 1. 55
• Very active individual (hard exercise 5 – 7 days/ week), calorie requirement = BMR X 1. 725

Depending upon your BMR one calculate the daily need of their required calories and accordingly fix their dietary needs. Though, one must understand that it is not absolute food that have been your enemy thus far but a proper check on daily schedule is also equally responsible for such a high rate of obesity. Late night parties and excessive consumption of alcohol with smoking are other factors also contributing to the urban obesity. It has been reported that number of obese patient are increasing at an alarming speed in urban livelihood. generation next life style and sedentary habits from the childhood are also adding on to the childhood obesity. Kids are more interested in computer games and lack of interest in games involving physical exertion leading to the disastrous health hazards. It is indeed very important to keep a close check on your weight at the time when it hits that important mark where daily wears stop fitting your body. And it is always better to stay fit rather than running from one store to another to find your size.

Rejuvenation in Himalayas

Life in the metro getting hectic day by day, and daily physical involvement in meeting everyday new targets takes a toll on the body. It not only affects the physical body, also has a bad effect on mental well being. High society culture and sedentary life style generates life threatening diseases. Waking up late nights to catch your friends in the name of socializing and again rushing to the office early morning to reach in time takes out the vital energy from the body. When we have holidays we have to meet our dear ones and the whole time of leisure flies away treating your guests at home. Many factors come along together and your health remains on the back burner. Isn’t it a nice idea to go on a holiday where you can spend some time with yourself and pay full attention to your body, mind and soul?

Kayakalp in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh is a perfect destination for your long awaited health break. Come and recuperate yourself in the vicinity of Himalayas. Kayakalp is situated in the foothills of Dhauladhar range of Himalayas and it makes a picture perfect view in the winters with snow covered mountains peaks in the backdrop of a state of an art structure. An abode of traditional and alternative system of drugless therapies like Ayurveda Panchakarma, Naturopathy, Yoga and Physiotherapy are ready to enrich your health. A perfect blend of treatments, diet therapy with a hint of revitalizing touch of yoga makes a wonderful experience. A young team of enthusiastic Doctors welcome you with a refreshing smile and bid adieu with a promise of a better health condition of yours. Restricted regimen of diet offers you a step closer to the journey of your well being.

At Kayakalp, we offer you to get engaged in your hidden talents and occasional talks and leisure activities are conducted to display your creativity. Recreational hall offers you to spend your time with games and audio visual entertainment. Here you meet people from different arena of life and stay here as a part of an extended family.

We offer you different accommodations suiting best to your budget like dormitory, standard double bed room, deluxe double bed room, A/ C and non A/ C cottages. A prior booking is must to avoid hassles. Kayakalp at Palampur is well connected to the world by all modes of transportation like road, air, and train as well. You can have a joy ride from Pathankot in deemed to be heritage toy train. Though the travel could be quite slow but offers you a very different experience altogether. Daily flight is also available from New Delhi airport to Gaggal at Dharamsala and there on a taxi to Kayakalp is easily available which is just an hour from the airport. Himachal Pradesh always has to offer something different in all seasons and Kayakalp ensures you a perfect delight.

For more information you can log on to our website www.kayakalppalampur.com

Come and get involved with yourself. 

Spirituality – The Quest

 

The world of twenty first centaury is growing faster than expected, and at the same pace are growing, the desires of the man. But at same speed something very different is also happening on the back stage of physical realm, the spirituality. Gone are the days when spirituality used to be defined as spinning beads and going for pilgrimage. Also, over are the days visiting holy shrines in search of the peace. The new age philosophy is to find out peace within them. Though the same old forgotten science but realized at the right time. The time is ripe to segregate spirituality from religion.

One needs to understand the fact about the existence of God. Each and every holy book demonstrates the presence of the divine within oneself. It is a psychological realm of the higher being – the conscious. Age old philosophy of Sankhya, which describes the evolution of the universe based on two factors, the Mother Nature – phenomenal realm of the matter, and the purusha – the conciousness. Prakriti, under the influence of three qualitative forces with the stimulation of the higher conscious goes on multiplying for the manifestation of the physical world. purusha – the higher conscious is not a causative factor for evolution but the Prakriti. Under the influence of the physical boundaries, the conscious which is unattached and pure, believes itself to be the part of it only.

Moksha – the salvation is the process of realizing this pure consciousness in oneself, which is beyond the physical realm of the matter. Spirituality is a journey onto the path of self realization and it has nothing to do with any religion. Thus far by most of the people, spirituality was taught as a part of religion and it lead to lot of chaos than resolving the quest of the human being.

