What Is Wellbeing
Wellness as per Vedic ethos is the state of society.
Over the recent decades a good many western physicians and naturopaths by making a substantial effort to establish wellness for the populace that can afford the price, but they have limited their work of wellness to individuals, yet, wellness in Sanaatani society was a normal state of our people.
This ended with devolution of the Vedic culture when it started getting to ones clan and one’s family and this became till, tribalism and finally the pre – eminence of one’s clan and ultimately of one’s family became the principal objective of those in positions of influence.
Let us begin with wellness of an individual. The minimal state of partial wellness is obviously absence of disease, for no nation, including the currently wealthiest nation on earth, the United States of America, can really afford the cost of providing for the medical care of all its legal residents.
The overall corruption and greed prevalent in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry is beyond parallel. The cost of treatments and procedures for a great many ailments have been shown to be of little or no benefit to the patient leading bankrupt of some of them.
All who are healthy in mind and body are usually at peace with themselves. However; in the modern world, achieving this is “easier said than done”. Today’s lifestyle and almost obligatory social networking make it impossible for far too many.
A body comprises of various organs, fluids, juices, chemical mediators etc. of which the most pre-eminent are the chemical mediators released by the nervous system which is tasked with managing all volitional and involuntary activity, and most importantly, maintaining one’s moral compass. That production of these chemical mediators is entirely dependent on healthy nutrition which is not generally appreciated.
Most of us have fallen victim to malnutrition with caloric excess and exposure to toxic foods because of the changes in the food industry and its governance. Food for nutrition has been replaced by consumption frequency that prevents the body from using its natural food-no food daily cycle. A supplementary benefit is that the naturally occurring cancer cells die because they cannot use the ketones from fat anabolism. A ketogenic diet has been associated with reduction of tumor mass and patient survival beyond the duration predicted for a given patient with metastatic cancer. Dr. Gundry, a renowned pediatric cardiac surgeon turned nutritionist, has records of patients self-curing not one, but two different cancers using a ketogenic diet. Recognizing that ‘Lectins’ most of which are ‘wheat gluten agglutinins (WGAs)’ cause injury to the lining of the gut and enabling partially digested proteins to hyper-challenge an individual’s immune system to the point of exhaustion and trigger general inflammation, vascular disease, growth and spread of cancer cells that would otherwise be killed off by the patients immune cells, Diabetes type 2, original dietary staple Bajra (Millet) or Jowar contain NO LECTINS and slow cooking lentils over a slow fire or pressure cooking them destroys lectins they contain. Further, one of the best fats is Ghee, Cold press coconut oil, and Mustard oil, cheese, Ghee or butter from grass fed cows is healthy while that from commercial dairies are not. The same is true of vegetables grown using fertilizer.
Vedas refer to the head as SHIRAH for which the root is SHRI meaning ‘To sustain’ and being a Yaugika term encompasses the sustenance of all actions and expressions of the human mind, Gyan (Knowledge) and Bhudhi sustain which is the third element which sustains and when enabled by purity of one’s ‘Atma’ (soul) guides and facilitates the mind and knowledge to analyzed and apply the correct course of action for any specific circumstance or situation. A substantial contribution is also made by the endocrine system which is under the control of the pituitary gland at the base of the brain.
Common ailments such as injurious stress, high blood pressure, depression, hyper acidity are exacerbated by or the result of a dysfunction originating in the nervous system as are a great many illnesses which result from the failure of western medicine to comprehend and use correct principles of nutrition and diet.
Veda reveal that the critical and essential ELEMENT which comprises of one’s Bhuddhi is a one’s Aatma (soul).
For Example: When one develops a desire (mind) to acquire wealth employing immoral means, and has the intelligence, knowledge and craftiness to be successful; one’s Aatma (Soul) stands in the way and prevents any action to fulfill the desire. Aatma is the 4th ENTITIY and is the most important entity in maintaining the wellness of a human.
