Yard [043] : Balancing The Diet - III

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

What constitutes a balanced diet? The diet that has ALL the following characteristics:

1.    Diet comprising six types of tastes

Mother Nature has given us taste buds so that we can enjoy eating! We must make full use of our taste buds to savour food and enjoy every morsel because we have seen that eating is a psychosomatic (nay, spiritual) experience.

Ayurveda - our ancient medical science – strongly recommends inclusion of “Shad-ras” (Six-tastes) in every meal we partake of. These are – sweet, sour, chilly, salty, pungent and bitter. These six types use all our taste buds and this leads to the feeling of satiation at the end of the meal which is very important. Of what use is the meal that does not give us the experience of total bliss during and at the end? This total satiation is possible only if we eat a well-rounded meal.

2.    Diet having four types of food

The science of Yoga categorizes food into four types (“Chatur-vidha” – Four-types). These four types are – “Khadya” (food that we chew), “Peya” (food that we drink), “Choshya” (food consumed through sucking) and “Lehya” (food consumed through licking). It is essential that we include all four types of food in our diet.

One may ask here, “How can we drink our food?” To answer this question, we must understand the meaning of the word ‘food’. Anything that is not water or a ‘foreign’ substance is treated by our digestive system as “food”. For example, a cup of milk is treated as ‘food’ by our body.

This gives rise to another question. “What does our body treat as a ‘foreign substance’?” All substances that do not have any nutritional value and that our body is not used to digesting and assimilating into our system are treated as foreign and our body tries its best to throw them out of our system. For example, a block of wood. If we were to eat it somehow (shiver!), the body would go all out to throw it out. This would certainly interfere with the normal process of digestion and hence we must avoid eating foreign substances at all costs.

Another example of a foreign substance is alcohol! (In addition to interfering with digestion, alcohol, due to high calorie content – 7 calories per gram, is exceedingly fattening, dehydrating and increases estrogen – substance that makes us overly emotional – in our body). The foregoing paragraphs clearly reflect the place of alcohol in our diet – no more needs to be said on the topic!!

3.    Diet as per the Food Pyramid

We know the food pyramid that says 40% of our food should consist of carbohydrates, 30% fibre, 20% proteins and 10% fat.

The question that arises here is – “If fat is bad and protein gives us muscle, why not eliminate fat (and possible carbohydrates and fibre) completely from our diet and eat only proteins?”

The answer lies in the fact that some fat is actually good for the body. (We have doubtless heard there is “Good cholesterol” and “Bad cholesterol”). Carbohydrates help break down proteins and get them assimilated in our system without which proteins would simply be thrown out of our body (putting extra and unreasonable pressure on our excretory system in the process!). And nothing like fibre to cleanse our digestive system! Even carnivorous animals such as tigers are known to eat leaves of certain trees once in a while to overhaul their digestive system!

Last but not the least, we must never forget the universal Yogic guideline of ‘avoiding any extremes and taking the middle path’ even in balancing our diet and we will know why it is essential to follow the food pyramid in recommended form.

4.    Diet full of variety

We know it is strongly recommended that we eat local and homemade food majority of the time. However, we must try and bring as much variety in our food as possible. This may sometimes mean enjoying multi-cultural cuisine that may strictly not be local (but whose preparation would be customized or localized anyway).

Variety helps break the monotony in our eating which otherwise would make eating a mechanical process. It makes our diet fuller and richer. It increases the capacity of our digestive and immune system. It enhances the joy of eating and enriches our palate.

It may not be practically possible for all of us to balance our diet as stated above in each and every meal. In that case, we should look at balancing it out over two meals or at least over the day. Half a loaf is better than no bread. So, if we cannot have a balanced diet every time, it is still advisable to cover all aspects over as short a timeframe as possible.

See you again next week...

Yard [042] : Balancing The Diet - II

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

We have been discussing the most important aspect of balanced diet –the balance of our own body, mind and intellect while eating!

We looked at what constitutes the balance of our mind and body. We were discussing the balance of our intellect. Among the three, balance of intellect is the most crucial. Because according to Yoga Shastra, subtle always rules over gross and although mind is more subtle than our body, intellect is even subtler!

