Ayurveda and Sex

Sex, according to Ayurveda and the Kamasutra, is a divine process that is responsible for the very existence of human race on the face of earth. Kamasutra, the ancient science of love and love making describes in detail a variety of factors involved in practicing safe and fulfilling sex.

In India, sex was never considered something to shun about. According to Ayurveda, children is an asset. From having intercourse to delivering children and bringing them up with healthy body, mind and imparting in them, the training to see life in positive life and showing them the good way of life is an elaborate process. One noticeable thing about Ayurveda is the relative silence about family planning, contraception methods, or abortion – why destroy the greatest asset one can get? Sal-Santanangal (or children of good qualities, physically, mentally and spiritually) is the ultimate aim of sex.

Vageekarana Chikitsa (Aphrodisiac Treatment)
Aphrodisiac therapy or treatment has a prominent place in Ayurveda. It is part of Vrisha, one anga or branch in ashtanga or eight principle branches of Ayurveda. Removing the imbalances of doshas or tridosha (vata, pitta, kapha) comes before vageekarana chikitsa (aphrodisiac therapy).

Good physical qualities, semen quantity and quality, is the aim of vajeekarana chikitsa.

There is also a list of qualifications for both men and women. The man should be compatible to his woman in physical, mental, and on an astrological basis.

A man shall go to his wife only. Meeting other women is strictly prohibited in Ayurveda. The only place to ejaculate semen is vagina – masturbation and all other forms of unnatural sex are prohibited.

Although Kamasutra suggests 64 different sexual positions, Ayurveda recognizes only the common method –woman bottom and man top. Experimenting on this for bodily pleasure causes woman body to position in different forms, which can cause immediate to long-term faults to woman body and also to the child.

Vageekarana chikitsa or Jaara chikitsa (aphrodisiac therapy) suggests Panchakarma for purification of physiology and semen. Panchakarma is not necessary for women because of physical peculiarities.

Ayurveda suggests physical union of loving couples as the one way to enjoy divine pleasure. Here an assembly of panchendriya (Five Senses – touch, sight, etc.), physical organs, and mind takes place.

Ayurveda and Natural Medicare

Ayurveda sees late worldwide acceptance as a natural holistic treatment method. Now people increasingly are aware of the effects of chemicals entering our body in the name of prescription medicines. Ayurveda is not just about treating diseases. It is about living a life with fullness of health by mind, body and soul.

Medicines in Ayurveda are prepared from the flowers, seeds, roots, stem and plant products like resins. There are some claims that Ayurvedic medicines have a large content of heavy metals. The fact remains true that almost every human being on face of earth has at least a hundred different harmful chemicals in his/her body.

Ayurvedic philosophy depends on treating the person as a whole by identifying his/her body type (vata prakriti, pitta prakriti or kapha prakriti) and not the diseases. It is about helping the person regain that natural healing power, instead of applying some chemicals to kill the bacteria or virus that attack the body.

Ayurvedic remedies may take some time before showing results, but there will not be major side effects that are very common with different prescription medicines. Make use of the incredible power of herbs for natural medicare with Ayurveda.

Relaxation techniques in Ayurveda is also a major thing to study. Dinacharyas help persons attain what is expected of him. Laziness and being exhausted are states that you must avoid. All you have to do to attain your full potential is to do your karma only. Nothing more – exhausting, nothing less – don’t be lazy. You will be in a relaxed state of mind, you don’t over-exert your body, thus your body too will be healthy.

Healthy Ayurvedic Seasonal Routines

Ritucharya Explained
The change in seasons affects human body in a large scale. Climatic changes can bring in certain diseases to humans. Rithu charyas (ritucharyas) are directed to keep man protected from diseases that can occur due to change in seasons.

Though the seasons explained in ritu charyas are not exactly the same in all geographic locations, one can form his own rithucharya based on climatic conditions existing at his place.

