Have you noticed something about the Ayurvedic approach to life thus far? It seems to have a great fondness for clichés — timeworn statements that seem to us so hackneyed that we don’t even think about them. “A stitch in time saves nine.” “Early to bed and early to rise.” “You are what you eat.” And so on.
Hackneyed, yes. But outdated, no. Each little nugget of Ayurvedic wisdom, you will agree, is timeless — and hence, invaluable. From my own experience of Ayurveda, I’ve spun seven sparkling, er, clichés.
We’ve talked about this before, but let me leave you with yet another reason to rethink your grocery shopping list. Look at the peach. It is a painter’s delight. Why do you think nature made it so attractive? Those crimson apples, flaming peppers, young green spinach leaves — ever wondered if all that color scheming has a purpose? Well, it certainly does. By putting those colors on its plants, nature is beckoning you to notice them, yield to their lure, savor them. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why humans are the only creatures gifted with color vision; almost all other animals see in black-and-white.
Take time today to think about the food choices you make. The entire technology of the food industry is only trying to imitate the oldest marketing technique on earth. All that creative energy and, of course, billions of dollars are being spent on designing attractive, colorful labels for stripped-down, almost-dead food — while living, pulsating food screams silently for attention. Why strip and repackage the brilliant original? Bite into a luscious peach today.
Ayurveda does not advocate toning up just the abs or focusing on the pectoral muscles. Truly fit people are trim and toned all over. Work toward fitness without flogging your body. Remember, walking and yoga are considered the most healing exercises in Ayurveda.
As for staying lean, cancel your weight-management-program membership and let your own mind be your coach. The reason for weight gain is simple: you are eating more than you are burning up. To keep your calorie intake balanced, just remember the rule of three-fourths: fill your stomach to three-fourths of its capacity at any one meal, and you will never be in danger of overeating. Basically, eat to feel satisfied, not to feel full and heavy.
A word about ghee. Ayurvedic experts do recommend cooking with ghee, but they caution that generous dollops of ghee can clog the system, increase kapha, and pile on the pounds. Used in moderation, on the other hand, ghee will endow you with health benefits.
Being clean in body means observing good personal hygiene. Bathe every day. Wear fresh clothing. Always respond to a natural urge: hunger, thirst, or the need to yawn, sneeze, or urinate. These are natural instincts that deserve prompt attention. Suppressing them, according to Ayurveda, generates toxins and stresses the body.
Keep your mind clean: read uplifting books, watch movies that leave you with a smile in your heart, delete junk mail, and listen to music, not noise.
Keep your heart clean: don’t envy others their success; keep an even temper; don’t play the blame-game; be open to sunshine and love.
Ayurveda is essentially about balance. The Golden Mean is “the medium between extremes,” or “moderation.” And in the thesaurus, “balance” and “moderation” are neighbors.
Long ago, I had a poster in my room. It said: “If it feels good, overdo it.” I loved that poster. I took it so seriously that I overloaded on guavas that someone had given us. They tasted so delicious that I ate ten at one sitting. The stomachache that followed was not fun. This is a simplistic example, but the Ayurvedic insistence on “moderation in everything” is a golden rule, indeed. Quite simply, people who eat, sleep, work, think, and love either too much or too little are not healthy, happy people.
Rev up your appetite. Fix up your dining room. Make a trip to your local library and borrow some good books and magazines on the art of decoration. Then turn the spotlight on the most appetizing corner of your home: your dining table.
Bring out your best china and your most exclusive cutlery. Light some scented, all-natural candles. Place a vase of fresh flowers or a bowl of fresh fruit in the center of the table. Accent with colorful napkins and place mats. Now invite a friend over to share a simple, homemade meal.
This might sound like advice from the pages of House & Garden. But it has a beautiful Ayurvedic message, too: creating a beautiful dining environment makes the act of eating a pleasurable, sacred one.
Eat foods that you enjoy. That we’re talking about healthy foods is, of course, a given. If your taste buds like what you eat, your body will digest it more efficiently. In India, we say aisa khana badan ko lagta hai — “such food is infused into the body much more completely.”
Now apply this keenness of appetite to wider areas of your life. Get hungry for knowledge. Read up on health. Learn about the world. Travel. Open your mind and your heart to the splendor of the universe. One cliché Ayurveda does not promote is: “Ignorance is bliss”!
Peace, calm, positive energy — these are found in people who have qualities of the sattva guna. Even in the animal kingdom, there are species that represent the three gunas — rajas, tamas, and sattva. Ayurvedic healers use the imagery of the tiger, the jackal, and the elephant to illustrate the value of sattva.
