TOP 5 INDIAN HABITS YOU SHOULD ADAPT

India is a rich country. And it has so many ancient knowledge to offer! Even if sometimes India seems like a mess from the outside, you will find practices that will make you to dig even deeper, to explore India even wider. And even if you will often meet people that doesn’t do any of these five things we are introducing you to, these practices have originated in India and are definitely worth discussing. And we do not talk only about health here. We talk about life changing experiences. Let India in your heart and in your life!

1. The right place to start yoga

By the definition yoga is a group of physical, mental and spiritual disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yes, here you will find many yoga masters that can introduce you to this complex science. We have one special guru whose name is Sadhguru. He is explaining that yoga is the science of being in perfect alignment, in absolute harmony, in complete sync with existence. The problem in nowadays world is that the word “yoga” has been interpreted in so many ways, that it has lost its real meaning. But India is the country you will finally be able to find the real yogis, real gurus, who can introduce you to this. Yoga works with all of your bodies – not only the physical one, but also mental, spiritual and later etheric and bliss body. And even when you start with very basics, the physical body itself, yoga gives you so many advantages! Firstly, it improves the flexibility, which is one of the most obvious benefits. Yoga builds muscle strength, prevents cartilage and joint breakdown, protects the spine and betters your bone health. So we could continue endlessly. Yoga, in comparison with other exercises, is a complex that does all these good beneficial exercises thus helping your body as a whole, not only the butt muscles or abs. And then there are inner benefits you will feel. Yoga boosts levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues, it drains your lymph and boosts immunity to name only some. Then comes the mental health. Yeah, yoga actually makes you happier and helps you to focus. It improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores. Yoga encourages you to relax and focus on the present and gives you the peace of mind. Yoga gives not only physical strength, but also the inner strength. You will see that your life is changing, that it`s going for the best. Yoga and meditation build awareness. And the more aware you are, the easier it is to break free of destructive emotions. You will see the life and every day differently. And this is the practice that will remind you how human you are.

2. Try Ayurvedic practices and black charcoal

Ayurveda is an ancient, 5000-year-old system of natural healing originated in India. Ayurveda is also called a science of life as “Ayur” means “life” while “Veda” is “science or knowledge”. Ayurveda shows many aspects of life, it offers guidelines on ideal daily routines, behavior and even use of our senses. Ayurveda is all about balance in our life, in our body, mind, and spirit. This knowledge and practices has deep history and even deeper way to learn and follow the suggestions. It is not that easy to adapt Ayurvedic lifestyle, but there are so many practices you can adapt even today. And one of them is cleaning your teeth with the charcoal. In many Ayurvedic stores across India and even the world you will find interesting lotions, creams and gels, oils and so much more for your body. But for your teeth the seller most likely will offer the charcoal. Why to clean the teeth with it, you may ask. But it isn’t without the reason! Activated charcoal is not only good for your stomach, but also very useful for your oral cavity. Activated charcoal is an age-old material with various uses, lately gained the popularity for usage in the teeth whitening. Charcoal is absorbing and the toxins by binding them and it may improve even the kidney function. And even if there is still no official evidence that activated charcoal whitens teeth, observations suggest that using activated charcoal on your teeth is effective in absorbing plaque and other compounds that stain teeth. Meaning, the chemical properties of activated charcoal is a natural teeth whitener. It doesn’t neutralize the toxins – it binds to them, resulting in whiter teeth. Nowadays, charcoal toothpaste is a fantastic way to remove extrinsic stains. Though keep in mind that this isn’t the same thing as whitening teeth. Stain removal, however, is still an important part of keeping your teeth beautiful. Brushing teeth with this kind of toothpaste raises the pH of your mouth because the charcoal binds to acidic elements and increases their rate of excretion from the body. This can also improve your breath if you struggle with halitosis. So even if there are no official proofs of teeth whitening, charcoal toothpaste has so many other advantages, whiter teeth can come just as a nice extra. But be careful – the best charcoal toothpaste products should be free of things like sodium lauryl sulfate, artificial sweeteners and fluoride. Be aware of these health-destroying ingredients, as then all the good benefits you could get becomes only bad effects.