Lord Krishna, founder of the science of Yoga, has called a person of steady intellect as “Sthita-Pragya” (‘Sthita’ – steady, ‘Pragya’ – intellect). And how do we steady our intellect? By focusing our consciousness on right, positive thoughts! Our intellect, thus anchored in the right thoughts (through-out the day in general and while eating in particular), steadies the ship of our life and prepares us to weather any storm.

So what thoughts to think while eating? Sage Ramdas has beautifully captured the essence in a simple quadruplet that can be roughly translated as follows:

“We must think of Almighty God or Universal Cosmic Energy or Absolute Reality at the time of taking each mouthful. Indeed, it does not cost us any money to think this noble thought. When we thus align our consciousness and hence the life (and digestive) force within us with the Universal force, the food gets easily digested and we get the maximum possible nourishment from what we are eating. Food thus effortlessly assimilated within our system tremendously enhances the life-force within us and makes our life worth living because this life-force strongly expresses itself or emanates out and engulfs our lives as pure joy. Therefore, food is a consummate manifestation of life-force itself and we must treat eating as not merely a mechanical process but a complete spiritual experience in itself!”

More simply put, we should think about all the good that food will do to us when eaten properly and how we will put the strength we get from that food to good use once we get well-nourished! This not only enhances our enjoyment while eating but also helps the digestion of food thereafter. This makes us healthy and happy for life!

It is quite amazing how the right perspective dramatically enhances results arising from the same action. A mercenary killing for selfish motives experiences very different outcome of his actions than a soldier killing to save his country. In either case, although the action of killing remains the same, the soldier derives immense satisfaction, fulfilment and indeed adoration from fellow countrymen whereas the criminal is hunted down for the rest of his life by the law of the land as well as his own conscience! The power of the right thought is such that it can make all the difference as beautifully illustrated in this story from Ramayana:

After the demon-king Ravana kidnapped and kept Seeta, Lord Rama’s wife, captive, Lord Rama decided to attack Lanka and rescue her. He took help from Sugreeva, the then Dravidian king, and came with him and his army on the southern-most Indian shores of the Arabian Sea.

The army decided to build a bridge so that they could cross the sea and reach Lanka. However, whenever they would try to construct the bridge with stones, it would cave in under its own weight! The entire army got tired and frustrated.

That’s when Hanumana, an avid follower of Lord Rama, told them to chant the name of the Almighty Rama while building the bridge. This infused the Sugreeva’s entire army with right thoughts. They started thinking about the noble warrior that Rama was, his valour, his kindness, his love for them. They started thinking about how distressed he had become due to separation from his beloved wife and how it was critical for them to help him out in reuniting with Seeta. They got extremely motivated, resolved that they would let nothing stand in the way and achieved the wondrous engineering feat of constructing the bridge right across the Arabian sea.

Using this bridge, they landed on Lankan shores, defeated Ravana’s army and helped Rama in regaining the joyful company of his beloved Seeta.

There is no substitute to positive thinking and it is more relevant while eating than most other activities. For, eating is a psychosomatic experience – an experience that involves not only the body but also the mind. And the best way of reigning in the mind is through conscious positive thinking, thinking about the larger interests, thinking about the bigger picture.

Having thus put due emphasis on balancing out our toolset (viz., body-mind-intellect) first, let’s now turn our attention outwards and think about balancing the food itself!

But for this, dear friends, we will have to wait until the next week.

Take good care of yourselves until then...

Yard [041] : Balancing The Diet - I

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

When we say our diet has to be balanced, it is, to say the least, stating the obvious! However, ‘balanced  diet’ is easier said than eaten!! Therefore, it would not be too out of place to discuss a few key points surrounding this topic.

And let’s start with the most important one...

Two Zen apprentices were sitting and chatting below a pole on which a flag was hoisted. The weather was serene and a cool breeze was blowing. The flag was merrily fluttering away...

One of the aspirants looked up and said, “Look, the flag is moving.”

The other one said deprecatingly, “The wind is moving!”

Their Zen master, who was passing by and happened to overhear the conversation, came near them, put his hands on their shoulders and said, “My dear fellows, the mind is moving!!”

By the same token, as per Yoga Shastra, food that is consumed in a balanced state of body, mind and intellect (in other words, all our faculties) constitutes balanced diet! We can worry about our diet being balanced later. First question to ask is ‘Are we balanced while eating?’

