Ageing well is a form of art that, according to Ayurveda, should be prepared in previous years, starting from childhood.
As the psychoanalyst James Hilmann writes in his book ‘The Strength of Character’, the old age is the natural and necessary condition to intensify the unique and unrepeatable characteristics that constitute the authentic sense of our existence.
It is also the right condition to become the wise figure to which every culture entrusts the transmission of tradition and of the knowledge that constitute the foundations of civilization.
How to stay healthy and age well?
A few and simple actions are enough.
The third age has Vata (Aria) Dosha prevailing. This Dosha has two main features: “Coldness” and “Dryness” and regulates everything that is “Movement”, so our choices will have to consider these two aspects to balance them.
Therefore, it is good to:
- Eat simple and hot foods, cooked with herbs and spices except chilli;
- Try to eliminate cold and heavy foods such as dairy products, especially yoghurt, which in our continental climate suppresses the energetic and physical “canals” (empty spaces in our body); avoid raw salads that increase air and caffeine that creates poor absorption in the intestines.
- Drink boiled milk (milk is a food to itself, not a dairy) with spices such as Milk Masala Virya®. It’s a great nutrient for the nerves.
- Eat abundantly extra virgin olive oil, rich in natural antioxidants, of warm and greasy properties, excellent anti-vata dote or eat ghee (clarified butter) rebalancing all three Dosha. It is a powerful nutrient of the Nervous System and keeps the walls of the arteries and veins elastic.
- Keep your bowels clean with the help of a proper diet and of herbal teas such as Koshtha Virya® or use herbal tablets mixed according to Ayurvedic principles such as Adhogam Virya® for proper bowel movement and eliminating excess of Vata;
- Assume natural adaptogen (products that enhance the body’s strengths) such as Tulsi Virya®, which improves the body’s oxygenation in particular in the brain; Triphala Virya®, a natural antioxidant; Kaf Virya® strengthens the immune system and improves breathing.
The phases of life according to Ayurveda
Ayurveda subdivides the life of a person in three phases, predominantly governed by one of the three energy fields (Dosha) that constitute the human being:
- 0-25 years, period of growth, of world discovery and study, with Kapha (Water) Dosha prevalence;
- 25 to 50 years, working time and the formation of an own family, with prevalence of Pitta (Fire) Dosha;
- After the age of 50, the time when the children have grown up, are autonomous, one has reached the pinnacle of work, and can leave everything and dedicate it to the own person to cultivate one owns interests/hobby’s and deepen the spirituality in order to prepare oneself with full consciousness of death, a natural outcome of a long life. The prevailing Dosha is Vata (Aria) Dosha.
That’s why Ayurveda for millennia promotes prevention, what is now called Health Psychology.
Prevention is for those who are in good health, sound and who want to be better off to have optimal psychophysical well-being. It is pursued at all ages!