Yuktaharaviharasya yuktchestasya karmasu. Yuktaswapnavabodhasya yoga bhavati dukhaha ॥ (Srimad Bhagavad Gita 6.17) This verse means that a person who has a healthy diet and lifestyle, who puts in proper effort in his activities i.e. is always active and maintains limited sleep and wakefulness (balance between sleep and wakefulness), Such is the 'yoga' of a yogi. Destroys all his miseries. Today is Janmashtami, Lord Krishna's birthday. There is no aspect of life on which Shri Krishna has not expressed his thoughts. When he was preaching the Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield, he also mentioned a healthy body, a healthy mind and a healthy soul several times. As Sri Krishna says in one place in Srimad Bhagavad Gita, “While eating our entire attention should be on food only because food is not only for the body but also for the soul.” Similarly, in another place they say, “Fruits, water and even leaves are sufficient to keep the body healthy.” So, today in 'Health Water' let us talk about the basic principles of a healthy body and mind, which we can learn from Lord Shri Krishna. A healthy soul resides in a healthy body This is a basic and ancient knowledge that man acquired at the very beginning of his evolution. Where our modern lifestyle has reached today, we have forgotten this basic thing. We want to succeed in life, want promotion in office, want growth in life, want to move forward every day. But all, willingly, eat junk food, smoke cigarettes and alcohol, stay up until 2 a.m. to watch Netflix, stare at digital screens all day, and by the time they reach 40 years old, they're suffering from this disease. Diabetes, hypertension, high sugar and diabetes have become victims of lifestyle diseases like migraine. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research's 2021 survey, one in every 12 adults in India is suffering from diabetes. 14.8% of people have high cholesterol. 18.5% people have high BP ie hypertension. Most of the people suffering from these diseases are educated, urban population. Those who dream big in life, but forget the basic lesson that a healthy body is the foundation of a happy and successful life. Always remember this lesson of Shri Krishna, your ancestors and your grandmother. First of all in life, take care of your health and don't do anything that harms your health. Balance and moderation are essential for a healthy body At one place in the Gita, Shri Krishna preaches to Arjuna that balance and moderation are very important in every sphere of life. All great philosophers and thinkers have said the same thing. Lord Buddha talks about the middle path. Kabir writes that too much rain is not good, too much sun is not good. It is the essence of healthy living that everything should have a basic balance. But what do we do? If you start dieting, you overdo it; If we exercise, we do so much that the body gets tired and sits down, and if we don't, we don't even move from our place. Now even science is telling us how important this moderation, balance and middle path is. A 2020 study conducted at Stanford Medical School reported that people who followed the same balanced routine of diet, exercise and sleep for at least 300 days had a 24% reduction in sugar, BP, cholesterol and heart disease risk. year. This was 24% less than those who followed an extreme discipline of diet and exercise 100 to 130 days a year and were completely lazy the rest of the day. This study says that there is no problem in eating a little sugar, low carb or junk food once every two months. But if its dosage is more than twice a month, it can spoil the positive results of discipline on other days. Eat what nature has given you At that time Shri Krishna advised to eat sattvic and natural things. Most of man's food was provided by nature and man-made. But still people will be careless about food. That is why Shri Krishna said, “Eat pure, simple and sattvic food. Eat fruits, vegetables, grains, milk and ghee. Abstain from tamasic food.” Yoga and physical exercise are essential for a healthy body Today people go to the gym to stay fit and look good. To tell the truth, even Shri Krishna used to say the same thing to Arjuna in the Gita. It is different that there was no gym at that time. At that time there was enough labor in man's daily life to meet all his needs for physical activity. Not only .Srimad Bhagavad Gita but also Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Vedas and Upanishads speak of frequent physical exertion for good health. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna talks about yoga while preaching to Arjuna. They say that yoga practice is achieved where the mind, body and soul are united and reach a state of central meditation. Shri Krishna says that man is born on earth to work. The life of one who does not work is meaningless. He says that through physical exertion the vision is clear, the mind is enabled to think clearly and the body of the body i.e. its strength and beauty both increases. Sri Krishna Yoga talks about focusing on the breath. This is what we call breathing exercises nowadays. The yoga and breathing exercises that Lord Krishna used to talk about are being proven today by many scientific researches and studies. According to a 2023 study conducted at the University of California, regular yoga improves memory, improves mental health and reduces the risk of Alzheimer's by 37%. Similarly, in a 2002 study conducted at Stanford Medical School in the US, brain scans were performed on 300 people who practiced yoga regularly. Researchers found that people who practiced yoga had healthier brains than the average person. Overall, the path to healthy living is very simple. All we have to do is follow the path shown by our forefathers. One should eat natural food, exercise physically and keep the mind and body calm.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
Learn from Lord Krishna the secret of good health: sleep and wake up on time, balanced diet and exercise, listen to God if not the doctor
