WHAT IS THIS “INSID E – OU TSID E” THING?
I would love to quote few self-explanatory lines as an answer to this question.
“Yatha Pinde Tatha Brahmande,
Yatha Brahmande Tatha Pinde.”
– Yajur Veda
That is –“As is the individual or the human body, so is the universe or the Cosmic Body, and the vice versa.”
“The Cosmos Is Within Us. We Are Made Of Star – Stuff. We Are A Way For The Universe To Know Itself.”
– CARL SAGAN, American Astrophysicist and Astronomer.
Winters bring a lot of changes in the nature and in the bodies of all its creatures. We will be talking all about the human body and the changes in it, some visible and some not visible, which we would understand through this ancient science of Ayurveda.
HAVEN’T YOU NO TICED THESE CHANGES OUTSIDE?
Going for the morning walk these days, I see that the roads are filled with dried leaves, trying to fly up after each motor vehicle that passes by, as if they would love to stick back on those almost empty branches. These branches where once lush green and their shade sheltered the tired lives from the scorching Sun till a couple of weeks earlier.
The mild breeze touching your face, as you move ahead has got a little chilled feel, which is really relaxing to the body and the soul. And a subtle voice speaks up from deep within, “The Winter is here.”
THE SUN – THE LORD OF SEASONS
A few months earlier the Sun used to rise directly into my bedroom. Its rays piercing my eyelids to wake up. But as the weeks and months have passed by, now I can curl under my blanket for long hours. And the Sun has become so favorable to me that its rays no longer fall on my face, rather they are busy lighting up my Mamma’s kitchen.
As kids we thought that as we keep on moving around the Sun round the year, when we go away from the Sun, the heat reduces and we are in winters and then the other way round.
But actually it’s the tilt of the Earth’s Axis that causes the seasons. In summers, because of this tilt, the Earth actually leans into the Sun and the opposite happens in the winters. And talking in the big picture, the people on the northern and southern hemispheres of the earth enjoy opposite seasons at a particular time of the year.
ARE THERE VISI BLY ANY CHANGES AS WINTER MOVES IN?
As the weather outside keeps on getting colder and foggier, we are pressed to change the inner atmosphere of our houses on workplaces too. Keeping the rooms warm with the help of firewood or electric heaters becomes the primary need.
The scenario is such that the skin and hair demand much protection and care these days. And keeping oneself warm becomes the prime agenda of each man walking over this particular part of the planet.
Definitely there is no astrophysics in that. Even the minute ants hide in their hills and the polar animals hibernate in winter. So do humans, to protect themselves from the chilling cold.
DOES THIS CHANGE IN SEASON EFFECT THE INSIDE MECHANICS OF OUR BODY ?
Like the changes outside, those are clearly visible. There are a few changes occurring within the body too, that have to be observed and explored. Here, I shall help you understand these by throwing some light on the logics and concepts of this ‘time tested’ science called Ayurveda. Let me explain it in the most simple and precise way.
Ayurvedic texts explain Six Seasons ‘The Shad Ritus’. Each season comprises of two months thereby involving the twelve months. These Seasons are explained on the basis of the Voyage of the Sun in the sky as seen from the earth, for our simple understanding.
DOES THE SUN ACTUALLY SET ON A VOYAGE?
Looking from the Earth, the Sun rises in the east and moves all the way overhead to set in the west each day. But have you ever noticed that the places of sunrise and sunset in the eastern and western sky respectively are not the same round the year. It seems that the Sun moves towards the North and South too. This can be explained from the tilt of the Earth’s axis discussed earlier, and the changes occurring, as our Earth rotates and revolves round the year.
The travel of the Sun towards the north is called the “Uttaraayana” termed as the “Aadana Kaala” for the earth. Here the energy of the beings of the Earth is extracted by the nature, specifically the Sun due to which the energy reduces day by day gradually in the involved three seasons.
Thus, talking about winters, they actually extend through ‘Hemant’ and ‘Shishira’ as called in Sanskrit. ‘Hemant Ritu’ falls at the end of the ‘Visarga Kaala’, which is the second group and takes share of the maximum energy benefits from the Sun, which increases from the first season onwards.
Taking into account the Hemant Ritu, this actually is the winter season by all means. We now know that the nature is in the maximum favorable mode for the earthly living beings.
EXTENDIN G WORKOU TS…
Have you experienced that the workout schedules are unknowingly extended, often in the winters. Unless you are time bound or unless you never got out of the bed only. This is because you don’t feel tired easily in winters.
Another important change this Hemant Ritu gifts us is that the digestive fire or ‘Agni’ in the body increases to the greatest extent, actually the maximum natural kindling occurs now, which means that the metabolic rate is really high, right from the sub cellular level.
One more thing that has to be observed is that the character of the ‘festival foods’ of winters, especially Diwali, where sweets are literally ghee dripping and heavy to digest, but we can gulp in loads of them. Similarly ground nuts and sesame seeds take a major role in winter festivals, not to forget other dry fruits too. But the tummy says… “Welcome friends.”
Don’t you think that we must take advantage of this natural environment for the health maintenance of our body.
1. As the digestive fire is strong, this is the time we must feed on healthy, wholesome protein rich foods, say Dry Fruits. Proteins are the body building components and acts as a fixed deposit for the body which can be used when in need. So, its’ the time to make savings!!!
So winters, or the Hemant Ritu is the perfect ‘jackpot season’ gifted to us by the mother nature, when we can invest in loads of wholesome diet and healthy physical work outs, so that we can enjoy the profits for the rest of the year, where there may be restrictions for the inputs, due to the specific characteristics of the other seasons throughout the year.
