How to Lead a Healthy and Happy Life, the Ayurveda Way

Ayurveda, the science of life gives elaborate guidelines to ensure a healthy and happy life. Life according to Ayurvedic terms and directions will be healthy, happy and pleasant.

Here are a few tips to lead a healthy and happy life.

Dinacharya – healthy days

Dinam means a day and charya means practice or routine. Ayurvedic dinacharya is complete with directions for a healthy daily routine. Ayurvedic dinacharya includes a set of daily practices. It includes waking up before sunrise, bathing and taking food at set times, the levels of physical exertion, the kind of people to mingle with, the kind of thoughts, words and action, etc.

Ayurvedic dinacharya doesn't allow one to use one's physique beyond its endurance levels. It is also required that a person must mingle with people of high qualities like love, compassion, truthfulness and reliability. Thoughts and actions must be pure and shall not bring harm or loss to others.

Food – Ayurvedic healthy food

Our stomach is not a waste box to deposit junk food. One should take only healthy food items that bring health to heart and body.

Vegetarian food is recommended by Ayurveda as the best food.

One shall eat only when he or she feels hungry. Snacks between meals, eating for pleasure etc are practices that upset normal digestive functions. It takes about 20 hours to completely digest the food we eat. We shall allow enough time for the stomach to completely digest the food before we eat the next meal. It is not normally possible in today's world. Make sure you take only as much food as your body requires.

Alcohol

Alcohol consumption is not completely banned in Ayurveda. If you take ‘alcohol as a medicine, it will act as a medicine'. When taken in excess amounts it will upset your body and mind in different ways. Very moderate amount is actually good for digestion (especially of non-vegetarian food).

Sleep habits

Everyone must have a look at his or her sleep habits. Do you go to bed late in the night and sleep till noon? It is very unhealthy. Remember the nursery rhyme ‘early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise'. Ayurveda has been telling exactly the same thing for about 4000 years now.
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One must wake up in the morning with the sun. Students must wake up before sunrise. Take bath before sunrise and do some meditation or suryanamaskar to give the day the perfect start it deserves.

About daily thoughts, words and actions

Be careful about your thoughts, words and action. If you let your thoughts go uncontrolled, it can take you to bad words and bad actions. This will in turn affect your mind and your mind will be filled with negative energies like hatred, jealousy etc. Staying positive in your thoughts, words and action gives your mind a pleasant experience. Daily good deeds will make your heart dwell in joy. It is not accepting, but giving. Do something good to others on a daily basis without ever expecting anything in return.

Mingling with people

Choose the people you mingle with. If you mingle with a group of people dispelling negative emotions, your mind will quickly become troubled. If you deal with people who are of high caliber and see life on a positive life, your mind too will stay on a positive note. The psychological energy that interacts is not quickly identified but has its effect on your mind and your happiness.

Keeping good relationships with god

The life of an average person from Kerala would start with a bath in a temple pond and darshan at the nearby temple. It is early in the morning and is the perfect start for the day. Evening start with lighting a wick before their deity and reciting Ramayana or divine words.

This is indeed a good practice to keep oneself mentally healthy and happy.

Ayurveda principles thus are not just about diagnosing people or making prescriptions. Ayurveda is all about leading a healthy life in all fronts. Ayurveda addresses a person on an emotional level, mental level, physical level and divine metaphysical level.