10 Lifestyle Tips that Support Wellbeing and Relaxation for All
  1. Pursue meaningful work that you enjoy and that naturally suits you. Do not compromise your work for money or status.
  2. Perform your work with a duty consciousness (commitment without attachment). Do not expect immediate reward for your work; allow the reward to occur naturally.
  3. Spend approximately 8 hours each day working and try to live in such a way that what this generates in earnings, will support your lifestyle.
  4. Dedicate 30 minutes each morning and evening for total quietness and calmness, or silence practice.
  5. Evening time between 5:00 and 8:00 pm should be dedicated to reading noble literature, music, dance or other meaningful entertainment or educational programs. Alternatively, one may spend this time visiting friends, relations, and other well-wishers.
  6. Wake up a minimum of one hour prior to sunrise. Tend to nature’s call as needed, wash your face, hands and the soles of your feet prior to silence practice.
  7. Offer thanks and salutations to your parents, your elders, the gods and goddesses. Pray for noble thoughts, noble speech and noble deeds.
  8. Some form of moderate physical exercise is essential each day.
  9. Consume only healthy, energetic foods twice each day at regular times – ideally, early midday and evening.
  10. Aim to get adequate sleep, approximately 8 hours each night, using midnight as the guiding midpoint.
Ten Tips for Seniors to Improve General Wellbeing
  1. Wake up a minimum of one hour prior to sunrise. Tend to nature’s call as needed, wash your hands, face and the soles of your feet prior to silence practice.
  2. Pray for supreme happiness and a connection to the Divine. Show gratitude to your parents, the great noble personalities and all well-wishers in your life.
  3. Silent meditation practice for a minimum of one hour each day. Aim to extend this time without straining yourself.
  4. Volunteer for six hours each day. This may include gardening, cleaning, maintenance work, and/or helping others in need.
  5. Commit to a minimum of half an hour of physical exercise and deep breathing each day.
  6. Expand your knowledge by studying noble literature that focuses on Realization/Liberation, either directly or indirectly.
  7. Only eat twice each day, or once each day with a small snack in the evening.
  8. Spend time with children playing or sharing moral tales to educate them in noble qualities.
  9. Spend evenings engaged in noble entertainment or practice silence
  10. Always be willing to help others with their physical, mental or emotional struggles. Be merciful.
Relaxation for All

1. Work/Profession

Humans naturally have many desires. A desire that is suitable to one individual may not be suitable to another. If one goes into a field or profession that is not compatible with them, conflicts will likely occur. If one is forced to work in some profession unwillingly, without his or her full-hearted commitment, problems will inevitably arise, and others’ expectations will not be met. Hence, it is wise to avoid such work from the beginning.

2. Duty

Duty refers to our commitments in life. ​None of us are totally independent; rather, we share responsibility for one another and the world around us. As a result of our own human birth, our primary commitment or duty is to our father and mother, our brothers and sisters and other blood relations. We also have a commitment to our life mate. Our duty here is to bring noble children into the world. Honoring this commitment until death is critical in maintaining the health of our children. Even if we have no children, breaking this commitment disturbs the structure of society. A third commitment is the relationship between a student and the Eternal Teacher. This is the doorway for knowledge, one’s overall welfare in life and most importantly, ​Realization.​ Friendships are also commitments and once established, they should never be broken. One’s profession is a commitment as well, but may be broken if done so through a sincere and justified method. There are other smaller commitments in life: being a co-passenger on a journey, or a commitment to a neighbor, or a commitment as a citizen of a country.

Whatever is due to karma, is usually inevitable and cannot be eliminated in this life. Even after death, there are some commitments. It is only with total renunciation of all relationships and worldly attachments that all commitments can be eliminated. In all these commitments, our duty will require us to take some action. The results of these actions may be seen or not, nonetheless, one must still do their duty. This is because commitments may be carried over from a previous birth. In such cases, our duty is like a loan that may be repaid in this lifetime. If there is a dishonored commitment, such as in marriage or friendship, we have a duty to try and sincerely work to correct the commitment. Whereas in a profession, due to this being a conditional relationship, it can be broken according to the terms and conditions of the commitment. The most important criteria underlying this whole concept is non-violence.

