Ritucharya - Seasonal Routine

Greetings.

Yesterday I blogged about Dinacharya or daily routine and today I’m going to tell you about Ritucharya or seasonal routine.  We are all constantly interacting with ourselves, with each other and the universe.  And to maintain that equilibrium, we have to work in accordance with the laws of nature and the changes of the earth.

We get day and night because the earth travels through the galaxies and the cosmos.  And because the earth rotates around the sun, we get seasons.  Therefore we receive all the changes in our body as it is in the atmosphere.  

‘Yatha pinde tatha brahmande’ 

As is the individual so is the cosmos

Everything is constantly changing and nothing is stationary.  We are moving with the earth all the time.  If we change with the universe, we’ll feel balance, steady and whole.  We can’t control or stop the season or nature, but we can control how we interact with the seasons.  For example, in the winter it is cold, therefore we’ll wear a winter coat.  Seasonally we change so that we can experience the entire variety that nature has to offer.  

I feel that if we all stick to what nature has to offer, we all will be in balance, positive and have great energy.  In todays supermarkets, all kinds of food items are available for our pleasure all the time.  They don’t have the specific foods according to the seasons.  Can you imagine how our lives would be if all the supermarkets of the world only carried those foods that we had to feed our body as a fuel for that specific season?  It blows my mind.  

The year is divided into 6 seasons - 

1 - Hemant - early winter - avoid light and cold foods and drinks 

2 - Shishir - late winter - avoid bitter, pungent and astringent foods and drinks

3 - Vasant - spring - avoid unctuous, heavy, sour and sweet foods and drinks

4 - Grishm - summer - best to avoid alcohol and drink lots of water; avoid salty, sour, hot and pungent foods and drinks

5 - Varsha - rainy season - avoid cold and sweet drinks; favor sour, salty and unctuous foods 

6 - Sharad - autumn - sweet, light, cold and bitter foods and drinks should be in favor

Ayurveda - the science of life.

Ayurveda is a science which can be defined in many different ways but has one meaning - a holistic approach that takes into consideration all aspects of the body, mind and soul.  Ayurveda maintains the balance between the body and its own inner intelligence and between the inner intelligence of the individual, cosmic intelligence of society and the cosmic intelligence of the universe.

Ayurveda is a basis of intelligence or consciousness, rather than matter.  Ayurveda has its importance on mental, physical and behavioral factors.  Rather than looking for disease, Ayurveda uses a holistic approach to bring the physiology back to its normal intelligence. 

'Ayurveda Mritanam' - 

'Ayurveda is for those who desire immortality'

It is a completely natural, effortless and holistic approach that takes into consideration of the mind and body together.

'Sharira, Indriya, Sattva, Atma, Samyoga' - 

'The conjunction of the body, senses, mind and self'. 

As long as they are held together, there is life.

Ayurveda is now the world's oldest scientific system of natural medicine originating over 6,000 years ago in the ancient Vedic tradition of India and it is the most complete system of natural medicine which has helped man to cure disease and maintain perfect health.

Perfection of life is in complete clarity of experience in any individual.  An example of perfection given by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is of the sap in the tree.  The gardener waters the root, it supplies nourishment to the sap which therefore enlivens that sap and makes every expression enlivened or brighter.  Everything becomes better only if the sap is lively.  Like the sap in the tree, Atma or consciousness has a place in the life of everyone.  Perfect health means perfection in every field for everyone.  A perfect person is a balanced person, a perfect person always acts in the best possible way for himself and the society.  With the practice of Ayurveda, we all can achieve perfect health.