1.    Body Balance - Our body needs to be in a proper Yogic posture (“Asana”) while eating. “Asana” is defined by the great Sage Patanjali as any posture that is comfortable and steady. (“Sthira Sukham Asanam” – Steady Comfortable Posture). There are standing, sitting and lying down Asanas but while eating, it is recommended that one should assume a sitting posture that is steady and comfortable. One should sit on a mat or a wooden block (a bad conductor of heat – body heat) with legs crossed and eat. Munching away while walking is surely forbidden! Sitting on a chair may not be forbidden but is not ideal. Breathing must be relaxed, even and deep. We must neither eat immediately after heavy physical activity (because we must settle down) nor should we undertake heavy physical activity immediately after eating our meals (we must allow the food as well to settle in our body).

The eating place should be clean, dry, tranquil and full of light and breeze. It must neither be too hot or too cold. As far as possible, we must eat in the same place. Our body must get so used to the place of eating that the digestive juices should automatically start flowing as soon as we enter the place!

2.    Mind Balance – We must not eat when agitated or otherwise emotionally disturbed. The adrenalin should not be flowing. (Digestive juices should!). Therefore we should minimize talking while eating. It hurts us in two ways. For one, we end up gulping too much air than is good for digestion if we keep chattering. We have seen that we should not have more than a quarter of our stomach full with air during the process of digestion. The extra air gives a bloated feeling. The body tries its best to expel it (through burps etc.) but it does disrupt digestion. For another, ranting creates thought ripples on our mind’s pond that again interfere with digestion.

The mind must not distract the body by diverting life-force in doing anything other than just eating. Concentration of the mind must be consummate. Hence the beautiful quote, “Whenever the Buddha eats, He eats!!!” We must savour the food, relish every morsel. The pure joy of eating should be able to blank out any other thought!

But when eating is considered to be part and parcel of socialising and merriment, how do we avoid company and chit-chat? The practical solution appears to be to minimize, if not eliminate, other activities. If we cannot avoid company, at least we can choose good company. This applies to not only the company of people around us (not only while eating but actually even otherwise) but also our thoughts.

‘The secret of life full of harmony

Is always being in good company

What better company to be sought

Than the company of a noble thought’

For this very reason, just like in case of physical activities, we must avoid ‘heavy’ emotional stuff immediately before or after meals.

3.    Intellectual Balance – So, if we, as common or normal people, cannot avoid thoughts while eating (only very advanced practitioners of Yoga are able to do so), we should at least try to control the same and ensure we think only benevolent thoughts.

Now we know why our elders have taught us to always begin a meal with a prayer! A prayer comprises the right thoughts that give us the right perspective and set our mind-frame right for the delightful ritual of eating.

We shall discuss this aspect in more detail in the next article and also look at a few more tips to get us fully balanced.

Till then - live, laugh, love!

Yard [040] : To Be Vegetarian Or Not - II

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

We just discussed why the science of Yoga encourages vegetarianism for human beings. Now, let’s explore why even non-vegetarianism in moderate proportions is not unacceptable in Yoga.

a)    Non-vegetarian food is protein-rich

Proteins, although more difficult to digest, are vital for growth of our body as well as its repair from the daily wear and tear. They are the basic building blocks and provide us with strength and muscle. Therefore, we must consume proteins in adequate quantities.

Vegetarian options such as milk and milk-products, sprouts, nuts and beans provide us with a good supply of proteins. However, the quantity and quality of proteins available in non-vegetarian options is unbeatable.

Therefore, if our daily routine involves a lot of physical work or requires great physical strength, we can supplement the vegetarian options with non-vegetarian ones. For example, athletes or soldiers can have their share of non-vegetarian food. (This is precisely why it was acceptable for“Kshatriyas” (the Warriors) to consume non-vegetarian food in ancient times.)

On the other hand, if our daily routine involves more mental or intellectual activities, the vegetarian options that supply proteins suffice. For example, teachers, scientists or students need to be mentally alert and should not burden their digestive system with rich proteins obtained from non-vegetarian diet. (The blood supply must go to their nervous system rather than digestive! This is precisely why it was *not* acceptable for“Brahmins” (the Intellectuals) to consume non-vegetarian food in ancient times.)

b)   Eating local food is healthy

When in Rome, behave (read ‘eat’) like a Roman! Think globally but act (or eat) locally! Eating local food is healthy because Mother Nature provides what is suitable in a given environment. Traditionally, human beings have been eating what is locally available and have lived a hale and hearty life!

