Everyone wants to know the secret to a perfect diet that will give us immunity, better health, improve our metabolism, etc. If our focus is only on the physical body, the answer is simple – we should eat locally grown foods, in the right quantity and with a good frame of mind.
However, the role of our diet on the state of our mind is vastly ignored. What we feed our mind with, is equally important to improve immunity and bestow good health and strength. So the real question to ponder on is, what is good food for the mind?
Patanjali mentions Maitri, Karuna, Mudita, Upeksha as the tools to condition the mind. Prashantji refers to them as mental cosmetics to beautify the mind. We have to train and feed the mind with nutritious food, along with special focus on the above-mentoned tools:
Maitri – cultivate friendliness towards happy and successful people, instead of jealousy.
Karuna – encourage compassion for the sorrowful and less-fortunate people.
Mudita – foster gladness for the virtuous, without jealousy and malice.
Upeksha – practise indifference and distance yourself from wicked and evil people, whose thoughts do not resonate with yours. Refrain from arguments by trying to advise them.
If we feed our mind with wrong emotions such as anger, frustration, and depression, it may result in ailments of the gut (flatulence, acidity, stomach ache) which is akin to indigestion of the mind. We need to have a step-by-step approach towards our mental issues just as we do for our physical problems.
The concept of rasayan is recommended in Ayurveda. Chavanprash is a nourishing tonic and is to be consumed on an empty stomach; it is rasayan for the body. Similarly, early morning meditation is rasayan for the mind. Yog speaks about meditation in the early hours of the morning, when the sensitivity is very high, pure and inwardly, and it is easier to connect to oneself. Also, it has been clinically proven that when we meditate in the early hours of the morning, our nerves are in resonance and can absorb maximum energy to improve immunity and health.
Following a good diet in order to do yogasanas improves physical immunity over a period of time. But, for overall holistic development we need to focus on our emotional and mental immunity. Feeding the mind with noble thoughts (gratitude, compassion, generosity) and disregarding base feelings (jealousy, envy, greed) will lead it to become stronger and capable of controlling the physical actions, as well as withdrawing the senses to begin the journey inward.