RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE CORONA

We are afraid of germs, of the air we breathe, of fellow human beings, of stepping out -  all the things that keep us alive.

 

We now revel in fear, mistrust, paranoia, defensiveness, exclusion, isolation – all the things that kill us from within.

 

We have given away our freedom to choose, to the government. The government has taken away our freedom to move freely, breathe without impediment, and step out – all in the guise of protecting us.

 

All governments justify their excesses by saying that it is for the benefit of the populace.

 

My personal freedoms are being taken away in the name of protecting the weaker among us – in the process, they ensure that I become weak too.

 

There are two schools of thought about vaccines – first, that they are good; second, that they are bad. Which is fine. What is dangerous is the third school of thought that is sought to be imposed – that, if I don't get vaccinated, I am a threat to the others. Never mind if I think it is harmful for health, not only for me, but for all of us.  Like vaccines, ditto with masks.

 

Someone has ensured that worldwide, people are shit scared, and hiding from an invisible bogey-man. First, comes the fear. Then, the obedience. Lastly comes control. We are being primed.

 

Human beings are no worse than sheep. They are easily led.

 

It is very amusing how the meanings of things have changed. Virtue now consists of being scared; bravery consists of hiding; and patriotism consists of doing nothing and ensuring that other people hide.

 

The Bhagavad Gita has to be rewritten. Do your duty, Oh Arjuna, by packing your bows, putting your arrows in the cupboard, getting off from the Chariot, and sitting at home. And don't forget your mask! Your Dharma lies in doing nothing, your good karma in not infecting others, and punya consists of convincing others to do the same.

 

Politicians are smart. They have convinced us that they are saving us, while denuding us physically, mentally, and economically.

 

Everyone is busy hiding. From what? For how long? What will hiding achieve? What will be the situation a month from now, three months from now, that does not exist today? For what day of deliverance are we waiting? No one knows.

 

It is the media's dharma to keep sensationalising things, distorting facts, and misinforming us on a sustained basis – to feed into all our negative emotions. The current negative emotions the media is feeding into is Fear.

 

All faith healers, of every religious hue, are waiting for Corona to go away, so that they can start healing people again.

 

Don't listen to experts. Half the times their knowledge is suspect. Half the time, they have other axes to grind. And half the time, they lie. Three halfs add up to one and a half. I know.

 

Whenever you are fed with any information or opinion or advise, always pause and consider – who stands to benefit? This caution applies to advice about Corona too.

 

There is no slavery worse than slavery of the mind, where we willingly suspend our critical thinking faculty, and hand over decision making to "those who know better".

HOW TO KEEP YOUR IMMUNITY STRONG - PART 2

Further to my article yesterday, there is one more topic left to cover, that is Dietary Supplements or Tonics to keep your immunity strong.

 

Ayurveda is wonderful in this respect, and offers several general immunity boosters which anyone can take any time.  Most of the suggestions given below are from Ayurveda:

 

1.     Dasamoola-arishtam: This is a tonic made of ten potent herbs (along with some more stuff). It is a general immunity booster. Being an arishtam, with self generated alcohol, it has been pre-digested, and hence should be taken after food. 30 ml arishtam plus 30 ml water, after food, once a day. The big advantage of most arishtams is that they taste like wine, so it is not at all an unpleasant experience to have some arishtam after meals.

 

2.     Ashwagandha-arishtam: Ashwagandha is also known as the Indian Ginseng. A panacea, highly regarded in Ayurveda, it is great vitality booster. Dosage: same as above, 30 ml with 30 ml water after meals. 

 

 

3.     Chyavanprash. General immunity builder. Being a lehiyam (ghrit / paste) it needs to be taken on an empty stomach.  There is no need to write more about this, since everyone knows about the benefits of Chyawanprash. Beware of buying the more popular commercial brands though. They are cheaper, but their quality is highly suspect.

 

4.     Giloy Juice. Juice of a single plant Amritavalli (Nectar!) highly celebrated in Ayurveda for its innumerable health benefits. One of the benefits is that it is good for people with Diabetes since it reduces blood sugar. My personal experience is it is best to take it along with a bit of honey, to balance out the drop in sugar.

 

5.     Moringa leaf powder and Alfalfa powder are loaded with nutrients. You can have them anytime, either with water or mixing them with your soup or something.

 

6.     Check out Spirulina powder also. Again, loaded with nutrients, great supplement.

 

7.     Narasimha Rasayanam: This is a substitute for Chyawanprash.

 

8.     Tulsi Cinnamon tea.  Tea made from cinnamon powder, and tulsi leaves from your home garden. Can add gud / sugar for taste.

 

9.     And, last but not the least, actually the one thing that everyone should have everyday is Triphala Churna. This is a powder made of three herbs one of which is Amla. This should be had as a herbal tea – bring water to boil, take off the flame, put in some triphala powder, let it steep for a couple of hours, then strain, and have it as a tea.

 

 

There is no need to have all these supplements all the time, or even necessarily to have all of them. But dietary supplementation, once in a while, based on the above, cannot go wrong. At best, it will improve your immunity and keep you healthy; at worst, it will do no harm. Traditional wisdom maintains that the former assertion is true, and I am a great believer in traditional wisdom.

