Tara-Health-Tip-2

Get up from the bed, and turn to face the bed on which you slept. Slowly roll your bed from pillow downwards. 

To do this you need to have a foldable bed, whether spread on the floor, or cot.

While you sleep on a bed, a relation gets established between you and the bed. When you get up from the bed part of your Pranic body remains in the bed. This joins you back when you roll your bed.

There is an old saying in Malayalam 

കെടക്കപ്പായ തെറുത്തെഴുന്നേൽക്കണം

At young age, when you get up only in the morning, after you go to bed, you may not realise this. As one ages, this can be realised easier.

When you awake and get up from the bed, in the middle of a dream, when you go away from the bed to toilet, mostly you will lose the dream. You wonder what was the dream. When you come back and lie down on the bed again, suddenly you realise most or part of the dream. Why?

Try starting this bed-rolling habit and see your day time energy level change!

It is unfortunate that many can’t do this due to Kurlon and similar synthetic beds.

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Tara-Health-Tip-3

Sitting or standing facing east or north, drink half a litre of warm water. To do that you need to have some hot water in a thermos flask, which you mix in the morning, or have it mixed at night and keep in the flask. The water should be pure, no jeera, no coriander, or any dahashamani. If anything is added to water, your digestive system starts working. That’s why you should avoid it.

It is a myth, that one should not consume anything, before one washes one’s mouth in the morning.

Go to the toilet. To have a good motion, take deep breath and hold to comfortable duration, and exhale. Do this repeatedly, and use this belly pressure to excrete.

Use an Indian style closet. It is apt for westerners to call the toilet “restroom” because they take rest there, whereas we take rest in the bed room and shit in the toilet. 

Sitting on a western closet like on a chair:-

1. Does not create belly pressure for a smooth excretion.

2. Blocks some nerves on your thigh because of the pressure of the periphery of the commode..

3. Is Not hygienic like Indian closet, where only bottom of the feet touches the steps.

To do that you should have installed an Indian commode. If you have not, think of changing one of the existing ones into anglo-indian.

By sitting like a sick or ill person you convert yourselves into a sick or ill one!

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Tara-Health-Tip-4

Take powdered crystal salt, roasted rice husk or a mix of boath in your left palm. Cover the left palm containing this powder with your right palm and pray to the gods of forest who gave the raw material for this medicine.

“Ayurbalam yashO  varcha prajAm pashu vaUni cha, brahma, prajNAm cha medhAm cha, tvam no dehi VanaspatE”

It is the lord of forests who gives his barks to you for cleaning your mouth.

Wet your right palm with fresh water. Using the inner side of the right index finger take the powder from your left palm and swipe the front of your teeth left-right. Same way you can clean the chewing side of your teeth also. It is easier to clean the upper side of mouth (palate) and below the tongue, using the inner side of thumb.

If getting or making such a powder is impossible, then buy tooth powder from either ‘thaikkaatt mooss’ or ‘keraleeya ayurveda samajam’ vaidyashala. Branches of both are available all over India. Check google for address. 

All kinds of toothpastes are dangerously bad for teeth and gum. All kinds of toothbrushes are very bad for teeth and gum. Keeping on brushing the teeth for a long time is even worse. In fact it is not necessary that you brush your teeth everyday. Bad odour of mouth is not because you don’t brush, but due to indigestion. If you have bad odour of mouth then take one table spoon of “ashTachoornam” in warm water or fresh curd immediately after each dining. Buy this also from the above referred VaidyashAlAs. Rarely some people may have tooth or gum infection, which need to be treated just as any other illness. 

Those who use medicinal tooth powders as referred above, and use one's own hand for rubbing don’t get teeth problem easily. This whole process is just like washing a soiled vessel in kitchen sink. Do you keep on brushing a teapot as long as you brush your teeth? You apply some water so that you can rub the detergent. Apply the detergent to remove the dirt. Wash the detergent with water. As simple as that

Wash mouth thoroughly. Clean the tongue. The best tongue cleaner is ‘eerkkil’ which is the wire-like thing running from end to end of the leaf of coconut tree. To use this it need to be split lengthwise so that you get two pieces with sharp edges. Just use it as you use a plastic or steel tongue-cleaner. Make sure you use the sharp edge of both the pieces you get from one ‘eerkkil’. If you have land with mud and soil just throw out this eerkkil after use. If you don’t have such luxury, like you are in an apartment, then wash them after use and put in the wastebasket. 

