Ritucharya- Seasonal Regimen
As discussed in the previous article, Ayurveda deals with maintaining health of healthy person; it does with daily regimen, seasonal regimen, diet, rules regarding having food, concept of Agni i.e. digestive fire etc.
As Ayurveda is ancient Indian science it has described 6 seasons namely,
Shishira (late winter)
Vasanta (spring)
Grishma (summer)
Varsha (monsoon)
Sharada (autumn)
Hemanta (winter)
We don’t have these 6 seasons all over the world. But sages described certain peculiarities or qualities of these seasons
(For e.g. in spring we see the trees blooming with flowers and in autumn they start shedding their leaves.) and their regimen. Thus, it can be applied at all levels.
To give a short introduction regarding seasons, I would say…
As earth moves around itself and sun at the same time tilted at an axis, we have seasons. Year is divided into Summer and Winter solstice having dominance of Sun and Moon respectively. Thus, there are naturally some seasons which increases your strength and others might decrease due to dominant quality of that particular season. But why would the ancient sages have thought about regimen of each season?
According to Ayurveda, as we are part of this universe, each and everything in this universe affects us including the Sun, Moon and the Wind. To achieve a proper balance with nature there is description of Seasonal Regimen (Ritucharya). Only when person consumes food, exercises and works in a harmonious way with nature’s characteristics only then the person can lead a healthy life ahead to achieve his goals. In other words, person invites the lifestyle disorders if their bodies don’t work in co- ordination with nature. These disorders have insidious onset and can be difficult cure too.
In a nutshell, the Seasonal Regimen explains about the changes one should make according to seasons so that the person’s digestive fire is maintained keeping his/her digestion healthy for given seasons, thus acclimatizing the body without affecting homeostasis.
In next article, we will be dealing with seasonal regimen for winter; some easy tips and diet exercise etc.