Smart Food For Smart Mind

In order to gain in sound and happy mind one must deligently work on one's food intially.

In this reference a great Indian sage Ramanujacharya a proponent of Vishista Advaita i.e. qualified non dualism, gives following guidelines.

Food contains all energies that go up to make forces of our body and mind. Thus difference between body, mind and the food we eat is but of manifestation only. It being so, that out of the material particles of our food we construct the instrument of thought, and that from the finer forces lodged in these particles we manufacture thought itself. Hence it naturally follows that both instrument and the thought will be modified by the food we take.

According to Ramanuja, there are three things in food we must avoid.

1) Jati: 
The nature or the species of the food. All exciting food must be avoided as meat, onions, garlics etc. Any food that has been standing for days, till its condition is changed, any food whose natural juices have almost dried up, any food that is mal odorous should be avoided

2) Ashraya:

The person from whom it comes. The idea that each man has some aura around him and whatever thing he touches, a part of his character, as it were, his influence, is left on it. So we must take care who touches our food when it is cooked. A wicked, imnmoral person must not touch it.

3) Nimitta:

The instruments. Dirt and dust must not be in food. Food should not be brought from the market and placed on the table unwashed. We must be careful of saliva and other secretions. Again, we must not eat food, half of which has been eaten by someone else.

When these things are avoided in food, it becomes pure; pure food brings up a pure mind, and in pure mind is a smart and happy mind.

Recreation and Meditation

Man is made up of various spheres of existence. These are body, mind, energy, knowledge and soul. In oriental countries this is called as the ‘Five Sheath’ theory of existence. As a matter of fact anxiety, fear, lack of confidence being the states of mind, meditation is a very effective way of managing and relieving all these unwanted mental states.

Meditation is a technique to attain a state of fine concentration through which you get peace and satisfaction of mind. There are many forms of meditation and they all seek the same end result. Here we shall see an exercise of breathing that shall calm your mind and drive away your fear and panic. The steps of practicing the breathing exercise for meditating are:

1)      Posture: This is important because it provides a impetus for the act of concentration. One must sit in an erect posture by folding your legs as in the posture of Siddhasana. The head, the neck and the spine should fall in single line.

2)      Focus: One must close his/her eyes and focus on the singular point in the middle of both eyes internally.

3)      Breathing: Steady deep breathing should be practiced and the inhalation and exhalation process should be witnessed.

4)      Duration: One may practice this exercise minimum for 10 minutes and can extend the time as per the stamina and convenience.

5)      Consistency: One must follow a routine in order to achieve result. Fixed a proper time of a day may be morning or evening, and stick to it. Do not change the time frequently. The meditation exercise should be done daily without fail.