If getting eerkkil is impossible, then by ‘eerkkil-broom’ from any stationary or provision store. Since it is not a used broom, it is as fresh as from the tree. All kinds of tongue cleaners whether plastic or steel are very bad for the nerves of tongue. Just imagine the number of nerves running on tongue to speak and sense even subtle tastes.

Blow the nose with forceful exhalation. Wash the face with fresh water taken in ‘kaikkumbil’, by joining both the palms with the inner side upwards.

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Tara-Health-Tip-5

Take bath when you are ready. Don’t use water collected in a bucket on the previous day. When there is water scarcity or calamity you may do that. But that is exception and not rule.

Water which is neither cold nor hot (lukewarm) is the best. But if you feel so happy in cold water, then you trust your sense organs.

Instead of soaps, use powdered green gram or chana. My experience is that green gram is better but very costly, especially if you buy powder. What I do is, buy 5 kg. Chana and give to flour mill and get it powdered. That way it is very cheap and trustworthy too.

All kinds of soaps are bad for skin. This is not because the soap contains chemicals. It is neither good because they claim it as ayurvedic. The reason is very simple. When you get some oil stuck on your hand, what do you do? Use soap to remove the oil. You would have seen europeans basking with some oil applied (I think it is olive oil. Poor things don’t know coconut oil is the best even after coming to Kerala!) on their body, especially near swimming pools and beaches. That is to make the skin oily and smooth. When you apply soap, all the oil on your skin gets washed away and it becomes dry, exposing to all kinds of infections. It is even not necessary that you use soap everyday for bathing. It is sufficient to rub water with your hand on your body. Sure, if you get sweated very much then you may want to use something to clean the sweat. But that is not applicable to all of you who read this, who sit in an ac room the whole day and travel in an ac car. 

It is good to apply coconut oil on your hair and body. It should be pure. If it is impossible to get pure coconut oil (don’t trust the labels ‘100% pure’ etc.) then don’t apply anything or consult an ayurveda vaidya to find which is the best oil for you.

On the body anyone can apply dhānvantaram tailam. You need to slightly warm the tailam before applying on body. Warm a small steel bowl. Not too hot. Pour 3 tablespoon of the tailam into it. The idea is not to heat the tailam in direct fire. This is called പാത്രപാകം in Malayalam. Those of you who have taken at least one treatment in an Ayurvedic resort or hospital may wonder how you do this tailam-application throughout body everyday. Well how much effort you spent to apply the coconut oil (or whatever venomous thing you had been using till date ;-)) on hair. Similarly don’t try to pretend you are a therapist at an Ayurvedic clinic. Just take the warm oil in your right palm (not left) and smear throughout the body. If you don’t have time to do even that, then just apply it on all joints like knee, ankle etc. If you don’t have time to do that too, well… then forget it.

After bath apply 3 pinches of rāsnādi cūrṇam on the pericarp (sahasrAra / crown / top of head) and inhale a little into nose too. kacūrādi cūrṇam is even better.

Now you are ready to do your daily yogāsana practice.

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Tara-Health-Tip-7-svAsthyam

svāsthyam

Now, let us think what is health? Or more appropriately svāsthyam. Who is svastha?

samadoṣa: samāgniśca samadhātumalakriya: prasannātmendriyamanā: svastha ityabhidhīyate (suśruta, sū- 15,45). One is called svastha, when tridoṣa,  vāta, pitta and kapha are balanced, when agni (digestive fire) is balanced, when majja (marrow), māmsa (flesh) etc. seven dhātu are balanced and the sense organs, mind and soul are pure and bright. sama here should be taken to mean ‘not competing with each other’ rather than the usual meaning ‘equal’.

