Learning from the Art of Living of our Ancestors

I don’t think anyone can disagree to the fact that the lifestyle of our ancestors enhanced their quality of life. If we do a careful analysis of their lives we cannot deny the fact that they lived a better life than we do. They had healthy lifestyles and led a happy life.

Today the world is full of diseases which mainly have resulted from unhealthy lifestyles. We can see not only the old or middle aged suffering from killer diseases but teenagers and toddlers as well. Such diseases were unheard during the time of our ancestors. My grandfather passed away one year before I was born and from what I have heard of him he was a man of great wisdom and lived a nice life. I have spent a lot of time with my grand mother when I was a child. She lived till the age of 98 and was never bed ridden. I remember that one day I had a terrible tooth ache and was crying in pain. My grandmother made a paste of some green leaves and applied the paste on my chin and removed it after 2-3 minutes and the pain vanish miraculously. She had a remedy for almost everything and never visited a doctor till her last breathe. But if we look around now all we find are the rundown, anemic, obese, depressed and exhausted even at the prime of their youth.

What is so special about the lifestyle of our forefathers that we are lacking? Here is my analysis.

1)Physical Activity : Our ancestors walked a lot and did a lot of physical activity like drawing water from the well, chopping wood, working in the farm etc which kept them fit. They did all their activities themselves and never depended on others. But as far as we are concerned most of us have become couch potatoes and we hate any sort of physical activity. We o need a car even to cover a distance of few yards. We prefer to stay glued to our chairs and hate to get out of our homes or lift even a finger.

2) Food habits: Our ancestors maintained regular food timings and consumed wholesome grains, pulses and seasonal fruits. Also since they worked hard they could easily digest whatever they ate. Whereas we are irregular regarding our food timings and habits. We eat junk and packed food very often. Aerated cold drinks, liquor, tinned food etc are our best friends.

3) Proper Relaxation: Our ancestors had a proper relaxation, sleep and rest. They use to rise early and sleep early. Whereas we neither enjoy sound sleep nor can we relax or rest peacefully. We keep awake till late night going for parties or working on the computer and get up late too.

4) Close to Nature: Our forefathers were very close to the nature. They breathed fresh air and lived in pollution free environments. They depended on natural remedies when some one got sick. Their food and clothes fully matched the changes in weather. But we rarely go out to get a fresh breathe and our life is totally mechanical. We pop tablets and expend huge amounts on Doctors when we get sick.

4) Family and Neighbors: Our forefathers maintained very good relationships with neighbors and had high family values. They were god fearing people. ‘Love thy neighbor’ was just not one of the Ten Commandments for them but they genuinely loved and helped neighbors. Family was a priority to them and mostly they maintained a joint family way of living. Whereas our family lives are shattered and we try to find joy through extra marital relationships, drinking, smoking, parties, drugs etc. Forget about all our neighbors, many of us would not know who the next door neighbor or how many people stay there. We have become narrow minded, self centered and uncaring.

To cut short, our forefathers maintained a healthy lifestyle and lived their life fully. We, on the other hand, have a erratic lifestyle which leads to several diseases like Obesity, Blood Pressure, Heart diseases, Rheumatism and so on. To sum up, it would not be a bad idea to go back to our forefather’s lifestyle and emulate their traits of simple living and high thinking.

We all agree that ‘Health is Wealth’ but many of us sacrifice our health and run behind wealth. Many people suffer physically and mentally due to various diseases and ailments like Obesity, Diabetics, Arthritis, Blood pressure, heart diseases and allergies as a result of erratic lifestyles. But the good news is turning to a Natural Lifestyle can protect themselves from any kind of disease forever during their lives. Looking at it from a different perspective, the practice of green living minimizes or eliminates toxins from our environment which has resulted from our taking advantage of and mistreating out planet. The severe weather of the past several years is just a small example of the after effects of abusing our planet earth. It is about time we made some changes in our lifestyle and attitude to save our planet even if that means adopting natural and environmentally friendly living or using green products because our current lifestyles and practices are actually destructive to our environment.

Natural living is a Lifestyle choice. Living more naturally is a wonderful goal. It is healthier for you and your family and is gentler on the environment. A natural life style involves buying or using products made from ingredients found in nature and going green. The concept of going green and adopt a environmentally friendly living is growing in popularity over the last years as a result of the various lifestyle and environmental problems we are facing because of our unhealthy lifestyle and usage of toxic chemicals in our food supply, household cleaning products, personal care products etc. Turning to natural products and remedies for our needs is the cure for such situation. Natural and Green living can thereby affect our personal environments, including the internal environment of our bodies, our home, work and social environments as well as our planet's environment positively.

The three main requisites for the smoother functioning of our body are air, water and food. We cannot survive without breathing oxygen but we can survive a few days without water and some months without food. According to experts, since our body consists of 2/3 rd of water and 1/3^rd of mass we should consume water and food in the same ratio too. But many of us do the reverse and go against the nature. We eat 70% and don't even drink 30% of water. Instead of eating to live many of us ‘live to eat.’ Here are some tips on staying healthy.

• Do not remain indoors all the time. Get some fresh air. Go out for walks and places where natural environment is available.
• Indulge in physical activities and exercises.
• Don’t work on a stretch, take rest in between.
• Consume organically grown fruits and vegetables.
• Take meals in time and avoid unhealthy foods.
• Avoid eating food with too much oil, spice or salt.
• Avoid strong liquors, smoking, drugs etc
• Drink lots of water.
• Use natural and environmentally friendly products
• Sleep early and wake up early. Sleep at least 7 hours a day.
• Try to enjoy the morning breeze, sunshine, moon light and rain as our body requires it.
• Turn to natural remedies and products instead of popping tablets into the mouth.
• Do Yoga and Meditation

We have so much to gain when we make natural living a part of your life including benefits like improved health and energy for us and our family and our environment. It is true that we may not be able to follow the lifestyle of our forefathers, but the least we could do is get closer to nature as far as possible in order to have a healthier life. So let us not drift away from natural living endowed to humanity for good health and happiness and make some lifestyle and attitude changes.