3. Clean your tongue

A thing called tongue cleaner we discovered only in India. That is actually a metal wire that locals use in the mornings along with those crazy gagging sounds. So we tried the tongue cleaning. And guess what – we cannot imagine a day without it! There are some good reasons why you should stick to the tongue cleaning or scraping, too. This is a way to remove that layer of bacteria and food particles from your tongue, including the ones that cause bad breath. Just remember – do it gently so that you wouldn’t lose all your taste buds! Bacteria stay and accumulate on your tongue, by the time leaving a negative impact on your oral health. But by scraping your tongue daily, you will reduce the bacteria in the mouth, thus avoiding the bad breath naturally. Tongue cleaning also prevents cavities, gum disease, and other conditions affecting the mouth. It is also believed that when we sleep, our digestive system remains awake, removing toxins from the body by removing them onto the surface of our tongue. By cleaning the tongue, you remove toxins so that they couldn’t get reabsorbed. By removing the toxins, you free your tongue to let it finally taste the food. And that is no magic. Try to clean your tongue and you won’t even be able to imagine a day with that bacteria inside your mouth.

4. Bring Kamasutra in your life

Yeah, it may already sound naughty, but this is an useful practice that also is originated in India in the 3rd century. Kama is actually the Hindu God of love, and the word “kama” itself means “desire”, while “sutra” means “guide”. So this is the guide to gain the desire! These ancient texts of sex positions actually go way more further than the physical touch to dissect sensuality and the art of human love. It teaches about the human behavior and reveals secrets to a lasting relationship. This is not a secret that both physical and mental closeness is important in the relationships. And people realized that these hundreds of years ago creating this world-famous literary work. Featuring 1250 verses, compiled in 36 chapters, that are organized into 7 parts, Kamasutra provides an excellent commentary on various aspects of life. Most people believe it to be a scripture exclusively on sex or sex positions. But it actually can be described as a guide book on the art of leading a virtuous life, as the compilation touches upon aspects of social and individual life. If not adapting Kamasutra that can be seen on the temples yet so oppressed in traditional Indian everyday life, it can be an interesting way to get an inside look of ancient Indian knowledge that are forgotten and opportunity to take something for your own.

5. Become vegetarian

And last, but not the least is being veg. Yes, India is the most vegetarian country. Around one third of people in India follow vegetarian diet. India also has the least meat consumption rate in the world. We never thought to become veg, but during our first journey in India it was difficult to find non-veg food, so we stuck to what was available. But this time we already started the new lifestyle of really being veg. And why? First of all, to avoid food poisoning as by consuming the meat is the most easy to get it – meat is not properly kept and cooked. And then we actually started to feel different. And it is just so great feeling! Only after we read that being a vegetarian has so many advantages as well! Vegetarian diet reduces the risk for chronic degenerative diseases such as obesity, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain types of cancer. And not only. It is believed that sticking to plant-based diet will help you to live longer. Plant-based diets are generally rich in fiber, phytonutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, which in turn strengthens the immune system and slows down the aging process. What else? It’s also a question of ethics. We will not call those huge numbers, just be aware – it takes so much more grain to feed animals that will later be killed for our dinner plate. If all those grains would be given to people instead of animals, almost a billion people could be fed! Billions of animals are killed for consumption every year. And don’t believe that it is healthy way of gaining proteins! Usually animals are being raised in cages, fed with antibiotics. And that all goes into your body causing different diseases. Moreover, livestock generate more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. Can you imagine how far it goes? We can go more and more to explain you enough how many benefits vegetarianism has. But this is everyone’s personal choice. Our main task is to share, yours – think and act.

India is a colourful country that has no others alike. Indian lifestyle, different perception of life and values. There is an endless list of things you should and you definitely shouldn’t learn from this country. But these five are something worth considering. Read it, think about it, try it!