If people are living on the seashore, it is not unnatural that they would consume seafood. If certain human races have lived in environments where vegetarian options were scant, it is not unnatural that their food would be supplemented by non-vegetarian options.

With globalization, although virtually everything is available everywhere, it is still prudent to eat local and traditional food – and this may contain moderate portions of non-vegetarian food!

c)    Non-vegetarianism maintains balance in the food chain

If all living beings in the world were to become vegetarian, the food chain will break. “Jeevah Jeevasya Jeevanam” (Living beings live off other living beings) is the natural law and order.

Similarly, if all human beings were to resort to vegetarianism, it will create a lot of imbalance in an otherwise orderly world. We will have less options, there may arise severe shortage of food, making vegetarian food available everywhere in required portions may become a logistical nightmare and sheer numbers of fauna, which otherwise would have been consumed and controlled, would explode out of all proportions!

d)   Even great Yogis of the past were non-vegetarians

Yogeshwar (God of Yoga – Founder of Yoga) Lord Krishna was a non-Brahmin by birth. He Himself was a non-vegetarian (although, as we all know too well, he loved to get his proteins mostly from milk and milk products!). His dearest friend and disciple Arjuna the Great Warrior was a non-vegetarian. Gautam Buddha was a non-vegetarian (we know his last meal was infected pork – which also caused his death). Swami Vivekananda was a non-vegetarian. Sage Vishwamitra, in spite of being a Brahmin, once consumed meat just so that he could survive!

If non-vegetarianism was proscribed in Yoga, these definitely would not have been the cases! However, we know there is a myriad of “experts” who will sign an extreme view in blood (either “one MUST be 100% vegetarian!” or “all talk about vegetarianism being better is pure gibberish!”)

But we will not get drawn into any controversy. We know Yoga is flexible and accommodating. We know Yoga encourages anything that brings about health, wealth and happiness. We know Yoga promotes the middle, rather than any extreme, path because that is how Life survives, sustains and progresses. And finally, we know we have to do what is suitable for our own selves without compromising larger interests!

In conclusion, we can only say that being a vegetarian or not should be left to our individual discretion. We must weigh our lifestyle, profession, tradition, environment and taste very carefully and take an informed decision whether or not we wish to consume non-vegetarian food.

One thing is certain – if we decide to become (or remain) non-vegetarian by choice, we must not go overboard in partaking of non-vegetarian options. As we saw in the last article, proteins need to constitute only 20% of our overall food consumption. Also, it is advisable to get this 20% from healthier options (such as from vegetarian options and from fish and chicken rather than red meat).

Enjoy...

Yard [039] : To Be Vegetarian Or Not - I

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

One of the main points related to healthy eating over which several divergent views have been expressed is whether or not we should eat non-vegetarian food.

What is Yoga Shastra’s take on this?

The science of Yoga strongly recommends vegetarianism, however it does NOT forbid eating non-vegetarian food as long as it constitutes only a moderate portion of our overall diet.

Yoga is all about logic and it is not at all about magic. Obviously, there are good reasons why the science of Yoga takes the above stand on vegetarianism.

We must carefully consider the logic behind vegetarianism being promoted as one of the Best Practices in Yoga. We must also understand why Yoga does not treat even non-vegetarianism as taboo. Then we must look at what considerations apply to our persona and accordingly choose whether to be a vegetarian or not.

In this discussion, we will see the reasons behind the encouragement Yoga Shastra has given to vegetarianism:

a)    Vegetarianism is healthier

If we wish to drink pure Ganges water, we must go to ‘Gangotri’, the very source of the Ganges river. If we wish to know Yoga at its authentic best, we must refer to ancient texts such as “Bhagvad Geeta”, “Patanjal Yoga Sutras”, “Gherand Samhita” and “HathaYoga Pradeepika”.

Likewise, if we wish to partake of “pure” food, we should eat food that is as close to the solar energy in the food chain as possible. Solar energy is the most fundamental of all forms of tangible cosmic energy. Vegetables perform photosynthesis to live off it. If we live off vegetables than living off animals consuming vegetables or indeed other animals, the contamination is reduced!

b)   Vegetarian food is easier to digest

Non-vegetarian food, unlike the vegetarian food, is rich in proteins. Proteins are more difficult to digest than carbohydrates, fibres etc. Increased vegetarian content in our diet is more soothing on our digestive system.

c)    Vegetarian food helps us to be more alert

When we eat, the digestive system draws more blood supply in order to digest food. If we eat too much proteins (read non-vegetarian food), more blood is drawn to digest proteins. This comes at the expense of blood supply going to our other systems including the nervous system. It is a common observation that we feel drowsy after eating too much or eating ‘heavy’ food which is difficult to digest.

