Ayurveda Article - The Ayurvedic Daily Routine For Everyone

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THE AYURVEDIC DAILY ROUTINE:

 

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 three 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 wave 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) First 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.

 

 

Note : This ayurvedic information is educational and is not intended

to replace standard medical care or advice.

Copyright MAPI, 2002.

 

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