Yoga - Asanas

Yoga:

In simple terms, Yoga means connecting your body with your mind and then spirit. The purpose of yoga is to purify the body and prepare the body for long hours of meditation to reach samadhi (bliss state).

I believe the 'purify the body' aspect of the yoga can be used to heal the body of disease such as blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol etc.

Yoga usually consists of Asanas(physical exercise), Pranayama(breathing exercise) and Meditation. Whoever wants to start yoga, they should start with Asanas first. Once you practice asanas and strengthen your body with asasas, then they can start pranayama and then meditation.

Asanas:

Asanas are done in sequence. Every sequence should contain at least one asana from each group below (The idea behind it is that you move your spine in every direction(forward/backward/side/twist) and use all the muscles of your body):
1. Dynamic Asana - Surya Namaskar(to warm up the body)
2. Inverted Asana - headstand/Shoulder Stand
3. Forward Bending Asana -  Sitting Forward Bend
4. Backward Bending Asana - Cobra/Locust/Dhanur
5. Twisting Asana - Half Spinal Twist
6. Side Bending Asana - Triangle

Surya Namaskar:

If you are new to Yogasanas, it's better to start with Surya namaskar (Sun Salutaion). It's a sequence of 12 asanas. One sequence will take approximately 40 secs. You can start with 5 sequences a day and go upto maximum of 15 sequences per day. Make sure you do it everyday without fail for maximum benefits. There is a detailed steps  given in the web site: http://www.yogashakti.org/surya-namaskar/
This provides Muscle Strength, Endurance and shape up your body(especially Upper Body). Also it's a cardio-respiratory workout which strengthens your heart and lungs.
Once you master Surya Namaskar, you can start learning other Asanas from the qualified trainers.

Timing:

Do asanas early morning on empty stomach. Or do it 3 hours after main meal such as breakfast and lunch. Don't eat at least 1/2 hour after you complete your asanas.

Duration:

Do asanas at least 30 mins to 45 mins daily for maximum benefits.

Food Combining - Key to Digestion

What is Food Combining and why is it important?

Food combining refers to the combination of foods which improves digestion and reduces the risk of the production of toxins in digestive system due to improper digestion.

According to Ayurveda, each food has distinct combination of taste(sweet, sour, salt, bitter, astringent)  and energy(heat or cool). It's important to eat the right combination of foods in each meal for optimum digestion. As per science, protein needs acidic environment to digest, starches require slightly alkaline environment to digest and fats/oils require slightly alkaline environment to digest.

I follow Food Combining to some extent. I get good results in terms of digestion. It's really simple to follow. We predominantly consume the following food groups:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Dairy Products (Curd, Milk and Cheese)
• Meat (Egg, meat,fish)
• Grains
• Legumes

Let's see the combinations: 

1. Do not combine Meat and Grains at the same meal. It's good to eat met with vegetables.
2. Eat Fruits separately.
3. Eat dairy products separately.
4. Vegetables and fats are neutral foods that can be combined with Meat or Starches, but not with fruits or dairy products.


Sample meal plans:

Breakfast:
Vegetable Smoothie with nuts
Or
Eggs + Steamed Vegetables

Lunch:
Meat + Steamed Vegetables
Or
Brown Rice +Vegetables
Or
Lentil Soup( Legumes +Vegetables)

Dinner:
Ragi/Millet Pancake+Steamed Vegetables +Coconut Cilantro Chutney

Daily Routines - Ayurvedic Way

Everyone can follow these simple routine daily recommended by Ayurveda for healthy and happy living. They are very simple and yet very effective and give positive impact on your well-being.


Brushing:
         Brush your teeth, scrape your tongue and gargle for cleaning your throat.

Drinking:
         Drink a glass of water.

Combing:
          Comb your hair with wooden comb/brush.
   
Morning Work-out:
          Do some form of physical exercise. It could be yoga or walking/jogging.Make sure you get sweat in your forehead, armpits and your spine. Suryanamaskar is preferable as it's a  low impact cardio workout.

Bathing:
          Massage your body with oil(For example, Sesame Oil) and leave it for 20 minutes and then take bath. Use mild soap to wash your body. If you don't have time to apply oil everyday, you can do this twice a week.

Breakfast:

          From night till morning, our body is in cleansing and detoxifying cycle. So, it's better to eat cleansing food such as raw foods for breakfast.

Lunch:

           From late morning till night, our body is in building and nourishing cycle.Lunch should be the largest meal of the day.

Dinner:

           Dinner between 7 PM and 8 PM. Dinner should be light. Don't eat, meat, dairy, eggs for dinner.

Sleep:

           Go to bed at 10 PM.

           Brush, floss and scrape the tongue before go to bed.

           Brush your hair with wooden comb or boar brush.

           Massage your foot.

Important Tip about Snacking:
Do not eat snacks in between meals. The core concept of Ayurveda is that we shouldn't eat food before our previous meal is digested. Normally food takes 2.5 -3 hours to get fully emptied from stomach to small intestine. So eat snacks before or after 3 hours of main meal.

Something about Raw foods:
Generally Ayurveda prefers cooking foods with appropriate spices. Raw foods are highly cleansing foods(that means they remove toxins from your body). Eat raw foods moderately.