Thoughts on Health, Life and Ayurveda

In today’s time, hardly any household can be found where someone or the other is not suffering from some health problem. One has acidity, another has raised blood pressure; someone is troubled with joint stiffness and pain, while someone else is facing digestive problems. Even when there is no specific disease, complaints like constant lethargy, tiredness, disturbed sleep and a feeling of discomfort in body and mind have become a common part of daily life.

Then a simple question comes to mind—are we really living a healthy life?

We usually consider ourselves healthy when there is no major disease. But is absence of disease alone enough to call a person healthy? To remain healthy today also requires conscious effort, and whenever illness occurs, proper treatment is certainly necessary. But health is not something which should be remembered only after disease appears. It is something which has to be understood, maintained and protected every day.

If we try to find the reasons behind these increasing complaints, the search ultimately brings us back to ourselves. We have to look at the way we are living today. Our present-day “modern lifestyle” has brought many changes in our food habits, working pattern, daily routine and even our way of thinking. Many practices which had been followed through generations have gradually been left behind in the name of modernization. The consequences of these changes are now becoming visible in our health.

Our food habits have changed, our working hours have changed, our sleeping pattern has changed and our daily routine has changed. Even our relationship with food, rest and nature is not the same as it used to be. Pizza, burgers, preserved foods, Chinese-style fast foods and many other such dietary habits have become a regular part of life. At the same time, excessive consumption of water without considering individual requirement, prolonged sitting in air-conditioned environments, irregular travelling, lack of physical activity, excessive workload, mental stress and constant anxiety have also become common.

All these changes do not affect the body alone. Slowly and silently, they also affect the mind.

The most important point is that we cannot always blame the changing world for all these problems. Somewhere, our own choices, habits and priorities are also responsible. We have accepted convenience as a necessity and gradually allowed our natural rhythm of life to be disturbed. In the process of modernization, perhaps we have moved away from some of the simple principles which were helping us to remain balanced and healthy.

At this point, Ayurveda gives us a different way of looking at health.

Ayurveda does not consider health merely as the absence of disease. It provides principles for maintaining health and for living a balanced life. It gives importance to Āhāra, Vihāra and mental well-being, and recognizes that many factors related to food, behaviour, routine and mind can become the basis of disease if not properly managed.

The beauty of Ayurveda lies not only in treating a person after disease has developed, but also in guiding a person regarding how disease can be prevented before it takes its place in the body. It teaches us to understand our own body, our habits, our digestion, our daily routine and our mental state.

Therefore, today the need is not merely to know Ayurveda, but to understand it and bring its principles into our own life.

We need to look at what we eat, how we eat, when we eat and whether the food is suitable for us. We need to look at our daily routine, our sleep, our physical activity and our mental state. Small changes in these areas may appear insignificant, but over a period of time they can make a meaningful difference to our health.

Disease prevention should not begin after the disease has appeared. The real effort should begin much before that. To control the causes before they become disease is perhaps a more meaningful approach to health than waiting for the disease and then searching for its treatment.

This is where the preventive and promotive aspect of Ayurveda becomes important.

Today, many Vaidyas, physicians and organisations are working towards creating health awareness in society. Their efforts are not limited to treatment of disease, but also towards making people understand the importance of healthy living. Because a healthy individual contributes to a healthy family; healthy families together form a healthy society, and a healthy society ultimately becomes the foundation of a healthy nation.

In this noble effort, “Sattvayu Vaichariki” is a small contribution.

Its purpose is not simply to tell people about Ayurveda, but to make them pause for a moment and look towards their own life. What are we eating? How are we living? How much of our daily routine is in harmony with our body and mind? Are the changes which we call “modernisation” actually helping us to live better, or are we slowly compromising the very health which we want to preserve?

Perhaps the answer does not lie in making very big changes overnight.

It may begin with small changes — a more mindful approach towards food, a disciplined daily routine, adequate rest, appropriate physical activity, greater awareness of the body, and a more balanced state of mind.

These small changes, when adopted consistently, can become the foundation of a healthier way of living.

Ayurveda therefore needs to be looked upon not merely as a system to be remembered when illness occurs, but as a way of understanding life, maintaining balance and preserving health.

Because the real achievement of healthcare is not only to bring a diseased person back to health.

The greater achievement is to help a healthy person remain healthy.

And perhaps this is the thought with which we should begin our journey towards Sattvayu Vaichariki - A Contemplation on Health and Well-being.