1. DINACHARYA IN AYURVEDA FOR HEALTHY
BODY, MIND & SOUL
Dr. SREEDHAR RAO (Sree)
BAMS, MD (Ayu), M.Sc (Yoga)
Director – Scientific Services
Ayurveda Sanctuary
Mobile: +91-9483995806
E-mail: sree@ayurvedasanctuary.com
Website:www.ayurvedasanctuary.com

2. Lord Dhanvantari
God of Ayurveda
‘We offer our obeisance to
Lord Dhanvantari, the
creator of various
medicines, the destroyer of
various diseases and the
fear of old age and death,
And who is worshipped by
all men, deities and
demons.’
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3. THE FIVE ELEMENTS
ETHER/SPACE AKASH
AIR VAYU
FIRE TEJA
WATER JALA
EARTH PRITHVI
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4. THE THREE DOSHAS
 ETHER + AIR VATA
 FIRE + WATER PITTA
 WATER + EARTH KAPHA
 VATA DOSHA CONTROLS MOVEMENT
 PITTA DOSHA CONTROLS METABOLISM
 KAPHA DOSHA CONTROLS STRUCTURE
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5. VATA TYPE
 Qualities: Cool, dry, irregularity & expansive
 Physical: chilled, dry skin, dry kinky or wavy hair, light
coloured eye, irregular or disproportionate build, light on
feet and loose jointed
 Mentally: Creative, enthusiasts, intuitive, even
clairvoyant, sharp minds, but poor memories, they get lost
easily, like wind their energy come in bursts, they tend to
push hard then collapse
 Imbalance: Fearful & can suffer from insomnia &
constipation, chronic fatigue & chronic pain syndromes
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6. PITTA TYPE
 Qualities: Hot, oily, irritable and intense
 Physical: Medium build(athletic), angular faces,
fine/thin hair that grays(balds) early, red tints in
their skin
 Mentally: Quick-witted, intelligent, ambitious &
competitive
 Imbalance: Angry, impatient, impulsive, violent.
Tend to have inflammatory illnesses-bleeding
ulcers, colitis, chronic sore throats or red ,warm,
itchy or burning skin eruptions.
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7. KAPHA TYPE
 Qualities: Cold, heavy, wet & stable
 Physical: Large frames, well lubricated joints, have
cool, pale, thick skin, large eyes, broad, even teeth
& lustrous hair.
 Mentally: Determined, steady, hard working &
loyal. Excellent concentration, memory, long
patience. For this reason they make good managers
& administrators.
 Imbalance: Overweight, develop fibroid or fatty
tumours & suffer from chronic or sinus congestion.
Greedy, lazy and stuck in their ruts.
 “Cough” derived from Sanskirt word “Kapha” 7

8. Healthy Everyday Regimen
Dinacharya
• A man wishing to be healthy throughout his life has
to be healthy everyday as well
• Health depends on how one spends each day
• Controlled and guided activities of body and mind
are essential for maintaining sound health
• The ideal way in which a healthy person should
spend his day is explained in this lecture

9. Time to wake up – “Brahmi muhurtam”
At this time the
mind is fresh and
the surroundings
calm and quiet.
Hence one can
concentrate on
meditation,
prayers or studies.
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10. Morning ablutions
* Bladder and bowels should be
emptied regularly after
waking up in the morning as
the autonomic reflexes are
naturally active at this time.
• This gives a sense of relief
and makes one feel more
energetic.
• Regular bowel habits help
one to prevent borborygmy,
distension and heaviness in
the stomach. 10

11. Washing the face
 Persons with thin, delicate, red and warm skin
should use cold water or rose water or cold milk.
 Persons with dry, rough skin should use warm
milk.
 Persons with oily or oedematous face should use
warm water.
 Washing the face helps to get rid of pimples and
skin diseases on the face.
 It prevents any bleeding tendency of facial skin
and gives lustre to the face. 11

