Rutucharya

Vasant rutu – Season of Detox and self-care

Nature is blessed with blooming of flowers, cold breeze in the nighttime and colorful trees around is the perfect picture of Vasant rutu or spring.
Sunny hot days and colder nights create fluctuations in the inner health causing health issues. It also brings many festivals and events in their months of Chaitra and Vaishakh.
Nature is the best healer and destructor too. On the same principle Ayurveda has described the food, exercise and sleep pattern which is called Rutucharya.
It emphasizes the importance of self-care, mindfulness, and a connection with nature. By following the Vasant Ritucharya, one can promote physical, mental, and emotional health, and also can prevent diseases. In the Vasant rutu, sweetness, Unctuousness in the body provokes which was accumulated in the previous rutu of Shishir. These are the properties of kapha dosha or water element. It shows heaviness, sluggishness and excess mucus secretions in the body.

As blooming of flowers is going on it causes allergies showing cold, cough, running nose or skin issues.
Everyone should follow a regime to detox and balance this kapha. This is the best time of the year to detox, rejuvenate and gain health.
Vamana is the detox process that comes under Panchakarma therapies and is the most suggested treatment in Vasant. Also, Nasya, karnapurana therapies help to detox the body.

Avoid afternoon sleep in Vasant as it provokes kapha but proper rest and nighttime sleep is needed to gain strength and vitality.
Digestive fire becomes weak and so food should be warm, easy to digest and with spices. Soups, green gram recipes, rice flour, cooked or tossed salads, leafy, fruit vegetables and rice recipes are recommended.
Strength of a person is fair in Vasant which suggests doing Yoga and exercises in the morning time.

In conclusion, Vasant Rutucharya offers a holistic approach staying healthy. By incorporating diet, exercise, rest, self-care practices and herbal therapies, one can detoxify, maintain balance and improve vitality during this time of rejuvenation. All should maintain balance and harmony in both the mind and body and promote overall health and well-being.

Author- Vaidya Tejaswini Sameer Bhale
Ayurveda Physician
Nadi Pariksha and Product domain expertise, Nadi Tarangini, Atreya Innovations Pvt Ltd

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Rutusandhikaal and Dakshinayana

All-natural phenomena are correlated with each other in complex ways, so one wonders how our ecosystem and body are related? Being a part of the ecosystem, the human body is greatly influenced by the external environment.Many of the exogenous and endogenous rhythms have specific phase relationships with each other; which means they interact and synchronize with each other. Considering and understanding this rhythm, Ayurveda has explained the concept of Rutucharya uniquely.
Rutu (ऋतु), the season, classified by different features expresses different changes in environment and body. Ayurveda has depicted various rules and regimens known as Charya (चर्या), regarding diet and behavior to acclimatize seasonal enforcement easily without altering body homeostasis. This is aunique feature that Ayurveda offers to prevent the loads of diseases coming from change in season.

The year according to Ayurveda is divided into two periods (अयन), depending on the direction of movement of sun that is Uttarayana (northern solstice) and Dakshinayana (southern solstice). Each is formed of three Rutus (seasons). A year consists of six seasons, namely, Shishira (winter), Vasanta (spring), and Grishma (summer) in Uttarayan and Varsha (monsoon), Sharada (autumn), and Hemanta (late autumn) in Dakshinayana.

Dakshinayana starts with Varsha rutu or Monsoon, in particular the tropical belt, when the climate is humid, wind is colder and the moon is more powerful than the sun. The strength of a person gradually increases from varsha rutu to sharad to hemant during the dakshinayana period. Here, anabolic activity dominates over the catabolic activity in the environment.

Research shows that seasonal flu imposes a substantial burden among all the people in India. The frequency of illness shows an association between diseases and seasonal changes. The human body normally shows a slow response while adapting to the changes in this season. The period between the last 7 days of the current season and 7 days of the upcoming season is always considered crucial. This period is known as Rutusandhikaal or considered as a transition period. It is called Yamadanshtra (bites of God Yama i.e. having maximum infestation rate ) by Ayurveda. Seasonal changes are always associated with changes in temperature, humidity, moisture. The shift in temperature provides an apt condition for different groups of viruses to flourish, which then spreads contagious diseases. This period is hence very susceptible for infections. Less immunity, less strength and symptoms associated with adaptation to changing seasons may favor the spread of diseases causing two or more health complaints together. Load on the healthcare system can be reduced by adapting the simple way of Rutucharya.

Digestive fire, metabolic health and strength are three main factors associated with a change in season. If the body is unable to adapt itself to stressors due to changes in specific traits of seasons, it may lead to an imbalance between Doshas where the body becomes highly susceptible to various disorders. We can minimize this by introducing good adaptation by implementing Rutucharya.
Western countries also suffer a burden of diseases due to seasonal changes. We can define the Rutucharya for those people by observing the characteristics of the season and its impact on the human body. This will be the application of core knowledge of Ayurveda for the betterment of life. Broadly we can classify 5 regions in the world. 1. Europe 2. America 3. Asia 4. Australasia 5. The Middle East and Africa. Some of them are having 2 seasons and some are having 4 seasons. Applying the concept of Rutucharya, one can easily design the required diet and lifestyle.

In the next article, we will focus on Agni (digestive fire) during the monsoon season. Diet correction and lifestyle modification required to maintain balance will also be explained. As monsoon is the season of festivals, we will brief about the food recommendations and also the necessities of customs like fasting. We will explore the ideal regime for balancing the metabolic index of the body during Monsoon in the next article.
Stay tuned to our series. Wishing a happy and safe monsoon to readers.

Author:
Dr. Gayatri Kulkarni – Mulye
MD (Ayurved)
Blogger @ Turyaa Wellness

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