 

While taking supplements, remember to take breaks. Never take any supplement for more than forty days at a stretch. After that, give a longish break before starting again.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR IMMUNITY STRONG

With the Covid crisis, "keeping your immunity strong" has become a trending topic. The doctors only talk about it, but they have no clue as to what immunity even means. They don't study such things in medical school. The newspapers publish many articles and suggestions, because it is the trending thing. The journalists who write or, a better term would be compile, have no clue themselves what immunity means.

 

The answers we are seeking is not new. It is all out there, and has been, for ages. Traditional wisdom across cultures, has the answers. However, traditional wisdom never anticipated the onslaught of modern methods of processing food, the allopathic school of clueless doctors, and the pharma and food industry trying their utmost to peddle misinformation.

 

Let us try to go from the ground up, and understand some of these things.

 

Germs are not bad. Germs are everywhere. Our body, as is the body of every living being, is a colony of co-existing "germs". In fact, there are trillions of different varieties of "germs" within us, helping us to survive.

 

The human body has evolved over the years to stay healthy in the environment of the earth. Throw any germ at it, and the body will fight it, develop anti-bodies against it, and remember the precise formulations for ever, so if that germ invades again, the body uses the experience it already has gathered in dealing with it.

 

Part of the human body's defence mechanism is also the skin. The skin is a living organ which is the first defence and shield against the environment.

 

The body has evolved to survive and thrive in nature, that is, when it is exposed to the elements, when it is exposed to sun, wind and water.

 

Emotions play a critical role in maintaining the entire body, including the immune system. Anyone who is anxious, fearful, or angry, or sad, will immediately be susceptible to even a passing cold, since their immunity will be compromised.

 

The body has evolved to eat whole foods grown by nature. All foods have co-evolved with man, and are a synergistic package of nutrients that the body can assimilate and thrive on. It is not possible, or at best sub-optimal, to try to extract "nutrients" in isolation and take them either as foods or supplements.

 

Man is a social animal. A large part of his happiness is linked to meeting other people and bonding with them.

 

A lot of this might seem like simple common sense, but is it? A lot of the advice that is being thrown at us due to Covid, goes against this.

 

The governments, in announcing their lockdowns, and their social distancing measures, are perhaps doing the right thing, or perhaps not. That is a debatable point, not the subject of this article.

 

What should you do, personally,  to keep our immunity high?

 

1.     Keep a positive mental state. Do not read all the bad stuff out there on covid and worry yourself to death. It is just another virus, like a flu, and our body is capable of handling flus. It is out there in the air. How long will you escape it? Where will you run? How will you shut yourself up for ever?

 

You are doing yourself a lot of harm by cowering in fear; when I see people walking around these days, it is difficult to understand whether they are on the Earth or on the Moon!

 

To the extent government regulations or social norms require, by all means wear masks. Otherwise, a mask is not necessary at all, in fact it is a damn nuisance.

 

2.     How often will you wash your hands? Be reasonable about it, and don't overdo it. Washing with soap is still fine, but I don't understand how people can even be using hand sanitizers. Remember, anything that is supposed to kill the bad germs, will also kill the good germs along with it. Every time we wash our hands with alcohol, we are reducing our immunity.

 

 

3.     Don't shut yourself up, away from fresh air and light. Go for that walk, soak in that sun, be out there! By hiding inside your house, afraid of the very air you breathe, you are further destroying your immunity.

 

 

4.     Sleep well. Lack of sleep is an immunity destroyer.

 

5.     Eat right. What constitutes "eating right" is the subject of a whole series of articles, but a few key rules would be as follows. Avoid eating processed foods. Buy stuff from the grocery store and cook at home. Eat only fresh food, within hours of cooking. Eat mainly vegetarian, and eat mainly whole foods. Replace the "processed salt" in your house with Himalayan rock salt or Raw Sea Salt (unprocessed). Replace the "refined oil " you buy with cold pressed oils. Avoid sugar to the extent possible. Avoid milk and milk products to the extent possible, unless you procure organic milk.  

 

Eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Eat sprouts as part of your diet.

 

Some superfoods that you can include in your diet, in any form, are Amla, Honey (raw and unprocessed only), turmeric (anyway part of our cooking), ginger, black pepper, and lemon (have a limbu sherbet everyday). Seeds, soaked, dried, and lightly roasted, are a great snack, in small quantities every day.

 

If possible, and if the budget permits, buy only organic foodstuff.

 

6.     Exercise.  Your favorite form of exercise is fine, so long as you keep your body moving. Do not sit for too long, get up and stretch and walk around, once every hour at least. If possible, sit on the ground – why are you at the table all the time? You are working from home now, so you are more free to move around. When the body does not move, "prana", the vital force, stagnates. When prana stagnates all kinds of health problems ensue.

 

 

The above suggestions are all broad, I have not gone into details in any of them. If a lot of it seems like common sense, it is. If it seems like a lot of the advice being bandied about nowadays ignores many of these things, it does. If it seems like the world is going collectively insane, then I agree with you fully.

 

Stay home, Stay safe, is the usual way to end any article or conversation nowadays, but I shall eschew that.

 

Go out there, be happy, and keep your immunity strong!