According to Ayurveda there are six different seasons (ritu or rithus). Sisira (Sisiram – winter) January-February, vasantha (vasantham, basanta, basantha -Spring) March-April, Greeshma (greeshma, grishma, grishmam – Summer) May-June, Varsha (varsham, barsha – rainy season) July-Aug, Sarath (sarat, sarata – Autumn) September-October and Hemant (hemanta, hemantam – dew) in November – December are the six ritus. However, not all six climates are experienced in India (and Kerala in special) today. The four main climates now experienced in India are sarath, hemant, greeshma and varsha. In Kerala, one can now only identify only three main climates – a prolonged rainy season, a short summer season, and a shorter autumn season. Now a days it rains in Kerala all year round – probably a symptom of climatic changes, a disease that affects bhumi or the earth.

Ritu charya for Sarath (Autumn)
During sarath rithu, pitta dosha becomes prominent. Hot so hot food items are advisable for this season. Never sleep in daytime. Honey, small pea, green vegetables, green berries, red-rice, etc form good food items for this season.

Ritu Charya for Hemantha (dew-snowy season)
Kapha dosha is prominent this season. Enable the body to fight the cold outside this season. Energy rich food items like milk and milk products, ghee, carbohydrate rich food items like rice, wheat, whole gram, etc.

Ritu Charya for Greeshma (Summer)
This season has vata as prominent dosha. Avoid heavy physical exertion this hot season. Drink lot of water, juice, butter milk, lemon juice, etc. Take bath in cold water. Include all possible seasonal fruits in your daily diet – jack fruit, tomato, banana, water melon, cucumber, etc. Wear cotton clothes.

Ritu Charya for Varsha (rainy season)
This is the season when humans are most prone to diseases. Thippali (piper longum or Indian long pepper), honey, dried ginger, honey, ghee, etc shall be used with grains – rice, wheat etc. Eat lot of carbohydrate rich food and drink water that is cooled after boiling. Avoid day-sleep and physical exertion. Expect some kind of digestive problems during this rithu.

Sarath and vasantha ritus are pleasant seasons with hot days and cold nights. Hemant also doesn’t irritate any of the tridoshas.

It is uttarayana kala (north travelling time) during the first six months of the year. That is the sun travels over the northern hemisphere. This months are collectively called ‘adaala kalam’, which means something that sucks away energy. General body condition will be weak during this season. Avoid food items with bitter or hot tastes and include sweet tasting, sour, salty food items in your diet. Orange, banana, grapes, pineapple, jackfruit, etc are good fruit items that one can include in his diet.

July to December and up to January is dakshinayana kalam (the sun travels over the southern hemisphere). Body is better equipped during this season. One can include sweet, sour, salty food items in his/her diet.

These are all the directions by ancient Ayurveda acharyas. At first, you may feel these directions are not viable. On a closer look, you can find adjusting food and clothing according to seasons ensures smoothing mingling with nature, the natural route to better health.

By Kerala Ayurvedics.com

Dinacharya; Healthy Ayurvedic Daily Routine

A Good Dinacharya to Follow
Ayurveda suggests two types of charyas or routines, Dinacharya and Ritu Charya. Ritu charya is the change in daily routines according to climatic changes.

Dinacharya or daily routine forms the basis of health or unhealthy state of a man (or woman or child). Here is a healthy dinacharya routine that everyone can follow.

Waking up
There is a time to wake up. It is called Brahma Muhurtha, which starts three hours before sunrise. Healthy persons, if they mind their health should rise up before sunrise – Ayurveda Acharyas say.

Don’t jump up from the bed immediately after waking up. Spend some time lying on the bed, assessing the state of the body. Are there any different feelings of pain or unnatural sensations on the body?

A good exercise to enhance memory and brainpower without medicines – bring to mind the things happened in the previous day from the moment you woke up to the moment you fell asleep. Teach children to follow this exercise, the results will be sharper memory and better alertness.

Then answer to nature’s call. After that brush the teeth with fresh twig of vep, ungu, neer maruthu, or karingali plant. Prepare the toothbrush by softening one end. Chukku, pepper powder, thippaly, induppu, etc with honey can also be used for brushing. Take extra care not to damage gums.

Cleaning the tongue is also necessary to remove hindrances to breathing, and for fresh breathe.

