Staying Healthy with Ayurveda In Ireland

Ways to Stay Healthy

By Brian Colborne

Health like anything you wish to build, requires a solid foundation, the more solid the foundation, the stronger the building.  If you want to be really healthy with an excellent resilience to lifes hard knocks(illness,  stress , overwork etc)it is wise to incorporate these basic principles into your lifestyle as it is the best way to stay healthy.

I just want to make an observation here before i begin going into a little detail on the 5 pillars of good health. In modern society, it has become an ever increasing fast paced instant lifestyle,  everything must be done yesterday and plenty of it, if this describes your life (im pretty sure it describes 90% of us) then unless you are a superhuman/demigod or a super hero in disguise – you are or will suffer the effects of cumulative stress,and  unless you are extremely well rounded and balanced high achieving individual that thrives on stress – this only delays the effect until you get hit REAL hard.  So my point is this, Stress is a huge factor in depleting your immune system over time, weakening your internal organs, exhausting your adrenals and biochemistry- basically it burns you out.  Ok i know you know all this, however, Given this stressful lifestyle being the norm, it is absoulutely necessary to make sure you have a solid foundation to support your “normal modern” lifestyle.

What I have observed is that we sacrifice these Pillars of Health on every occasion and we do it consistently thinking we can thwart the consequences, well you cant dodge the consequence of living a bad lifestyle.

Choose health! its not hard and once you consistently keep these principles you will be astounded at how much vitality will come into your life.  Observe these principles rigorously and consistently. Create a daily routine and regimen based around it and it will be your primary way to stay healthy and live a long and active life.

Sleep

Often this is the the first thing to go when we are either stressed because of too much work or simply because we choose to stay up late for whatever reason, sometime to work all night. Sleep is the mother of all healing, and the number 1 key to a long and healthy life.. constantly going to bed late (Ideal time is to be asleep by 10 pm!) erodes your immunity and ages you prematurely, at 10 pm your liver starts to regenerate and detoxify and if you are awake – this does not happen efficiently leading to a slow decline in your health and a decline in your longevity.
Some people suffer from Insomnia, i know I did! here are some really good ways to help you sleep soundly and fall asleep quickly..

Sleeping at the wrong hours is linked with causing manic bipolar depression -staying up late past 3am and then sleeping during the day consistently will bring on manic depression and bipolar very rapidly. Dont go to bed late!

• Get up early

Getting up at sunrise is the best practice. Especially if you have had little sleep, this will help you sleep better the next time you lay head to pillow

• Go to bed before 10pm

Your digestive fire starts to flare up bringing your conciousness up to a high degree of alertness(second wind) at around 10pm, this is one of the contributing factors to insomnia, work with nature and be in bed before this time to take advantage of the pre 10pm sleepiness.

• Be consistent in your sleep patterns

Keep a routine, so your body gets used to sleeping at the right time

• Set time aside for thinking/contemplation

Something we often neglect, we keep busy right until we go to bed doing stimulating things like watching an action movie, working on that budget, or that favorite Warcraft game. Obviously this does not allow your mind the time to think, so naturally first pause it gets, it will then start harassing you with all the ignored details of the day, things you didnt do or just needed to think about.. so seriously its important not only to meditate but to contemplate too.. set aside some relaxed alone time where you just sit and think/contemplate, or your mind will decide to do it when you try to sleep.

• Nutmeg or lettuce

if you are really struggling getting to sleep and your mind is like a jackrabbit, then feed it lettuce, lol no seriously – lettuce will help you fall asleep quite quickly eat 2 whole leaves especially the white bit near the stem of the leaf. Eat lettuce in preference to nutmeg in summer as it is cooling in nature. especially helpful if you are overheating and sweating a lot at night. NutmegThis is very effective, but a little heating, therefore its best to use it in winter, take half a teaspoon of nutmeg powder on your tongue wash it down with water and you will be asleep in 30 mins!

Diet

Having a healthy eating pattern goes without saying, obesity is on the rise, but what is eating healthy for you? most people should avoid eating too much greasy food , spicy food and overly salty food,however diet is a massive subject beyond the scope of this simple blog,  but here are some simple rules, less is best, in most cases unless you are a thin person that eats everything and still loses weight(in that case eat more healthy oil foods and bigger portions are ok) stop eating when you are still a little bit hungry, and eat slowly because the “full” feeling only comes after about 20 mins..

Sex

Sexual health goes far beyond the bedroom, its at the very core of our vitality, and as such should not be taken lightly, exercises such as kegels(or deer exercise in Qigong for men) are excellent ways to promote virility and vigour for both genders.  The reason it has such a central role in our health is because it has to do with the sex hormones, which keep the whole of our system in prime physical condition(which is prime reproductive condition) overly utilising or losing too much semen in both ayurveda or Chinese medicine is considered a big no no, as it depleats vital energy, as is having extremely heavy periods  for ladies.  So having the right amount of sex is a good thing, enough to keep you horny.. not enough to sate you!

Exercise

A good form of exercise is something that will nourish and not deplete you, extreme fitness sports will actually harm your body in the long run almost quicker than playing rugby professionally will give you cauliflower ears. They harm your body through wear and tear and cellular damage. A good example of nourishing exercise would be yoga, and tai chi or qigong.. these have many benefits including severely lowering your stress levels, improving your core health and blood pressure, lowering your incidence of heart disease and the like..

Meditation

One of the best ways to get your mind some excellent and well deserved relief – also shown to provide significant results for high blood pressure and for keeping the mind young and agile well into old age, it improves personal power by allowing you to embody more presence and consciousness in your daily life.

If you are interested in more information about healthy living, I have a website(my work) that has some more info

ayurveda  ireland

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