Ayurvedic Guidelines for Daily Routine: Living in Sync with Nature’s intelligence 

Ayurveda recommends a healthy, consistent daily routine (Dinacharya) based on the 3 pillars of health, (including proper digestion and elimination, proper rest and sleep, and moderation/discipline in lifestyle) which is Synched with the cycles of Nature, including the daily circadian rhythm cycle, seasonal cycles or cycles of Aging.

A regular practice like above which is synced with the Intelligence of Nature, is more potent and helpful than medicine, by bringing the body, mind, emotions, and spiritual elements back to balance. It also helps rest the nervous system by decreasing decision fatigue by following a grounding, soothing, healing, personalized routine which is in contrast with present hectic and unsettling lifestyle.

The Ayurvedic routine creates a series of comforting reference points throughout the day which are very reassuring and rejuvenating to the cellular intelligence and the nervous system, a much needed, welcome break.

So, all of us are welcome to start living with some more self-care, filled with love and compassion towards ourselves, as much as we offer it to the outside world.

You can start practicing couple of these tiny habits gradually and make it manageable for yourself, rather than overwhelming. You can pick up the habits which you feel comfortable doing on a regular basis, or just try them for fun.

Stay committed and relaxed, add things realistically, be predictable and well-paced.

Remember to have self-compassion all through the process!

Here are the brief recommendations below:

-Morning:

  • Wake up before Sunrise, which is the perfect time for the nature’s quietude, light and peaceful energies.
  • Eliminate in the morning to help with early detoxification (bowels and urination)
  • Wash face and eyes with a cool splash of water to drive away the remnant drowsiness and induce freshness.
  • Drink a glass of pure warm water with lemon juice on rising to promote detoxification.
  • Sit down to meditate, enjoy the stillness outside and within, say a prayer, or focus on your breath for a few minutes.
  • Be grateful, reflecting on the blessings in your life.

Cleansing:

  • Clean tongue by scraping 3-5 times, back to front to help detoxify
  • Oil pulling for 2-5 minutes after or before brushing your teeth. Massage gums.
  • Nasya, lubricate nasal passages, or practice nasal rinsing.
  • Practice Yoga, or Stretch and flex your body, to 50% of your capacity.
  • Self-massage with the right kind of oils, try to massage all body parts
  • Take a nice warm shower to rinse off excess oils, with minimal soap use

Food:

  • Eat 3 consistent timed meals a day, or as per your true hunger.
  • Eat foods which are seasonally appropriate and as per your body type and imbalance.
  • Try to include all 6 tastes into your meals
  • Try to minimize snacking in between meals.
  • Eat mindfully, in a pleasant state of mind , with loved ones
  • Eat while sitting comfortably
  • Try to eat when truly hungry
  • Avoid eating when angry or upset
  • Largest meal preferably at noon, medium breakfast and earlier, lighter dinner.

-Afternoon:

  • Establish a consistent, predictable work and rest schedule.
  • Focus on cleaning and decluttering your work and home environment to facilitate good energetic flow.
  • Develop mutually nurturing relations in your interaction with others during the day
  • Be of service to others when possible.

-Evening and bedtime

  • Allow time for proper rest and winding down as needed.
  • Perform the evening routine of brushing, cleaning face and massaging feet etc.
  • Sit down to meditate, say a prayer, do body scanning, progressive muscle relaxation or focus on your breath for a few minutes.
  • Be grateful, reflecting on the blessings during your day.
  • Try to establish a consistent bedtime, preferably by 10 pm, to honor the cyclical energies of nature.