Today, the mantra is all about self introspection. Yoga helps in finding the tranquility of the mind which is the first step on the journey of the life. The word yoga itself defines the meaning – yujyate anena iti yoga, the factor responsible for the unanimity of the physical being with higher conscious. It helps in channelizing the energy to reveal the facts laying within one self. It brings back the energy of the cosmos to the primordial factor which is you, yourself. It has all the power of healing and can create wonderful result to an ailing body. Yoga is just not a part of your physical exercise, and it does not also limit itself to a specific religion. It is a practice to find you with in yourself only. The spirituality is not about finding god, but to find god with in you, and it is the essence of Indian philosophy; because, you are the god of yourself. This is the universal truth. The time is here to understand the Indian philosophy in its true self which is way beyond the saffronization of the books.

Doshas - a mystical science

Though I am not quite frequently here, and it is been long time since I updated my blog, but the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda kept moving with me and before coming out in form of words here, struck me hard many times. Not that I did not have time, but no work leads us to an indolent attitude and that is what happened to me. Leaving the bad time back, today I am herewith going to explain something very interesting, the chemistry of human body.Sometime I wonder how the concept of doshas (biological humors) came into the existence!

Ayurveda, a science purely based on observations, leaves an astonishing affect into the brain of a true seeker. As per the universal law, there are three stages of a matter- evolution, transformation, and destruction. Creation of the universe also comes under the same law, thus philosophers believe in the theory of universal destruction; however, we do not know how true it is. Human chemistry is also an out come of the same rule, and, it is surprising to know how true were the sages in their observations, that too well 5000 B. C. back!

Distribution of the doshas as per the stages of life reveals the truth. In the first part of the life (childhood) kapha predominates, while pitta predominates during the intermediate stage (young), and finally reaches on to the stage of vata i. e. old age. Going deeper into the stage of logical game play, fountain of wisdom pour downs the bliss of knowledge. For the matter of construction, there should be a strong cohesive force that can bind two loosely held molecules together, in order to provide strength and to impart a proper shape to the matter, and this role is played by the water in external world, while inside the human body by kapha. Kapha, being liquid has been named so for the scientific understanding. But, in the lack of force of transformation this molecule would end up being muck but nothing else; that is where the role of fire comes into the play. Fire, which helps in transforming the qualities of a matter in external world, for example from raw food to cooked food, similarly it helps in transformation of the human body also. Not to mention here that the process starts at the time of inception of child in the womb of the mother. The discussion does not stop here; adding further to it, in lack of force of disintegration or movement the matter can not grow or move in a positive direction. The vata (air), responsible for the movement inside the body functions similar to the air moving outside in the universe. Sushruta, the father of modern surgery and a great anatomist of his time says that vayu vibhajti, means the air disintegrates the inflamed mass of the water i. e. embryo and thus evolution of human life begins. It is very interesting indeed, how these three biological forces i. e. water, fire and air influence our body at the time of fertilization and keep doing so, throughout our life! While we, under the order of these three supernatural forces, tend to believe that our actions are self controlled. Funny! It seems, but, the truth. To scrutinize the facts is the human behavior, but when it comes to self introspection, we are the last person to do the same. In order to grow in our life, we need to get rid of the influence of these three biological forces upon our mind, body, and soul. In easy words, instead of being tamed, we need to master these three forces. While these three forces are in absolute balance, they perform their functions properly, but under the state of aggravation they tend to destroy human behavior and body as well, which further leads to dissatisfaction within the soul and our journey of life becomes the bed of thorns. Ayurveda explains various rituals to be followed and code of conduct to tame these forces in order to live a healthy and prosperous life.

Something else to discuss.....

Democracy Fails

For last seven or eight months, India has been continuously under the terror attacks, not only foreign but sometimes Indian terrorist (a la Local parties who spread terrorism on the basis of regionalism). This time when all the political parties keeping the National Interest at a bay and fighting hard for their much sought political power, India have been attacked at a place which recently made a news for the attacks on North Indians (so called job eaters of the local people), it would have been much better if they could have come out now to answer the terrorism. Where are they? And where is their patriotism? After a few days we will see all such branded leaders issuing the statements in the leading news papers and extending their grief over the issue.