3. Money

Basic human requirements are food, shelter and clothing. We are primarily supported by the five basic elements. Irrespective of our unnatural cravings, we can live very happily with a minimum of materials. If one honors natural and deliberately developed commitments, there may be a need for more materials, but these too should be meaningful. Our primary concern is that we not spoil what is naturally provided: the wealth of our human body. In general, we require 6 to 8 hours of sleep and 2 to 4 hours of calmness and quietness each day to attend to the Self. Additionally, 2 to 4 hours are required to care for one’s body, one’s relationships and other personal activities. There are then 6 to 8 hours remaining for one’s profession and earning money. Whatever one earns within this time-frame, in a justified manner, constitutes one’s ​external wealth.​ Whether this amount is huge, moderate or minimal, one should fully accept it and feel content.

4. Morning & Evening Quietness

Just as sleep and the waking state are inbuilt needs for us all, it is also fundamentally necessary to experience calmness and quietness each day. It is actually our duty! This calmness and quietness is the most deeply rooted desire of mankind. If one neglects this practice and experience, one will be perpetually discontent, leading to emotional ups and downs. The minimum requirement for experiencing this quietness is 20 to 30 minutes of silence practice twice a day prior to sunrise and sunset.

5. Evening Freetime and Noble Activities

Evenings should be kept for simple relaxing activities following the day’s activities. Ideally, one needs several types of relaxation to balance our physical and mental health. Evening is the time to enjoy noble and sacred literature, drama, music and dance. It is also a conducive time for visiting friends, relations and well-wishers.

6. Natures Cycle and Cleanliness

Due to natural rhythms in the human system, a mood of calm and quiet naturally occurs daily for approximately two hours prior to sunrise and sunset. These precious hours should not be filled with unessential activities. To enhance one’s calmness and quietness, there are some simple preliminary practices: elimination as needed and washing the face, hands and feet.

7. Gratitude and Salutations

As a river is linked to its original source, the energy of water, so our human life is linked to the energy of our parents, elders, well-wishers, and the Eternal Teacher. A salutation to these is an act of gratitude, an act of deepening our link to the source from which we arise. Our salutations are a kind of prayer through which we maintain these relationships and support the fuller development of humanity itself. Our mind, speech and body are the tools provided by nature to express this gratitude through our heart, speech and deeds. When all three are engaged in an act of gratitude, salutation or prayer, we receive grace from the Source.

8. Daily Physical Exercise

The human system is naturally equipped with mental and physical power. If they are well used, they will develop to the fullest extent and be well maintained. Health disorders are often due to unutilized energy stored in the body. To eliminate such health disorders and maintain physical strength, one should moderately exert oneself through work, or exercise, only to the point of breaking a sweat. This will keep one’s physical and mental strength healthy and aligned with one’s constitution

9. Pure Food Twice a Day

Like our natural rhythm of sleep each 24 hours, we naturally experience appetite, indicating that energy is required for the body. If we exert a balanced amount of physical and mental energy, our appetite will naturally occur once or twice each day. A renunciant who has very few activities may only experience appetite once a day and so only needs food once a day. However, a householder or student who has more duties to perform will likely experience an appetite twice a day.

One should eat an amount of food that best supports one’s age, constitution, duties and health concerns. We should also aim to consume seasonally appropriate foods. If these principles are followed correctly, one will be healthy; otherwise, excess food energy stored in the body can cause disease and disturbance.

When the day is split into four 3-hour segments, we normally experience appetite at the end of the second 3-hour segment. Thus, in tropical regions, where day and night are approximately equal, approximately 12 noon is the best time for the first meal. At night, appetite will appear during the first hour of the first 3-hour segment – thus, the best time to eat will be close to 6pm. This varies as we move further from the tropical region. Based on this, as well as cycles for sleep and daytime activities, one can determine ideal cycles for appetite in different regions.

10. Healthy Sleep

We all require a balanced and healthy sleep for optimal health. For this, one needs to understand the influence of the human system’s three basic energies on our sleep cycle. The human system is composed of three basic energies: sattva, rajas and tamas. Sleep is a condition of the mind due to tamasic energy. This tamasic energy is dominant at nighttime, and it will gain maximum domination at midnight. If we sleep between 6 and 8 hours – with midnight as the midpoint – we will experience optimal deep sleep. If this natural cycle is ignored, one may experience more dreamy sleep, light sleep or other imbalances. If one begins to cultivate such an altered sleep cycle, radical changes may occur in one’s system that compromise the balance of sattva, rajas and tamas.