Lifestyle

Lifestyle

When we talk about ‘Fast life of Mumbai’, ‘This is typically Puneri’, ‘नागपुरी वर्‍हाडी ठेच्याचा झटका’, ‘आमच्या कोल्ल्हापुरात’, ‘सातारी तर्‍हा’, ‘Quiet life at Wai’, etc. we are really talking about way of Life or ‘Lifestyle’ at those places and of people living there.

While travelling in railway we see, signs such as ‘Indian style’ and ‘Western style’, on opposite doors. But only recently we often hear about ‘Modern Lifestyle’, ‘Changed lifestyle’ and its adverse effects on health. And now, we repeatedly hear about ‘Lifestyle diseases and syndromes’ and the ‘Role of Lifestyle modifications in prevention and treatment of such diseases.’ So the basic questions that arise in our minds are, ‘What is really Lifestyle’, ‘which aspects of lifestyle are responsible for ill health’ and ‘what modifications are necessary’?

Everything we do and happen while living is included in ‘Lifestyle’. Out of these, some things we choose to do and some we have to do; some are changeable and some are not and some are under our control and some are not.  

It is an Established Pattern of Living of a person at that Stage of his life. The Basic pattern develops during childhood and it gets established during Adolescence and young adulthood. It is influenced initially by established lifestyle of Parents, influence of teachers and childhood experiences. It reflects one’s Personality. This basic pattern is rather difficult to change mainly because it acts as an infrastructure and we are reluctant to change. But basically it is a Development process. This means change is inherent and we should change consciously according to the needs.

Now it is easy to see what things are included in Lifestyle. Our Daily routine, active-passive periods, rest, sleep and wakefulness; eating periods and diet Patterns; motion habits; activity and exercise pattern; Sexual activity; Leisure time activity; etc. are included in Lifestyle. Weekly pattern and weekly off; weekend activity; yearly pattern, vacations and holidays are also included. In addition Personality attributes, Likes-dislikes, individual preferences, individual problems, mental blocks, idiosyncrasies, habits, addictions, etc. are also included.

Though the Basic pattern of Lifestyle establishes during adolescence and young adulthood it continues to change and reestablish at various stages of life like Stability in career, marriage, children, their education, peak of career, retirement, etc. It also changes with major changes in life e.g. – change in career, change in place of living, major change in relations, major or prolonged illness, etc. Sometimes it doesn’t change for good. The factors responsible are beyond our control and we have to face the consequences.

There are many Influences on our Lifestyle. In addition to influences by persons like parents, grandparents, relatives, teachers, idols and friends, we are influenced by circumstances and experiences. We are also influenced by our thoughts, ideas, concepts of right-wrong or just-unjust and concepts about Ideal Lifestyle. 

But we are bound in our genetic disposition, constitution, personality and individual nature. When we hear about epidemic of Diabetes, number one country to have Hypertension and IHD, increasing trend of obesity, etc. we are frightened and feel helpless because we think, we cannot do anything about it. 

So, can we or our Doctors, Consultants, Counsellors, Gurus, Babas, etc. Manage our Lifestyle for good?

The answer is “We CANNOT”. This is because management is External and so temporary.

Can we Change our Lifestyle for good? YES. WE CAN. Because CHANGE CAN BE INTERNAL – FROM WITHIN. So it can be permanent. Better still, we should MODIFY our Lifestyle under the guidance of Experts instead of drastically changing it. This increases the chance of the changes being permanent.   

It seems difficult to change an established Lifestyle. But, we should keep it in mind that basically it is a process and the change is inherent. If it has changed by trivial external influences, like continuous exposure, availability affordability, advertisements and propaganda, it CAN CHANGE. In these cases we are responsible for the changes because we have allowed ourselves to be carried away, to take allowances and to indulge in unnecessary and even harmful things.

We have changed it (for bad) so we can change it again (and again and again) for GOOD. We can choose our Lifestyle. We can be more thoughtful. We can definitely change the things in our control. And if we cannot change things beyond our control we can change our reaction to these things. For example, while standing in the queue in front of an ATM we can decide whether to stay calm or get unnecessarily irritated. 

But before changing, we should be clear why we are modifying our Lifestyle. 

We want to treat the disease and to revert its bad effects. We want to improve our condition and to maintain health. At least, we want to slow down the deterioration. Or we want to solve the problems arising from previous lifestyle.

We want to correct our mistakes. And what were they?

