Pancha Bhoota
Introduction
Addressing all 5 elements of Ayurveda’s Pancha Bhoota is important to activate the body’s internal mechanism to heal itself. Please first read the brief summary of Pancha Bhoota in the article on principles of Ayurveda.
Earth Element
Balanced Diet. Our body is composed of Earth (iron, carbon, calcium, sodium, potassium, and trace amounts of copper, phosphorous, zinc, chromium, selenium,…) all assembled together as proteins, hormones, etc. A major part of our body (the bulk of what we haul around on our two legs, apart from the brain, heart, and lungs) is dedicated to nothing but digesting and extracting nutrients from food, and eliminating waste. The second major part is to in delivering/circulating these raw materials and energy through the body (via the heart, lungs, and circulatory system). The third major bulk of our body is locomotion (skeletal and muscular system), and the fourth and final bulk is the nervous system (brains and neural network).
Since a large part of the body (stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, small intestine, large intestine, kidney…) is dedicated to extracting nutrients from food (including detoxification and waste removal) it is vital to take note of what kind of food/junk we put into it. If it gets abused, it will breakdown. To keep those organs healthy, it means eating right. Ideally, you’d adjust your diet according to your body type.
Body type in Ayurveda is measured in terms of your dosha composition (vata, pitta, kapha, vata-pitta, pitta-kapha, vata-kapha; see Ayurveda). Accordingly, the types of food (and even exercises such as massage points) are prescribed in Ayurveda. I highly recommend Maya Tiwari’s Ayurveda Secrets of Healing. But don’t wait to consult an Ayurvedic practitioner or for getting a book. While it is a science to determine what is the right diet for you, it is not a rocket science to determine what is a bad. You do not need a book or some health guru to tell you that following is bad and to eliminate them:
- Avoid Trans-Fats.
- Avoid Artificial Sweetners.
- Importance of Vegetarian diet.
- Avoid produce treated with pesticides and other chemical fertilizers (vs organic)
- Avoid of indulging in to much of anything (salt, sweets, fatty foods, high-fructose corn syrup,…)
- Avoid of preparing food in aluminum, microwave, non-stick,…
- Avoid processed foods. Instead use whole wheat, brown or parboiled rice, jaggary (raw cane sugar)
- Use the good oils – those that have a track record of being used for centuries (coconut oil, sesame oil, olive oil).
- Avoid Soft Drinks
- Changing your eating habits. This old adage alone is very effective in maintaining proper weight: “breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper.” Unfortunately we have this reversed (people hardly eat breakfast,… and they eat a huge dinner). Sleep and wake up 1-2 hours early. That way you can take a nice huge breakfast (with all the ghee you want without the guilt), and a very light anti-oxidant type of dinner (like fresh fruits, boiled broccoli,…). Do an experiment: try eating a pizza in the morning vs before sleeping for a few days, you’ll definitely see a weight gain in the later.
One of things I find lacking in Western culinary and diets (even though there is emphasis on eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables; especially green leafy vegetables), is the lack of emphasis on herbs and spices. Spices are loaded with complex micronutrients that science simply can’t fathom to understand the works of (and yet we look to drugs!). For example: mint, coriander, cilantro, curry leaves, omam, cumin, anise, fenugreek, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon sticks, cardamom. In fact half the Ayurveda preparations are chutneys and curries. But these are null and void when not prepared properly (like the deep fried or boiling instead of steaming). By chutney I don’t mean the off the shelf kind (they hardly contain any spices; they’re pretty much mint+coriander ground up with preservatives like acetic acid). Google ayurvedic recipies, you’ll find plenty. Again, diet addresses only one component. It’s a must to put together a package that addresses all five elements. Just tackling the Earth element, and igoring/abusing the other four just isn’t going to do it.
Water Element
Water Therapy. It consists of the following regiment, to be done daily:
- Immediately after waking up, after brushing teeth (preferrably with natural non-fluoride toothpaste), one should drink 1.8L (approx. 8 cups; for adults) of water in one continuous gulp. One can start with 2 cups and increase to full capacity over a few weeks. Adjust accordingly according to your BMI (Body Mass Index), between 6-8 cups.
- The water should be at room temperature and de-chlorinated, preferrably filtered to remove excess salt.
- Do not eat or drink anything for the next 1 hour.
You will notice:
- Frequent urination. Initially the body reacts by requiring to urinate 2-3 times in the first 2 hours, and 4-6 times a day on the whole, then as the body adjusts to it, it reduces to 3-4 times a day.
- You will experience complete bowl movement within an hour.
- Mind will be much clearer, as the water gets rid of powerful oxidants and other free radicals which latch on to parts of a cell that blocking neuro-receptors and hormones (much in the same way that silver gets tarnished).
- Boosts the immune system. For people who don’t do water therapy, more than 50% of the bodies defenses are distracted by occupying itself in fighting battles around intestine (as when food is not flushed out with clean bowl movement, it putrefies, attracting and breeding all sorts of bacteria; and the toxicity can lead to other diseases).
- Improves complexion and regulates body weight. It is no small coincidence that gymnasts and models are coached to drink plenty of water in order to maintain their figure and complexion.
Fire Element
Hatha Yoga. Fire represents energy. Every cell in your body is bustling with sparks of energy. For every breath you take, zillions of sparks of life energy encapsulated in oxygen bonds are exchanged between the lungs and the cells. Your whole body is constantly flowing with streams of energy. Not only is yoga exercise important for “burning calories”, it is essential for activating vital energy centers (chakras) and massaging vital organs in your body. The best form of exercise is hatha yoga (or simply “yoga”, as it is known in pop-culture). I just refer you to the Yoga Journal.
Space Element
Meditation. Any form of meditation (raja yoga, bhakti yoga (puja, bhajans,…), transcendental meditation,…) that insulates your mind and withdraws your senses from the barrage of bombardment from the external world. It gives time-out for the brain. Allowing the brain to casually do some house-keeping in the body. It relaxes your entire mind and every organ in your body. Now science is “discovering” (several thousand years after Hindus had studied and categorized this in detail) that the state of mind has direct impact one’s health. Mental stress can greatly amplify and induce any disease (cardiovascular, cholesterol levels, diabetes, cancer, prevent recovery of ailing organs like liver, kidney, etc., prevent success of surgery, etc.). Clinical trials have shown that even the smallest amount of meditation has great benefit (I remember back before the 90’s meditation was just relegated to “mysticism”; today some health insurances even cover your yoga classes).
Air Element
Pranayama. Proper breathing. Prana is not “air” (as some think), but the vital life energy that circulates in and out your body, and within your body. Ayurveda identifies several types of life-energy currents at work in different sections of your body. The one which works throughout your body is prana. By controlling our breath we insure proper circulation of this prana. Many diseases are essentially caused by improper prana circulation, or blockages of this prana. Ayurveda prescribes a certain way of controlling your prana by alternate breathing through your right and left nostrils, retaining, exhaling, and inhaling for certain number of counts. Note that Ayurveda books warn that when this is done wrongly or forcefully it can have negative effects. The safest way of “controlling” your prana would be to just observe your breath as you do pranayama, never force it, do to a level that is natural.