Explaining the Dosha-clock and the Ayurvedic Dinacharya!

By now we clearly understand that synchronizing our body with the rhythms of the nature is the key to a healthy life. And to explain this process, Ayurveda has divided a day or a 24-hour cycle into several day-parts. Likewise, a year or 12 months have been divided into six seasons.

For now, let’s just concentrate on the daily routines. Ayurveda divides a day into two cycles.

The first cycle is as follows:

2 A.M. – 6 A.M. – Vata Time.

6 A.M. – 10 A.M. – Kapha Time.

10 A.M. – 2 P.M. – Pitta Time.

The first cycle repeats itself during the second half of the day. So, the second cycle goes like this:

2 P.M. – 6 P.M. – Vata Time.

6 P.M. – 10 P.M. – Kapha Time.

10 P.M. – 2 A.M. – Pitta Time.

Ayurveda elaborately explains a certain routine that we need to follow on a daily basis to attain a state of optimal health and well-being. This daily routine is termed as Dinacharya in Sanskrit. Following the Ayurvedic Dinacharya religiously can help boost our immunity and keep diseases at bay. It helps in maintaining the perfect balance or harmony – both internally and externally or in relation with the nature.

Likewise, Ayurveda also recommends a seasonal routine or Ritucharya, to be followed across the six seasons for optimal health. We will talk more about Ritucharya as we go along.

The Ayurvedic Dinacharya is quite simple to understand and follow. It is a tool to align our lives with the natural rhythms. It is all about putting our life into perspective. Following a daily routine helps create a sense of purpose and sanity in an otherwise chaotic world.

Ayurveda explains in detail when to wake up, what to do after waking up, when to exercise, when to eat, when to perform our daily chores, when to socialize, when to sleep and so on and so forth.

There is a reason why our forefathers would wake up at a certain time in the morning and hit the bed before 10 P.M. There is a reason why they would do yoga or meditation or breathing exercises, eat at a fixed time and so on. And that pretty much explains the reason behind the quality and longevity of their lives.

We, the modern-day human beings, have somewhere disrupted these natural cycles and are bearing the brunt. There is no fixed eating time for us, we never know when we hit the bed or wake up, we have erratic lifestyles, our eating habits are all over the place… and that’s the reason why we are more prone to diseases than our forefathers were.

It is high time that we put our lives into perspective and do the simple-yet-right things. Follow this space as next up we will talk about the Ayurvedic Dinacharya in detail.