People can use the principles of traditional Indian medical science ayurveda to mitigate the negative impacts of anxiety and stress.

Ayurveda practitioner Shilpa Dhoka is assessing the health status of Eric (not his real name), a 29-year-old male academic who works in Jakarta by checking the pulse of his arterial vein through his wrist. 

Dhoka provided free consultations after she delivered a presentation on India’s traditional medical science ayurveda on Nov. 5 at Atma Jaya Catholic University, Jakarta. The event, co-organized by the Indian Embassy in Indonesia and the university, celebrates World Ayurveda Day.

“I suppose you have lots of digestion problems, such as constipation and gastric acid problems, correct?” Dhoka said after checking Eric’s pulse for less than two minutes.

“Yes,” he replied, looking surprised that Dhoka’s assessment was spot-on.

“And I suppose you experience a lot of headaches, yes?” she continued.

“Yes,” he replied again, before confiding in her: “I’m a highly anxious person,” intuiting that his anxiety was the root cause of his frequent constipation, gastric acid problems and headaches.

“So you’re the type of person who wants to do a lot of things but lacks the time, right?” she continued her query.

“Yes,” he confirmed again.

“See, being ambitious is good but you also have to take your time to rest,” she said.

“I sleep a lot, my sleep is not restful because I’m often disturbed by dreams about the assignments I have not finished yet. So when I wake up, I don’t feel rejuvenated,” he complained.

“I suggest you take brahmi and ashwagandh tablets [of herbal concoctions]; these are not sleeping pills but they help your brain to relax. You can also rub some coconut oil on top of your head, couple that with some breathing exercises in order to sleep soundly,” she advised.

Do Eric’s complaints sound familiar to you? He represents the typical woes of your average urbanite living in this modern industrial age.

Many people are sharing the same complaints nowadays: how they want to accomplish so many things but have to make do with so little time, resulting in anxiety, which results in myriad of physical problems, from constipation to gastric acid problems, insomnia, high blood pressure and headaches. You name it.

“Actually it is not that difficult to maintain one’s health and take preventive measures to illnesses, even in the face of the challenges that the modern society hands to us. Unfortunately, people tend to get so lost in their day-to-day activities that they forget to take simple steps to take care of their bodies,” Dhoka said.

These simple self-care steps are outlined in the principles of ayurveda, according to Dhoka.

Literally translated, the word “ayurveda” derives from two syllables meaning “life” and “knowledge”, a holistic medical science. Unlike the Western medical system, which tends to separate the mind and body, while not acknowledging the soul’s presence, ayurveda takes into account mental, physical and spiritual antecedents of health (and illness).

Therefore, this Western medical stream of thought is known as an allopathic one, defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as a system of medicine that aims to combating disease by using physical remedies, such as drugs or surgery, only. The homeopathic practice of ayurveda, meanwhile, also addresses mental and spiritual elements of health care.

The practice also emphasizes the consumption of herbs and vegetables as well as the incorporation of physical exercises to boost one’s physical health. The practice also champions mindfulness meditation as a prerequisite to one’s mental and spiritual health.

Heavy consumption of herbs and vegetables has been shown not only to boost the immune system but also to prevent non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular problems, according to a report by The Star. The BBC, meanwhile, has reported that when practiced regularly, mindfulness meditation can reduce stress all the while keeping one’s mind sharp into old age.

Using this holistic approach, ayurvedic practitioners also address the root cause of one’s physical problems at the mental and spiritual level, according to Dhoka.

She used her assessment of Eric’s health as an example. “Mental health is directly related to digestion,” she said.

“When your mood is good, your digestive enzymes are good, helping you to defecate regularly every day. When you are hyper-anxious, your digestive system reacts in producing too much enzymes, resulting in gastric acid influx and/or diarrhea. When you are extremely sad, however, your digestive system produces no enzymes at all, resulting in constipation,” she added.

According to Jawaharlal Nehru Indian Cultural Center director Makrand Shukla, a lot of people can still use ayurvedic principles to accelerate recuperation of illnesses, even in cases requiring them to rely on allopathic medications.

This has been a common practice anywhere, whereby patients still take their medications all the while mitigating the pain and stress associated with their illness through meditation and herbal supplements, according to Dhoka.

Dhoka said, in keeping with the ayurvedic core principle of balance, a person should maintain a regular daily healthcare regimen in order to maintain their health despite the wear-and-tear that day-to-day activities cause on his or her body.

Some of the principles outlined by Dhoka are indeed very simple: try to go to bed and wake up at the same hour every day, expose yourself to sunlight in the morning, have three meals that are nutritionally balanced, avoid multitasking and practice mindfulness to soothe yourself.

“We should use our 24-hour days wisely. Use your time efficiently to finish your tasks and instead of distracting yourself by surfing the internet and playing with your digital gadgets during your downtime, use your spare time to practice mindfulness, which will declutter your mind and reduce stress,” she said.

“Mindfulness can be achieved by methods that are easier than the sophisticated breathing exercises. When you’re overwhelmed at work, for instance, just focus your attention on the shape or color of your work desk for a while. Or you can play music while listening intently to its sounds. These keeps your mind from wandering needlessly, helping it slow down a little bit,” she advised.

She strongly advised people against multitasking, which she said eventually drove them nuts.

“Most importantly, avoid multitasking. When you’re exercising, keep your gadgets away. If you exercise while watching news on CNN, or if you exercise while answering your colleagues’ questions about work, your physical exercise won’t do much to ease your stress,” she illustrated.

“When you are at work, focus totally on your work until it’s done; unless it’s really urgent, no need to check your email or your cell phone on the sidelines of finishing your report,” she explained.

Once a person’s mindfulness practices get more sophisticated, Dhoka said they could “graduate” to start learning a more serious and difficult form of mindfulness practice: meditation, which requires people to focus on their breathing and bodily sensations.

“Mindfulness meditation allows people to take deep breathes and nourish their brains with oxygen, rejuvenating them all the way,” she said.

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