Agni: Caring for Your Digestive Fire
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Today, let’s talk about a key aspect of Ayurveda, agni, your digestive fire and how to care for it. As the ancient Ayurvedic text, Charak Samhita says,
Life-span, complexion, strength, health, enthusiasm, corpulence, lustre, immunity, energy, heat processes and vital breath--all these depend on agni. One dies if this fire is extinguished, lives long free from disorders if it is functioning properly, gets ill if it is deranged, hence agni is the root cause of all.
Obviously, if agni is that important, we need to take care of it properly. Here are some basic Do’s and Don’ts in caring for your digestive fire.
Eat food at room temperature or slightly above
Allow three hours between meals to allow digestion to be complete before adding new food to the system
Don’t drink and eat at the same time. Drink a half hour before or two hours after eating.
Use proper food combining.
Relax after eating to allow for proper digestion.
Don’t eat and then sleep—wait two hours.
Don’t eat and then exercise—wait two hours.
Don’t eat and then meditate—Leave one hour.
·Follow the diet appropriate to your constitution and the season.
Next time, we’ll go into a little more depth on the concept of proper food combining.
Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.
Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!
