Dear Friends,
Namaste!
Continuing on with suggested Yogic routine...
1. Bathe and get ready from 7:30 am to 8 am
Bathing is “Shaucha” (albeit external) continued. Rigorous one hour workout causes us to be drenched in sweat. A close shave (for the men folk) and a good bath restore equilibrium. We wear clean clothes afterwards and get ready for the day!
2. Self-study from 8 am to 8:15 am
Self-study (“Swa-Adhyaay”) is, like “Shaucha”, one of the “Niyama” (observances). Simply defined, it is study of the self, by the self and for the self. Knowledge (“Gyan”) is divided into two categories, viz., “Pra-gyan” (knowledge about the only thing that never changes) and “Vi-gyan” (knowledge about everything that changes).
The only thing that does not ever change is ‘self’. Our soul! Our spirit!! Our body changes, our personality changes, our environment changes, times change but ‘we’ don’t! Hence, self-study implies spiritual study. It does not cover study of the relative truth but of the absolute truth.
To be clear, study of sciences such as physics, biology, chemistry or arts such as painting or singing or any vocational training comes under our duty or the ‘work’ or the ‘hobby’ part.
3. Read newspapers etc. from 8:15 am to 8:30 am
Being aware is Yoga. Newspapers are a great way to keep us in step with what’s happening around the world.
4. Have breakfast from 8:30 am to 8:45 am
Nothing like a sumptuous, fulfilling breakfast to take on the day and the world! It is advisable to include proteins in our breakfast because they are our body’s building blocks (that we need after a tough workout) and take a long time to digest (hence best eaten early in the day). Alternatively we can include food with relatively higher glycemic index (such as a dessert!) in our breakfast rather than in subsequent meals because our metabolic rate is higher and body can assimilate the relatively ‘heavier’ food better!
5. Work from 8:45 am to 8 pm
‘Work’ here is meant as ‘duty’ or ‘professional work’. This includes a variety of things. Right from office work to travel to-and-from office, paying bills, dropping children off to school, getting grocery and doing household work etc.
Each one of us plays a multitude of roles at any point during our lifetime and ‘work’ covers execution of all responsibilities in various roles. Anything we do to ‘keep the show going’ is ‘work’.
We should work in two hour bursts. Five such bursts every day punctuated by small fifteen minute breaks to eat a little or drink water and a big half-hour break to consume lunch is a good balance between exerting and idling.
Should we eat during every break? Not if we belong to the “Kapha” or “Vaata” type. But if we belong to the “Pitta” type, it is better to keep munching away every two hours. In any case, we should take care not to let the gap between two meals be greater than four hours!
How do we know which type we are? While there are elaborate ways of finding out our type, the quick and dirty method is to go by the rumbling in our stomach. If the stomach starts making its presence felt every two hours - eat!
6. Have dinner from 8 pm to 8:30 pm
We must eat a good couple of hours before going to sleep. Post dinner movements help digestion. Also digestion completes well in time for the body to rest and repair itself fully while it’s sleeping.
7. Relax from 8:30 pm to 9:45 pm
We can let our hair down, spend quality time with family and friends, pursue a hobby or recharge our batteries in any other ethical way. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. In our pursuit of happiness, dull is the last thing we want to be!
8. Drink milk from 9:45 pm to 9:50 pm
“Deenante Dugdham” (Drink a cup of milk at the end of the day). The proteins would come in handy when body repairs itself during sleep!
9. Brush teeth from 9:50 pm to 9:55 pm
This is “Shaucha” (cleanliness) of body continued. We don’t want germs to have undisturbed time to decay our teeth while we snore away.
10. Get into bed and meditate from 9:55 and 10 pm
Finally, we should end the day meditating and sleep just as “Kapha” period is drawing to a close. Meditation restores the physical and mental equilibrium so necessary for good-quality sleep. Meditation gets our brain working at ‘Alpha’ level which is so restful, so energizing and at the same time so conducive to deep sleep. We can slide into slumber with meditation just like we slid into our day with meditation.
All is well that ends well!
Zzzzzzzzzzz...
