Nourishing Manovaha Srotas | Banyan Botanicals

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Nourishing ManovahaSrotasWRITTEN ON OCTOBER 25, 2012

by Alakananda Devi, M.B., B.S. (Lond.)

posted in Nervous System (http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/info/blog-banyan-vine/category/nervous-system)

As we conclude our journey through the srotansi, this month we will take a look at how tocare for manovaha srotas. The prevalence of mental disorders is staggering, with 26.2% ofadult Americans, or 57.7 million people, suering from a mental disorder in any given year.From an Ayurvedic viewpoint, this vast morbidity reflects two things. Firstly, culture-widedeficiencies in diet and lifestyle are leading to impaired agni, the root of both physical andmental health or disease. Life-span, complexion, strength, health, enthusiasm, corpulence,luster, immunity, energyall these depend on agni. Secondly, we inhabit a culture whoserajasic and tamasic nature is deleterious to our mental health. As the great English poetWilliam Wordsworth wrote,

The world is too much with us; late and soon,Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;Little we see in Nature that is ours;We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

Our consumer culture of getting and spending is inherently rajasic in nature and keeps usincessantly outer-focused as we seek meaning in the biggest, the best, the latest, the newest.Sedentary lifestyles, junk food, recreational drugs, alcohol consumption and the mind-

SUPPORTING YOUR AYURVEDIC PRACTICE

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numbing use of television foster tamas in the mind. Under the constant irritation created byrajas and the heavy dullness of tamas, inherent tendencies to mental disorders have fertileground to flourish.

Manovaha srotas is nourished by sattva. This begins with implementing a sattvic diet.

Foods that augment lifespan (ayu), purity, strength, health, happiness and cheerfulness,which are tasty and suciently oily (snigdha), substantial and agreeable are favoured by thesattvic person.

While Ayurvedic health regimens mentioned in the ancient texts often include non-vegetarianfoods, the pursuit of sattva leads us to the yogic vegetarian diet outlined in Hatha YogaPradipika and Gerhandha Samhita. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes anddairy products are the basic food groups comprising the sattvic diet, although fruits and dairyproducts are considered the most sattvic of all foods.

Bitter, sour and salty tastes, unripe vegetables, fermented/rotting and oily foods, intoxicatingliquors, fish, meat, yoghurt, chick peas, oil-cake, asafoetida (hing), garlic, onion, etc., shouldnot be eaten. Wheat, rice, barley, corn, milk, ghee, natural sugar, butter, honey, dried ginger,snake gourd, the five vegetables, mung beans, pure water, these are very beneficial to thosewho practice Yoga.

The sattvic diet requires the basic components of sattva purity and ahimsa (non-violence). Interms of purity, food additives and preservatives, hormones and pesticides should be avoidedin a sattvic diet. Many additives are inherently irritating to the brain and create rajasic states ofmind. The quest for a non-violent way of eating leads to a vegetarian diet but also calls inquestion dairy products in light of modern methods of dairy farming. Some resolve thisdilemma by adopting a vegan diet, others by being careful about the source of the dairyproducts they consume. Seeking ahimsa in diet also leads us to consider the environmentalcost of our food and the welfare of farm workers and the earth. From this standpoint, local,organic foods would be inherently more sattvic. Additional levels of sattva and enhancedprana can be added to our food by cultivating it using Vedic farming techniques, knownnowadays as homatherapy farming. Our food can be further imbued with sattva by oeringthe first portion to a picture of a spiritual teacher or form of God.

Whatever you do, whatever you eat do it as an oering to Me.

And when all else fails, pray before you eat and consume the food with a sattvic mind.

May the Earth be blessed that bore this foodAnd may they prosper who grew it.May the hands be blessed that cooked this meal,May all grow strong who eat it.May the hearts and wills of humankind be moved

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To feed the hungry of the world,And may all come to eat the Bread of LifeFrom Wisdoms table.

The sattvic diet is supplemented by use of special sattvic herbs, chief of which are tulsi andbrahmi. There can be consumed as teas to enhance sattva and help prevent as well as treatmental illnesses.

Our relationships are the next place to seek to replace rajas and tamas with sattva. TheEnglish language is imbued with words of judgment and comparison, promoting a combativestate of mind. The speech of ahimsa, on the other hand, is soft and gentle. Sattvicrelationships and a sattvic, peaceful home are fostered by respectful, gentle and honestspeech, avoiding judgment and insults. Remaining in right relationship means following thefour steps of reconciliation whenever conflict occurs:

1. Recognition: Recognizing and understanding how our action hurt the other person.2. Repentance: Making an emotional connection with the pain caused.3. Reparation: A concrete act or gift oered in restitution (Native Americans used to give

horses to repair relationships).4. Rehabilitation: Steps we take to ensure the action will not recur.

