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We all agree that prevention is better than cure. It is always wise to take precautions before a disease or disorder strikes us as it saves us of our time, money and a lot of worry caused by uncertainties.

The 5000-year old Indian system of medicine called Ayurveda advocates exactly the same—it attaches a lot of significance on preventing ailments from occurring inside the human body as against limiting itself to treatments and remedies on existing diseases only. According to Ayurveda, health is not the possession of a disease-free body alone; it is the possession of a healthy mind, body, senses and, most importantly, soul.

In order to meet its goals Ayurveda recommends a set of simple lifestyle and dietary practices that are in harmony with nature. In the unlikely event of occurrence of a disease, however, it offers some excellent remedies in the form herbal medicines and some changes in the lifestyle and diet of the individual.

The preventive measures laid down by Ayurveda which are considered one of the most comprehensive techniques in any system of medicine are simple regimens that only require continual, consistent follow. This in turn demands a tremendous integrity and self-discipline to take us beyond diseases and disorders.

It is often said that Ayurveda and self-discipline go hand in hand. Ayurveda lays great importance to self-discipline, as sustained self-discipline, perseverance and active personal role can transform our perception of physical health and well-being to the subtlest form of health that encompasses balance of mind and happiness at the spiritual level.

Self-discipline, however, has a constant threat from negative external factors such as peer pressure, stressful situations and temptations. Peer pressure often compels people to go against reasoning and conscience. Stressful situations are often caused by our inability to deal with coworkers at work or family members at home. It is also common for us to get carried away by the temptations to lead a life of inertia and sweet-doing-nothings with no exercises to do and routines to follow.

This article, therefore, is devoted to giving you some tips to remain firm and maintain self-discipline in leading an Ayurvedic way of living in the face of contradictory external forces. There are fundamentally four levels at which we need to exhibit self-discipline in order to lead a happy, healthy and balanced life—mentally, bodily, sensually and spiritually. Below, I discuss them in detail.

Self-Discipline of the Mind
Disciplining the mind is of foremost importance for perceiving happiness and well-being. When the mind is peaceful, it becomes content and happy. Disciplining the mind becomes a lot easier when we have discipline in our diet and lifestyle.

At mental level, people with dominant Rajasic (passionate) or Tamasic (inertial) mind types are prone to get distracted at the drop of a hat! They are the ones who find it very difficult to maintain self-discipline on the face of external stimuli.

We can greatly balance the aggravation of these qualities by switching to foods that are Sattvic (Pure) in nature and by leading a pure and clean life. Sattvic food has an uplifting yet stabilising influence as against the other types of food that stimulate and aggravate some aspects of the mind, heart or senses. Everyone, whether actively seeking spiritual growth or not, can benefit by including some Sattvic food items at every meal. Sattvic food helps to promote mental clarity, emotional serenity and sensual balance. They aid in the coordinated functioning of the body, mind, heart, senses and the spirit. Some examples of Sattvic foods include almonds, rice, honey, fresh sweet fruits, Moong beans and easy-to-digest, fresh seasonal vegetables and leafy greens. To get the full Sattva from Sattvic foods, prepare and eat them whole and fresh.

In addition to this, there is a simple way of keeping your mind balanced and cool in the face of external disturbances. And that is by pursuing an easy-to-practice Ayurvedic lifestyle regimen that can be followed by one and all, without having to take a chunk of time out of their busy life schedule. This is Jivananda for you! Jivananda is a lifestyle programme that focuses on cleansing the body, senses and the mind, so that we can realise the fact that we are souls (Jiva) and can attain bliss (Ananda). It helps people in the busy life of today to lead a natural life and conduct themselves effortlessly through the maze of life’s variables and constants.

Self-Discipline of the Body
While talking about Prakriti or body types, people with an aggravated Pitta in their bodies are more prone to display an inherent Agni (fire) elemental character such as hyperactivity, indiscipline or violent behaviour. One of the most important causes of Pitta aggravation is the production of Ama or toxins in our body. Undigested or semi-digested food instead of yielding the life-giving Ojus (vital fluid) produces Ama, which in turn gives rise to a host of anomalies and disorders. According to Ayurveda, Ama is produced with the intake of foods that are frozen, canned, refined (so as to denude the food of its nutritive value), genetically altered, grown with chemical pesticides or fertilizers or that are processed with artificial colours, flavours, additives or preservatives. Such foods are lacking in Chetana (living intelligence) and Prana (vital life-energy) and will do more harm than good in the physiology and psychology.