Although the english word health and samskrtam word ārogya are used in the same sense -freedom from illnesses- I prefer to use svāsthya. It means self-dependance, self-sufficiency, poised etc. without hinting roga, illness. Ancient āyurveda seers used to use svāsthya to mean what we intend today by ārogya. Today all illnesses are thanks to the invasion by europeans, excessive influence of Allopathy, consequent decay of āyurveda and the hate towards āyurveda maintained by successive governments in India which fostered the decay of native culture.

vāgbhaṭa says “āyu:kāmayamānena dharmārthasukhasādhanam” meaning, āyurveda is for those who desire long-life by sustaining dharma, artha and sukha. dharma is a derivative of the root dhṛ meaning ‘to hold’. That which makes it. This dharma depends on brāhmaṇa etc. caturvarṇa, gārhasthya etc. caturāśrama*. In samskrtam usually all objects are named according to its dharma. Eg. janaka, meaning one who gives life or procreates. If one is not able to procreate one is not janaka. bhāryā means one who is ruled. If one is not ruled then one is not bhāryā. prabhākara: means one creates prabha, light. If light is not created by one, then he is not prabhākara:. Thus the dharma depends on whether one is a brāhmaṇa (the pious), kṣatriya (tha valiant), vaiśya (the dealer), śūdra (the worker), brahmacāri (the learner),, gṛhastha (the house-holder), vānaprasthi (the retired) or sanyāsi (one who is in full-time pursuit of salvation). A gṛhastha should be able to procreate as janaka, save father from the hell viz. put as putra and as bhartā (ruler), should be able to rule bhāryā. To do that, acquisition and sustenance of  wealth (artha) is necessary. While maintaining dharma and enjoying sukha by acquiring such wealth, one is svastha. One becomes a rogi (ill) only when one is not able to do this.

It is clear from the above that illness is the inability to sustain dharma as per rules. When we join the above deliberation into the examples of varṇa and āśrama, then the meaning becomes clearer.  

What is the purpose of anyone to visit a doctor or hospital when one is svastha? Nothing. Only when one becomes rogi or at least when one shows rogalakṣaṇa (symptoms of illness) one should do that. When is that? When one finds or feels that one is not able to excellently perform one’s role as per one’s role-definition (dharma), as per one’s qualities and actions (varṇa) and Key Performance Indicators as per the āśrama. Today what happens?

Due to reading health-magazines, listening to health programs and bogus whatsapp warnings, even before one attains the age of 30, while remaining very healthy, youngsters go for health check up. I don’t want to explain the dangers of medical checkups done when not ill. This has been widely discussed over the internet by core experts since two decades. You can start reading from http://bmhegde.com/hegde/articles.php?cat_id=1 and listening from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAFEDgIDtS8 Before even reading and listening to him read his profile anywhere on the web and understand who he is!. There are many experts in Allopathy itself who had been doing such public education on real health since a long time. 

Once the check up is done some parameters would vary from the ridiculous limits shown in the result and the healthy youngster starts treatment. It is a myth that BP, cholesterol, lipid profile, Blood sugar level, etc. need to be continuously checked and kept within certain boundaries. The height-weight proportion is also a myth. It is another myth that even when you are healthy (the sense in which we defined here) you should avoid certain vegetables, confectionaries, fish and meat. Even alcohol is not injurious to health. Anything consumed or indulged overwhelmingly is injurious to health. Carrots and tender coconut are unhealthy in that sense.

If you are svastha and want to remain svastha then do the following:**

1. Eat home cooked food only. Once in a while hotel-food is ok.
   
2. Eat and drink when you feel hungry and thirsty.
   
3. Eat only food which feels very tasty to you.
   
4. Consume ṣaḍrasa the six elementary tastes (sweet, sour, salt, pungent, astringent, bitter) as your tongue guides.
   
5. Don’t read health-magazines and don’t watch health programs.
   
6. When you are not ill don’t do dieting.
   
7. Don’t bother or worry about the proportion of your height and weight according to international definitions.
   
8. Don’t even look into medical labs.
   

*words cāturvarnyam and caturāśrama are used here in the philosophical sense in which they were used by IKS and not in the misinterpreted and concocted way in which illiterates in sanskrit and haters of IKS uses it now. Refer elsewhere in my blogs to know the exact meanings. To explain my concept of health, these concepts are mandatory.

**My experience and no high-funda theory.

Tara-Health-Tip-6

Doing yogāsana and prāṇāyāma is very good for svāsthya. I had my training with Guru yogācārya govindan nāyar.

Do yoga after bath. Yoga is not an exercise.  It is just one step in an eight-step system taking to samādhi. The eight steps are yama (restraint), niyama (regulations),  āsana (sitting in postures) prāṇāyāma (breath-exercises), pratyāhāra (withdrawal of mind), dhāraṇā (holding the mind fixed, dhyāna (profound meditation) and samādhi. The word samādhi means realisation. You withdraw all the indriyas and merge mind into soul.

