Your Daily Habits – Dinacharya

In Ayurveda there is a word for those good daily habits which over time will benefit health and wellbeing – that word is Dinacharya. In fact I would make a stronger statement than that and suggest that our daily habits now will affect our lifespan and healthspan.

Lifespan VS Healthspan

A word on lifespan versus healthspan. Lifespan is simply the number of years you live – it is perhaps true to say that we all hope for a long life. As time passes many of us develop illness and as a result a poorer quality of life – and for many, a good number of our latter years are spent in less than ideal health. To have on longer time in good health – increased healthspan, if you will – is most certainly my aim.

There are, of course, many aspects we could consider and the whole list may seem overwhelming at first; but making one small change at a time will ultimately direct us towards that better health in the longer term.

Daily Habits

Having a regular routine and making the most of the times when the body is best suited to certain activities can make the day flow so much better. For example, in Ayurveda we recommend rising before dawn and making time for some personal care and meditation. As I write this it is mid-summer and the sun is rising about 5:30am and for me that feels a little early. But it makes good sense to rise at a regular time and make the first thing you do a visit to the bathroom before boiling the kettle. Not a coffee – but a couple of mugs of warm water with a dash of lemon of lime.

I offer a 8am mindful movement yoga class online daily on zoom. This is my time – and those who join me – to gently wake the body and loose that creaky feeling. Dru yoga feels like meditation in motion and I aim to leave you with a feeling of optimism and joy in the body.

Next is some more vigorous exercise to raise the heart rate and strengthen the body.

We add those personal care things in the morning – teeth (brush and floss), shower, perhaps a body massage if you have time.

Food

The body is best suited to a regular eating pattern – after that warm lemony water and exercise, breakfast may be a few hours after rising. Ideally we would eat our main meal in the middle of the day when the body’s ‘digestive fire’ is at its most active –

with the last meal of the day no close to 3 hours before bedtime.

Food should be of good quality and ideally prepared fresh daily. Food and drink should be taken warm and rarely cold. Personal food recommendations will depend on individual body types as well as activity.

Circadian Rhythm

Bedtime should be at a regular time every night – do you find yourself nodding off on the sofa as the evening goes on? I find that if I stay up beyond 11pm that my body ‘wakes up’ and going to sleep feels less likely. There’s a good reason for that and it is to do with our daily body clock (the same one that dictates we should rise around sunrise) – our natural ‘circadian rhythm’.  You will have an awareness of your body’s preferred time for going to bed and I urge you not to fight it. We all have a requirement for a certain number of hours sleep – and in the same way as personal food choices – this will depend on your body’s individual ‘constitution’ (in Ayurvedic terms).

The big no-no’s

Do I need to state the obvious? Health sapping habits include smoking, poor environment, recreational and often pharmaceutical drugs, alcohol, too much caffeine, poor diet, poor quality food – the list goes on: but we know this, right?

In summary – the daily habits we choose now, good or bad, directly affect our health in the future. Choose wisely.