In this article, we introduce Maharishi Ayurveda, the “science of life”
—the timeless and prevention-oriented knowledge of complete health. Ayurveda has
been restored for its full practical value and full range of application by Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi, working with eminent Ayurvedic physicians. Maharishi Ayurveda^® programs enliven
the inner intelligence of the body—pure consciousness, or the Unified Field of Natural
Law—helping to create and restore balance and wholeness to the mind and body.

Enliven Your Body’s Healing Intelligence

by Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D.

Ever wonder why it feels so good to be out in Nature? Imagine a perfect summer day in the forest—the silent invigoration of wonder and joy as the rising sun breaks the horizon, the invigorating smell of pine boughs as you tread softly on a needle-cushioned trail, a cool canopy of majestic pines towering above you. Imagine immersing yourself in a clear, cool lake and coming out feeling thoroughly cleansed and refreshed. After a day, you feel enlivened and relaxed, fresh and happy—for no reason at all. It’s the healing power of Nature at work—programmed in every grain of creation, and realigning our own bodies’ rhythms and energies with those of Nature herself. Nature outside and inside share a powerful synergy, entraining us to reestablish balance and restore our inner program for ideal health.

One of my patients taught me about the innate healing power of Nature through her experience with insomnia. Roberta had suffered from a sleep problem for many years, without experiencing significant help from a variety of medications and natural therapies. One summer she went on a one-week sailing trip with her family on the Atlantic Ocean. There were no TV, computer, email, or other distractions, so the family naturally turned the lights down early and went to bed with the summer sun, around 9 PM. Roberta found the atmosphere—and her own self—so calm and peaceful that by the end of the week she was sleeping soundly through the night and commented that she hadn’t felt so healthy, balanced, and energetic in many years.

Indeed, our environment affects us. Every breath we take, the food we swallow, sights, sounds, and smells are all interacting with our bodies to create either more balance or more stress. Our busy lifestyles challenge our state of balance, or homeostasis, at every moment in the day. Commuting on a busy highway; eating foods from packages filled with manmade chemicals; and sitting in the electromagnetic fields of cell phones, computers, and other electronic gadgets all day long are bound to drive us out of balance, disturbing sleep, digestion, and elimination—the very processes that restore our bodies day by day and keep us strong and healthy. It’s no wonder that chronic disease is at an all-time high and continuing to escalate.

The good news is that we don’t have to immerse ourselves in a mountain stream or sail the ocean for a week to restore balance. With a little know-how, we can take advantage of the healing properties of Nature in our daily life, here and there throughout the day, and make a world of difference.

Nature’s Own Health Care System

This “know-how” exists in Ayurveda, a comprehensive system of natural healthcare that is as old as Nature herself. Ayurveda means literally “science of life”—meaning all the knowledge to live a long life in the best of health. Ultimately, Ayurveda gives us the know-how to enliven the inner healing intelligence programmed in every cell of our bodies, to stay healthy and, when ill, to better heal ourselves. The foundation of enlivening our inner intelligence is the deep and refreshing state of restful alertness gained during the practice of the Transcendental Meditation program, which hundreds of research studies show to be profoundly beneficial to health.

Ayurveda comes from the same rich tradition of knowledge as the Transcendental Meditation program—namely, the Vedic tradition of ancient India, which includes a wide array of programs and disciplines reintroduced in a comprehensive form called Maharishi Vedic Science^SM. The term “Maharishi Ayurveda” refers to the complete, consciousness-based system of Ayurveda, which includes the Transcendental Meditation technique, as well as other health-related programs.

Maharishi Ayurveda Keeps Our Bodies in Tune with the Cycles of Nature

Maharishi Ayurveda, though thousands of years old, is based on cutting-edge principles that are just now surfacing in modern medicine—like the need to treat the root cause of disease, rather than just symptoms; the need to address mind, body, spirit, and environment in the healing process; the pivotal role of lifestyle and diet in health and disease; and the need for more personalized treatment, rather than a cookie cutter, “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Ayurveda teaches us how to adjust our diet and daily routine to suit the needs of our unique mind-body type, and also how to restore balance and correct chronic health problems through diet, herbs, spices, and gentle purification procedures. It also teaches us what times of day are best for what activities so that we can keep our bodies in tune with the cycles of Nature inside and outside of us.

Your Body Clock: Shortcut to Health

One of most powerful ways to boost your energy, clarity, and sense of well-being—not to mention improve your sleep and feel and look younger—is to align your daily schedule with the natural rhythms of Nature.

Recent research has discovered not only that we have a “master clock” in the brain that synchronizes bodily rhythms but also that every organ has its own “clock cells” that guide the functioning of that organ, causing its efficiency to wax and wane rhythmically at different times of the day. This means that there may very well be a “best time” for sleep, eating, and exercising. Imagine sleeping fewer hours and feeling just as refreshed, simply because you went to bed at a certain time! And you may not have to wait for the research to find out when: Ayurveda gives the magic bedtime as 10 PM or earlier.

Research is verifying that how we eat and sleep in relation to the body’s optimal internal rhythm can lead to profound effects on metabolism (i.e. “weight loss”), energy, brain power, and more. For example, animals that eat a high-fat meal during their usual sleep time gain more weight than animals that eat the same number of calories at their normal feeding time during the day.

Just as eating and sleeping in alignment with our body’s optimal rhythms can improve our health, irregularity in our eating and sleep habits, or being chronically sleep-deprived, can also throw off our body clocks, inducing a kind of “jet lag” that can impair our memory and thinking and make us less efficient. More serious problems are usually not evident on a day-to-day basis, but when we are stressed by infection, pregnancy, or injury, an out-of-sync body clock has been show to predispose us to more severe symptoms and slower recovery.

Ayurveda knew over 5,000 years ago the importance of a regular routine of sleep and mealtimes—and with more precision than modern science has yet discovered. In 25 years of using Maharishi Ayurveda in my medical practice, I have found that the following three simple recommendations consistently yield more profound results than many much more elaborate and expensive regimens.

Timeless Tips for Refreshing, Energizing, and Rejuvenating Your Mind and Body

Here are your three timeless tips from Ayurveda that are absolute “gold” for getting your body clock tuned up and your mind and body refreshed, energized, and rejuvenated. Give them a try and let us know how you feel!

1. Go to bed by 10 PM — this is the best! After a few days of adjustment, you’ll find you sleep more deeply and, best of all, wake up fresh and alert.
2. Get up by 6 AM for more energy, clarity, and productivity during the day. It really makes a difference.
3. Eat your main meal between 12 and 1 PM for better digestion, steady energy, and ideal weight.

In the next article you will discover how Maharishi Ayurveda can help you understand and solve common symptoms and how to optimize your well-being with individualized tips for your body type.