Dinacharya are Ayurvedic guidelines for the daily routine and daily procedures, following which is considered one of the key aspects in maintaining health and in the process of therapy. In many cases, up to 80% of success in treating a disease depends on how well the person follows these guidelines. It is believed that even a healthy, sustainable weight loss is impossible without the observance of the Dinacharya.
The author of this article is Claudia Welch (USA), Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Ayurvedic practitioner, Ayurveda teacher, women’s health specialist. Russian followers of Ayurveda are familiar with Dr. Welch from her book, translated into Russian last year, “Hormonal Balance – Balance in Life” and from the Ayurvedic Conference “Life in Harmony”.
The Purusha or conscious person is born from Rasa. Therefore, an intelligent person should carefully protect his bodily race, following a certain diet and behavior.
Ayurveda – literally translated as “the science of life” – strives to maintain a rich and fulfilling life at all its levels.
Sanskrit word race translated as “juice”, “life-giving energy”, “taste” or “aroma”. It is also the name of the primary substance that nourishes the body, which is associated with plasma, lymph and milky juice. Race required by every cell in our body. If a race healthy, we feel vitality, fullness and satisfaction with life and find joy in it.
One of the important ways to maintain races in a healthy state is the presence of an optimal daily routine, which is called dynacharya. Dinacharya takes advantage of changing qualitative characteristics of time of day, seasons and environment to determine the best type of activity and the time when this activity can be carried out. For example, based on the statement that “like increases like” – a law of nature according to Ayurveda – we can observe that relatively hot weather at noon increases strength and power. agni, digestive fire. This means that noon is the best time for the main meal. Thus, we benefit from a natural increase in heat levels.
There are also times when we need to adjust our actions in order to counteract the natural characteristics of a given time. For example, dawn is a time of change in nature, the transition from night to daylight. While we benefit from such a transformative energy that promotes effective meditation, the grounding, calm stability of meditation practice also neutralizes anxiety-producing changes.
If we are interested in maintaining a healthy balance, then we ourselves must learn to recognize the qualities inherent in a particular time of day and environment and learn to respond in a way that will maintain such a balance. Sometimes we must learn to take advantage of the characteristics of the environment, and sometimes we must learn how to neutralize their influence. The best response will depend, in part, on our constitution. What is good for one person may cause irritation or anxiety in another.
Despite the fact that dynacharye contains specific elements to be adapted to the needs of a particular person, it also contains general principles described by the classic texts of Ayurveda, from which anyone can benefit almost always.
It is interesting to note that the basic principles of life are presented as recommendations for each day, but the bulk of the recommendations are related to morning routines, from waking up between 3 a.m. and dawn to meditation, cleaning up, exercising and taking a bath. All this happens before breakfast. After breakfast and throughout the day, we are left to our own devices and we have the opportunity to try to apply the moral principles of life to our needs and patterns.
Why is there so much emphasis on morning routines?
Oriental medicine follows a principle called “the law of microcosm and macrocosm” which will help us to better understand all of the above. Dr. Robert Svoboda offers the following concise explanation of this principle:
“According to the law of microcosm and macrocosm, everything that exists in the infinite outer universe, the macrocosm, is also contained in the inner cosmos of the human body, the microcosm. Charaka says: “Man is the personification of the universe. Man is as diverse as the outside world. When an individual is in balance with the Universe, the small cosmos functions as a harmonious component of the larger world.
If everything that exists in the macrocosm exists in the microcosm, then the reverse must also be true: everything that exists in the microcosm exists in the macrocosm. Such a statement can lead to profound conclusions. But let’s first see how this principle works.
In Ayurveda, this law applies to the elements of the macrocosm and microcosm. A person, just like the Universe, has five creative elements – earth, water, fire, air and ether, and three forces: one controls movement, another transformation, and the third structure. In the universe, these forces are respectively called anila, surya and soma. In man they are called doshamis: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
The microcosm will always reflect the macrocosm. For example, in the fire of summer directed Surya (Sun), we will most likely suffer from internal diseases Pitta stomach ulcers, anger or skin rash. The macrocosm of the seasonal environment influences the microcosm of the human environment.
