All of us are aware about the importance of exercise in maintenance of good health. Regular exercise results in
- A proportionate body,
- Brings a glow and radiance to the face,
- Stimulates good appetite and helps in digestion,
- Removes laziness,
- Brings a feeling of lightness to the body.
Each of us have our own pet exercise regimen. It is equally important to know what kind of exercise regimen suits to our body. Ayurveda has provided some guidelines regarding these details and they are as follows:
Ayurveda classifies individuals based on their predominance of tridoshas and this is known as the prakruti. To simplify we can consider the basic three types, Vata prakruti,pitta prakruti and kapha prakruti. Vata Prakruti persons have a lean body, low flexibility and have poor muscle mass. They have a tendency to lose weight with even mild exercise. Oil bath is a must for them to prevent injuries and increase flexibility and endurance.
While doing yogasanas, Vata prakruti individuals should not attempt extreme stretching like for e.g.in Paschimottanasana touching the chin to the knees in the forward bending posture. They are prone to hurt their back and may suffer from backache if they overdo the stretching. They cannot tolerate heavy exercises such as lifting weights and yogasanas involving extreme stretching such as the Chakrasana and halasana. Sookshma yogasanas,cycling,balancing pranayama i.e.anuloma viloma pranayama suits Vata prakruti individuals very much. They need to perform all their exercises in a slow and steady manner and for shorter durations.
Pitta prakruti individuals are of medium built, flexibility and strength. They should carefully select their exercise regimen based on these characteristics. Since they are easily stressed out they should include relaxation postures such as Makarasana,Shavasana as a part of their exercise regimen. This will allow them to maintain a calm and quiet mind. Since they are very comfortable in cool environment they will enjoy water sports and swimming. Moderate exercise, weight training, jogging etc is good for them. They should also practice anuloma viloma. Sheetali and Seethkari pranayama are very specifically indicated for Pitta prakruti persons.
Kapha prakruti individuals are well built, have highly flexible body and possess good strength. Their body characteristics are exactly opposite to that of Vata Prakruti individuals. But with all this good comes the bad. They are prone to put on weight very quickly and cannot afford to skip their exercise routine. In other words they find it difficult to burn their fat quickly and easily put on weight with slight negligence. They have to perform all their exercises briskly and for longer duration. Pranayamas such as Ujjayi, Bastrika and kriyas such as Vamanadhouti, Jalaneti, Kapalabhati are very well suited to Kapha prakruti individuals.
Who should not exercise?
- Individuals suffering with Asthma, cough, tuberculosis should avoid exercises.
When we should not exercise:
- Immediately after and upto 2 hours after taking food
- When suffering from fever
Anything over done leads to problems and the same rule applies to exercise too. Do not continue to exercise even after you have become breathless. Generally speaking Summer and Rainy seasons is a time when you should slow down or cut down on your exercise duration and winter is the best time to do very hard exercises. Excessive exercise beyond one’s physical strength and endurance limits will lead to:
- Abnormal weight loss
- Nasal bleeding
- Breathlessness
- Injury to the lungs
- Giddiness
- Cough etc
It is important to know when to stop.
Importance of oil bath/massage for those who exercise:
Oil bath strengthens the bones, brings flexibility to the muscles and joints. Regular Abhyanga snana(oil bath) gives the body the capability to withstand hard work and prevents wear and tear of the joints.
Apply til oil (Gingelly oil) all over the body half an hour before taking bath and this can be repeated twice in a week. In common language this is referred to as “Maalish” and is practiced regularly by wrestlers. Some people in the North also use mustard oil for this purpose but for our conditions Til oil is highly suitable. Feel the freshness that comes from it and you would never like to give it a miss again.
Finally to sum up, we should understand that there is no “one shoe fits all” theory as far as exercise is concerned. You have to choose your exercise regimen based on your individual strengths and weaknesses and not blindly follow your peers.