12. Brushing the teeth
 Herbal Tooth Paste:
Equal quantities of ginger,
pepper, long pepper,
cinnamon, cardamom,
bay leaf, triphala, khadir
(catechu) and rock salt
(saindhav), which should
be used as a paste with
sesame oil.
Accompained by a gum
massage with sesame oil
& gargle to cleanse and
line your mouth.
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13. Tongue-scraping
 Tongue scraping helps to get
rid of waste products and bad
odour of the mouth, improves
taste sensation and exerts a
tonic effect on the tongue.
 It has been proved that the
bacterial flora in the mouth is
considerably reduced by
cleaning the tongue. Its
value in preventing the
diseases of the mouth was
realised by modern medicine
only very recently.
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14. Drinking cold water
 Drinking cold water is useful for persons suffering
from:
 Malabsorption, constipation, piles
 Aabdominal disorders, abdominal distension
 Urinal disorders, blood disorders
 Diseases and disorders of ears, norse, throat, head,
eyes, back, pelvis and skin.
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15. Auspicious objects
 Every society and every religion considers
a few objects or events as auspicious and
others as inauspicious. Looking at such
objects or touching them frequently is
considered auspicious before work or
meals.
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16. Looking in a mirror
 One should look at self in a mirror as it
gives an idea about:
 one’s appearance
 state of health
 happiness and
 cleanliness.
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17. Care of eyes
 Deepatratak – Candle light
focussing:
 One shold sit, in an erect
posture, on a chair and keep a
lighted candle on the table at a
distance of 18 inches. The
flame of the candle should be
steady. This is readily achieved
by closing all the windows and
doors and turning off the fan or
by covering the candle with a
glass cylinder.
 One should focus on the flame
without blinking initially for
half a minute. The focussing
time should be gradually
increased to 5-10 minutes. 17

18. Care of Ears
Putting oil drops in ears
 prevents vataja ear
diseases.
 prevents stiffness of
neck and jaw
 Prevents deafness and
tinnitus.
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19. Care of nose
 It forms a protective layer on
the olfactory nerves and exerts a
soothing effect on the nerves.
Oil is also an antiseptic and it
exerts a soothing and nourishing
effect on the nose and paranasal
sinuses.
 It gives a pleasant smell to the
breath. The voice becomes clear
and unobstructed.
 It strengthens the blood vessels,
muscles and joints of head and
neck.
 It is supposed to prevent
premature greying of hair and
baldness
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20. Gargling the mouth
 With hot water exerts cleansing action on the
mouth, teeth, gums and tongue. It imparts a light
and fresh feeling to the mouth.
 Gargling with cold milk has a cooling and
cleansing action on the mouth and is useful in
stomatitis.
 Gargling with sesame oil exerts a cleansing and
strengthening action on the tongue, gums, teeth,
mouth and voice. It prevents stomatitis. It also
improves the sense of taste.
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21. Medicinal Smoking
 Medicinal smoking is inhaling smoke of
medicines through the nose or the mouth.
Smoke is hot, penetrating, increasing
pitta, antagonizes kapha and has
cleansing action on air passages including
the minute ones.
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22. Holding fragrant substances in
mouth
 One should hold
fragrant substances like
cloves, cardamom,
nutmeg or betelnut in
the mouth. They help to
clean the mouth,
improve taste sensation
and mask bad odours.
These substances keep
the mouth clean and
fragrant.
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23. Morning Oil Massage
Advantages
1. Skin becomes soft, strong
and improves
complexion.
2. The blood vessels and the
nerves in the skin are
toned up.
3. Increases the muscular
tone
4. Relieves fatigue
5. Induces sound sleep
6. Delays aging process 23and
promotes longevity

24. Udgharshana
Coarse powder massage in local
Udgharshana results

erythema, increased heat and
stimulation of local pitta i.e.
enzymes in the skin.
 The complexion of the skin and
the muscle tone improve. The
vessels in the skin and
underlying muscles dilate and
the capillary circulation
increases.
 Local accumulation of fat is
prevented, thus giving a feeling
of lightness to the body.
 The stiffness of the body is
relieved. The stability of the
body is increased. Appetite
also improves.
 The person becomes more alert,24
feels refreshed and cheerful.