From the Ayurvedic perspective, the healthiest diet consists of whole foods, eaten in as natural a state as possible. Removing a peel or cooking is the only exception as this helps increase digestibility and assimilation. Here is a list of food items that are known for their Pitta-pacifying qualities: asparagus, bell pepper, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumber, lettuce, mushroom, peas, parsnip, potato, squash, zucchini, salads, apples, banana, dates, coconut, grapes, lychee, mango, melons, pomegranate, barley, oats, rice and wheat. For the complete list, you may go to the Pitta Diet section of our website.

The other important way of decreasing Ama production is by exercising the body. Your exercise regimen does not need to be hard physical work-out in a gym or slimming centre. What Ayurveda suggests is some simple stretching exercises. These exercises cleanse the Srotas (channels) and warm up the body melting away the toxins through them.

The Jivananda lifestyle plan includes stretching exercises as a part of its regimen that encompasses the all the benefits from the traditional Indian wisdom in the form of Yoga, laughter therapy, meditation and exercises. Under the stretching exercises, it includes the six basic movements of the spine and works out the major joints of the body.

Thus said, we can sum up the fact that by taking some measures to pacify Pitta and decrease Ama we can considerably calm down our body to resist negative external stimuli such as stress or violent behaviour and remain firm in our self-discipline.

Self-Discipline of the Senses
With regard to our senses, people who are bent on feeding their senses with good food, loud music and unnatural pleasures for most of the times are prone to have a frenzied mind. They are often agitated by external stimuli such as peer pressure or violent behaviour. The constant feeding of their senses completely preoccupies them preventing them from having a sound judgment. The excessive display of sex and violence in entertainment programmes that we see in various media such as television, cinema and the Internet affects our mind internally. And since, “like attracts like”, our mind too becomes pre-destined to exhibit what we see in the form of anger, rebellious behaviour and violence and lose our self-discipline.

The solution here is to try to live as close as possible to nature. Instead of choosing to watch a movie for an outing in a cinema, sitting under artificial lighting and temperature-controlled rooms and feeding on a dose of junk food, people can well opt for other means of entertainment that are in harmony with nature such as visit to a picnic place, a botanical garden or an Ayurvedic spa or going for a quiet evening stroll with a like-minded partner.

The Jivananda lifestyle programme incorporates a clean-the-senses morning ritual that involves cleaning the eyes, nose, tongue, ears and the skin. Ayurveda assures us that when we clean our senses, they will automatically be drawn to Sattvic things—i.e., those things that are good, clean, healthy and beneficial for keeping our minds and bodies balanced.

Self-Discipline of the Soul
According to Ayurveda, happiness involves feeding not only our body and mind with good food and education but also feeding our souls with righteousness and divine enlightenment. In our quest for acquisition of wealth and bodily pleasures and even for acquisition of formal education, we try every way to feed our body and mind. But we forget to feed one very important aspect of our being—the soul. The body can be taken as a car which the soul (you) drives, with the mind serving the purpose of a bridge (the steering wheel) connecting the two. If we keep on feeding the car with the best quality fuel and decorating the steering wheel with the best quality covers, what will the car do without its driver being fed? It will hardly move a few miles and then stop.

When we say, “This is my hand”, “This is my mind”, “This is my heart”, “This is my thought” or “This is my soul”, the my in these sentences is not the actual me. According to Ayurveda, this me is the soul—the eternal drop of love that drives the mind, body and senses, seating on top of them all.

But in our super-hectic life of today we often forget to realise the fundamental truth that we are but souls and we must connect ourselves to the fellow souls in a mutually respecting way. Therefore, it is our prerogative as souls to involve ourselves in doing some charity work, anything against which we do not expect anything. This will help us in strengthening our self-discipline by feeding the soul, making us happier from within.

One very simple way by which we can easily connect our souls to fellow souls on a daily basis is by practicing the Jivananada Meditation which is included in the Jivananda regimen. The Jivananda Meditation soothes and energises the body, mind, senses and the soul for the whole day. It is also a superb tool to fight stress and increase memory and concentration. The Jivananda Meditation involves bringing your awareness into the heart area and visualising a tiny Drop of Love in the heart that spreads in all directions. The meditation entails tracing the outward and then the inward journey of the Drop of Love from the heart out into the surrounding and back. You may click here to download the text of the Jivananda Meditation in PDF form.

With the above advice, I hope you can learn how to be the master of your mind to enjoy health, inner peace and happiness because outer events do not sway you and circumstances have no power over your peace of mind. Although this might be little difficult at starting, you can gradually learn the art of maintaining self-discipline and lead a holistically healthy life.


 

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