Month: December 2024

Friends, after the daily routine(Dinacharyaa), we are now going to talk about the nighttime routine. We have already discussed the diet to be followed at night. The most important part of the night routine is  ‘Sleep’! Therefore, we are now going to discuss about ‘Sleep’.

A lot of body movements happen during the day. Energy is consumed by the body parts during various activities. Our body needs rest to refill this energy and feel refreshed again. This need is fulfilled through ‘sleep’! As all activities are stopped during sleep, it naturally gives time for the body to refill this energy. All of the body’s cells are revitalized, and we get the strength and enthusiasm to work the following day.

Along with these,  one more important benefit of sleep is that it also provides rest to our mind! Our mind is fickle by nature. It is constantly working every moment. We can provide rest to our body, but it is highly difficult for our mind to get rest. ‘Sleep’ is the only element that provides rest to the mind as well. It also refreshes our mind. In this way, sleep refreshes both our body and mind. It motivates us to work again. Therefore, in the old books of Ayurveda, sleep is termed as ‘Bhootdhatri’ means ‘who holds or takes care of the body’. Of course, to get all these benefits it is better to sleep seven to eight hours a day. Depending on an individual’s age and occupation, this may vary. Youngsters naturally sleep more.

Sleep is very important for the development of our body. Elderly people can sleep more than eight hours to reduce the weaknesses and wear and tear of the body that occur due to aging. It would be beneficial for elderly people to get more sleep in case they have fatigue due to illness.

Those people whose occupations involve physical exertion should sleep more. Conversely, less sleep may be sufficient for those who have sitting jobs with no physical exertion. Sufficient amount of sleep may vary from person to person. For some people, less than six hours of sleep could be sufficient. However, some people need a minimum of eight hours of sleep. Therefore, we should decide the amount of sleep by analyzing ourselves.

Just as the sleep should be for the right duration, it should also be a quiet, deep and sound sleep! Upon waking up in the morning, if we feel refreshed, only then can we say that we have had a sound sleep. Continuous dreams or a little sound can disturb sleep. Sometimes, we may wake up and are unable to go back to sleep. These things can lead to symptoms like dullness and feeling sleepy. Therefore,  it is very important to get a quality sleep.

Nighttime is the natural time for sleeping. After the day’s hard work, we automatically feel sleepy. Obviously, when we say nighttime, we do not expect to sleep late at night. It is better to sleep as early as possible! It should be between 9 and 10 pm. However, because of television, we tend to stay up until eleven or twelve. This causes unnecessary stress on our bodies and minds. Our bodies are impacted, even if we are accustomed to sleeping late. Due to this we hear complaints about not getting proper sleep. The time we go to sleep is equally important as how many hours we slept. In this aspect, sleeping and waking up early is beneficial for our body, whereas sleeping late and getting up late is not at all good for our health. We have already seen the benefits of rising early. However, sometimes due to unavoidable reasons we may stay up late. We will discuss this in the next article.

Dr Mayuresh Aagte

Note : Please use all of the foods/medicines mentioned in this article after consulting with your doctor and taking into account your age and health.

Yesterday, I received a call from a friend asking me to visit his home as he needed a checkup. As I entered, the cold air-conditioned room greeted me. “Let’s have tea first, and then we will talk”, he said. As I began walking towards the kitchen, he immediately said, “We don’t need to go too far. I will order the tea from here.” He pressed the bell nearby and soon the tea arrived. He proudly declared while sipping his tea that he is so busy these days that he doesn’t even move out of his chair. His newly purchased air-conditioned car was adding more praise to this talk. He even finished a couple of tasks while talking to me. In the meantime, he received confirmation about the delivery of daily essentials that he had ordered from the store behind his house. I was observing all this silently. “Did you see how I operate from one place?” he asked, proudly. After hearing this and watching the entire scenario, I did not need to check him up at all. I told him, “You have digestion problems, and you regularly deal with issues like gas. Also, you are putting on a lot of weight. That’s why you feel tired on climbing just four stairs. Your Cholesterol and blood sugar levels may be gone up.”

My friend was shocked to hear me say all this, even without a checkup. He had, in fact, called me to address these exact complaints. Friends, I think this friend of mine represents all of us. Due to a lot of facilities at our disposal, physical exertion has been totally left out of our lives. Hence, many lifestyle disease such as Diabetes, Obesity, Digestion disorders, Cholesterol and Joint pain crop up easily. Therefore, we are going to discuss an important part of our Dinacharya(daily routine) i.e. Exercise, for the timely prevention of these kinds of diseases.

In the old books of Ayurveda, the term ‘Exercise’ is defined as ‘the work that will cause physical exertion.” There are numerous benefits of physical exertion. The body feels lighter after exercising. There is no better medicine than exercise which helps to reduce fats getting deposited in the body. The increased fats cause problems like fatigue, dullness and weight gain. We also experience knee pain due to this extra weight. It also increases the possibility of contracting diseases like Diabetes, increased Blood pressure and increased cholesterol. Exercise helps to maintain our body weight. Naturally, the possibility of contracting such diseases is avoided.

Exercise strengthens the muscles in the body. It also helps to maintain the natural flexibility of the muscles. The muscles get toned, which in turn helps to increase our strength. Exercise also increases our capacity to tolerate hard work. It not only helps to endure hard work but also protects our body against various external environmental factors such as the sun, cold, wind, rain, etc.  Exercise helps to improve blood circulation in the body. There is adequate blood circulation and supply to all parts of the body. This keeps them in good health, thereby maintaining the good health of the body.

Exercise has a favorable effect on our digestive power. The exertion caused by exercise demands more food. Naturally, we feel hungrier after exercise. As a result, we consume more food, which is digested properly. This leads to the better nourishment of the body. Exercise keeps us away from complaints like indigestion and gas.

The health of our body and mind are dependent on each other. The strength we get from exercise also strengthens our mind. Exercise also makes us feel lighter, which energizes and inspires our minds. In our fast-paced world, “survival of the fittest” has become the rule. In such a situation, exercise helps to keep the both our body and mind fit.

Dr Mayuresh Aagte

Note : Please use all of the foods/medicines mentioned in this article after consulting with your doctor and taking into account your age and health.