• The tiger represents the rajasic nature. He is a carnivore, and this natural instinct of killing and eating other animals makes him fierce and aggressive. Powerful and restless, the tiger is always on the prowl, always looking for action.
• The jackal symbolizes the tamasic mind. He is sly, timid, and slothful, evading the clear light of day and preying on food left over by other animals.
• The elephant harbors a gentle heart inside a strong body. He is intelligent enough to work in harmony with the human environment. He is also a vegetarian. Therefore, the elephant represents the sattvic mind.
Notice how the diets of these animals are also linked to their mental qualities. Consider these qualities before selecting your next meal or deciding on your next course of action.
Can you imagine touring a lush national forest without ever stepping out of your car — leaving for home without ever touching the bark of the sequoia tree, photographing a moose, or smelling the pure, clean air? Most of us would laugh at the very idea. But aren’t we doing the same thing with our lives? We’re so busy chugging along the rails that lead to money, success, and love that we forget the pleasures of living life barefoot, so to speak.
On one hand, we set ourselves ephemeral goals. On the other, we dull our senses with information overload. I recently found a rather staggering statistic in a health magazine. It said that an average American watches television for about 240 minutes a day. Four hours of watching other people act, inform, sell, emote — in a mere twenty-four-hour day? It’s ironic when you think that the number-one excuse people give for neglecting their health is, well, “lack of time”!
Switch off the TV and tune in to yourself. If you are hopelessly hooked, cut down on your TV-watching time gradually — say, by fifteen minutes a day. In these fifteen minutes, treat yourself to a tall glass of water, some light stretching exercises, or just the healing sounds of silence. In Ayurvedic terms, this will reduce misuse of your senses, allowing your body to overcome stress.
Thus, truly rested, you can think more clearly about your life and its real purpose.
These seven guidelines sum up most of what Ayurveda has to say about good living. If you’re able to follow even a few, you’ll find your life improving in many ways.
Let me share with you an interesting health strategy I have chalked out for myself. I call it The Power of One.
On days when I feel I’ve been neglecting almost every aspect of my health, I find a minute to sit down and write myself three resolutions. These are not resolutions for the rest of the year or even the rest of the month or week. They’re goals I set for myself for the next thirty minutes. For instance:
1. Drink two glasses of water.
2. Exercise for five minutes.
3. Do someone a favor.
Now, life being what it is, it is not always possible to achieve even these seemingly simple targets. Once I realized this, I told myself I’d be happy if I could do even one of those three things; in however small a way, I would only be helping myself.
It works — first, because it’s truly easy. And also because even the smallest positive action toward self-improvement makes you feel really, really good. That in itself adds a pinch of sattva to your being. Often, you’ll find that if you’re feeling good about yourself, you won’t even have to remind yourself to help someone else; you’ll just spontaneously do it.
Before I discovered Ayurveda, I seldom thought beyond picture frames, flowers, and cut-glass vases as gifts for my friends and family. Over the years, however, I have realized that there is no greater joy than giving the gift of well-being. Birthday or wedding anniversary, holiday season or for simply no reason — I always, always pick up something that I know will make my friends and family a little healthier. Bonus: the gift and its goodness evoke in people a curiosity about Ayurveda — and knowing what a world of difference Ayurveda can make, I am always happy to share what I know.
Some of the most beautiful moments in life come just after you have given someone a thoughtful gift. The sight of a parent’s or friend’s eyes lighting up, the spontaneous smile that spreads across their face — the pleasure it brings makes gift-giving something of a selfish act, too!
Along with your gift, include a handwritten note about its goodness. You could jot down quotations, make up your own poems (I made up this one: “Stop that nerve going bang-bang — soothe it down with ylang-ylang!”), or type some Ayurvedic advice in an old-style font, then print it out and paste it on the package.
Happily, there are scores of heartwarming Ayurvedic gifts you can think of. Let me share some favorite ones with you. Here’s hoping these ideas will change the way you give — for the better, forever.
I used to refrain from presenting perfume to people, thinking the gift would be forgotten once the scent had evaporated. But now I know that scent is something that stays with us; it can be an everlasting gift. And there is a perfectly scientific explanation for that.
Where does a smell go once it has stolen up the nostrils? It travels to the hypothalamus, and to some key areas of the brain that surround it — areas that process feelings and memories. That is why the fragrance of a rose lifts the spirits, and the scent of earth just after rain can remind you of happy long-ago times.
