Dinacharya

-by Sheela Rani Chunkath

I remember writing a poem called 'Success' when I was sixteen and attempting to define what would constitute success in life. Now, many summers, later I would definitely say that one is successful if one attains the age of 50 without being afflicted by blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, back pain, knee pain, arthritis or cancer. Almost all older urbanites seem to be suffering from one or more of these conditions. If you know any one who is free from these conditions, please go and congratulate them because they must be doing something very right.

Allopathy does not focus on a healthy lifestyle. It is a system which primarily treats diseases. Ayurveda, on the contrary, clearly delineates what you should do every day (dinacharya) and during each season (ritucharya) to keep yourself healthy and free from disease.

One of the prescriptions for a healthy and healthy life is that one should spend only 50% of your time on activities relating to earning your livelihood. I am really nervous about many of our youngsters who have no time for themselves or their families and who are single-mindedly pursuing material wealth to the exclusion of all else.

Another prescription relates to having eight hours of sleep preferably between 9 pm and 5 am. In fact getting up at 4 am during Brahma Muhurtam is strongly recommended as the air is clear and the cosmos is charged with energy. If you can manage to get up during Brahma Muhurtam period and do some yoga befitting your age and health status, it will be most beneficial. A few rounds of Surya namaskar is especially recommended for the computer-addicted next generation. Surya namaskar looks so easy that my nephew, a professional tennis player with his six pack looks at me a little amusedly and says "Periamma, this will not help me in my tennis." He would certainly be less prone to injury if he were to follow a good stretching routine prescribed by yoga. Some sports coaches have started incorporating yoga and massage into the daily routine of athletes but most are just hung up on weights and cardio training.

Back to dinacharya. Once you have managed to get up during the Brahma Muhurtam or a little later, you need to empty your bowels. This routine is one which ensures that there is no build up of ama or toxins from the waste products intended for elimination. Constipation must be immediately set right.

Next is brushing one’s teeth with an ayurvedic tooth powder, dasanakanti, the benefits of which I have written about in an earlier article. Scraping of the tongue is yet another essential daily activity. This helps get rid of ama deposited on the tongue. Nasyam with Anu tailam is a vital part of dinacharya, again discussed in detail in an earlier article. This one daily activity will keep you free from headaches and sinus problems. Ayurveda gives a great deal of importance to self-massage with oil. This is an essential daily activity which not only nourishes the skin but helps revitalize different organs depending on the oil used. I have written in my earlier articles about Dhanavantram, Kottanchukkadi and other tailams which can be used for self-massage. If you can also oil your head with Nochi or Neelibringadi or other appropriate tailams, that will again help with keeping diseases of the head at bay and preventing the onset of blood pressure.

Dinacharya also talks about diet -- a simple prescription being that you do not eat the next meal before the earlier meal has been digested. You eat only enough to half fill your stomach. Your last meal should be between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm to be followed by light exercise.

These activities if followed from early life will certainly keep you healthy. I think we need an aggressive public health programme which can take these messages to the people. Government is an extremely powerful agent of change. An entire generation of Indians have come to believe in the small family norm following an aggressive government public health campaign. A similar campaign regarding the tenets to be followed to maintain a healthy life style following our traditions may be vital in keeping a generation safe from blood pressure, diabetes and stress-related diseases.

I am not underestimating the difficulty in following the dinacharya tenets. It requires a certain discipline and the wisdom to start following these prescriptions while you are healthy, so that you are well armed when advancing years begin their inevitable onslaught on your body.

--- The writer was earlier Health Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu and is currently Additional Chief Secretary and Chairman & Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation. She can be reached at Sheelarani.arogyamantra@gmail. com. Earlier articles can be accessed at http://arogyamantra.blogspot.com/