First steps for Health

 

Five Elements – First steps for Healthy Living.

Earth:
·         Eat only when you are hungry.
·         Chewing the food to make it into small pieces and mixing well with the saliva, helps for better digestion due to the enzymes in the saliva. Proper chewing also helps for strong teeth and dental health.
·         Eat while you eat. It means no TV, no cell phone, no computer, no work, no talking while eating.
·         Food ranking: Uncooked Fruits and vegetables (rank 1) are the most nutritious and should be taken everyday. Cooked vegetarian food (rank 2) should be taken within 6 hrs of cooking. Non-vegetarian food (rank 3) should be of limited intake. Factory processed food,packed food, fast food, carbonated soft/caffeinated drinks, tea, coffee, preservative added food, (rank 4) should be avoided by all means.
·         90% of the illnesses can be attributed to food. If right food is taken in right amount in right way then we can avoid many of the illnesses and even cure them permanently.

Water:
·         Do not drink water during meals, as water dilutes the stomach acid and hinders the digestion process. Drink water only half an hour before and after the meals.

Air:
·         Air is the most important ingredient for life, despite that we are used to shallow breathing. Pranayama (deep breathing exercise) for 10-15 min everyday will bring drastic improvements in health.
·         This brings good immunity against throat infection, running nose, cough and common cold.

Fire:
·         Taking bath in regular cold water is the best for body temperature regulation. Hot water is not advisable.
·         Taking oil bath 2 days per week is extremely beneficial for hair health, skin health and overall body temperature regulation. With oil bath warm water is acceptable. Traditionally Wednesday and Saturday for men, Tuesday and Friday for women.

Sky:
·         Sleep is closely linked with our mental and physical health, peaceful stress free living, managing our anger and decision making skills. 7-8 hours of sleep is a must for most people.
·         Tea, Coffee, Caffeinated drinks directly attack brain cells affecting our sleep cycles. They should be avoided at least in the evenings if not completely.
·         90% of all the headaches are linked to insufficient, improper and interrupted sleep.

Others:
·         Brushing teeth in night before going to bed is important to avoid acids eroding our teeth all night.
·         Energy in body is mainly manifested as Digestion energy, Activity energy and Immunity energy. After a heavy meal we don't feel like working because the Activity energy is redirected for Digestion. While we are ill our digestion energy is also redirected for Immunity work causing us hungerless. So while ill eat only if you are hungry otherwise just a little amount of food is sufficient for body. Listen to body's language, it is continuously talking to us.
·         The more we get closer to nature we enjoy mother nature's bliss. Gardening, an early morning walk in a park, sitting under open sky, watching sunrise or sunset, playing with a kid are some ways to associate with nature.
·         Most of the so called medicines will treat only the symptoms and not the root cause of the illness and may also cause more illnesses by side effects. Stay away from medicines and stay healthy.
·         Health is more precious than wealth. Slow down a bit and rethink your priorities. Because we can buy medicines and treatment, but not health.

(Learning from Thirukural, Healer Rengaraj, Healer Baskar, Umar Farooq and personal experiences.)