25. Exercise: Suryanamaskar
Involves the mind, the body and the breathing
 Yogic Exercises or Asanas:
 These exercises differ from
the usual physical exercises
in that the movements are
slow and merge steadily
from one posture into
another. They are meant to
improve the functions of
internal organs rather than
to develop muscles e.g.
pranayama or breathing
exercises is good for lungs.
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26. Shaving, hair cut and nails
 One should regularly go for a hair cut
every sixth day and shave daily before
going out for professional work. One
should not allow nails to grow beyond
fingertips. These procedures add to one’s
personality, hygiene, sex urge and
longevity.
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27. Bathing
 One should take a bath, at least
once a day. Pay special attention
to all body secretion areas and
every orifice. Never have a bath
or shower colder than luke-
warm.
Advantages:
 Heaviness, exhaustion &
sleepiness disappear
 Body, sense organs & mind feel
refreshed
 Soothing effect on blood and
reflexly the heart is stimulated
 Appetite & digestive power
improve
 Promotes longevity
 Sexual power increases
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28. Morning Prayers-Puja
 One should worship a particular
God to whom one is naturally
devoted.
 Charak quotes this prayer for
improving the health of body and
mind
“Let the God of fire retain in my
body; let the God of wind
maintain my life & breath; let
Lord Vishnu give me strength;
let Indra supplement my body
with energy. Let me be dedicated
to celibacy, knowledge,
friendship, generosity, sympathy
and true happiness”.
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29. Dress
 A person with Vata constitution should wear
yellow or red cotton or silk clothes.
 Persons with pitta constitution should wear white,
green or blue cotton clothes.
 Persons with kapha constitution should wear red
woollen clothes.
 In general one should wear clean, soft and white
clothes as they impart happiness, success, wealth
and longevity.
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30. Flowers, scents & cosmetics
 Act as de-odorants, exert a soothing effect on mind and
body.
 Flowers and perfumes increase enthusiasm, sex urge and
strengthen the constitution of a person.
 Gold Ornaments: A person wearing gold ornaments
looks attractive and happy. A very little gold is
absorbed through skin. Gold increase Oja, the essence
of all tissues, gives lustre to body and neutralises all the
three doshas.
 It exerts a pleasing effect on mind.
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31. Occupation
 If you are in job which
makes you nervous,
irritable consider a
change.
 You will be happiest in
jobs with lots of routine
and steady performance
requirement. This may
vary with different body
types.
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32. Diet
 A healthy person should take a
balanced diet having all the six
taste in moderate amount.
 One should take hot, fresh food in
good company at appropriate
time.
 Some dietetic items while
nourishing the body maintain a
balanced state of tissues, doshas
and waste products. Diet should
mainly consist of these items.
 Other food items though
nourishing disturb the balanced
state of the body. These food
items should be taken
occasionally and in small
amounts. 32

33. Afternoon
 After lunch one should walk
100 steps slowly to and fro.
 One should relax in supine
position for a period lasting
8 breaths, then lie on the
right side for a period
lasting 16 breaths, and later
turn on the left side and
relax for a period lasting 32
breaths.
 This process should be
repeated after lunch as well
as after dinner.
 A healthy person should
relax in a chair in a sitting
posture or with a backrest
and doze off for about a33 half
to one hour.

34. Sex
 It should be performed early at night. It should not
be performed at dawn, midday, dusk or midnight,
when the vata and pitta are increased and one cannot
take adequate rest after intercourse.
 Frequency of Intercourse: In general intercourse
should be preformed on every 4th day in autumn
and spring.
 Intercourse should be performed once every 15th
day in summer and monsoon. In winter one can
enjoy sex to one’s satisfaction.
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35. Meditation
 An average person should
focus his attention on the
image of God he loves and
try to meditate.
 One should regularly
meditate after waking up
and before sleep.
 A person who is unable to
meditate should try to
control his various
desires, emotions,
behaviour and actions so
that he evolves into a
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better person.

36. Getting ready for bed
 Go to bed to sleep.
 No reading, eating
or watching
television in bed.
 Sleeping on the left
side will open your
right nostril which
will help in
digestion of the
food.
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37. Sleep
 Usually 6-7 hours
sleep is enough to
give rest to both
the body and the
mind if the body
routine is well
balanced.
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38. Thank you
Let everyone be happy;
Let not anyone suffer from
diseases;
Let everyone be a well-
wisher of other and;
Let not anyone suffer from
misery.
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