Remembering Our Rhythms

 

I had to present at the monthly academic meeting at Max Hospital Dehradun

Initially it was just another presentation .. and I decided to do one on Diet in Diabetes .. probably Intermittent fasting as it was the most contentious hot topic at the moment .. once I started reading about it it opened up new avenues for thought .. 

and then I went from plain ol’ diabetic diet to Time Restricted Eating and then to the art and timing of eating .. and not just what and how much to eat ,,, to circadian rhythms ..

 and I slowly realized how far wev moved from our roots and instincts .. and how that basically is screwing us up big time  both mentally and physically !!

Sometimes when I view “academics” in its present form.. I find it a little too one dimensional ..too evidence driven..   we seem to be hanging onto the thread of data which is so brittle and so easily defied …most of it being data or guidelines from the West that wer so eager to adopt.. rather than experiential wisdom//  I sometimes think science the way we learn and practice it is largely defunct expect in few circumstances. I am not dismissing its importance but we're just not seeing the bigger picture, wer always just grappling and struggling with “data “ Oh for gods sake !!

When research does not translate to clinical benefits,  then it just puts me off ..

I keep repeating this line in my head – by Sadhguru.. There is a region beyond reason .. We need human beings capable of perceiving, understanding and experiencing life beyond the limitations of logic

The only time I feel really connected to medicine is when I have the time and luxury to see patients as a living palpable presence and know I can make a tangible difference.

The rest of the time somehow I end up feeling like a legitimiate drug pusher, to put it pretty euphemistically.

I was presenting in Max Hospital for fellow doctors ... so it was like home turf.. and I could tweak the presentation as I liked … such freedom .. !!

Slowly the slides were becoming less factual .. more abstract in a way I think.. or they were becoming more message oriented rather than data oriented now … becoming more esoteric too ..

I could include cool stuff about the Blue zones and the Okinawa tribe of Japan and the Biosphere experiment,

 and then conclude the whole thing with the Ayurvedic clock .. which was simply a reflection of the priceless ancient wisdom that is the soul of our culture and existence .. 

That I could get Bhagyashree, ( PhD in Sanskrit, Yoga and Hindu studies at Rishikesh),  involved and she added slides on the significance of intermittent fasting in the yogic scriptures just added so many layers to this brilliant evolutionary truth ..

 it is fascinating that while the West is garnering evidence by conducting billion dollar experiments , these basic truths were simply “known” to our ancestors just by their intuitive wisdom and observation .. they were seers and they knew things .. now West is validating their astute and very accurate observations only a 1000 years later… !!

We all have to be shaken out of our reverie and wake up to this ancient knowledge that is so fundamental to our existence.. imbibe and live it once more !! 

Now this was not just another run of the mill presentation with data n facts… where the message just gets lost in translation .. it was special. Otherwise I don’t feel involved .. but making this was different .. I was really excited and enjoying the process !!

When I did give the talk .. it was effortless .. just flowed .. almost like giving a TED talk …hehe .. forgive me for the audacity .. !!

Also it became such a rage in max .. I was receiving congratulatory messages from all over .. I could see it had touched a chord somewhere .. !

They want me to do it once more .. !!  got a call from management that they want to hold it for all of other staff as well as doctors who could not attend the frst time .. its humbling !! and Im so honoured and pleased at same time as it was so close to my heart ..