The way the microcosm influences the macrocosm is shown in the famous example of a butterfly beating its wings in one part of the world, and this affects the weather patterns on other continents. Sometimes articulate, sometimes subtle or difficult to perceive, the law of the macrocosm and microcosm nonetheless remains a fundamental principle in Ayurveda.
If we apply this principle to the passage of time, we will see temporary microcosms and macrocosms. In them, each time cycle is a microcosm of the next. There is a 24-hour cycle of night and day. This circadian rhythm goes on and on and on, mimicking more majestic cycles. The cycle of the seasons, where winter with its cold, lifeless months gives way to new spring growth. There is a life cycle from conception to birth, childhood, middle age, old age, death and, if we accept the idea of reincarnation, rebirth. Some spiritual traditions speak of cycles of ages, where the era of light and wisdom is replaced by an increasingly dark and ignorant century, and finally returns to the era of light again.
Even though we have no control or very little control over the majestic cycles of the ages, the seasons, or even our own lives, we still have the opportunity to benefit from each cycle every day, to be reborn into the new life of a new day, and to act wisely. .
If we superimpose the 24-hour cycle of the microcosm on the life cycle, we will see that the time before dawn until early morning roughly corresponds to pregnancy, birth, and early childhood. Morning coincides with late childhood, noon corresponds to the middle of life, and the period from midday to dusk equates to old age or the decline of life. Nightfall means death, and if we accept reincarnation (this is not a necessary condition in order to benefit from dynasties), then the night is in relation to the mysteries that the non-embodied soul encounters in the period between lives.
If the macrocosm of our life cycle can be influenced by the microcosm of one day, it follows, very importantly, as we spend this day. The sages who first told us about the precepts of Ayurveda were well aware of this and developed a daily routine, calling it dynacharya; it is a guide to be followed. It also offers us a structure that we can adjust according to our needs and constitution.
The ability to influence the macrocosm of life through the microcosm of the day gives us a huge healing potential. For example, we have the opportunity to cope with chronic ailments.
As soon as we see a pattern originating in the distant past of our lives, we can assume that it appeared at conception, during pregnancy, birth, or very early childhood. These are the stages of life that are most significant for the formation of life patterns and rhythms, because at this time all our organs, meridians and inclinations are formed. The physical, mental, spiritual and emotional patterns that were established at that time are difficult to change because they are deeply rooted in us. The imbalance created during these critical early stages often results in Hawaiians – problem areas that can persist throughout life.
Many people have complex, lifelong physical or emotional patterns that are the result of early life trauma. One person has a vague, causeless feeling of anxiety throughout his life. Another has always had a weak digestive system. A third finds it difficult to establish close relationships. These situations are often accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and inability to change these persistent patterns.
If we try to apply our law of microcosm and macrocosm to this dilemma, we will see that we can use the pre-dawn and early hours of the morning as a daily window of opportunity that can influence old and stubborn patterns, thereby changing or healing negative patterns. Every morning we have another chance to form healthy patterns that will replace the negative patterns that were formed during pregnancy or birth, or that can reinforce the positive ones that may have also been formed. Each new day marks a cascade of new opportunities and an avalanche of second chances.
If we follow the daily routine recommended by the Ayurvedic sages, we will harmonize Cotton wool and clear the channels of the mind that affect the vital forces in the formation of patterns. Wadding active both at the time of birth, and in the wee hours and until early morning. It, by its very nature, lends itself easily to both positive and negative influences. It also influences the formation of the mind through washed, our life force.
Meditation and oil massage, which is included in the daily routine, has a calming effect on Cotton wool.
In addition, note that all the senses – eyes, ears, nose, skin and mouth are also cleansed and lubricated. Due to the fact that the sense organs are associated with the channels of the mind, every morning we actually cleanse and renew our mind and perception.
When we meditate with love during the wee hours, we receive spiritual nourishment in the same way that we received nourishment in the womb and at the time of birth. By following these and other morning recommendations, we soothe Vatu, prana flows freely, our mental and physical apparatus becomes well organized, and we meet the new day as a healthy person. It is also possible that we are simultaneously healing the corresponding macrocosm of our prenatal and birth experience, benefiting life in general.
So, if it is possible to influence the microcosm of our life with love, then, probably, we will be able to exert a positive influence on the macrocosm of the epochs.