Yoga is all about “awareness”. The feeling of awareness, alertness, aliveness that we experience every moment is directly linked to the functioning of our nervous system. Therefore Yoga would never consciously recommend anything that would deplete blood supply to our nervous system!

d)   Non-violence is one of the most important cornerstones of Yoga teaching

Yoga preaches non-violence as a rule and accepts violence only as an exception (specifically to fulfil natural hunger, in defence of one’s life or in performance of duty). If vegetarian options are available then not resorting to non-vegetarian food would mean following “Ahimsa” (Non-violence).

“Ahimsa” is one of the five “Yama”s (Value System proposed by Yoga Shastra – as we shall see later). The Yamas nourish and nurture ‘Life’. Hence vegetarianism is conducive to non-violence which in turn promotes and enriches life. Therefore, vegetarianism is recommended as one of the Best Practices in Yoga.

e)    Vegetarianism encourages better behaviour

If the input to our system is purer, the output from our system will also become purer. If we eat too much proteins day-in-day-out, it will overstrain our digestive system and it will wear out sooner. Also, since proteins are “Rajasic” food, they will lead to more “Rajasic” thoughts, speech and actions on our part.

For all-round progress, we must maximize “Sattvic” thinking and minimize “Rajasic” and “Tamasic” thinking. Thoughts lead to speech and action. Hence once we get our thoughts right, automatically the speech and actions will be sorted out.

But what is “Sattvic”, “Rajasic” and “Tamasic” food? We will discuss these three “Guna”s (properties) in more depth later. Here it is sufficient to say that any food that leads to disinclination to perform righteous activities is termed as “Tamasic” food. Food that leads to performance of self-centred activities is termed as “Rajasic” food and food that leads to performance of righteous activities (activities performed in larger interests) is called “Sattvic” food.

Well balanced diet consisting of 40% carbohydrates, 30% fibre, 20% proteins and 10% fat is essentially “Sattvic”. Non-vegetarianism, especially where the protein percentage exceeds the threshold, can disturb the balance and make us tilt either towards “Rajasic” or “Tamasic” behaviour.

However, the foregoing discussion must not be looked upon as rationale that mandates pure vegetarianism for all human beings!

The next time we meet, we will look at the other side of this coin. Why non-vegetarianism (in moderate portions) is also acceptable in Yoga.

Until then…

Yard [038] : Go Slow on Fasting - II

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

As we saw in our last discussion, regular resting and fasting is vitally important for us to keep our body at its efficient best. But we also said in the same breath “Go Slow on Fasting”! Is this contradictory?

Actually not! We are only talking about going slow on fasting, not actually stopping it altogether. Also, we are not talking about overeating either!

Fasting is necessary as a preventive and breakdown maintenance strategy. However, why we will be well advised not to overdo it is because, when we go overboard with fasting, we cause our body “klesh”(penance). Buddha, while propagating the ‘middle-path’, has strongly advised against causing any kind of “klesh” to our toolset, viz., body, mind and intellect. Penance is not a good Yoga practice, restraint to maintain equilibrium is.

Just like an electric current flowing through an electrical circuit makes it ‘live’, “Life-force” flows through our body. Our body has five ‘circuits’ that Life-force flows through (and hence is known by five different names). Life-force flowing through our respiratory system is known as “Prana”, our excretory system is known as “Apana”, our digestive system as “Samana”, our circulatory system as “Vyana” and our nervous system as “Udana”.

We have partial control over “Prana” and “Udana”. For example, to some extent, we can control our breathing (that is what “Pranayama” is all about) and we can control actions of our voluntary muscles through our nervous system.

However, we have little or no control over how food is digested, its useful part converted and distributed for the whole body’s nourishment and how the waste matter is thrown out of the system. These systems are involuntary and are designed and built to operate continuously. For example, our heart keeps beating all the time! Similarly, digestive juices are created even when we skip a meal. If these juices (strong acids) do not find food to act on, they act on the empty stomach and damage it. In extreme cases where our body has to go without food for extended period of time, it starts eating itself! It may ‘eat’ fat but it does not spare muscles. (And some fat is actually healthy!)

