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Ayurvedic Prescription for Well Being:

Dr. John Peterson of Muncie, Indiana, discusses the daily routine and
the ayurvedic approach to dealing with day-to-day stress

You tossed and turned all night. The alarm didn't go off. You're late
for work. There's a deadline to meet, but your computer is acting up.
Three cups of coffee later, your head still throbs. Your back hurts.
Your eyes sting each time you blink.

Diagnosis: stress.

Prescription: aspirin?

"Try again," smiles John Peterson of Muncie, Indiana. Sitting by the
banks of the rippling Big Thompson River in Estes Park where he's
flown down on vacation, Peterson looks so relaxed you'd never guess
his profession. But perhaps being an ayurvedic physician takes away
much of the stress of being an M.D. with a thriving practice.

"I learned Transcendental Meditation in 1972 to help me cope with the
stress and fatigue of medical school and have continued meditating
twice a day ever since. I took the first Maharishi Ayurveda
physicians' training course in 1985 and found that it helped me
understand myself, the patient, the world, and even modern medicine
in a richer, fuller way," says Dr. John Peterson.

"Ayurveda is a powerful way of dealing with disease at a holistic
level," he continues. "Because it treats the person as a whole, and
not just that part which is affected. Every day, I see people who
perceive their problems as purely physical. Typically, they will say
their head hurts or their kidney seems to be in trouble. But after
exposure to ayurveda, they realize it is all one: body and mind and
heart. Once they understand that, the process of getting rid of a
physical problem becomes a blessing in disguise-it becomes a journey
towards fuller health."

How easy is it for him to explain ayurveda to his patients?

"It takes time, but it is not really that difficult," says Dr.
Peterson, "because the ayurvedic theory of disease and healing has a
very solid scientific base. After all, human beings are part of the
universe, and are composed of the same five elements as everything in
creation. Quantum physicists call these five elements the five basic
spin types. The ancients called them space, air, fire, water and
earth. Ayurveda describes the three governing principles or doshas,
Vata, Pitta and Kapha, as combinations of these elements. Vata comes
from space and air. Pitta comes from fire and water. Kapha comes
from water and earth. The nature of these elements gives us a clue
about the properties of the doshas. Vata governs movement, Pitta
governs heat, metabolism and transformation, and Kapha governs
structure and fluid balance. Even children can quickly come to
understand themselves, their friends and all of nature in terms of
Vata, Pitta and Kapha. It is the interplay among the three doshas
that determines the health of a living being."

But there are no stethoscopes or X-rays calibrated to measure the
health of these doshas. So how exactly does he diagnose his patients?

"Through pulse diagnosis and observation of how you look, move, and
talk-I first determine your individual constitution and the state of
your doshas," says Dr. Peterson. It is amazing, he says, what you can
learn simply by placing two trained fingers on the wrist. "In the
West, doctors take the pulse just for heart-rate and rhythm," he
smiles, "but with the added knowledge given by ayurvedic pulse
diagnosis I sometimes surprise my patients by telling them things
their own spouses may not have known."

Like the lady who came to him with a complaint totally unrelated to
her digestion. The doctor took her pulse, and realized that her Apana
Vata, the sub-dosha of Vata that resides in the abdomen, was out of
balance. When he told her that, she stared at him in disbelief, and
then revealed that she had indeed been suffering from digestion
problems for years, but had given up on trying to resolve them
because nobody had been able to help her. Dr. Peterson says he gave
the lady just one "medicine." Plain warm water. He asked her to
drink it every half hour during the day. Within weeks, the lady was
cured of her problem. "It's a miracle," she enthused on the phone.

So how does pulse diagnosis really work?

"Each throb of your pulse conveys something important to me. I read
the pulse at three different levels of pressure, each of which
informs me about the state of your doshas," explains Dr. Peterson. "
Further, your pulse tells me about the health of your shrotas or
microcirculatory channels, which carry nutrients to the tissues. If
one or more of these shrotas are blocked or impeded, it can lead to
disease."

Dr. Peterson says most people who see him are new to these ideas, so
he advises them to take their time getting used to these basic
ayurvedic concepts. "For I know that the more a person believes in
treating himself/herself as a whole, the faster and better the
healing process will be." Happily, says the doctor, people find these
concepts so logical they nearly always want to know more.

This lady, says Dr. Peterson, had tried every remedy in the book
before she discovered water. That, he says, is because the modern
world is so totally conditioned to quick relief and suppressive
treatments. In ayurveda, on the other hand, says Dr. Peterson, you
don't damage your body by ingesting side-effect-causing drugs. You
give it just what it really needs. Some tender loving care,
supplemented by totally natural and safe herbal formulations.

