Dincharya - Daily regime according to Ayurveda
According to ayurveda, a person who is healthy and want to remain healthy must follow the daily routines mentioned in ayurveda texts. These daily routines is mentioned in Ayurveda texts as “DINCHARYA”.
The concept of Dincharya is mentioned in all the famous books of Ayurveda that is Charak Samhita (ch. su. 5, 7, 8), Sushrut Samhita (su. chi. 24), Ashtang Hruday (Ash. hru. su. 2).
Getting up early in the morning.
Healthy person should get up from bed at Brahmi Muhurtha. That is, before dawn, or around 45 minutes before Sun rise, around 5 – 6 am. Last 48 minutes of the last 3 hours of the night – from 3 am to 6 am – is known as brahma muhurta.
Cleaning teeth
Keeping in view, the condition of his body, the individual should pass urine and faeces, after that clean teeth with any of the twigs of following herbs – Arka (Calotropis procera), Vata (Ficus bengalensis), Khadira (Acacia catechu), Karanja (Pongamia pinnata), Kakubha (Terminalia arjuna). To use the twig as tooth brush, the thickness of the twig should be approximately equal to the tip of one’s little finger. It should be 12 Angula length. The tip of the twig should be chewed a little to make it as brush. The twig should be of astringent, pungent and bitter in taste.
People suffering from indigestion, vomiting, dyspnea, cough, fever, facial paralysis, excessive thirst, ulceration of mouth, heart disease, diseases of eyes, head and ears should not brush the teeth.
After cleaning teeth one must clean the tongue either the tongue scrapper made of gold, silver & steel or with the same teeth twigs by cutting them as mentioned for cleaning teeth.
Anjana – Collyrium – It is good to apply a special type of collyrium called Sauveera Anjana to the eyes. It should be applied daily. Rasanjana (aqueous extract of Berberis aristata), should be applied once in a week, to drain out Kapha (secretions) from the eyes.
Navana – Nasya – After collyrium application, healthy person should do Navana (Nasya – Nasal instillation of drops.). For this purpose, milk, herbal decoctions, herbal oils are usually used.
After that, Gandusha – gargling with warm water, milk, herbal decoction or herbal oil should be done.
Then Dhuma – inhalation of smoke from herbs and spices should be done, and then betel leaves should be chewed.
Abyanga – Oil Massage – Abhyanga means massage. It should be done daily, morning. It delays ageing, relieves tiredness and excess of Vata (aches and pains). It improves vision, nourishes body tissues, prolongs age, induces good sleep and improves skin tone and complexion. Massage should be specially done on ears, head and legs.
Massage should be avoided when there is increase of Kapha in the body, soon after Shodhana (Panchakarma procedure) and during indigestion.
Exercise – Vyayam – Exercise brings about lightness, it improves work capacity, increases digestion power, burns fat. It brings body into good shape. People with diseases originating from Vata and Pitta, children, elders, people with indigestion problem should not do exercise. Exercise should be done till one’s half strength. Exercise should be done compulsorily by those having full strength and who take oily food stuff, from December to May. At the end of the exercise, one should undergo mild massage – Mardana (pressing the body parts with mild to moderate pressure.)
Powder Massage -Udvartana is using powder for massage. It helps to calm down aggravated Kapha, helps to burn fat. Hence it is one of the therapies that many Ayurvedic centers offer for anti-obesity treatment. Udvartana also brings in stability to body organs, improves strength and skin complexion.
Snana – Bathing – One must bath with warm water below the neck region but above the neck & head region one must bath with cold water. Pouring warm water over the body bestows strength, but the same over the head, makes for loss of strength of the hair and eyes.
Bath is contraindicated for those suffering from facial paralysis, diseases of the eyes, mouth and ears, diarrhea, flatulence, rhinitis, indigestion and who have just taken food.
Personal Hygiene – One should cut his hair, nails, and moustaches regularly. Keep feet, ears, nose, eyes, urethra and anus clean. Take bath daily, put on scents and good dress which is not superfluous but is pleasant to look at. One should not sneeze, laugh or yawn without covering his mouth.
One should not blow his nose (except for forcing out the dirty excretion); not scratch the ground without any reason, not do ugly movements of the parts of the body and sit on ones own heels for a long time. One should stop the activities of the body, of speech and of the mind before getting exhausted; should not keep his knees above for long period. No one should gaze at the sun for a long time, should not carry heavy weight on his head, not see continuously objects which are minute, shining, dirty and unpleasant.
One who follows these things daily in his/her life will be healthy and remain disease free. Although these are very small things but it must be followed daily to get desired results. Those who are following ayurvedic daily regime bound to live healthy life without any old age disease like joint pains, arthritis, backpain, etc.