Therefore, it is important to maintain steady supply of food in small quantities. This assures the body that it does not have to stack up fat as ‘reserves’ and it actually starts spending freely. (On the other hand, people who go on a crash diet observe that their weight initially goes up – the body is trying to fight the artificially created famine!).

The other important consideration is, after we have our meal a good couple of hours before going to bed, by not eating until breakfast the next morning, we are already ‘fasting’. And if we are eating small meals throughout the day, the digestive system does not need any more fasting or resting (unless it has broken down and is undergoing medical treatment).

Another common mistake people make is ‘compensating’ or ‘adjusting’ meals. For example, they may get their stomach overfull at a dinner party and skip the next day’s breakfast in trying to make up for the lost ground on their dieting front! Or they skip a meal or two to ‘conserve’ or ‘build’ appetite for a sumptuous meal ahead.

It is like pouring 2 liters of water in a one liter vessel in one go and then pouring no water to ‘make up’ for the extra water poured earlier. The best thing is to put a liter each on both the occasions!

There exist any number of people who strictly observe a fast for a period of time only to gorge and stuff themselves to the brim as soon as the ‘fast’ gets over. This, to say the least, is a double-whammy. They should not have starved the body in the first place and later should not have overstuffed it.

So, if we have to keep our system at its efficient best, we must:

1.    Eat five to seven small meals throughout the day at regular intervals

2.    Take our last meal at least a couple of hours before going to sleep

3.    Observe a good eight to ten hour ‘fast’ after our last meal of the day

4.    Break that fast in the morning as early as possible (ideally within half an hour of waking up) with nutritious ‘break-fast’.

Thus, overnight fasting should suffice under normal circumstances. When the circumstances become abnormal, as in the case of contracting any dis-ease for example, we must always go by the expert medical advice (whatever that may be).

In a nutshell,

‘For our system to become long-lasting

We must go a wee bit slow on fasting

Our body, if we decide to, starve and punish

No rewards for guessing whether we will vanish’

Ciao…

Yard [0037] : Go Slow on Fasting - I

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

Stephen Covey, in his book ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, talks about a principle called the ‘Production – Production Capacity (P-PC)’ principle. The principle states that the effective output of a machine over the long term would be much higher if the machine were to be periodically overhauled to maintain or increase its production capacity rather than just running it at maximum capacity continuously till it breaks down – sometimes beyond repair.

In times when there were no computers, there lived a man in a village with his family and a goose. The man was extremely lucky because the goose, unlike other geese, laid a golden egg every day. The man would sell the egg and support his family.

The fame of the goose spread far and wide. Soon people began wondering if the man was indeed making the most of this opportunity. Tongues started wagging and slowly the man became convinced that he was squandering away the good fortune that had befallen him.

He was no more happy with just one golden egg a day. He wished to become very rich very soon. One fine morning, he killed the goose and slit open its stomach to get all the golden eggs at once…

Our body, too, is a wonderful machine. In our quest for acquiring total physical, mental, intellectual and social fitness and happiness, it is mandatory that we take sufficient doses of resting and fasting. This has to be done as a part of routine (as a preventive measure) as well as on those (unfortunate but hopefully rare) occasions when the machine breaks down and needs breakdown maintenance to be performed. When we take a break, we allow our system to ‘cool down’. The system has so much intelligence built into it over a number of centuries of conscious and sub-conscious evolution, that it uses the opportunity to automatically repair itself!

For example, usually we work through the day and rest at night. What happens? During the day when we are working or exercising or otherwise spending our energy in carrying out various activities, we are subjecting our body to wear and tear. Unless we give our body a chance to recover, it would not go on for the next day – and the next. Therefore we sleep during the night. When we are sleeping or otherwise resting, the body sets about its task of rebuilding and rejuvenating itself.

We must consciously assist in this renovation process. And the best way we can assist is by not interfering!

“What?” you will say, “Do we actually interfere in our body’s process of restoring itself?”

More likely than not! One of the common ways of doing this is eating a large meal quite close to the time of sleeping. The body gets busy in digesting the food when it should have been busy rebuilding itself. Another way is to indulge in a stimulating activity just before going to sleep – this could be at physical level (drink caffeine) or mental level (get into arguments) or intellectual level (try and solve brain teasers for example).