Use a 3x6 feet carpet with soft upper side. Today yoga-mats are available. I am not able to make any comment or recommendation on them, because I don't know the materials and chemicals used to make it and its effect on human body. Since men would be doing yoga with just an underwear (that is best) the portion of body that comes into intense contact with it is very large. Follow these rules:-

1. Do yoga after excretion and bath.
2. In the beginning one may sweat. Then take bath after half an hour of asanas.
3. Do in the dawn or dusk only.
4. Do in an airy room without using fan.
5. Try to do in private
6. Women can use minimum but lose cloths so that joint movements and breathing is easy,
7. Don't do when you are ill. If you feel any uneasiness or illness, then retire and lie down in śavāsana for some time.

Today since youngsters are very busy throughout the day earning their livelihood don't try to overdo. Spend just half an hour. Select the asanan appropriately. If you have doubts then post comment here, or pray to get a Guru. You will find one. No details of asanas are given here, since good books and youtube-videos are available.

One suggested scheme is given here.

1. Sit in siddhāsana and/or vajrāsana
2. merudaṇḍāsana
3. pavanamuktāsana
4. naukāsana
5. paścimottānāsana
6. mārjjāri
7. viparītakaraṇi mudra
8. śavāsana

It is just sufficient to do vajrāsana, sūryanamaskāram and śavāsana. Am not suggesting any  prāṇāyāma here. You need to join a yoga pāṭhaśāla. The simplest is taking deep breath, holding to comfortable duration and exhaling slowly through nose. You can blow through mouth to release when you feel tense. For these, there is no special posture insisted. Even at your work-place you can relax on a reclining chair and take deep breath and exhale/blow. Just inhaling and exhaling without holding is also very relaxing.

In prāṇāyāma suggested here, don't exert. This is for relaxation. Only thing you can try is to slowly increase duration that you hold, which will increase your lung power and immunity.

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Tara-Health-Tip-1

Wake up at 4 o’clock In the morning. Or at least before sun rise. If you have lost sleep the previous night, this morning is not for compensating it. Sleeping after sun rise on a regular basis, reduces your memory power.

Get up slowly, turning towards your right, so that you face either the east or north. To do that you should have slept, with your head towards south, or west.

Sitting in the bed, preferably with your leg folded, think of your favourite deity. If you have a knee rigidity or pain, it’s ok to sit with your legs, extended on the bed. Meditate, is the right word. Imagine the deity is blessing you, flowing nectar through your head, all the way down to your legs. Or, think of the unidverse, that the universe with all the stars, their radiations, and the space, is flowing a power through your body.

It will be ideal, if you have a window, towards the side you get up, in the morning. 

Then beg pardon from earth, for stepping on her, and slowly get up.

समुद्रवसने देवि पर्वतस्तनमण्डलि विष्णुपत्नि नमस्तुभ्यं पादस्पर्शं क्षमस्व मे।

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Intoroduction

This is a blog am writing on what we generally refer to as health by which we mean स्वास्थ्यं svāsthyam. Mainly am writing from my personal experience for the last 60 years of living in this world. I am an Advanced Pranic Healer in the Choa Kok Sui discipline. Know elementary āyurveda. Don't claim any expertise in health-care. I used my common sense and my trust in non-Allopathic health-care systems and the Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) to come out of some light illnesses. On my way in this narrative I will tell you those illnesses and how did I come out of them also.

I am sharing each post through FB also. Please share your thoughts as comments here rather than FB, which will help me collate and summarise them.

I am using only samskṛtam in this narrative because most English words etymologically and philologically does not fit the exact meaning intended by the so-thought-corresponding samskṛtam word. For non-popular words I will give english equivalents too.

I have used certain assumptions according to IKS. They follow

1. All illnesses are not curable. jyotiṣam and āyurveda state that illnesses are of three types. One, susādhyam (easily curable) asādhyam (incurable) and kṛchrasādhyam (curable with difficulty).

2. Death is imperative, cannot be predicted and not an illness.

3. Certain illnesses need an immediate intervention by modern science and technology governed by allopathy.

Welcome to all to this svāsthya prasthānam (journey on self-dependance/ balance)

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