EAT, EXERCISE AND ENJOY!

EAT, EXERCISE AND ENJOY!

Last year on the eve of International Yoga Day, I shared the stage with a remarkable woman. She held the audience spellbound with fascinating tales on dietary habits, and their impact on human body.

 At 47 she was sprightly without a strand of grey hair and blessed with a haemoglobin count of 17. The lady had once been afflicted with a grievous asthmatic condition, till she turned a vegan. Now endowed with enormous energy, she begins her day with several glasses of warm water with lemon. This according to her is a quintessential technique to ward off morning blues and alkaline conditions prevailing in our bodies.

‘Eat only when hungry ‘is her second mantra. And like Milind Soman (actor, model and a barefoot runner) she relishes eating fruits. Fruits need to be partaken as a complete and wholesome meal and rather than as a supplement to the main course.

Foodies and epicureans, do we know what our stomach is and what is its size? This internal organ, in which major part of the digestion takes place, is a pear shaped enlargement of the alimentary canal linking the oesophagus to the small intestine.

Now let us examine the size. If we joined our palms and gaze at it intently, that is the proportion of this organ. As per Ayurveda, there are containments for air, liquids and solid in the stomach, each measuring one-third.  Yet we stuff this delicate organ, resulting in baleful consequences for our body and minds.

How many of us can become vegans?  Especially with a large spread of delicacies, eating joints, packaged and junk food quite easily available and salivating our taste buds. Food should nourish our bodies and not engineer problems in our system and so that   we fall prey to various ailments. Improper diet takes a heavy toll on the system of an individual.

The architect of Delhi Metro and Konkan Railway, Shri E Sreedharan advocates light vegetarian food, long walks, yoga and a dash of spirituality for healthy and peaceful living. This provides him with immense energy to execute tasks on hand.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says there are four sources of energy (prana or chi); namely food, breath, rest and a calm and meditative mind.

 Breathing techniques and meditation can be learnt only under the supervision of expert guidance or a qualified teacher. But the reality is that attrition rate among participants tends to be pretty high; humans can at least monitor the food they consume. That is in our hands. Do we recall the iconic movie ‘PIKU’? The movements of Bhaskor were severely crippled by an irritable bowel syndrome and bloated feeling.

Gandhi ji (who maintained a strict diet regimen and walked to remain fit) advised his eldest son Harilal Gandhi (an alcoholic) to walk 15 miles a day to overcome the problem of dyspepsia.

Excessive consumption of alcohol had a debilitating effect on my internal organs. I developed high blood pressure and suffered from   fistula for which I was under the knife of a surgeon. Having regained sobriety through various Art of Living programmes and the grace of the Guru, my dietary pattern has radically altered. Once cramming down junk food, I do not even eat eggs! Mystified?

  Consumption of alcohol and improper diet resulted in malfunctioning of my abdominal system. I realised that elimination is paramount to good health. Toxins from human bodies are expelled through sweat, faeces, urine and breath. The human body gets diseased when discharge of these functions does not occur seamlessly. And then begin our expeditions to doctors and experimentation of various techniques to regain physical and mental health.  Impaired elimination process, particularly the bowel movements may result in arthritis and heart conditions.

Thus taking care of the gut is of paramount importance. Gut is also called the second brain. This hosts the solar plexus. With a healthy diet, regular practice of yoga (in particular the Surya Namaskar), breathing practices and meditation, an individual can develop intuitive abilities and sport a smile and not a scowl like Bhaskor of ‘PIKU’.

 How many of us really relish what we eat? We eat at a frenetic pace, barely chewing the morsel consumed. It is recommended to eat in a cool and calm place and without the distraction of mobile phones, television, CD players or logging on to laptops or other gizmos which the wired world has provided us with.

It is essential the previous meal is digested in its entirety before consuming the next meal. Ayurveda strongly advocates not consuming water before and after the meal as it dilutes the digestive fire present in the stomach.

Taittiriya Upanishad says, ’From food (anna) verily, creatures are produced, whatsoever (creatures) dwell on the earth ……For truly, food is the chief of beings.’

Before we eat food, we need to bless what has been served and contemplate on the positive elements inherent in the food. By reciting ‘Annadata Sukhibhava’ we become grateful to the producer of the food- that is the farmer. In this process positive energy gets imparted to the food making it easily digestible.

Sitting in Vajrasana on completion of a meal facilitates digestion. This is the only asana one can perform after eating. It may be mentioned that several South East Asian cultures favoured sitting in  a similar posture during mealtime.

Different religions proscribe fasting before, after or during religious festivities as it detoxifies the system and provides the abdominal chambers with adequate rest. So eating limited and healthy food and exercising in a moderate manner provides a human with the required energy to fulfil his responsibilities. 

Various foods that we consume provide us with calories, vitamins, and proteins for our sustenance. But only the right type of food, cooked and consumed the right way provides us provides us with good health, nourishment and vital prana.