A forum for health and related topics? -

Could we use a forum for health and related topics?

Radhe!

GREEN TEA- and the flue will never get you.

its my medicine.
i am hardly sick caused by wintercrappy weather.



Tarunji

PS:
again- choose GYOKORU . its the best.

How do you make it so as not to get the "teein" in the tea?

This would be great!

I study some terapies, and I would like to see how this could be developded here.

I suppose we just learn to live with it.

I'm sure we all have something we can contribute. Health of body often gives a good contribution to the health of spirit. It is not without a reason that sattva is considered good for enlightenment and meditation.

While we're at it, let's hear suggestions for the name of the forum.

OK here is some health advice for male vegetarians.
Be sure to sprout your dahl before eating it, whether u cook it or use it raw in salads. Sprouting releases the protein enzymes. One reason why Indian veg men are so thin and effeminate, (in Bengla bhasha we women call them "purush viheen purush") is because they are not getting enough protein. They all think dahl is high in protein but unless the dahl is sprouted, the protein enzymes will not be released. Also, most Indian veggies are not drinking whey.... one of the highest and most concentrated forms of protein. So, unless you are really into cultivating your inner (and outer) feminine attributes, I would suggest you all to add more protein as above stated in your diets. Otherwise after a few genetic generations you will face the same fate as Indian men. Won't go into details about that here.

So, you think that men should get lots of protein and have a hyped-up libido?
call me;
***-***-****
let's talk!

this should be a good thread. there are a few contributions I can make to this thread.
I have a whole arsenal of herbs, vitamins, supplements and teas that I have discovered in the 30 years I have been into vegetarianism, yoga and Krishna consciousness.
there are even some yogic techniques that I can share. i don't practice everything as much as I used to, but maybe some others can get some benefit from some of these things anyway. before i discovered Krishna conciousness I was into hatha-yoga, pranayana and the psychedelic. I still have a profound appreciation for hatha-yoga and pranayama as a system of physiological health. I do not think of it as a spiritual path. It is a discipline that enhances the mind and body, but not a spiritual path of any serious consequence compared to the Bhakti science.

I think the first thing to cover is COLD SHOWER IN THE MORNING.
There is nothing like a nice fresh cold shower in the morning to wake up the body and stimulate the mind. Anyone who does not take a cold shower in the morning just missed the chance to feel good all day.

Anybody here not taking cold shower in the morning?
shamey, shame, shame!

I'm a cold shower addict. Hot showers make me miserable. A lukewarm shower in the evening is agreeable to me, but I gotta have that cold shower in the morning or I am physically miserable.
A little austerity goes a long way!

japa time...........................bye

I heard somewhere that before taking a cold bath, we should take a hot bath. This is what is recommended in the hidroterapy.

For this discussion about health I think that should be important study the connections about ayurveda and bhakti yoga.

I was actually thinking of a forum, a subcategory to this one.

I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for as far as subcategories, but I think you could divide the overall topic of health into about three main categories:
Nutrition and diet, natural remedies and healing, and physical fitness.

It's in now, under the "OTHER STUFF" category.

Rasesh, my advice here would be: everything in moderation. You tend to extremes, so you get extremes. Possibly you increase your vata dosha with a shockingly cold shower every morning. Or the pitta rises to counteract the cold sensation. I like a brief cold one at the end of a shower. Even though it depends where I am at. at an outdoor location in Nabadwip or Radhakund in winter you'd hardly take your cold showers every day early morning. In California, what is the big deal there?

The shower is meant to clean the body first of all,and I feel it affects the subtle body, the etheric, as well. There is a different kind of energy after a shower. That's probably why one is advised to take a bath after seeing a dead body etc.

The body as the temple of the soul should also be treated nicely. I like to remember how South Indian siddha doctors call any invasion of the body a demoniac attack on the body. If the shower is meant to shock you out of your mind, it can be an attack too. Depends on the circumsatnces, I guess.

Moderation in everything, as Krishna says in Gita.

Seems like I'm the only female who frequents this site.
Cold showers are NOT good for women.

I've tried that and a cold rinse is definitely better than nothing at all. However, a warm shower first and then the cold rinse is not near as effective as an austerity as is the straight cold shower. I know that in some places though the cold water that comes out of the faucet can be extremely cold and you might need to knock off some of the icey-ness with a touch of the warm water. Even if you can't take it as COLD, at least a COOL shower is much better than a WARM or HOT shower.
At the temple in Chicago the water that came out of the showers in the winter was just a few degrees about freezing and there was no warm water available in the showers. The knobs were taken off the warm water valve. We tested the water there one time with a thermometer and it was 33 degrees!The wind child factor outside was like 15 below zero. On the Tennesse farm I remember living in the brahmacary cabin and walking outside in the mornign in our "brahmin underwear" and breaking the ice off the top of the barrell and pouring a bucket of the water over our heads. That is probabaly a little extreme for most people, but if you get into the habit of taking cold showers you will notice the difference in how much more ALIVE and AWARE you are during the day.
Hot showers draw too much blood out from your brain and your internal organs. It also heats the blood up too much which will overheat the organs and cause a feeling of weakness and drowsiness as the brain gets shorted out of blood when then hot showers brings too much blood to the surface of the skin.

