God's royal guard
Great saint of 16th century, Thyagaraja Swamy composed 'Bantu reethi koluvu….' in Telugu language. He pleaded Lord Rama to keep him closer by appointing him as a royal guard. Unlike an ordinary servant, a royal guard is like a well-disciplined strong soldier full of virtues and devoid of vices.
To effectively serve God and His Creation, you must preserve and enhance your greatest asset - yourself. Every one of us must devote time to renew ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually.
There are below three dimensions in each of us:
A. Physical Dimension
The goal of continuous physical improvement is to exercise our body in a way that will enhance our capacity to work, adapt, and enjoy.
To renew ourselves physically, we must do the below:
- Eat and drink in a healthy manner
- Exercise to build endurance, flexibility, and strength
- Get sufficient rest and relaxation
- Get annual health tests done
1. Eat and drink in a healthy manner
Eat healthy food: A balanced diet should contain all essentials such as proteins, carbohydrates, good fat, vitamins and minerals. When compared to animal based proteins, plant based proteins are good for health and spiritual growth. Vegetarian diet constitutes the holistic approach that every creature has a right to live and killing them is against the principle of non-violence.
If strict vegetarian diet is not practical, then eggs, fish and poultry meat can be taken in moderate quantities. Fat can be classified as bad fat (LSD) and good fat (HSD). It is recommended to consume only good fat such as ghee (clarified butter) and olive oil.
Foods can also be classified as that of high calorie and low calorie. An average adult man needs daily consumption of 2,000 calories. Because of changing life styles people are getting used to consume high calorie food without a corresponding increase in physical work to burn those additional calories. They accumulate as fat.
Reduce intake of saturated fat, salt, and sugar. It is okay to enjoy such foods on special occasions such as birthdays and festivals, but don't overindulge.
Eat food in 4 or 5 smaller portions a day. Portion sizes served in restaurants are much larger than what our bodies actually need and what is healthy. They are also mixed with harmful colour and flavours to entice customers. Hence home food is always healthier than outside food. Get out of the habit of feeling that you always have to finish your plate.
Eat breakfast every morning: A healthy breakfast starts your day off right. It sets you up so that you have energy and fuel for optimal mental and physical performance. Eating breakfast helps to maintain stable blood sugar levels and a healthy weight because you are less likely to overindulge later in the day.
Choose steamed foods and keep distance from all fried foods, sugary drinks, milk shakes, fruit juices, desserts and any kind of sweets. Replace junk foods with healthy snacks.
When we cook the foods, it destroys the life and nutrients in it. Eating foods after this process of destruction does not give the same amount of life energy to our body. Eats lots of sprouts (such as groundnuts, green grams), fruits, and vegetables (such as carrots, beetroot, cucumbers). Make sure at least thirty percent or more live food constitute daily consumption.
As you age, your relationship to food may change along with your body. A decreased metabolism, changes in taste and smell, and slower digestion may affect your appetite, the foods you can eat, and how your body processes food. The key is to figure out how to adapt to your changing needs. Now, more than ever, healthy eating is important to maintain your energy and health.
Your whole digestive system does slow as you age, so fiber is very important. Consume fiber-rich foods such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. They will help you feel more energetic and give you fuel to keep going.
Make sure you get all the essential vitamins. For vegetarians, B & D vitamins can be hard to get (as per researches there is no source of vitamin B12 in a vegan diet), as well as zinc and iron. Consider taking a daily multivitamin. Vitamin C & zinc are also important for immune system.
Make meals a social event. It is more enjoyable to eat with others than alone. If you live alone, invite other people over. It's a great way to stay in touch with friends and you can share cooking and clean-up duties.
Eating while watching TV and reading books is a big NO because that habit makes people eat more than what is needed.
Drink Green Tea: It contains lots of antioxidants that help in anti-aging and maintaining good looks. It also increases metabolic rate and thus helps in weight loss.
