healthy lifestyle lessons from mahatma gandhi

14
Integral Perspectives margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014 Healthy Lifestyle from Mahatma Gandhi’s Teachings at Nisargopchar Ashram, Uruli Kanchan, near Pune, India

Upload: margot-borden

Post on 13-Jan-2015

327 views

Category:

Health & Medicine


1 download

DESCRIPTION

It is a pleasure to share with you tidbits of wisdom and practical insights from my stay at Nisargopchar Ashram. Life is a delight, each moment full of surprises and lessons. Keeping our eyes, hearts and minds open helps turn the challenges into opportunities. Set in a peaceful village, Nisargopchar Ashram is a naturopathic retreat center where Mahatma Gandhi personally taught, treated patients and set up the trust under which it runs. Everything is done with a joyous sense of service rather than as a business reflecting through action, yet another dimension of Gandhian teachings. The daily routine revolves around cleansing and resting the body in order to stimulate its natural healing abilities. Taking time out from our daily lives to fast, practice yoga, exercise and spend time in nature not only cleanses the body, but, if we know how to harness the opportunity, we can certainly adopt new and positive habits to enrich and balance our daily life. Here are some insights and suggestions from a healthful and blissful 16 day retreat.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

Healthy Lifestyle

from Mahatma Gandhi’s Teachings at

Nisargopchar Ashram, Uruli Kanchan, near Pune,

India

Page 2: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

Before arriving in India a few months ago, I had been to six countries in six months.

While inspired by all the meetings and beauty, I felt like my body and digestive system needed a rest.

My friends suggested I go to Nisargopchar Ashram, a naturopathic retreat center where Mahatma Gandhi stayed, taught and founded the Nisargopchar Gramsudhar Trust in 1946.

After a beautiful journey in buses and taxis, I made it to the village of Uruli Kanchan near Pune, India. You can see the pictures, on my Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/1fm9rPq

Healthy Lifestyle

Page 3: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

While I came for a general detox and some rest, the majority of guests were there for weight loss.

In fact, most of the ailments for which people were seeking treatment were lifestyle related.

This inspired me to share with you some of the lessons and reminders we can all benefit from and, in addition, an exercise to help you implement changes into your life by changing your habits.

Healthy Lifestyle

Page 4: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

In the classroom where morning yoga is taught, posters convey messages from Mahatma Gandhi:

• Truth is God. Without truth, it is impossible to observe any principles in life.

• There should be truth in thought, truth in speech and truth in action.

• To realize truth, it is necessary to have single-minded devotion and indifference to other interests in life.

• The only means of realization of truth is Ahimsa or love. Without Ahimsa, it is not possible to seek and find truth. Mere non-killing is not enough. One who follows Ahimsa must not be angry and should not hurt any living thing.

• Even evil thought, hatred, wishing anybody ill is Himsa.

• Ahimsa is the means and truth is the end.

• One must not possess anything which is not really needed. Greed leads to delusion and frustration. Frustration leads to anger and destruction. So curb greed and anger.

• Human being without desire is God. Set higher goals to curb desire and follow a suitable path to pursue it.

continued on next page…

Self-Realization for Enriched Life

Page 5: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

• Human being without desire is God. Set higher goals to curb desire and follow a suitable path to pursue it.

• Humility means complete destruction of ego. If we shatter our ego and let it melt into the ocean of humanity, then we share its dignity.

• Woman must be the true helpmate of man in the mission of service. She has as much right to shape her own destiny as much as to shape his. Women are custodians of our culture.

• If Dharma is not for practical use in life, it is not useful even during the next life.

• Have respect for the religious faith of others as well as your own. Looking at all religions with an equal eye will motivate us to accept their features in our faith. When such tolerance becomes the law of life, conflicts between different faiths are impossible.

• The essence of prayers is to establish God in our hearts. Offer morning and evening prayers regularly.

• I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills.

Self-Realization for Enriched Life

Page 6: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

• Free from diseases

• Able to carry out normal activities without any fatigue

• Able to walk 10-12 miles a day

• All the organs of action, five senses of perception and mind are in perfect coordination

• An evil thought is also an illness

• When mind and body are in harmony and peace, there is no reason to be sick!

• Nature cure is an attempt to prevent disease altogether by living according to the laws of nature

• Nature cure can transform one’s entire life – physical, mental, moral and social through natural treatmentand faith which comes from the heart

continued on next page

Naturopathic Definition of Health

Page 7: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

• When there is absolute purity, inner and outer, illness becomes impossible.

• Eating is necessary only for sustaining the body and keeping it fit for serving. Food must be taken like medicine with restraint, just enough to keep the mind and body in good order.

