Prevent Flu

Almost everyone I know is coming down with the flu. If one person in the family catches it, the others soon follow. We have so many natural ways to prevent and combat this flu. If we are aware of them, we can forget our fears and be confident that we will be able to handle whatever comes our way.

Awareness
The first and foremost thing to do is to be aware. Make sure that people around you are not infected. If they are, and you have no choice but to be close to them, make sure that you do not touch anything that could be infected by them. eg. do not use the same napkin to wipe your face, do not use the same glass/bottle to drink water from, do not share the food from the same plate.

Watch your own body. Does anything seem out of the ordinary? Does your throat pain or irritate even a little? Do you feel heavy in the head as though the sinuses are clogging up? BE AWARE so that if you find anything amiss, you can take immediate action.

Observe Hygiene
Wash your hands before every meal, use a handkerchief if you cough or sneeze. If anyone around you is not using a handkerchief for the same, feel free to tell them. Better safe than sorry.

Sore Throat
If you find that the throat is slowly being affected, take action immediately. Drink warm water, do Kapalarandhradhouti. Make the following mixture:

Neem powder- 25 gms
Tusli powder - 25 gms
Adusol powder - 25 gms
Amla powder - 25 gms

Buy these powders separately (do not buy a ready mixture). They will be available in any ayurvedic shop.
Mix these powders, take a teaspoonful, mix with required amount of honey (1tsp) and have the mixture thrice a day. This will help prevent/cure sore throat.

In case of lots of cough in chest, keep a hot water bag on chest for some time. It will loosen up the cough. Then lie the left hand side so that the cough can come out easily. (Left side so that the Pingala/right nostril is open- helps heat the body).

In case of Cold
Take regular steam
Kapalarandhradhouti
Mix ginger (sooth) powder with hot water and apply paste on the face. It burns on the face but generally does not affect the skin. It melts cough in the sinuses.
(Note: People with very sensitive skin avoid this mixture)

Do try these few tips. If you feel you need medicine/antibiotics, you can follow the above in any case. It will complement the medical treatment.

Any questions, you are welcome to ask.

Stay Well!

Body Ache? Check your Vitamins levels!

Do you feel tired when you wake up in the morning? Are your energy levels reducing by the end of the day? Do you feel pain in your limbs, as though the pain is in the bones themselves?

Many youngsters these days are suffering from inexplicable body aches and pains. They are seemingly healthy individuals who are not suffering from disease, are pronounced fine by doctors and yet they get body stiffness and pain in their body.

It has been found that a maximum number of youngsters between the age of 16 and 26 suffer from Vitamin D deficiency due to wrong lifestyle and food habits. Vitamin deficiency is so silent that is goes unnoticed most of the times and when it shows itself in symptoms like body pain, we mistake it for fatigue or other diseases. If it goes undetected, the symptoms increase in intensity.

Prolonged Vitamin D deficiency can lead to:

·       Osteomalacia in adults, where the bones become thin and brittle.

·       Muscular weakness.

·       Osteoporosis, where there is thinning of bone tissues and age related degeneration.

·    Studies show that it may even cause diabetes, cancer, cardiac problems, neuromuscular and brain disorders.

·       In children, it can lead to rickets, where the bones are weakened.

So How Do We Regain All the Lost Vitamin D?

Sun

Sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D.

Sunbathing in the morning and evening time is recommended in Yoga and Naturopathy. This is a time when the sun’s rays are soft and have healing powers. Avoid sunbathing in the afternoons when sun rays are harsh as that is when the harmful UV rays are most intense.

However, in most urban areas like Mumbai, it is almost impossible to actually sunbathe. There is so much pollution 24x7 that it forms a layer blocking the healing rays of the sun.

So which other sources can provide us with Vitamin D?

Milk

Bathing with raw milk is advised as it not only provides vitamins but also is an excellent exfoliant.

Consuming milk and its products like cottage cheese, ghee, buttermilk etc. is an excellent way to stock up of Vit D.

Injections/ Supplements

For those of you who are vagan, you have the option of getting regular Vit D shots from the doctor or have supplements.

Vitamin supplements as such have no side effects. However, ask your doctor when is the best time to take the supplements. Generally vitamins are best taken with breakfast but if you are also taking supplements for iron etc, you have to avoid certain vitamin combinations with it. So know your supplements well before taking them, or they will have an adverse effect on you.

Exercise and Pranayama

Apart from the above mentioned sources, many regular vegetables have minute quantities of Vit D which can be absorbed by the body.

Absorption capacity of the body improves if there is a regular exercise and pranayama regime. It does not mean you have to spend 1 to 2 hours a day doing rigorous exercise. Even a regular 15 minutes of basic asanas and pranayamas daily is enough to keep you healthy.

So any of you suffering from Vit D deficiency symptoms, go get a blood test, check all your vitamin levels, and start on this regime right away. While those of you who don’t have these symptoms, might as well incorporate these few healthy changes for prevention.

Stay Healthy!

Fighting Corruption Within

There is a great movement going on under Anna Hazare's guidance. I heartily support his cause.

Fighting corruption is not easy and it needs real guts to fight a powerful corrupt government.

However, I wonder how many of us who support him and are fighting against a corrupt government, are actually honest ourselves.

If we fight a cause, we need to believe in it completely. How many of us have not broken a single traffic signal ever in our lives, how many have not given bribe to the traffic police? How many of us have not paid a peon extra to get our work done quickly in college? How many of us have not used influence/ contacts to get admission in college or a job?

How many of us completely deal in white when doing business and show our complete records honestly for income tax? How many of us silently add our own commission when doing a favour for a friend?

Well, what's done is done, but the way ahead looks more hopeful. For starters I admit that I have not been honest in my dealings and I vow to never do it again. The only way ahead is to be honest to yourself. So go ahead, first admit your own follies. Confess and redeem yourself. Then we will really be fighting a just cause.

Anna Hazare Zindabad!

The Story of The Yoga Institute

Article in Yoga and Total Health Jan 2011