Drink plenty of water every day. Water helps transport vital nutrients, regulates body temperature, eases digestion, keeps joints supple, cleans out your body, keeps skin healthy and young. Water stored in copper vessel is said to be good for detoxification and health.
Not drinking enough leads to dehydration, resulting in headaches, fatigue, dizziness, constipation, memory loss and so on. Not drinking enough water can also lead to excess water weight, because our bodies will store water outside our cells. That's where you feel bloated and heavy. Water helps the liver do its job more efficiently, namely in metabolizing fat. If you're not consuming enough water, your liver has to work overtime with its other primary function: detoxifying the body.
Water helps maximizes the liver's efficiency of both jobs, so you keep your insides clean, your weight healthy, and get rid of fat.
Cultivate the habit of carrying a water bottle with you at all times.
2. Exercise to build endurance, flexibility, and strength
Exercise regularly. A well-rounded fitness routine includes strength training, aerobic conditioning, and flexibility. Make exercise a top priority in your life - and stay committed to it. Being fit helps you to enjoy life. It increases mental sharpness and physical endurance. An energized body helps give you a positive outlook on life, plus you look great, feel great, and reduce your risk of disease.
Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 3-4 days a week. Exercise should be a regular part of your day, like brushing your teeth, eating, and sleeping.
Start slow, if you are new to exercise. A few minutes a day puts you well on the way towards building a healthy habit. Slowly increase the time and intensity to avoid injury.
Walking is a wonderful way to start exercising. Exercise doesn't have to mean strenuous activity or time at the gym. In fact, walking is one of the best ways to stay fit. Best of all, it doesn't require any equipment or experience and you can do it anywhere. Cycling, jogging, swimming, Gardening, sports such as badminton etc are also great forms of exercises. Find an activity you like, convenient to do and that motivates you to continue.
Exercise with a friend or family member. You can help to keep each other motivated and you'll not only benefit from the physical activity, but also from the social contact as well.
Strength training involves adding muscles to body. It involves carrying weights beyond the capacity thereby creating a rupture. This rupture is repaired by taking proteins and thus adding biceps, triceps, calves, thighs, shoulder mass and so on. Thus the muscular body becomes a calorie burning machine and burns more calories even during sleep or resting period.
3. Get sufficient rest and relaxation
Sleep good. Go to bed early and usually at a regular time each day. The amount of sleep you need varies between people, but most people need at least get 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night in order to function at their highest capacity. There are no rules to this, so if you need 10 hours of rest to feel good the next day, then that's what you need to do. The consequences of not getting enough sleep include feeling tired, making mistakes at work, weakening your immune system, and even depression.
4. Get annual health tests done
Get annual health check-up done: Many diseases, if diagnosed early, can be cured easily and without much burden to the family members.
B. Mental Dimension
The goal of renewing our mental dimension is to continue expanding our mind.
To renew mentally, you can:
- Read good literature, watch thought provoking movies, appreciate art and sculpture in exhibitions, museums etc.
- Limit television watching to only those programs that enrich your life and mind
- Solve Puzzles: Brain growth in humans is a continuous process Even in old age the brain can rewire itself and grow new neurons or brain cells. Whatever age-related memory loss occurs is due to the lack of adequate mental stimulation. Stimulating your brain with crossword puzzles or Sudoku helps to improve brain function and prevent any form of cognitive decline.
- Keep yourself busy by learning new things. Age is no bar for learning. You can learn at the age of six or sixty. Don't feel shy if you have to learn from young people.
- Follow your hobbies or you can join academic courses of your choice, or learn a new language. We must learn something new rather than simply replaying already mastered skills to keep our brain fit. Our brain is not an inanimate vessel that we fill, rather it is more like a living creature with an appetite, one that can grow and change with proper nourishment and exercise.
