Often, patients complain of heaviness in the tummy soon after the food intake, they feel constipated , also feel as if the food eaten hasn’t really gotten deep into their tummy, but is stuck somewhere midway in the food pipe, feeling of sour reflux, not feeling hungry etc.

Now, these are a few things, which most of us experience but,we either ignore or silently suffer ,as we think these “ SILLY problems” are just normal to any person.

What and how much we eat has a direct bearing on our health. Despite adhering to a disciplined diet patterns in terms of quantity as well as quality, few people have difficulty digesting and assimilating.

Why does this happen?

According to Ayurveda, there are some factors, concerning our lifestyle and dietary habits, which greatly influence the digestion and assimilation, apart from “ what we eat “ and how much we eat” . They appear to be trivial hence, have been the matter of neglect.

Drinking water in plenty (Atyambupana) Irregular-untimely-improper eating patterns(Vishamashana) Suppression of natural urges (Sandharana ) Irregular-untimely sleeping and waking patterns (Swapna viparyaya).

1.Atyambupana — “Drinking water in large quantities”.

Ayurveda, does not recommend, drinking water in excess, instead has laid down strict guidelines for its use.

Excess intake/Wrong use of water affects our digestive fire adversely.Having said that, a certain quantity of water is a must for a proper digestion. But,how much of it is right/optimal?? cant be generalised ,as the requirement varies from individual to individual.

Link-“Do’s and Dont’s of water intake”

2.Vishamashana:” Irregular-untimely-improper eating patterns”

Vishamashana can be broadly said, as being inconsistent in one’s food habits, in terms of the time of intake — its quantity.

Eating whenever we feel like or when the time permits, eating in excess or eating very little. All these come under the heading of vishamashana.

3.Sandharana: “Suppression of natural urges”

Ayurveda, recommends that the natural urges should be attended to immediately as and when they express themselves.By natural urges, we take them to be urge for “urination” or “defecation”, but ,ayurveda mentions 13 types of natural urges or vegas which are not to be unduly suppressed neither be expressed forcefully.

The natural urges mainly affect dosha and agni, in turn leaving an impact on the the physiological processes of the body,like the digestion and metabolsim. In my future posts, I will be elaborating on the concept of vega(natural urge),their suppression and its repercussion on health.

4.Swapna Viparyaya: “Irregular-untimely sleeping and waking patterns”

Our body is programmed in such a way, that we depend on or every activity /functions in the body is coincided with the heavenly bodies like the sun and moon.

The DUAL FORCES of the UNIVERSE

We rise and sleep with the rising and the setting sun, so are our physiological functions. In olden days our food- work- sleep patterns were also designed by our ancestors, based on this very fact.

Now a days, it is a common practise to stay awake in the night and sleep during the day. But, the intelligence/programming in the body still follows the “Day-Night” rhythm ,which is greatly dependent on the forces in the universe mainly the sun and moon.

Surya & Chandra — FORCES in the BODY!!

Mechanisms during the day and those during the night are entirely different and these activities be it, the food intake/sleep or physical activities, influence the fire element in us. When we go against the very nature of the universe= nature of the body and keep ourselves awake during night and sleep during the day, the whole of the mechanisms within, get disturbed and the ones to principally feel the heat of this wrongful practise is the agni and vata ,resulting in many illnesses.

Every part of us talks to every other part!!!!

Nothing in the body can remain totally insulated. Hence, every act of ours,however trivial and seemingly irrelevant to digestion , be it the sleep or suppression of natural urges, will surely bring about some untoward change in the physiological aspects of the body, when wrongly done. These factors which are seemingly irrelevant in reality are affecting the digestive fire, resulting in an impaired digestion and metabolism , making you prone to illnesses.

MIND OVER MATTER !! (Old vine in a new bottle)

Now, there is one more important thing that influences our digestion.

It is the MIND.

Mind which is afflicted with rajas and tamas(the negative shades) or to make it simple, mind afflicted with negative emotions, can actually impair your digestion.

You may have noticed, that one does not feel the hunger, when one is agitated /blissful or even sorrowed . For instance, most of the students either don’t feel hungry during their exams or on the other hand havetoo much of hunger.

The negative emotions, play the spoilers!!!!

Ayurveda says, mind afflicted with the negative emotions like envy- fear- anger- greed- grief, affect the digestion process in a big way. When these negativities come into play, take a toll on your digestion even if you are eating a “light- nutritious diet”, “at right intervals”.

Past outpacing the future….

Mind’s power over matter is a few decade old finding, which our ancestors knew thousands of year ago.

So, what we eat and how we eat matters, but, what matters even more is, how we think and what our mental state is.

These apparently irrelevant factors are the ones which actually determine how good or bad the digestion is.

We really need to give a thought before we brand our ancient sciences as outdated. Because, the so called science of today is only catching up with the ancient wisdom that existed since ages in India. It is high time we stop asking for scientific evidences for ancient wisdom.