In the Ayurvedic world of healing, too, scents have a special place. Sweet orange, fennel, and ylang-ylang have a calming influence; they pacify the vata dosha. Rose, sandalwood, and lavender bring feelings of cool restfulness, which makes them perfect for pleasing a pitta person. And an unhappy kapha loves to be comforted by eucalyptus, rosemary, and basil.
Then there are herbs that can ease away muscle tension and soothe aching joints. Among the most effective are nutmeg, basil, spearmint, camphor, pine, and peppermint. That is why healing with natural aroma is an integral part of Ayurveda.
Pick and pack a favorite essential oil, an aroma diffuser, or an herbal neck-wrap. Stitch a cheerful cushion and fill it with healing, fragrant herbs. A tip for making your gift of oils extra special: read some good books on the healing properties of different oils, then try blending them for maximum benefit (see resources for some recommendations). Blended in the right proportions, essential oils yield synergistic benefits and balance each other out. Attach a note about how you discovered that ylang-ylang complements rose, or why rosemary and lavender make perfect companions. Thus prepared, your gift will give a lot of pleasure — not only to your friends, but also to you. Ah, the alchemy of aroma!
Pure, organic, cold-pressed sesame oil makes a thoughtful gift — particularly for those who can obviously use some lubrication on their skin. Observe the skin texture of your family and friends. Parched, thirsty skin will love being treated to a deep moisturizing massage.
Then there’s another kind of massage that needs no oil. Dry massage is a great way to exfoliate skin and boost sluggish circulation. Done regularly, this energizing massage can reduce the cottage-cheese appearance of cellulite. How about giving your friend a pair of raw silk gloves for performing a dry self-massage?
There are things in life that one doesn’t usually think about. Your glass of water, for instance. You notice the water, but the glass itself is just a container. Some years ago, when I was staying with an aunt back in India, I noticed that she observed a nightly ritual. She would fill a copper jug with water and leave it overnight. Then, in the morning, she would pour herself two glasses of water from that jug. I thought she loved her copper jug simply because it was so pretty. Then she told me that leaving the water overnight in that jug enriched the fluid with the goodness of copper. It helped reduce acidity, improve digestion, and enhance the body’s ability to assimilate food better.
So distribute health by the glassful: give your friends a copper cup.
Your friend has been missing breakfast. She often looks tired and distracted. Or maybe she has just been working too hard these past few days to pay attention to her health. Put her back on the path to radiance: give her some apples or pears. Buy fresh, organic, sweet fruit. Make a bundle of cloves, and jot down the recipe for stewed apple/pear (see chapter 9, where you’ll also find information on how a stewed fruit makes the perfect start for a day).
If your friend’s idea of a spice box is the salt and pepper shakers, introduce her to the wonder of Ayurvedic spices. To begin with, introduce her to the queen of spices: turmeric. In its solid form, turmeric looks like twisted yellow sticks. In India, many housewives like to grind it fresh each time they use it. But you could also buy good-quality turmeric in an Asian grocery store. Attach a recipe for cooking with turmeric, adding information on how it helps boost the immune system, flush out toxins, and aid digestion.
If your friend finds her new-look yellow veggies and curries appetizing, gradually introduce her to other stars in the Indian spice box: cumin, coriander, cardamom, and more.
Ayurvedic practice includes avoiding such caffeinated drinks as coffee and tea. They are thought to overstimulate the mind and, taken in excess, disturb the balance of the doshas. Herbal teas, on the other hand, pack both flavor and healing qualities. The sweetness of licorice calms vata and pitta. Teas containing rose petals cool the pitta dosha, and those with cloves perk up a lethargic kapha. In general, Ayurvedic herbal teas zap fatigue, relax the mind, and calm the senses. Tea flavors like mint, lemon balm, and jasmine are so delectable that your friends can also try using them to flavor sauces and fruit-based desserts. You should be able to find some good herbal tea brands in natural food stores. Maharishi Ayurveda also makes some gourmet mind-body beverages for balancing each dosha type. (See resources for buying information.)
To me, one of the most precious gifts is the gift of beautiful words: a collection of love poems, recipes, or short stories; a book of quotations; a life-changing novel; an inspiring book on natural healing. Choose from among some truly sensitive works that you have read and loved, books written with a sincerity that awakens the body’s natural intelligence, stimulates the mind, and soothes the spirit. Giving away good health need not cost you a fortune. You could create a handmade booklet that is filled with health tips, recipe ideas, and beautiful pictures cut from old magazines.
I wish you a fulfilling lifetime of living and giving the priceless gift of Ayurveda!