Have you ever felt so lethargic and unmotivated in the morning after scrolling through your phone’s screen for hours as soon as you wake up? Or did you sometimes find yourself staring blankly at your ceiling because of boredom and defining your life as a mundane and uninteresting one?
If that’s the case, we know what you’re lacking… A dinacharya!
According to the study on circadian rhythm conducted by Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young that won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, every living being has an internal biological clock that aids them in going through the rhythm of the day.
These men concluded that different phases of the day affect one’s physiology. How we function in a day is greatly influenced by our external environment and our internal biological clock. This adaptation is called the circadian rhythm which comes from Latin words circa (around) and dies (day).
Dinacharya is a concept of daily routine in Ayurveda. These are practices that you do in your everyday life that’s meant to promote balance in your well-being and improve your holistic health drastically through time. This ayurvedic principle believes in basing the daily system and your body’s flow with the cycles of nature.
Aside from the long-term health benefits, having a daily routine will also help in mental clarity and eliminates the burden of the decision-making crisis brought about by everyday activities.
As promising as it sounds, making your habits stick can be very challenging especially if you’re new to this.
Maybe it’s not you, maybe it’s how you do it.
Here are three simple ways to establish a dinacharya or daily routine in your life:
1. Take it One at a Time
Others feel stuck at doing a certain habit like ‘reading a book for one hour’ because ‘one hour’ and ‘reading a book’ just don’t go well and sounds haunting. Fortunately, common activities of dinacharya in Ayurveda isn’t that hard. You could do these in a minute or two.
Simple activities like tongue scraping, hydration, pranayama or breathing exercises, saying prayers, nasal or ear drops, and gargling are some activities that may appear little but will definitely improve your overall health if done regularly.
You could arrange these daily habits according to your liking.
You should just have to start small.
2. Have a System to Follow
It’s crucial to have a schedule or set of guidelines to properly help you along the way. There are different and specific timetables that work best for each dosha. For example, Pitta people are most effective during the morning until afternoon; the best time for Vata people to practice on the other hand is around afternoon to evening; Kapha people can do their dinacharya practice at night.
Keeping a piece of paper or notebook as a tracker is also advisable to keep up with your progress.
4. Know Your Reasons
One of the most common struggles of people who wanted to start a new habit is the failure to commit. Others may feel motivated during the first days yet easily gave up because of some external and internal reasons.
Knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing is a great way to stay committed to a habit or routine you just started.
As Viktor Frankl says, “those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”
3. Have an Accountability Partner
This might be the most effective out of the three because this means that you aren’t walking the path of cultivating a dinacharya alone—you already have someone to journey this with.
Of course, you are doing this daily routine for yourself but what an accountability partner can contribute is a greater sense of responsibility to commit.
According to a renowned author of Atomic Habits, James Clear, “every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.”
There you have it.
Keep in mind that a single step daily will bring you closer to a healthier and happier life.
https://holisticayurveda.ca/dinacharya-ways-to-make-your-habits-last/