Circadian Rhythm: Nature’s Intelligent clock cycle

  • Embedded deep within the brain is a master clock, Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN Weaver, 1998) inside the hypothalamus that regulates the timing of many of the biological, hormonal, and behavioral processes that occur in the human body, playing a critical role in sleep, metabolism, aging and overall health and maintaining homeostatic .
  • Circadian Rhythms (CRs) are biological temporal processes that display endogenous, entrainable free-running periods that last approximately 24 h. They are driven by molecular internal clocks which can be reset by environmental light-dark cycles on a feedback loop (Edery, 2000).
  • Researchers have shown over the past few years that cellular and regional, peripheral clocks can be found in the liver, kidneys, pancreas, heart, fat and other organs and tissues that are synchronized with the sleep-wake cycle (Zylka et al., 1998). These cellular clocks regulate the activity of 3 to 10 percent (and up to 50 percent) of genes in various tissues and other parts of the body as well, by regulating the expression of clock-controlled genes (Ccg).
  • The first clock gene was isolated, or cloned, from fruit flies in 1984. Now, we have identified dozens of genes in cyanobacteria, plants, and mammals (Reppert and Weaver, 2002) that help the body keep time, including those going by such names as Clock, Per (for period) and Tim (for timeless).
  • Important genes are involved in CRs including Clock (Circadian locomotor output cycles kaput), Bmal1 (brain and muscle aryl-hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator-like 1), Cry1 (cryptochrome 1), Cry2 (cryptochrome 2), Per1 (Period 1), Per2 (Period 2), Per3 (Period 3), and Ccg. They organize transcription/translation autoregulatory feedback loops comprising both activating and inhibiting pathways (Reppert and Weaver, 2002; Schibler and Sassone-Corsi, 2002) forming a complex network.
  • In mammals, sleep-awake and feeding patterns, hormone secretion, heart rate, blood pressure, energy metabolism, and body temperature exhibit CRs.
  • Zeitgebers like light and food (rhythmically occurring phenomena that have primary control over circadian rhythm) for e.g. Routinely eating or sleeping at the wrong times may throw these peripheral clocks out of sync with the master clock in the brain, seen often in people with shift working, frequent trans meridian air flight, exposure to artificial light.
  • There is sufficient evidence to suggest that these chronobiological disruptions predispose individuals to the development of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, sympathetic/parasympathetic dysfunction, hypertension, ailments of the heart and stomach, as well as various cancers, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, and psychiatric illnesses including depression and other disorders.
  • Resynchronizing the body’s many clocks may help to restore health and proper functioning and prevention of Many chronic illnesses.
  • In the presence of light, particularly of blue wavelengths, the hormone melanopsin is produced, inhibiting the release of melatonin. at night, in the absence of light and melanopsin, melatonin is released and contributes to sleep onset.
  • During the light period, particularly in the morning, larger amounts of cortisol and insulin are released. Notably, insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity are both controlled by circadian rhythms. Insulin production diminishes and remains low throughout the day unless foods requiring insulin are consumed. During the morning, we are particularly sensitive to the action of insulin. as the day progresses, we become more resistant to insulin, and during sleep we are most insulin resistant.
  • Disruption in the circadian function leads to abnormal levels of insulin, leptin, and ghrelin, hormones affecting appetite, satiety, metabolic rate, and fat storage—a key hormone mitigating this function is melatonin.
  • Night shift workers have among the highest rates of obesity due to the presence of light at night and disordered sleep and eating rhythms.
  • Circadian disruptors related to the second zeitgeber, food, include frequent snacking, high-fat foods, late-night eating, and medications that alter sleep-wake patterns. These disruptions lead to altered melatonin production, a potent hormone that, when dysregulated, leads to insulin resistance, glucose insensitivity, and sleep disturbance. Interestingly, because food is also a driver of the circadian clock, intermittent fasting mitigates circadian dysfunction and, if performed appropriately, resets a dysregulated circadian clock.
  • CR dysfunctions in blood pressure and heart rate, are involved in arrhythmias which may lead to sudden cardiac death, myocardial infarction or stroke, often occurring at the early morning during the surge in blood pressure.
  • CRs are dissipative structures due to a negative feedback produced by a protein on the expression of its own gene (Goodwin, 1965; Hardin et al., 1990). They operate far-from- equilibrium and generate order spontaneously by exchanging energy with their external environment (Prigogine et al., 1974; Goldbeter, 2002; Lecarpentier et al., 2010).

Here is a list of some great websites related to Food, Water, Environment, Climate, Organic Gardening, Hunger etc.

Please let us know if you need any other weblink added to this list to benefit other people.

FOOD-RELATED WEBSITES OF INTEREST

Organic Foods

Organic Consumers Association
www.purefood.org
Organic Farming Research Foundation
www.ofrf.org
Organic Trade Association
www.ota.org

Organic Gardening and Organic Seeds

Organic Gardening
www.organicgardening.com
Seeds of Change
www.seedsofchange.com
Victory Seeds
www.victoryseeds.com
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
www.southernexposure

Educating Children
Let’s Get Growing! Company Catalogue
www.letsgetgrowing.com
The Edible Schoolyard
www.edibleschoolyard.org

Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) and Gardening

American Community Gardening
Association
www.communitygarden.org
Greenpeople
www.greenpeople.org
Local Harvest
www.localharvest.org
Organic Consumers
www.organicconsumers.org

Food Co-ops
Co-op Directory
www.coopdirectory.org
Greenpeople
www.greenpeople.org
Local Harvest
www.localharvest.org
Organic Consumers
www.organicconsumers.org

Composting and Herb Gardening
Avant-Gardening
www.avant-gardening.com
Organic Gardening
www.organicgardening.com

Vegetarianism
Vegetarian Resource Group
www.vrg.org
International Vegetarian Union (IVU)
www.ivu.org
North American Vegetarian Society
www.navs-online.org
Vegan Fusion
www.veganfusion.com

Modern Food Concerns

Food and Water
www.foodandwater.org
Safe Tables Our Priority (STOP)
www.safetables.org
Humane Farming Association
www.hfa.org
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
www.peta.org
Pesticide Action Network, North America (PANNA)
www.panna.org
Citizens for Health
www.citizens.org
EarthSave
www.earthsave.org

Water Testing

Watercheck National Testing
Laboratories
www.ntllabs.com

Environmental Groups and Initiatives

Greenpeace
www.greenpeace.org
The Sierra Club
www.sierraclub.org
Natural Resource Defense Council
www.savebiogems.org
Friends of the Earth
www.foe.org
Rainforest Action Network
www.ran.org
Worldwatch Institute
www.worldwatch.org
Green Restaurant Association
www.dinegreen.com

World Hunger Organizations

Food First (Institute for Food
and Development Policy)
www.foodfirst.org
Food Not Bombs
www.foodnotbombs.net
The Hunger Project
www.thp.org
The Hunger Site
www.thehungersite.com