Acharya Mahaprajna
Stomach is a means of a happy and healthy life. Most diseases are caused by stomach disorders. The root of good health lies in the stomach. Cleaning the stomach involves three things - food, elimination, and regularity.
Food
Most people eat in an unregulated manner, sometimes less, at other times more; sometimes unwholesome, at other times unbalanced. According to physicians the food eaten should be neither too much nor too little. Eating less than necessary also obstructs its elimination. Excessive eating is of course wrong from every point of view. The food eaten goes into the stomach, which can liquefy it only according to its power. Too much intake of food results in inadequate liquefaction, which is called mucous. The accumulation of mucous causes many disorders like stomach ache, flatulence and headache.
Untimely eating is wrong. By untimely eating is meant eating a second time before the earlier food has been digested. If possible, the interval between two meals should be five or at least three hours. This has been a common restraint. Some light items of food take less time to digest, but it takes at least three hours for proper digestion. Before this period mucous is present in the liquefied food. In olden times people mostly used to eat twice and sometimes thrice daily. But nowadays a different principle is followed. Many doctors advise to eat small quantities at frequent intervals. Perhaps they think of light stuff. Patients suffering from peptic ulcers require frequent eating. In another disease food is digested too quickly. Whatever is eaten is all lost. These two diseases are of a serious nature. Smaller ailments are forgotten in the presence of bigger ailments.
Food is also related to seasons. The quantity of gastric juices diminishes in the rainy season. That is why penance is easier to perform in this season. As compared to winter less gastric juices are secreted in summer. This is reflected in the quality and quantity of food needed in the two seasons. Overeaters cannot put in much mental labour. Those who eat lightly can do it more efficiently. They do not feel handicapped because of proportionate circulation of blood. During cogitation and deliberation there is a greater flow of blood towards the brain with the result that intestines get a meagre supply of it. On eating two much more blood flows towards the stomach with the result the brain gets a meagre supply of it. The mind gets enfeebled for want of adequate supply of blood. The quantity of food required is determined on the basis of the expenditure of energy needed. Therefore, both the quality and quantity of food differ in the case of those who do mental and physical labour. Frequent drinking of tea is also not useful for health. It may stimulate temporarily but it is not useful for real strength, intelligence and virility.
Elimination
More important than food is its elimination. It is certainly important to eat properly, but more important is timely elimination of what is eaten. Less attention is paid to elimination. Improper or defective elimination results in the anal air becoming foul. It results in loss of mental joy. There is a deep relation between the anal centre and mental happiness. Normally the useless elements of what we eat are eliminated in twenty-four hours, failing which they do get eliminated in three days' time. Should the faeces not move out of the intestines even in three days, the result is torpor, inactivity and loss of intelligence.
The large intestines eliminate the faeces through an undulating motion. Their movement becomes weak due to three reasons: (a) advancing age, (b) suppression of the natural urge, and (c) overeating. With advancing age intestines go on weakening. This weakness due to advancing age can be remedied by Yoga Mudra.
Suppression Of The Natural Urge
If timely elimination is not done, the intestines stop signalling. Many people suppress the urge for elimination because of either unavoidable circumstances or carelessness. Neglecting the intestinal signals too often results in the stoppage of the signals.
Many people take pride in saying, 'We do not have any urge for elimination for two or three days. But they forget that they have lost the capacity to register the urge by neglecting the intestinal signals.