- Share your feelings with others. Don't keep your emotions locked up inside or you run the risk of doing further emotional damage to yourself. Keeping emotions bottled up inside can cause mental and emotional stress as well as physical symptoms. Unexpressed feelings can lead to depression, sleep problems, eating disorders, and even physical pain. Learn to talk about your feelings, or express them through some sort of art. Even writing thoughts and feelings down is a good way to express things you find hard to say.
- Ask for help: This can be as simple as asking a friend to babysit while you have some time out or speaking to your doctor about where to find a counsellor or community mental health service. The perfect, worry-free life does not exist. Everyone's life journey has bumpy bits and the people around you can help. If you don't get the help you need, keep asking until you do.
- Break out of the monotony: Do something different. Get a massage, make a journal diary, get an aquarium and watch turtles, fishes or slow animals, relive childhood experience especially happy moments, use the option of call forwarding in your phone, take a vacation to a new place, take a cruise, take a day trip, check out some of those activities listed in the newspaper.
C. Spiritual Dimension
The goal of renewing our spiritual self is to provide leadership to our life, reinforce your commitment to our value system and develop meaningful relationships.
To renew ourselves spiritually, we can do the below:
- Practice daily meditation or japa of name of your favourite God.
- Pray to God at home or in a temple
- Go to pilgrimages once in a while. Travel enables us the see the world in new perspectives and learn from experiences.
- Maintain good relations with people. Cultivate the habit of forgiveness, if someone wrongs you. Instead of getting angry and resorting to revenge, leave it to the judgment of God. Do your best to resolve conflicts that you have with others in your life. Forgiveness does not mean forgetting what happened. It means that we learn lessons from that particular situation and do what corrective action has to be done, without carrying bitterness in the heart.
- Do not judge others. A person who is busy judging others becomes ignorant of his own imperfections and cannot learn from them and grow.
- Make contributions (in time and money) to meaningful activities that improve the lives of others.
- Observe fasting: Ekadashi comes once in every 14 days in the lunar calendar as 11th day after half-moon and full-moon. It is believed that on this day the body doesn't need much food. At least every 14 days, you could go without food. If your activities are such that you are unable to complete fasting, then you could go on a fruit and milk diet. Food means gratification of the senses and to starve the senses is to elevate them on higher goals. Once the taste buds are controlled, it becomes easier to control other senses. The pangs of hunger that we experience during fasting make us think and extend our sympathy towards the lesser privileged who often go without food. Fasting provides an opportunity for the privileged to share food with their less privileged fellows and alleviate their distress.
- Perform the five daily duties (pancha maha yajnas).
- Brahma Yajna or Rishi Yajna: Every seeker should study sacred texts such as Ramayana, Mahabharata, Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita. Thus he obtains knowledge given by Rishis. He should share the knowledge with others. By doing so, he repays the debt to Rishis.
- Deva Yajna: Man is made of five elements and he cannot live without them. Deva Yajna involves paying homage to gods of nature.
- Pitri Yajna involves paying homage to the ancestors because they gave this physical body through parents.
- Nara Yajna: A man gets help from his friends, relatives, teachers and fellow-beings in the society. He should repay the debt to the society. Nara Yajna involves paying respects to human guests, helping the poor and downtrodden.
- Bhuta Yajna: Our body is nourished by the milk of cows, grains, vegetables and fruits. We are destroying forests for the sake of our homes and agriculture, there by destroying the homes and food of animals and birds. Further, numerous insects are killed by us unconsciously during walking, cleaning, cooking, etc. These sins are removed by performance of Bhuta Yajna. Bhuta Yajna involves nourishing other living beings by planting and watering a tree, sharing food with an animal or bird. A karma yogi plants trees for future generations without thinking if he gets to eat the fruits.
The performance of these five yajnas is conducive to the spiritual growth of a man. He gradually learns that he is not a separate entity or isolated creature, but is a part of the great whole.
A serious athlete does not put just anything into his body. Similarly a serious spiritual seeker must limit the inputs, be it food or sensory perceptions.
Make a habit of writing dairy every day to record your thoughts and deeds. Once in a week review it to ascertain your progress.