Such things result in us being unable to go to sleep in the first place and when we do, the quality of our sleep is too poor and the duration too inadequate to complete the process of recharging our batteries. The result is for all of us to see the next day – we wake up groggy, heavy, listless, worn out, hating to get out of bed and generally swearing at the whole world!

So what do we do to assist in the refurbishing process and wake up the next day feeling alert, light, full of energy and enthusiasm and looking forward to the day ahead? Here is what –

1.    Eating the last meal of the day at least two hours before we hit the bed. Also ensuring that the meal is not too heavy (remember the cup we can form by joining our palms together!). Large part of digestion must be over before we go to sleep so the body is not distracted!

2.    Including proteins in our last meal. Proteins are the ‘building blocks’ and provide the body with much needed material for reconstruction.

3.    Avoiding stimulants of any kind and ramping down activities towards bed-time.

4.    Sleeping for sufficient duration – between 6 to 8 hours every night.

5.    Having uninterrupted sleep. Not getting up in-between to relieve ourselves or drink water or raid the fridge! A good 10 hours of fasting every night must happen since the last meal of the day.

6.    Sleeping at regular hours, preferably between 10 pm and 6 am (we will see why).

So, if resting and fasting is so important, why does the third axiom state“Go Slow on Fasting”?

Let’s find out next week.

Till then…

Yard [036] : John Smith & His Three Wives

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

This is the story of a gentleman called John Smith who, not so very long ago, used to live in his home called ‘Body’ along with his three beautiful wives named ‘Alpha’, ‘Beta’ and ‘Fat’. The country in which he lived had a currency called ‘Calories’ (just like Indian currency is ‘Rupees’ or American currency is ‘Dollars’).

John was quite fond of Fat and she had the entire home to herself (although she particularly liked her two bedrooms named ‘Stomach’ and ‘Hips’). Unfortunately, John was not so fond of his first two wives and they used to occupy their solitary place – a bedroom called ‘Pancreas’.

Although Alpha and Beta were not much favored, they were the more faithful and used to run the household diligently in whatever money John earned every month. Beta would use some amount to manage the house and store some in a safe called ‘Liver’. When John would run out of money, Alpha would withdraw the money from the safe and allow John to use the same.

However, there was a problem.

John was not a particularly methodical person. Sometimes, he used to earn a lot of money in one go and pass on the same to his wives. Beta would take only what was needed to run the household (and store some in the Liver). Then Fat, who was a confirmed spendthrift, would use the rest of the money to buy expensive items and deposit the same all over Body. Alpha and Beta disapproved of this as they thought the extra furniture only increased the maintenance of Body and added very little by way of beauty. However, they could not do much as John was hopelessly in love with Fat and more often than not, it was Fat who had her way!

At other times, John would bring in little or no money for a lengthy period of time. He would go back again and again to Alpha for taking the savings out of Liver. Alpha would reluctantly oblige (as there was no saying how much money John would bring in next and when) but even she would become helpless when there would be no cash left in the Liver.

Sometimes, John would bring in fake currency (empty calories). Poor Beta or Alpha could not use fake notes but Fat could somehow trade those and buy more furniture for depositing all over Body.

Alpha and Beta pulled on for some time but soon a time came when they were unable to run the household anymore. The house was already overfull with assets (or liabilities - according to Alpha and Beta) that Fat had bought, however, nothing was ever enough for her. John was unhappy because he would not get money from Liver when he needed most. Calories irregular inflow was showing no signs of improvement. In short, everyone was thoroughly unhappy!

This obviously led to a lot of arguments within the family and it started crumbling. At this juncture, John had the good sense of consulting a marriage counselor called Mr. Wise Dietician.

Dietician heard John out intently. Then he said to John, “You will have to change your job to save your family. The current job is too risky.”

“But there is a reward associated with that risk.” cried John, “I may not be making money on a few days, but when I do, it’s a bountiful!”

“You don’t need that much to run the family.” said Dietician firmly, “Regularity and predictability is more important. How else do you expect Alpha and Beta to plan expenditure?”

“What about Fat? If I take up a steadier job, hardly any money will be left for her! She is hot-headed and might even leave me!!”

“You will be none the worse for it!” retorted Dietician. “Frankly, I do not think Fat is adding any value in running Body smoothly.”

In spite of himself, John nodded.