• Wholesome and balanced diet is an indispensable part of nature cure

• Tea, coffee, cocoa and intoxicants are not required by the body. Alcohol makes man forget himself. Tobacco works havoc in mankind. Once caught in its tangle, it is difficult to come out of it.

• Hydrotherapy is an ancient form of treatment for curbing many health problems

• Sun bath is as useful as ordinary water bath, although the two cannot replace each other. Morning sun is the best means of UV rays, most effective component of sun rays, and acts as an all-round general tonic and accelerates the metabolism

• Nature cure will not only cure a particular ailment but also prevent falling ill in future

• Nature cure teaches right way of living

Naturopathic Definition of Health

Page 8: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

Gandhiji at Uruli KanchanImportant experiments in Uruli Kanchan consisted of teaching clean

and healthy living and trying to cure the sick through the five

elements of nature: Earth Water, Ether (space), Fire and Wind.

Curative herbs grown locally may be used.

At the the first meeting at Uruli Kanchan, Gandhi presented

Ramanama as the best natural therapy for curing bodily ailments.

During evening prayer, he explained that all mental and physical

ailments are due to one common cause which needs a common

remedy. The next day, over 30 patients came for treatment and Gandhi

examined the first 5-6 and recommended more or less a similar

prescription which included recitation of Ramanama, sun bath,

massage and hip bath and a simple diet of traditional Indian milk

(from the indigenous humped desi 2 cow), buttermilk, fruit juice and

plenty of fresh water to drink.

Page 9: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

More dishes, more diseases

More medicines, more miseries

More comforts, more complaints

More relief, more grief

Keep a watch on your weight

Over nourishment, more punishment

Hunger is your best physician

Drink 2-4 litres of water a day to remove body toxins and to

regulate appetite

Eat what you require and not what you desire

Exercise in the morning keeps you fresh throughout the day

6-8 hours of sleep daily keeps you healthy

Nature Cure is the best solution for illness

Regular meditation can bring concentration, confidence, self-control and reduce stress

Hints for Good Health

Page 10: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

Seeing the young people who are suffering from ailments that were 100% lifestyle related, I asked them, what they would take home with them after their cure. They looked at me lackadaisically and said, “Oh, no, we’ll just lose some weight and then come back next year to do it again.”

Seeing the inherent opportunity in this situation, I suggested to them:

Why don’t you choose and implement one change from their stay at the ashram.

Rather than succumbing to our bad habits, imagine what it will feel like, over time, to be completely free of self-sabotaging and destructive impulses…!

While some habits can sometimes be changed quickly with a strong will, depending on your nature, we can also make slow and steady change. The latter tends to be more sustainable as it is inherently more gentle and we humans respond well to gentleness.

My Suggestions for Lifestyle Change

Page 11: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi
Page 12: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

Over to You…

• Make a list of habits you’d like to change

• Which habit would you like to change first?

• Pick only one at a time.

• You can even break that habit down into smaller steps, for example if your goal is to stop eating sugar, you can simply stop or you may want to gradually reduce your intake until you feel ready to stop completely.

• When you have satisfactorily completed the first one, give yourself some acknowledgment and move on to the next one!

Page 13: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

Over to You…Some hints:

• Focus on the outcome: Rather than visualizing or thinking about the difficulty or discomfort you may experience short term, as you change your habit, keep a clear picture in your head of how it will be for you a month or two in the future when you have achieved your goal. In other words, keep your eyes on the ultimate goal.

• Be gentle with yourself: Judgment, self-criticism or being overly ambitious about habit change are ways of being hard on yourself. You are less likely to enjoy the process, less likely to succeed and less likely to build a gentle and kind relationship with yourself along the way.

• Treating yourself gently, with non-judgment makes it easier and less treacherous to see yourself just as you are, avoiding rationalization, justification, avoidance and other defensive and compensatory behaviors and attitudes.

Page 14: Healthy Lifestyle Lessons from Mahatma Gandhi

Integral Perspectives

margotbordenpsychotherapy.com © 2014

PSYCHOTHERAPY: Identify and align to your essence bringing harmony, congruence, spirit and success into your life.•Body-Mind: Clear up core emotional and subtle issues.•Cognitive: Identify and eliminate negative thoughts and beliefs.•Educational: Develop self-knowledge, self-acceptance and practical life skills.

EAST-WEST EXECUTIVE COACHING: Facing a challenge in bridging the East-West divide? Let us help you 'succeed, optimize, humanize your east-west business experience'.

Sessions available in-person or online in Paris, Scottsdale & Mumbai in English, French and Hindi.

Margot Bordenwww.margotbordenpsychotherapy.com

www.margotborden.com