We didn’t pay attention to our diet, exercise and rest. We indulged in addictions and lived reckless life. We were careless, ignorant and irresponsible.

Basically we had no purpose and thought behind what we did. We had a casual attitude and let the things happen. We didn’t realize the priorities and couldn’t understand what is really important.

Now we want to correct these mistakes. Better still, we don’t want to make mistakes and follow a better lifestyle that will prevent the bad effects and so called “Lifestyle Diseases”.

We really want to be stress-free, happy and contented. But without health we cannot be happy. So, first, we want to be Healthy.            

Then how to Change or modify our Lifestyle? For that, we should feel the Need to change, have strong Will to change and Conviction that this change will lead to improved health and happiness. In addition we will need Self-Motivation, Training, Efforts and Continuity. We also need External Motivation, Advice from experts.

There are Non-modifiable and Modifiable aspects of Lifestyle. Non-modifiable aspects are really very few. They are related to our genetic composition constitution and Basic Personality. We can do very little about them.

But there are many Modifiable Aspects that will lead us to Comprehensive Health (Physical, Mental and Social Health).  They are Daily routine, Diet, Activity, Exercise, Work pattern and Rest. First we will give attention to change these aspects.

Then we will try to change more important aspects like the Attitude, Thoughts and Philosophy behind Lifestyle. Without these the change will not be from within. It will be superficial change in the routine but will not be the change in the Lifestyle. So let us do conscious and thoughtful modifications in our Lifestyle.   

Lifestyle modification is not unidirectional. There cannot be prototype ‘Good’ Lifestyle. It depends on Individual, his specific needs, Priorities at that time and circumstances.

There can be one ‘Basic Normal Individual Lifestyle’ that is Healthy; Socially acceptable and beneficial and Environment-Friendly.

Here we can discuss some Aspects of Ideal Indian Lifestyle.

It is High Value-based and Ethical Lifestyle with emphasis on physical and mental Non-violance (‘I will not harm anybody – I will not allow anyone to harm me’); Mutual respect, co-operation and symbiosis (‘एकमेका सहाय्य करू अवघे धरू सुपंथ’; ’सर्वेपि सुखिनः संतु, सर्वे संतु निरामयः, सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यंतु, मा कश्चित दुःखमाप्नुयात्‌’; ’ॐ सहना ववतु, सहनौ भुनक्तु, सहवीर्यं करवावहै, तेजस्विनामधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै’). This is even more Important in Modern Context.

It gives individual freedom with right balance between Rights and duties. Independence, self-dependence and self-reliance are its innate characters. It is a Living with Purpose, Cause and Meaning. It is a Nonpolluting Lifestyle, giving importance to purity; minimum consumption of natural resources with reuse, recycling and minimum production of consumptive wastes (as against ‘disposable culture. Its Ultimate Purpose is to have and maintain Comprehensive Health, Happiness,  Contentment, and Peace.  (Meaning). It also gives importance to live for others, because it has a firm belief that one can only be happy if everybody around is happy.  

Such Lifestyle can be divided into four basic Lifestyle Patterns or Phases and is very aptly described in the traditional concept of Four Aashramas. They are, 1) Student phase (ब्रह्मचर्याश्रम) with primary importance to gain knowledge and understanding; 2) Married life (गृहस्थाश्रम) with primary importance to reproduce, raising children, growing family and rising socially; 3) Retired phase (वानप्रस्थाश्रम) with total retirement from work and detachment from routine, responsibilities and emotional attachments and 4) Last phase (सन्यासाश्रम) of efforts for ultimate bliss and freedom.

Then there are different need-based Lifestyles like Stress-free or Low-stress Lifestyle; Lifestyle for Diabetes and Obesity; for Hypertension and IHD; for Joint Pains; for student, for Newly Married, Pregnancy, Lactation and Parenting; After retirement etc. and even for chronic constipation. Then there are temporary or permanent lifestyle modifications that are needed for Convalescence, Rehabilitation after various treatments and Deaddiction. 

And as mentioned here many times, it is a Process with inherent need to change. So there cannot be an Ideal lifestyle for Life.

Lifestyle Modification is the real answer to prevent many of the diseases of modern era. The earlier we start (during Adolescent age) to adapt ‘Basic Normal Healthy Lifestyle’ the better will be our health throughout life. In future we should remain more flexible and open-minded to adapt different Lifestyles as and when needed. Then we will be up-to-date. But we should be cautious, conscious and thoughtful at the same time to prevent adverse effects. This will lead us to Health, Happiness and Contentment.