However, I do wash my face and shave with warm water before taking the cold shower. You can also use a little warm water for the underarms etc. etc.
The main thing is to not get any hot water on the head or the feet. A warm washcloth for the underarms etc. is necessary, but hot water on the head is a no-no.
Especially, in the winter when colds and flu are going around, the worst thing to do is take a hot shower. The heat from the shower incubates viruses just like warmth causes yoghurt to culture. It also weakens the immune system and opens the door for the virus to flourish. I know all this from personal experience. This is not something I read in a book.
If you have a flu, a nice cold shower will do lots to make you feel better. A hot shower will just make you miserable.

Please, tell us more about this invasion of the body. It seens very similar what the shamans says about bad spirits who cause illness.

I agree with nabadip. I have enought vata dosha and I think that taking a cold bath is not good to me. If works to you ok, but I don t think there are any rule about taking cold bath to help the devotees to develop bhakti.
I think that too much austerity is not very good for health and to bhakti. Austerity may give us a hard heart, a mood very diferent of the sweetness of madhurya lilas.

If hot showers made me feel good, I would be taking them. After 30 years of trying this and that,(I am 50 years old) I have found what works for me.
Cold showers are vital for me if I want to feel good and shake off the sloth of sleep.
I learned about cold showers in ISKCON. Prabhupada wanted all the devotees to take cold showers in the morning and all the hot water handles were missing from the showers.

I hate cold showers as much as anybody else. It's just an austerity I go through because I like the results. I certainly get no pleasure from the cold shower itself. It is the effects that I like.

Taking all the hot water taps out of a temple building is very cultish.

I think Prabhupad was into denial a lot. so he did stuff like that. Not very loving. Sridhar Maharaja did take warm showers in old age. He was glad to have a heater installed upstairs, even though it did not work all the time.
you know Rasesh, I think you are the type for this kind of practice. I think you are very pitta. Still so emaciated? Your mind is too active, you need a lot of oil on your body. do you do this too, take oil bath before shower?

Now what I heard, though from a western ayurveda source, was never to take warm water unto the face, esp third eye area.

I think hot water in general is not a good idea. But lukewarm is like cold almost, except it does not chill the body.

Why should women not take cold shower? They take cold baths in the Ganga all the time...

I understand during menses it is prohibited. I do not know whether Ayurveda says this too, but here in Europe it is known in some parts that a woman can get deaf if she takes a cold bath during mens.

Betel Nut your point about protein: Most non-vaishnava Bengalis eat fish, but still they are emaciated. What difference would sprouting those few dahl seeds make?

Oh, and is all the north Indian food so terribly greasy... I wonder if everyone in Bengal cooks with oil so much... it's downright deterring how much oil they use in a meal. Or is that a sign of luxury, that they may do that only for the guest?

hey Naba
cold bathes are not good for female reproductive organs.
lots of probs can result from that as well as sitting on hard cold floors.
ur right about bengalis and fish, still they are scrawny.
not enough testosterone in most indian males compared to western males.
testosterone increases with weight training and lots of protein.
i see western vegetarian males are much bigger and stronger than the indians... DNA i guess.
but since all of u are into cultivating raganuga bhakti this doesn't matter.
the oil thing is just how they like it. more educated and health aware bengalis use less.

I guess the sages who live in the Himalayas and taking cold bath in the Ganges every day are cult members too? Or, are they yogis?
The water that comes out of the ground here in Florida is about 72 degrees. It feels cold compared to the 98.6 body temperature, but is not really COLD like the shower water in Chicago in the winter when the wind-chill factor is 20 below zero.

In Russia and some other countries men have clubs where they cut holes in the ice on lakes and jump in during the winter. They do it for a reason. People who don't take cold bath will never know what it is all about. They will just criticise and complain and make all sort of accusations without even trying it themselves.

I took mine this morning and it was great.

how wonderful for you.

its nice for those who like it.
its bad for those who cannot take it.

simple.

enjoy your cold shower and dont try to convince others.

same old game.

I don't suppose we need a Health-related forum after all. The first thread and you folks manage to make a quarrel out of it.

No individual, Rasesh or otherwise, should be made the topic of a thread. Whether philosophy, medicine or whatever, please try to discuss topics, not persons.

Before this thread is closed down by the almighty moderator a question to everyone:

What is your most successful recipe to cure yourself of diarrhea in India (besides antibiotics of course).

Betal nut: What kind of regimen do Indians do when they get it? I heard about Lemon and rice, yoghurt and rice. What's the most successful course? Any marvelous self-help procedures? Any magic pills to keep in stock?

Feel free to start new threads for new topics. That's the whole point of having a Health - subcategory.

yes we use rice and yogurt.... also rice and yogurt and psyillium seed husk (isabgol). that can have two opposite effects.... mixed with water it will clean you out. mixed with yogurt and rice it will block you.