Ayurvedic lifestyle & herbs for a healthy future

Written by - Vaidya Vibhuti Rao

​Is there something else one can do in addition to the social distancing, hand sanitizing and sopping routine? In the wake of COVID 19 crisis, many heads have turned toward Ayurvedic medicines for the prevention and promotion of health and wellbeing. People are keeping confidence in Ayurveda’s potential role in managing such a crisis. ​Research is on its way, on a few Ayurvedic herbs, and Ayurvedic fraternity strongly believes that they will be successful. 

India has the potential to give evidence-based Ayurvedic medicines to the world as it has given Indian philosophy and Yoga for the wellbeing of human beings.  In this free time of lockdown, people wondered the ways of managing their health and how best they can look after themselves and carry on with the other responsibilities. This crisis has forced people to think in different directions, to become close to nature, to follow a healthy lifestyle, to look for ways to boost immunity and it has come with many teachings of life for a lifetime.
Even in this crisis, Ayurveda stands tall with its unique fundamentals and treatment approach. It has upheld the faith of many who are the followers of in this science. The perspective of health has changed. People do not want to face the crisis and then wait for a medicine to be developed to help overcome that? Instead, people want to prevent such crisis and make their body systems healthy. And yes, there should be better ways to carry on with our life. Henceforth, Ayurveda offers you what you are looking for. At the end of the day, people want solutions, let it come from any medical system. We need to open our minds. As everything is starting new, here I am suggesting a few very simple ways one can adopt in their daily routine to stay healthy, apart from daily hand sanitizing and soaping habits.
Wake up early and spend time with yourself-
Ayurveda suggests waking up before sunrise in a specific auspicious time (Brahma muhurta). The planetary calculation determines this auspicious time for each day. Generally, it is two hours before sunrise, which lasts for 48 minutes. This period of the day is divine and filled with spiritual vibrations. The senses are at their best; fresh and pure and the environment has pure oxygen and freshness all-around. Moreover, waking up early helps us to synchronize with nature’s cycle.
Your five senses should be indulged in sensing the beauty of nature.  I love waking up with watching the mango and sapota trees (loaded with lots of fruits) from my window and walk straight to my garden to get some fresh air and thank the mother nature. It is essential to have a regular bowel movement upon rising. To help this, have light, warm, and fresh food in the previous night. Drinking hot water at bedtime also aids to have regular bowel movements. Bowels should be passed without much force, facing the northern direction without talking or doing anything else.
Take good care of your mouth, gums, teeth and tongue. A herbal twig or herbal toothpaste should be used to clean the teeth. Tongue scraper helps clean the Ama (toxins) – coating on the tongue. It is best practice to gargle the mouth with different liquids to take care of the whole mouth. Filling the mouth with a particular liquid to its capacity helps strengthen the facial muscles, strengthen the jaws and voice and take care of the whole mouth. One can use warm water or sesame oil depending upon imbalanced doshas.
Vyayama (physical activity) is very essential to help metabolic activities be in balance. Depending upon the condition, one can try brisk walking, aerobic exercises, heavy exercises or yogic postures (asanas).  One should exercise half of their capacity.
Food-

• Keep your tummy happy with having an easily digestible food.
• Breakfast should be a light one. And lunch (11 am to 2 pm) should be your main meal.
• Take in barley, wheat, rice bitter vegetables, mango. Barley has shown immunity protecting activity in modern nutrition.
• Spices such as coriander, cumin, turmeric, garlic, onion and fennel helpful stimulate the digestion and detoxify the skin. These spices pacify the aggravated Kapha in the body. They stimulate the digestive fire or Agni and restores the digestion.
• Avoid heavy, oily, sour and sweet food. Onion and garlic have shown to help prevent infections and flu symptoms.
• Have dinner in the early hours of the night. It should be warm, light and with plenty of vegetables. Avoid watching television or doing anything else while having food. The concept of dining out for a heavy meal is not a part of an Ayurveda routine.

Herbs-
There are many herbs and formulas in Ayurveda which are believed to boost the immunity of a person such as Ginger, Garlic, Trikatu, Triphala etc. The most famous and commonly used formula is Chyawanaprasha. This is believed to be the best formula for boosting respiratory immunity and to avoid seasonal diseases. It is also effective in treating cough and cancer (radioprotective). Another one is Amrutha or called as Guduchi is an Immunomodulator. It was clinically effective in treating Chikungunya too. There are many other herbs which work on Pranavaha channels (Respiratory system) such as – Pipplaai, Kantakari, Pushkaramoola, Agastya Rasayana, Vasa, Tulasi, etc.  Do not pick up immunity-boosting medicines randomly from Ayurvedic shops without consulting Ayurvedic doctors. Better to contact your Ayurvedic doctor and ask your questions and be assured.

Final words
Practice a better lifestyle in an Ayurvedic way to bring a positive change into your life, not only adding years to your life but adding health to those years also. Be generous and honest to yourself. Being in good health most of your life ensures a healthy-wealthy and wise life.  
Namaskara,
​Vaidya Vibhuti Rao