Lord Manu presented 10 Commandments identifying characteristics, strengths and practices a human must develop, for Wellness they are:
1. Dhŗti – steadfastness, firmness
2. Kşamaa – pardon
3. Damo – Control of all passions.
4. Asteyam – Never commit any kind of theft.
5. Showcha– Physical, Verbal, and spiritual cleanliness.
6. IndriyaNigrah – Develop and maintain full and firm hold on every sensual agencies and temptation.
7. Dheeh – To develop one’s intelligence.
8. Satyam – Be Truthful.
9. Vidyaa–to acquire and disseminate knowledge.
10. Akrodha – Control of anger.
Following Manu’s commands invariably leads to becoming a mature and honorable human at peace with oneself and the world at large. Additional factors in maintaining health are:-
1. Diet: - A study of human capabilities strongly suggests humans have been created to be vegetarians. Some believe vegetarians do not consume enough protein. Many are unaware that autophagy provides so much protein that one can be in protein balance by consuming about 15 grams of protein, an amount easily available in a vegetarian diet. Let us look at the evidence. Humans:
a.) Do not have real canine teeth.
b.) Do not have night vision.
c.) Unlike carnivores, lose heat through the skin and by perspiration and not by hanging the tongue while hyperventilating etc.
One can look at the natural food of a horse/cow as contrasted with a lion or wolf etc.
Vedas reveal that food has two aspects known as SATO GUN AND RAJOGUN, meaning foods can generally be classified as having one of two distinct properties. Rajogun excites the nervous system; examples being Coffee, Alcohol and the other called Satogun soothes the system examples being milk, yogurt, greens, vegetable, soluble fiber etc.
2. Music is one of the best therapy for calming one’s nervous system. Indian classical music is very calming and soothing (Satogun) while most western music is based on martial tunes which pump up your systems (Rajogun).
3. Exercising consistently has been shown to reduce Blood Pressure, Anxiety, hyper cortisol state and modulate the adrenergic system etc.
4. Our ancient disciplines of Yoga, meditation, and pranayama slow down your metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure even as they increase your general awareness, improve clarity of thought and facilitate decision making. Nothing equals their effectiveness.
5. Stress reduction is an exceptional health maintenance benefit. Almost every inflammatory disease is aggravated by stress and when the immune system is hyper-challenged self-elimination of cancer cells is impaired, leading to a higher likelihood of developing cancer.
The relaxation induced by pranayama even enables one to reverse an allergic asthma attack, something I have personally experienced while on a long flight. For example, my pulse rate is 45/50 and I breathe at maximum, 8 times per minute while for most not practicing these generally breathe7-18 times per minute this helps the longevity of the heart muscle.
A healthy mental outlook and greater self-awareness is of critical importance. One always has to resolve a multitude of problems. My usual answer to the question “HOW ARE YOU” is EVERGREEN. For most successful practitioners of yoga, meditation and pranayama age is simply a number.
Nowadays, people have become excessively ambitious and want to enjoy all possible comforts to the maximum extent possible, and need for instant gratification has become the norm; failure to indulge in desired comforts makes them miserable. For example, a great many become miserable if the Air conditioner fails or does not work because power is temporarily lost.
There is a Vedic saying “Ten TaktenaBhunjata” meaning ‘Enjoy life to the fullest possible, but with detachment the example of Lord Ram’s response when told that he was to be crowned king, his face glowed like burnished brass, and when later informed that Bharat and not him would be king he continued to glow similarly.
Laughter – Visual Entities
Good clean visual entertainment has a good effect on one’s mind. Comedy Spiritualistic films etc. elevate the Satoguna. Films depicting excessive violence and/or Sex have a Tamoguna effect which is not good for the wellness of the mind.
Most importantly is family bliss. If the husband and wife are always on the warpath as in current times, when the refusal to accommodate, phenomenon ruins not only their relationship but also effects the children. Divorce is one the byproducts of this failure to accommodate with equanimity.
Lord Manu teaches:
“Santuşţobhaaryayaabhartaabhartraabhaaryaatathaiva cha
yasminnevakulenityamkalyaaņamtatravaidhruvam”
(Manu III-60)
In a (kule) family (bhartah) where the husband (santuştah) is happy and pleased by his (bhaaryaa) wife and also (bhaaryaa) the wife with her (bhartraa) husband, family bliss and prosperity always reigns.
He continues:
“Yatranaaryastupoojyanteramantetatradevataah”
“In the family where the women folk are respected, worshiped and loved (vamaute) the home is akin to the abode of (devataa) Godly beings.”
Consistently maintaining purity of mind and action as per Vedic Ethos of Dharma, (laws) consuming a correctly grown balanced diet is the first step towards developing wellness. Money is only a means to an end and not an end itself listen to your conscience Aatma and then you will see your life will be really WELL and worth living.
