WHAT ARE SOME LIFESTYLE CHANGES YOU CAN CONSIDER POST COVID19? – MAKE YOUR HEALTH A PRIORITY!

The virus scare has reached  India and is spreading fast. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 2,902 (as of now) cases have been tested positive with COVID19 in India. There’s a curfew-like situation in the country. Authorities are trying their best to ensure that people practice social distancing and stay at home most of the time. This forceful lockdown or self-isolation gives us the chance to stay home and do everything that we never had time to do with the pace of our fast lives. From reading to exercising to playing with our children to playing an instrument to watching movies, there seems to be enough time to do all that our fast-paced lives did not allow us to do. Now that people are spending more time home, it is the time they sit back and see their lives in a new light. Here are a few lifestyle changes that we can practice to be safe and enjoy better health and wellbeing.

1. Going Vegan

Covid19 along with other bacteria, viruses and bacteria that are associated with diseases like HIV, Ebola and Nipah virus is zoonotic, which means they originate from animals. It is found that most of these zoonotic diseases originate at the demographies where animals were being raised, hunted or exploited for human consumption, like Wuhan in the case of Covid19.

According to the experts, H1N1 virus that killed 50 million people in the 1918 flu originated in a Kansas chicken farm. Similarly, Ebola and HIV, transmitted to humans from primates like chimpanzees and gorillas, were discovered in regions of sub-Saharan Africa where communities reside near primate populations.

Going vegan can put all these speculations to rest forever. The highly viewed Netflix documentary  “Game Changers” and innumerable scientific studies have established that plant based food is completely nourishing for the human body and we can choose to turn vegan/ vegetarian- a health nourishing choice for humans also leading to less cruelty to animals and a smaller carbon footprint on the planet as we stay away from meat. Vegetarian food has wrongly being labelled as restrictive and tasteless, whereas the truth is the vegetarianism has not been exploited properly at our homes or by the gourmet chef’s. Vegan/ Vegetarian food gives us the possibility of eating and exploring innumerable cuisines and dishes that are highly tasty and flavourful.

Ayurveda, since ages, has been recommending Sattvic diet for optimum physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. The pure and sattvic is known to enhance energy, produce happiness, calmness, and mental clarity. It could enhance longevity, health, and spirituality. According to Maha Narayana Upanishad (~5000 B.C.), it promotes a life expectancy of 100–150 years and it is recommended for “Saints”. Sattvic recommends foods that are fresh, juicy, nutritious, and tasty, comprising fresh fruits and vegetables, sprouted grains, roots, tubers, nuts, cow milk, curd, and honey. The Sattvic dietary pattern may is age-old wisdom but it holds even greater significance in modern times.

2.Working on Mental Health

A stressful situation – such as a pending deadline or persistent worry about losing a job, or the current situation of corona scare – can trigger the release of stress hormones leading to physiological changes. A stressful incident can cause the heart to pound and breathe fast. Muscles tense and beads of sweat appear.

Known as the “fight-or-fright” response, this combination of reactions to stress is evolved as a survival mechanism, which enables people to respond quickly and act proactively in life-threatening situations.

Research studies suggest that chronic stress may lead to high blood pressure, the formation of artery-clogging deposits, as well as the brain changes associated with anxiety, depression, and addiction. Chronic stress is also known to cause obesity, and compromised sleep and exercise).

Now that most of us are either working from home or are staying indoors, it is time to work on our mental health. It is advised to practice relaxation techniques such as Yoga and Meditation to keep stress and scare at the bay.

As our daily personal and professional lives were demanding and we were always on the edge, it enabled our sympathetic nervous system to keep our hormones and metabolism raised, our heart pounding, our brains and reflexes heightened and our sense organs overstimulated. But with time at hand, the lack of urgency allows us to start using our parasympathetic nervous system and restore our hormones, reduce anxiety and panic, restore our respiratory and circulatory system leading to mental peace and better psychosomatic health.

3. Learning to cook and improving our cooking methods

The dependence on packaged and processed foods has witnessed significant growth in recent years, thanks to rising income and busy schedules. We may not have wanted it this way but the corona outbreak has caused a significant cut down on the consumption of packaged food. Ignorance has caused us enough damage. It is time we get to our basics and return to our kitchens.

The virus has given us the time and opportunity to learn to eat home-cooked food and get back to old cooking methods.  We have realized that there is much more to food than fried, over salty and highly sugary food. The time at hand is the opportunity to cook our own food and eat it before it loses its warmth. This also gives us the opportunity to engage the next generation in cooking and pass on traditional recipes of making pickles, homemade spices, dips and chutneys, curries, broths and desserts (mithai). Nothing can beat the goodness of food cooked through traditional techniques including baking, roasting, steaming, pickling and fermenting. Come on relax and use this time to improve your health and immunity.

4. Downsizing and Going Minimalistic

Corona has largely restricted our social activity. Malls, cinema, social gatherings have been abandoned. Now that we are spending more time at home and avoiding socializing, we aren’t doing badly either. There is no inclination to buy the latest phone or car or indulge in fast fashion or to try world cuisine. We are understanding the fragility of life and worldly aspirations or consumerism. It is time to realize the futility of extravagance and social show off. Downsizing is not disgraceful. In fact, it is a means to achieve mental peace and harmony.

In Ayurveda, Shushruta advocates for “swasthya vritta” (positive health) recommending “dincharya” (daily routine), “ritucharya” (seasonal routine), diet, exercise and virtuous conduct for positive health. Buddhism’ favors to lead a well-ordered life by opting the middle course between self-indulgence and extreme simplicity. “Jainism” emphasized non-violence, vegetarianism, warmth and human sympathy. These ideologies stand on extensive research and hold even greater relevance and significance in modern times of distress and chaos.

5. Respecting the Human Body

Human beings have evolved as supreme beings with physical powers, intellectual powers, emotional and rational faculties that are not found in any other species on this planet. But we have been ruthless in disrespecting our own bodies and treating and mistreating them as vehicles to reach our goals and gain success. Success seems questionable in these unique times. It’s time to respect our physical beings and our souls, cleanse our spirits and build upon the higher virtues of love, compassion, empathy, and humanity. Slow down, breathe deep, walk, pray, meditate, sing and thank. Let’s heal ourselves and others.

6. Looking Inward and Introspecting

Corana virus outbreak in a way has introduced us to the fragility of life. A three-month-old organism has threatened the existence of the so-called smartest creatures on the planet. Isn’t it the right time we look inward and introspect if we the humans in some or other way are responsible for this natural calamity. Think and act, we have still got some time in hand. Many didn’t have this privilege and they perished.