Started Panchkarma today: idea was simple- to start respecting my body to gain its respect in return (the science of Ayurveda is all about giving respect to your body and treating it as a gift of Bhagwan).

Vaidya jee, while doing his therapeutic routine asked me few Qns - one that was most important was around the food- if I eat my food concentrating on my food & I answered in negative. He said: we humans have forgotten the art of consuming our food- we don’t respect it at all!

He said : eating food requires us to devote max 30 mins and we tend to use that time to either watch TV or read newspaper or chat on phone- we do everything but eat our food properly - result is that body also treats whatever we consume as junk.....

Per him: because we don’t concentrate on our food, we tend to not chew it properly which leads to problems around stomach and all; chewing our food properly and to the last is necessary & failure to do that means that we r making stomach do what our mouth should do!

Another diff I came to know today was how Elaichis work-while smaller one is used as an additive mostly in milk products,bigger one is used in food that contains complex proteins like mutton or Chana daal etc-per him bigger Elaichi helps break them. Smaller one is natural aspirin

Another crucial point was- that we should drink a glass of water before every biological activity. Also how drinking hot water before bed and lukewarm in the morning is desirable as it aids in keeping the system clean.

Jalniti-such a simple but effective exercise- whole day I didn’t feel the usual heaviness that I have been feeling offlate - per him what jalniti does is that it cleans the membrane (not remember name and all) that acts as d first line of defence against unwanted particles

And as smaller Elaichi is a natural aspirin, it is therefore advisable for everyone to chew two pods every day- per Vaidya jee: much of our Ayurveda revolves around our food and that’s why so much emphasis is placed on what we eat .....

While giving the steamwash, he placed a towel around my neck as my head was outside the steam area- every few mins he used to pour cold water on my head and I asked him why this & his answer was- it is not advisable to give steam to area above neck!

I asked if so, then why people use Sauna and he said Sauna is made for regions with extreme cold climate - their body is used to bearing extreme climate, which we Indian are not - hence Saima is not advisable here. Also he said brain functions best under a specified temp range

That’s why they advise lower body steam wash in Ayurveda and Head needs to be cooled down every few minutes as heat always travels from lower point to higher one- and guess what we imitate colder west and have made full steam- sauna bath a ritual in modern INDIA....

Our problem is that in our bid to look modern, we blindly imitate what is good for west in INDIA as well- what works in west cannot work in INDIA simply because we live in diff climate zones - Ayurveda was perfected over several thousands years in this land only and is effective

Ok today was the 2nd day & I already feel great that I decided on doing panchkarma- not only I feel good about myself but I was so eager to go today that I got up first at 340 am and then again at 445- finally left bed at 530 & left for Vaidya jee’s place-26 kms away from my home

And today, I again asked Vaidya jee about Ayurveda and what it actually is- he explained it beautifully by comparing Ayurveda to a manual- just as a car comes with manual of instructions to help it run smoothly, Ayurveda is the manual of the body and it details things to be done!

And today was the day about a small talk on the need for diet adjustments- so off goes all the grains from my plate and enters salad and soups. Per Vaidya jee, my body is very stiff and needs to loosen up a bit - hence he advised against eating grains

First thing he suggested was to drink lauki soup-
1) 500 grams of round lauki cut into big pieces & pressure cooked (upto 1 whistle) in 150 ML water, rock salt & kalaunji
2) Grind it after adding 50 grams of butter or grated cheese and your soup is ready.

For lunch he suggested fruit- veg salad with lot of fibres. To that is added- 2 spoonful jamun vinegar and a spoon of perilla oil. Add salt to taste & salad is ready. For dinner, cut round lauki into cube size pieces, sauté in desi Ghee and with jeers, add salt n green chillies

Best part today was when he poured two drops of pure mustard oil inside my both nostrils after Jal Neti........ awesome experience it was - my nasal area felt clear after years- per Vaidya jee, this will help cure my sinus issue

And Vaidya jee gave a beautiful perspective on few things today. First one was around social life- he said our society needs to learn from nature- just as two plants are sown at a distance (to help them grow), folks should also maintain some distance to help each other grow!

He feels that currently social generation is way too intrusive - we are so much bothered about other person’s life that we have actually forgotten the art of living our life for our own happiness- we are focused on others and happenings in their lives https://twitter.com/alok_bhatt/status/1126537105889304577?s=21

Next part was about need for education. Per Vaidya jee, humans are the only living creature that needs to be educated to help it realise its true potential. Per him, if u domesticate a pet, pet will never forget its basic animal nature. But humans are lot different

If one were to leave a child in the jungle amidst animals/ that child will assume all the traits of the animals only and will live a life diff from fellow humans. Same is not true with animals- they always retain their basic nature - hence the need for education amongst humans

Vaidya jee who I am consulting is based out of Thano village on Airport road opposite FRH Thano and his centre’s name is Bhaskaranand Ayurveda Shodh Sansthan

3rd day of Panchkarma : today my Vaidya jee gave me this amazing drink to start my day- followed by almost 90 mins massage- mud therapy- jal Neti and some more therapy to check nerve blockages ....

Per Vaidya jee, the stiffness in the body has to go before any therapy yields desired results and to do that- I am off all the grains for now....so breakfast is the lauki ka soup cooked in kalaunji .....

Most interesting was this shake that keeps u cool whole day- made from plant resins and chia seeds in Honey and lemon, this soups tastes very different and is actually a great energy booster as well!