As a first step toward taking responsibility for their own health, Dr
Peterson advises his patients to invest time and energy on their
daily routine. "Little things count. Each moment you spend on
yourself is like pennies in the bank. The benefits add up. Take oil
massage, for instance. Ayurveda urges you to massage yourself with a
good oil-preferably sesame oil-every day. Sesame oil is a very
versatile ally in your efforts toward better health. I recommend
three ways to use it:
a) Try sniffing it (nasya) to lubricate and protect your nose and
sinuses, which are the ventilation systems for your brain. The oil
helps clear mucous out of the sinuses. Just dip your little finger in
the sesame oil you use for your massage and rub the oil inside of
each nostril. Then pinch and release your nostrils rapidly while
inhaling sharply.
b) Gargle with it for two minutes. It's not as bad as it sounds!
Swish a mouthful of it, then spit it into the toilet and rinse your
mouth out with warm water. This draws out mucous and has been shown
to reduce gum disease.
c) Best of all, massage oil all over your body to release skin
impurities, then bathe or shower with warm water. If you have time, a
warm tub bath increases circulation and is a means of further
purification.

And this joyful routine of luxurious massage is just a small part of
the holistic ayurvedic game plan against stress. We cannot separate
ourselves from the rest of the universe. Our health is dependent on
our physiology being totally in tune with the laws and rhythms of
nature. The ayurvedic daily routine allows us to be more and more
attuned to natural law.

Here's how your day would progress if you followed a good ayurvedic
routine:

Early to bed and early to rise. Going to bed before 10 p.m. allows us
to have the best quality sleep. Waking up before 6 a.m., we catch the
fresh energy of Nature's morning and are lighter and more flexible
and energetic than if we sleep in. Studies show that early rising
helps people with depression have more energy.

Kick-start your metabolism with a large glass of warm water: spike it
with fresh-squeezed lemon and a spoonful of raw honey to help
eliminate toxins from the night's metabolism and stimulate a morning
bowel movement.

Prepare your system for a fresh day's intake: cultivate a healthy,
regular bowel habit. If your bowels are irregular, try to train them
to move by just sitting on the toilet for five minutes every morning.

Pay utmost attention to your oral health: the white coating you see
on your tongue every morning is ama or built-up toxic matter that
causes decay and bad breath. Use a silver or stainless steel tongue-
scraper to clean this out. You can use a silver spoon until you get a
tongue-scraper. This also gives your digestive tract a reflexive
cleaning.

Enjoy a head and body massage (abhyanga) with cured sesame oil.
Emphasize the ears and the soles of your feet, which contain reflex
points for the whole body. Self-massage increases the coordination of
mind and body, stimulates the muscles, loosens impurities, pacifies
the nervous system and lubricates and protects the skin. Bathe or
shower.

Stretch. Sun salutations and yogasanas, done slowly and with your
attention on the body, infuse consciousness into the physiology.

Practice pranayama. Simple breathing exercises settle the nervous
system and clear the mind.

Meditate. Transcendental Meditation allows the mind to settle
effortlessly into its simplest form of pure awareness,
eliminating "noise" in the nervous system.

Exercise according to individual preference - easy walking, biking or
swimming - and keep your mind on the physical activity, not on the TV
or music. Exercise to only 50 percent of your capacity.

Wear clean and comfortable clothes suitable to the season and your
activity level.

Eat a light, nutritious breakfast. Digestive power is not very strong
in the morning.

Work or study according to your dharma, meaning activity that is
enjoyable and life supporting for you

Lunch should be the biggest meal of the day because your digestion is
strongest then. Diet should be balanced according to your
constitutional type. It's important to eat sitting down and pay
attention to the food with all your senses, because this helps the
body know how to process it most efficiently. Pleasant conversation
is fine, but eating when you are watching TV, reading, upset, angry
or trying to forge a business deal keeps your body's energy divided
and disturbs digestion. It is good to have a moment of quiet
contemplation before eating and to sit for 10 minutes or so after
lunch, enjoying pleasant conversation. A brief rest after lunch gives
you a good start on digestion. If you want, lie down on your left
side, which gives the stomach more room to work.

Work or study according to your dharma.

Practice yogasanas, pranayama and meditation before the evening meal.

Supper should be lighter than lunch so that your body can digest it
completely before you go to bed. Then your body can use its nighttime
digestive power to get rid of impurities while you sleep.

Enjoy some pleasant relaxing activity, and then go to bed early - no
later than 10 p.m.

"To many people, the thought of committing to this routine seems
daunting at first," says Dr. Peterson. "'Where's the time?' is a
common reaction I get. But soon, people realize how pleasurable and
beneficial this routine can be. Not only does it improve their bodily
health, but it makes them happier and more effective in activity."

That is the beauty of ayurvedic healing: pleasure combined with an
emerging sense of responsibility of self, followed by cumulative,
lasting health benefits.

As the perfect complement to this healthful routine, Dr. Peterson
prescribes Amrit to his patients. Amrit is a clinically researched
rejuvenant. People who take Amrit regularly report elevated energy
levels, enhanced resistance to day-to-day stress and a greater sense
of well-being and bliss. "For me, the best part of prescribing Amrit
to my patients is that I don't have to worry about any side-effects
it might cause. It is a completely safe, time-tested and highly
effective formulation which richly deserves its name-Amrit, or the
nectar of vitality," says Dr. Peterson.

In the next issue of Joyful Living Journal, look forward to more
insights from Dr. Peterson on dealing with and healing stress.

Note : This ayurvedic information is educational and is not intended
to replace standard medical care or advice.
Copyright MAPI, 2002.

For more information on Ayurveda or to subscribe to free newsletters,
plaese visit <http://www.mapi.com>