Time is ripe for the change, to rethink, to rebuild and above everything to do a self interrogation and introspection. Why repeated security lapses occur in India only, I said repeated. They say, “To error is human.” To commit mistake is a step forward to the learning, but to repeat the same mistake is called as to be fool. And right now we have been considered as fool. Anybody come, shoot people and go away, you all are welcome in India, because our weakest link is the political foolishness. This time they targeted the industry, which have been India’s greatest asset, Tourism. This is an attack on the economy and by the time top honchos will be evaluating the affect of the attacks many people might have already lost the money like hair from the head and India would be most hated place to be visited. Because nobody wants to buy death in the name of leisurely vacation, that too spending from their pocket.

How an unidentified ship storms in Indian sea? Isn’t it a security lapse? How heavy ammunition reaches inside the hotel? No security check? What Indian intelligence is doing? Above everything, what common man should do?

What strategy was adopted to fight terror after the serial blasts in Malegaon? And what was the review of strategy after the serial bomb blasts in Delhi are two big questions stranded in front of general public. Why parties have to make fake promises? Thanks to our literate illiterate public, sleeping youth who only wake up at call centres or shopping malls, and rest attributed to “not my duty” culture. In this process, most disappointing department have been so far is Police. Why don’t they get tired of accepting bribes and ill behaving with general public? The image they have created for themselves is not of a saviour but a termite that eats the wood with in itself and wood appears to be standing straight but by the time you touch it- it collapses without making a noise even. Same have been the condition of this country. Then politicos, making strategies in their board rooms to fight out the opposition. Bringing money in the parliament would be a way to defame the same in front of the mass. We, the people are not bothered what are you doing out there, because we are fed up of you the parties. You just have created wealth by entering the politics and played the dirty politics every time. None of the party is clean; every one has their feet deeply sunk in the filth. Even if they intend to walk out of it, they leave their pangs of the past. Disgusting is all this, no words are sufficed to portray the dirty image of Indian polity and strategy. America gets a 9/11, and eventually security becomes so stiff that not even a single bird can enter the premises back, but Indian security lapses time and again, not once but several times. Unfortunately can’t even blame any one, because we have elected these irresponsible entities, who can’t think beyond their self interests.

Hats off to the Indian army and NSG who are fighting hard to destroy the plot strongly knit my antisocial evils. They are the only saviours. We must regard their sacrifices made for the country and to safeguard its integrity. But the question is yet unanswered, who should be held responsible for these attacks, Pakistan, Al queda, Deccan Mujahidin or Indian Politics or police? Answer is very clear, crystal clear. Why to blame any external factors, when I leave my door wide opened before going to bed at night, definitely I am inviting evils to bust in and bare me.

In the name of all those innocent people who fell prey to this massive security lapse and praying for the secured future of people who are yet safe but prone to be the next. May this incident allows us to introspect ourselves and a question arises in every one’s mind, where are we going? Whether these politicians can promise us the security back in our own country? Are they ready to remove their Z security when they face public next time? Why can’t they do this, because they are not sure of their lives because they know their evil past is following them every time, everywhere? You need to come clean, if you want to face the public.

Get up and get ready to fight out the terror on individual level. Be vigilant, and be prepared to fight the worst on individual level, because I have lost faith from Politics and Police. For me they are good for nothing. They are just termites who can even dare to eat the roots of the tree where they were born from.

Without any prejudice, all these are emotions that came out after hearing, viewing and reading the scenario after the The Taj invasion in Mumbai. Can we repeat the agitation in Mumbai similar to the task which was done for North Indians few weeks back? Shame India, Shame Indian politics, Shame Security services.

Acute pain management in Ayurveda

Today, when I was coming back to my flat on my bike from office I met an unfortunate incidence. When I was waiting a red signal to turn green, a huge Tata Indigo Marina which was trying to skip red signal just got my left foot under the rear tyre, not to say it fetched hell out of me and I was in massive excruciative pain. Driver of the cab was not ready to listen my cry and did not move his cab for long... Ah... Pain....Pain Pain....

Somehow I managed to drive myself back to home and could not think of a potent medicine that can relieve my pain. I made sure it was not a fracture.

All of a sudden I thought of a pain management measure from Ayurvedic books and bought a packet of cold milk to do a cold fomentation on it. Though, a doubtful starter I did it for another half an hour, and to my surprise pain was completely off. I took half glass of milk mixed with ! spoon of purified butter i.e. Ghee and a pinch of turmeric.

After 1 hour of rest I am back on my feet and could not wait to share this with you all.

Incredible Ayurveda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!