This year, India saw a delayed monsoon, soon followed by a very long and heavy spell of showers, as if Nature is making up for a slow start to the season. Similarly, there are monsoon disruptions all over the world. So it is all the more necessary now to take further precautions on a daily basis so that one can enjoy this beautiful season. The first step to be able to do that is to thoroughly protect oneself. All the remedies mentioned below can be used easily at home.
A common complaint in the environment at this time are infections and fungal infestations. Dhoop (herbal fumigation) is a great way to fight these at home. Doing dhoop is very simple and for those who need some guidance you can watch Shreeguru Dr. Balaji Tambe explaining and demonstrating how to perform dhoop in Hindi here and in English here.
Several herbs can directly be used as dhoop ingredients, such as ajwain, dried neem leaves, guggul and camphor. The readymade Santulan Purifier Dhoop mixture is best suited for general use at home. Dhoop is recommended twice a day, regularly, in the rainy season for your entire home, or at least your personal space.
The monsoon has quite an effect on the digestive system as a whole. Some are more strongly affected than others. Loose motions and stomach infections are common, and some people also suffer from vomiting at this time. In these cases, a homemade mixture of lemon drops, honey and ginger juice offers good relief. If you are severely affected, apart from consulting a doctor, you should take a liquid diet of moong dal soup. In Ayurvedic medicines, tablets like Kutaj Ghan Vati and Kamdudha and avaleha like Bilvasan are useful.
The rains also disturb the digestive fire causing low appetite and nausea. Those already prone to anorexia may find it becoming more acute at this time of the year. In all these cases, try the following home remedy. Cut a lemon into half and remove the seeds. On the cut surface sprinkle 2 pinches of cumin powder, 1 pinch of turmeric powder, 1 pinch of ajwain powder, half pinch or very little quantity of asafoetida powder, and rock salt as per taste. Now keep this half lemon piece in a small skillet and heat on a low flame until it starts oozing the lemon juice. Let it cool down a bit and squeeze out the juice. This spiced lemon juice is one of the best home remedies for a number of digestive problems arising due to low digestive fire. It is also very tasty and helps stir up a good appetite when taken before a meal!
In the rainy season Ayurveda recommends eating light food. Non-vegetarian food is best avoided at this time. Deep fried foods, high protein pulses like dry peas, val beans, soya beans or frozen foods, cold drinks etc. should also be avoided to prevent health complications during this season. So what foods are recommended in the monsoon?
Grains
Low starch varieties of rice, moong beans or dal, tur dal, grains like jowari, bajari and nachani.
Veggies
Fruit vegetables growing on creeper such as lauki, turia, ghosali, tondli, padval, parvar, karela, all types of pumpkins and gourds, tinda etc.
Spices
Cumin seeds, haldi, coriander seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, kokam, lemon, fresh coriander, fresh mint, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black pepper.
Dairy
A2 milk, fresh buttermilk, homemade ghee.
Fruits
Pomegranates, figs, apple, papaya, mosambi (sweet lime) and pear.
Do try and include healthy warm drinks in your day. These can include herbal teas with herbs like chamomile, mint, tulsi and ginger. Of course, drinking warm water with your meals and otherwise is one of the best habits you can cultivate for your overall health. For your reference, on the 4th of June, we published Part 1 of this article containing several more tips for the monsoons. We hope that all these recommendations can keep you physically and mentally in great shape throughout the season!