Purification And Recovery With Ayur Veda

Excerpt from article of Prahladananda Swami: Purificationand recovery through Ayur Veda,for Magazine "Yoga for All".

If we want to have strength and vitality we should bear in mind that they are based on internal and external clean and well-functioning physical body. Followingthese simple rules, wecan provide a serene and healthy existencefor ourselves:

• Lead a regulated life. Risebefore dawn, bathe every day.
• Wash your hands before and after eating.
• Eat in a quiet place. Chew food slowly, avoid talking while eating and concentrate on eating.
• Do not drink water immediately before or after a meal because it harms digestion.
• Overeating is unhealthy. Do not eat more than your stomach can hold. If you consumeheavier food let 1/3 of the stomachis filled with food, 1/ 3 with water and 1/3 is empty. If you take a light meal, let the stomach befilled 1/4 with air,1/2 with food and 1/4 with fluid.
• Avoid frequent meals.
• Wash your mouth after eating.
• Take short, 15-minute walks after meals.
• The food you take must be consistent with the constitution of the body, age and season.
• Avoid hard to digest foods - fried, refined, very sweet.
• Avoid evacuating immediately after a meal, but try to urinate.
• Do not sleep immediately after a meal, wait at least 2 hours.
• Go to bed before or about 10 pm
• Fast once a week to reduce toxins. Observe Ekadasias strictly as possible decreasing food or abstaining altogether.
• Maintain a clean colon.
• Perform physical exercise at least 5-10 minutes each day.
• To restore prana, 5 minutes a day quietly breathe deeply and slowly.
• If you get sick, get help from a qualified professional - do not take self-treatmentand do not ignore your health.
• Increase your spiritual practice.
• Calm the mind, by engaging itin chanting and hearing the holy names in the form of Hare Krishna maha-mantra, recommended by the Vedas as the easiest method of self-realization inthecurrent age.