Ritucharya and Dinacharya by Dr.Sandhya Kumar on 12.12.2015 at Druti Yoga Centre at 8am – 9.30 am

Duration: Mid December to early February

Environment:

Dusty, smoky & misty

Bala:

Moon and wind  – high. Sun is low

Health issues:

Due to the low bala of the sun, apetite, skin, eyes etc will be affected. Drying of the scalp also occurs.

Remedies:

Keep yourself warm.

Keep your hair and body oiled; abyanga

 

Reason:

Srothas (channels) get contracted due to the cold weather. The heat generated inside our body is not expelled properly by sweating and the heat thus suppressed create various issues like mouth ulcers, cracks in feet, piles, fissures etc. Especially at night, the agni is quite strong and induces hunger. When enough food is not consumed according to our activities level, the agni will start damaging the dhathus inside. It will first burn the rasas then the raktha, mamsa followed by asthi and majja. Rakta when affected by agni, results in skin disorders. Similarly mamsa when eaten by agni damages the muscles; asthi when affected joints and ligaments are affected resulting in joint pains, back pain etc especially in old age people. In the next level, agni damages majja and semen.

Preventive measures: Eat every 3 hours, at least some milk or butter milk should be taken. Oil the joints as well as the soles as frequently as possible. Oil the hair by massaging gently on the scalp with the finger tips, twice or thrice in a week.

 

Advisable food:

1 tea spoon ghee daily. Heavy food including freshly harvested rice, butter milk, milk, paneer

 

Respiratory issues: This arise due to the imbalanced Vata and Kapha. As the air is now heavily laden with particles such as pollen, the same is inhaled by us as well. Also the liquids in the spaces in the skull gets frozen and dense due to the cold weather, we experience diseases like sinusitis.

Skin: Oiling the scalp regularly will avoid Kalitya (baldness) improves tensile strength of hair, prevents grey hair and dandruff. For best results, hair can be kept oiled overnight.

Abyanga for the whole body should be followed by cleansing using pulses. Our heels crack as a result of external dryness as well as internal heat. For preventing it, brush the feet at night, apply any Vaseline kind of oil and wear socks. Keep the foot as warm as possible. Do not use harsh soaps on skin. Applying ph balanced soaps are recommended. Hands and foot should be thoroughly covered at night to counter the increased bala of Vata at that time.

Ahara

What to eat?

• Maize
• Wheat
• Red rice (oil content is comparatively higher than normal white rice)
• Ginger (helpful for preventing vata-kapha doshas)
• Lady’s finger
• Thondakkai
• Spinach
• Basle soppu
• Pumpkin
• All gourd family except bittergourd
• Beans
• Urad Dal ( prevents Vata dosha. Food including idli dosa are good)
• Green gram
• Potato
• Yam
• Carrot
• Beetroot
• Radish (good for people suffering from piles and fissures)
• Jaggery
• Pulses
• Sweets (should be consumed with cloves if is taken in high quantity)
• Banana
• Guava
• Paneer
• Papaya (in smaller quantities)
• Nuts
• Raisins ( prevents pitha doshas and 100-200 gms can be taken daily)
• Cheese
• Jeera (for seasoning instead of mustard seeds)

what not to eat?

• Brinjal
• Drumstick
• Bittergourd ( increases pitha)
• No raw vegetables
• Tomato
• Papaya in large quantities
• Citrus fruits
• Capsicum
• Green chilli
• Cluster beans
• Avarakkai ( till January as Vata is powerful till then)
• Sprouts (summer food)
• Mustard seeds
• Sesame oil ( Sesame is pithakaraka and it is not advisable for women to consume daily)
• Amla

What should be the quantity of food:

The stomach is divided into three parts of which two third should be filled with food and water and the remaining part should be empty.

 

Vihara

• Cover the body thoroughly especially ears,vertex of head, foot
• Fumigate the home using guggule, camphor or saamrani
• Fumigate clothes – wear freshly ironed clothes
• Wear warm clothes
• If possible, provide room heater for elderly people as it can give a soothening effect.
• Use ushna jala (warm water) for bathing and drinking.
• Have warm and spicy food
• Do abyanga, udvarthana followed by udgarshana and then wash using a suitable snana choornam. Udvarthana can be done using besan with a teaspoon of milk/Sesame oil or moong Dal powder. For udgarshana, dry powders like like kachora can be used without mixing with milk or oil.

Vichara

Dakshinayanam is a time when mind as well as the nature appears moody. The confidence levels and morality of people are severely affected by the lessen power of the sun. We can see that many natural calamities occur during dakshinayanam. Most of our festivals are celebrated during dakshinayanam as it improves the mood of the people. Dakshinayanam ends on Jan 14 of 2016. It is advisable to keep yourself regularly engaged in activities that can improve the morale like bhajans during this time.

 

Dinacharya

• Anjana
• Prasadana ( Attire; avoid arishta lakshana)
  1. Hair – well tied
  2. Maala
  3. Footwear
  4. Fresh clothes
  5. Hats or turban
  6. Lepa (perfume)
• Abyanga ( abi + anga).

We should perform it daily – nityabyanga. It can be done in the morning when it is sunny. Abyanga is not advisable for patients suffering from Kapha related ailments as well as ajeerna. Abyanga should be done in the direction of hair roots. For eg. It should be done in circular motion over abdomen, face and eyes. Though 15-20 min is the best practice, 10 min is good enough for nityabyanga. It should be done as

• Shira- head, abode of or all sensations. Our cells consist of phospho lipids and as we know like penetrates like better, oils can penetrate through it. Oil thus penetrated can reach the romakoopas. This makes the roots stronger and prevents hairfall etc.
• Karna- ear.This is for ears, nose and mouth. A drop of oil applied into the ear keeping the head tilted and holding it for five minutes and then tilting in the opposite direction to drainaway that oil is the advisable thing to be done at home. The oil drained should be cleaned with a cotton, no material including ear buds should be inserted which can distribution the tympanum.
• Oiling the foot. This is helpful in removing tiredness and stiffness, improving blood circulation and is good for eyes.

Abyanga is of 3 types.

1. Sparshana

Soft massage on a daily basis using dhanvantaram or valya narayana thailam etc for atleast ten minutes will reduce friction on the body surface.

1. Mardana

Massaging with pressure. It helps in achieving vibhaktha gatra- proportionate body and Ghana gatra-  solid and strong muscles.

1. Avagahana

It builds stamina and strength like a baked earthen pot. This helps us perform strenuous work like long walks etc.

 

Next session : Shishir Ritu and in Dinacharya: Udvardana and Vyayama

 

As understood by Renuka

6:00 pm practitioner @dhrti yoga center