“One more thing,” added Dietician, “Stop earning those fake calories. They are totally useless as far as running Body is concerned.”

“Understood” John said. Since he was quite serious about maintaining peace in Body and leading a happy life, he decided to give an earnest shot to Dietician’s advice.

He took up a job that gave him steady and frequent inflow of real calories. Beta started to run Body much better. Alpha started helping John out more willingly when he needed money from Liver. Fat, as expected, left John. She took all the extra deposits in Body with her.

The timing could not have been better for John as Fat was actually planning to very shortly invite her notorious anti-social relative, Diabetes, to stay permanently in Body.

John could not care less as he was genuinely becoming happier and Body was looking in great shape!

See you next Tuesday…

Yard [035] : Eat When Hungry

Dear Friends,

Namaste!

We are discussing a very important component of the Yogic Lifestyle, viz., “Ahar”or “Eating Right”. We are capturing the whys, whats, hows, whens, wheres and the whos around eating right in the form of axioms that we can remember easily. The first such axiom was related to the quantity of food we eat at a time and we said “Less is More”!

In this discussion, let’s ponder over how often we should eat, what should be the *ideal* gap between two meals. And the guideline to follow here (which is also our axiom number two) is “Eat When Hungry”!

This statement has a few corollaries as follows:

Ø  We should not eat when we are not hungry

Ø  We should not wait for too long when we are hungry

Ø  We should not stuff ourselves to death when we do feel hungry (remember “Less is More”)

For helping us make smart decisions around how much to eat when, let’s define what we can call as the “Hunger Meter”. The purpose of this meter is the same as any other meter. For example, we use the speedometer in our car to know how fast we are driving and then use that reading to decide whether to put our foot on the accelerator or the brake or just put the car in cruise-control.

Similarly, our so-called Hunger Meter should be able to tell us when we are ready to eat again. (We have already decided how much to eat in one go – the quantity should not spill over the cup formed by joining our palms together!)

Before Hunger Meter can be of any use to us, we must calibrate it. We generally oscillate among the following five states as far as our hunger is concerned:

1. Starving
2. Being pleasantly hungry
3. Equilibrium state where we feel neither hungry nor full
4. Being pleasantly full
5. Overstuffed

The secret of good health is to always remain between states 2 and 4 on this scale of 1 (starving) to 5 (overstuffed). Not eating more than two palms-full at a time will help us avoid being in state 5. “Eating When Hungry” will help us avoid ever being in state 1.

How do we know which state we are in? It should be fairly intuitive but sometimes it may just be a little more complex and hence the following tip may help:

We can sit or stand or lie down in any posture that is comfortable and steady (an “Asana” to be precise) and put the palm of our hand on our stomach. We should close our eyes so that we shut out all external distractions and disturbances. Then we can communicate with our stomach and ask a question, “Which state are we in at this moment?” The stomach will respond back with an answer that, more often than not, is bang on target!

The bottom-line is this. Rather than eating large quantities of food with a lot of gap between two meals, it is healthier to distribute our food consumption over the same time period so that we eat smaller quantities more frequently! This is also the secret behind acquiring excellent health without having to go on “crash diets” and starve ourselves unnecessarily.

The time period between becoming pleasantly full after a meal (state 4) to becoming pleasantly hungry again (state 2) will vary depending upon a number of factors such as:

Ø  What has been eaten (some food – such as red meat - is ‘heavier’, some – such as fruits - is ‘lighter’)

Ø  When it has been eaten (our metabolism rate is higher during the first half of the day than the latter half)

Ø  How the food has been eaten (if the food is well-chewed and eaten with mindfulness, the digestion takes place quicker)

Ø  How much has been eaten (less food would be digested quicker)

Ø  Who has eaten the food (constitution of a person plays an important role as we shall see in more detail later – basically some people have stronger digestion than others).

Therefore, rather than specifying ‘a single size that fits all’, we will tailor our guideline to optimize the gap between two meals.

Some dieticians have advised eating every two hours. Others have forbidden eating until the ‘previous meal is completely digested’ (usually the entire digestion process takes between four to six hours depending upon the factors mentioned above). We will follow Buddha and take the ‘middle path’!

The middle path is to eat again in not less than two hours but not more than four hours depending upon all of the factors mentioned above and also keeping in mind what is practicable and sustainable in our routine!!

Thus we should end up eating between five to seven meals everyday.

Happy eating…