A rhythm or a sequence of periodic activity and repose is readily recognized in and around us. The regular seasons, the rise and fall of the tide, the waxing and waning of the moon, the predictable rising and setting of the sun all testify to the above truth. So also, the beating of our heart, the expansion and contraction of our lungs, the processes of cell division and reproduction and those of cell destruction and the pulsatile release of hormones point to the synchronicity of the human body in relation with Nature. Thus everything in and around us functions in a pre-ordained, cyclical manner.
The rhythms in Nature are due to the oscillatory movements of the earth around itself as well as around the sun and that of the moon around the earth and these undoubtedly elicit a programmed response from living creatures on the earth. The five elements that the universe encompasses are also the five elements of which our body is made of. The upheavals which is the rhythm of Nature is the response of those to cosmic forces to which our body too is bound to be subject to. Being aware of our responses, altering and fine-tuning them to maintain harmony is the crux of leading a healthy and fulfilling life.
The rhythms in the body, the sleep-wake cycle and all processes which are an integral part of the body functioning are controlled by the brain. The brain is also the point of generation of emotions and voluntary activity. It follows that coordinating rhythms within oneself and with Nature is an activity well within our control. As Hippocrates said,
“The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.”
If one tends to move away from Nature, one tends to lose connection with oneself and with one’s body rhythms.
Albert Einstein has said,
“I fear the day when technology will surpass human interaction.”
Today’s world is an era of constant stimulation and up gradation. Technology has played its own role in fomenting and generating opportunities for relentless excitation of the senses. Research has identified that a child learns to use the tab even before he is through kindergarten and the lower grades. Normal human interaction is nudged behind slowly but surely by the electronic media. Our timings of eating, sleeping, resting and working have altered dramatically. What follows, over a period of time, is ill-health and diseases.
The time has now come for retrospection and introspection. The really healthy and successful people are those who get a good sleep, eat good food at regular intervals and follow the age old wisdom of,
“Early to bed, early to rise makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise!”
Harmony is thus established when the body is flexible enough to respond to these natural cycles spontaneously. When reverence is experienced and expressed through efforts to maintain and synchronise rhythms within and without, health becomes a natural outcome!