One should bath everyday. Before bathing, one should apply oil (coconut oil, gingelly oil, etc) over body, under feet, and all parts of body. There are different benefits for applying oil all over body. The first among them is their effectiveness in increasing blood circulation. It shoves away tiredness and keeps the body fresh and healthy. It also helps in preventing wrinkles of skin. applying oil on head before bath strengthens senses, nervous system and circulatory system. Persons suffering from fever, stomach upset, etc shall not apply oil on head. Bathing without applying oil can cause vatha related diseases in the future.

Use hot and cold water for bathing – use hot water for below neck and cold water for head. Don’t take a bath immediately after meals.

A carefully followed exercise regimen gives different advantages to your body - general health, enthusiasm, better digestion of food, etc. are some of them. Persons with defective digestive system shall not attempt exercises. Physical exertion can be maximum in cold months and in spring. Only light exercise is needed in other seasons.

Massaging the body after exercise is also good for body.

Don’t overdo anything – exercise, sleeplessness, going to woman, etc can cause deterioration to body.

All the above things are primarily aimed at keeping body in good condition. One must also keep his mind in good condition.

Willingness to help other living things in need is required to attain satisfaction. Associate only with people that think and do good deeds only. Associating with people with wrong intention can harm your peace of mind.

Don’t believe everyone, don’t view everyone with skeptic eyes either. Don’t talk about bad things happened to you to others. Don’t strain eye, ear, tongue, etc. Avoid travel at night.

Stop all activities – both physical and mental – before you feel tired. Don’t gather, sell or drink wine.

Don’t think about or engage in sex during dusk. It is also not good time to eat, sleep, serious thoughts, etc. Don’t take any food from enemies, prostitutes, and people you don’t know. View the matters of others as your own and do all possible help to them. Keeping this ensures health, longevity, good fame, etc.

This is the general outline of dinacharya. This will give swastya or state of rest and health to body and mind while keeping tridoshas balanced.

Kerala Ayurvedics.com

Unhealthy Food Habits -Taking Incompatible Food

The directions of Ayurveda acharyas on food habits appear to be too tough to follow in present conditions.

Appetite, according to Ayurvedic principles is the mechanism of body to tell the brain that the body needs food. Eating food at the right time will automatically create appetite or hunger at the right times – this is the basis. Man needs to take food only two times a day – in the morning and in the evening. The body requires food only after the taken food is digested.

One will not feel appetite when his mind is disturbed – sadness, anger, fear, etc are negative emotions. Food taking with a disturbed mind doesn’t get absorbed by the body. Eating food should be in a pleasant environment, possibly in the presence of family or friends.

Eating the food should be a slow process. Completely chew the food before swallowing. This is needed for good digestion of food. Another thing is not to take cold water with food. A little walk a few minutes after taking food can help in better digestion of the taken food. Don’t exert body immediately after taking food. Another thing is to avoid eating for time pass.

Any food that can affect the balance of any of the three doshas of tridosha can be termed a virudhaharam (virudha aharam, virutha aharam, viruthaaharam) or incompatible food. Certain food items when combined together can create reactions. These reactions can sometimes be harmful to health. Food items that cause such reactions are known as incompatible food.

Curd and milk, chicken and ghee, etc are examples of incompatible food combination.

This may not be a serious problem to healthy persons pursuing a continued exercise regimen. However, pregnant women, weak persons, elderly persons and children can be affected by such incompatible combinations. It is necessary to check the nature of food and food combination one takes.

There are also chances for food poisoning. The general symptoms of food poisoning are described in different Ayurvedic texts. Infected meat has blue lines, milk has dark red lines, alcoholic drinks have black and white lines, etc provide quick diagnostic measures of food poisoning.

Excess intake of alcohol can cause serious damages to liver. Too much of sweets and fatty food can affect teeth and can upset stomach. They also affect the health of bones and can cause beauty problems like pimples. Its effect on diabetes is well known to everyone.

The preservatives added to food are also chemicals that can act as poison. Modern researches hint that accumulation of chemicals from such preservatives and additives can even stunt the mental growth of children.

People at the time of origin of Ayurveda, the science of life didn’t have to worry much about baked or fried food items. Modern man eats a lot of bakery products like cake, pastries, drink artificial drinks like colas – all these can cause different problems to digestive system, blood, and bones.