After changing our physical diet, we also need to change our mental diet. Spiritual reading,kirtan, Sanskrit chanting, getting together with friends to discuss topics in Ayurveda and yogaphilosophy help create a calm state of mind. Performing Vedic ceremonies such as agnihotraa brief sunrise and sunset fire ceremony have been shown to help addictions and developa positive state of mind.

Agnihotra is a Vedic ritual of lighting fire in a copper pyramid pot with use of Mantras atsunrise and sunset time. It is found to have neurophysiological eect on human body andbrain. Clinically it produces mental tranquility and reported to have useful adjunct eect ondeaddiction.

Mantras and Sanskrit chanting also help direct the mind into sattva. Preeminent among theseis Gayatri mantra, the mantra of light. The Gayatri mantra is considered the quintessence ofwisdom. Its main focus is on clarity and enlightened perception.

One of the little aphorisms I use in clinic is, Meaning is the best medicine. Our rajasicaddiction to getting and spending and our tamasic addiction to mind-numbing behaviors aremanifestations of a great inner emptiness. While psychotropic medications prescribed for aquarter of the population may prevent suicide attempts and mitigate symptoms, they donothing to address this emptiness. The basic principle of Ayurveda is hetu viparita chikitsatreat the cause. If manovaha srotas lacks its basic nutrition, our genetic tendencies to mentalillness are more likely to manifest. A sense of transcendent meaning, as well as a sense ofpurpose in the relative world, is the essential nutrient for manovaha srotas. In pursuit of thistranscendent meaning, daily meditation provides a healthy meal for manovaha srotas. Aboveall, meditation in the brahmamuhurta, the sacred hour before sunrise, aords a time of sattvic

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tranquility, which deeply nourishes and transforms. So a basic menu for manovah srotas mightinclude some selection from the following. And while this is a menu for adults, it is importantto note that children need to nourish manovaha srotas as well. Encourage children to attendagnihotra and meditate for as many minutes as their age e.g. five minutes for a five year old.

Menu for Nourishing Mental Health(You dont have to do it all! Any segment helps, whatever fits in your life)

Rise in brahmamuhurtaPersonal hygiene timePranayamaMeditationSunrise agnihotraGayatri mantraYogaSattvic breakfast of fruits and milkDaily work done with devotion and tranquilitySattvic lunch of grains, vegetables, legumes, gheeWalk 1,000 pacesDaily work done with devotion and tranquilityWalkSip Tulsi brahmi teaSunset agnihotaPranayamaMeditation or kirtanSattvic dinner (fruits and milk or lunch-type menu)Family time (singing, playing, reading aloud, instead of television!)Spiritual reading before bed

One of the unique features of Ayurveda is its emphasis on mental health through sattva. Rightdiet, right relationship, rituals, chanting and meditation form a comprehensive plan forpreventative mental health.

References1. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-

america/index.shtml (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-

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mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml)2. Sharma PV tr, Charak Samhita chi XV 3-4, Chaukhamba Orientalia, Delhi 19943. Bhagavad Gita 17, 8 authors translation4. Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Ch 1, vv 59, 62 as translated in:

http://ashtangayogashala.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110&Itemid=165

5. http://www.homatherapyindia.com/content/homa-organic-farming(http://www.homatherapyindia.com/content/homa-organic-farming)

6. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/article3838439.ece(http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/article3838439.ece)

7. Bhagavad Gita 9, 27 authors translation8. From my Heart to Yours, Alakananda Devi, Prema Press9. Golechha GR (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?

term=Golechha%20GR%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=21897457), Sethi IG(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Sethi%20IG%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=21897457), Deshpande(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Deshpande%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=21897457), Rani U(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Rani%20U%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=21897457). Agnihotra in thetreatment of alcoholism Indian J Psychiatry.(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21897457) 1991 Jan;33(1):20-6.

10. ibid11. Ahuja YD, Gayatri, Gateway to Enlightenment, Timeless Teachings, Raleigh NC, 199912. Rozman D, Meditating With Children: The Art of Concentration and Centering: A Workbook

on New Educational Methods Using Meditation: Integral Yoga Publications (2002) -Paperback - 153 pages - ISBN 0932040527

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