One of the top recommendations in Ayurveda for a healthy life is to avoid the causative factors that cause the illness. For example, if pet dander makes you sick, then stay away from pets. If you can’t digest pizza, then don’t eat pizza. What everything breaks down to is using common sense to take care of yourself. All physiological processes should occur easily with no effort or pain involved.
Many physiological disorders occur due to the suppression of natural urges. Charak Samhita, the main text of Ayurveda, states, “One should not suppress the natural urges relating to urine, feces, semen, flatus, vomiting, sneezing, eructation, yawning, hunger, thirst, tears, sleep, and enhanced breathing due to exertion. Various types of disease occur by the suppression of these urges…” Some of these diseases include constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, congestions, urinary tract infections, and so much more.
Majority of the population suppresses the urge for a bowel movement because they simply do not have enough time. Suppression of a bowel movement can really damage and affect the entire digestive system. If you think about it, if you suppress to eliminate your bowels, you will “clog” up your entire system from the colon to the intestines. Often times, bad breath is due to either constipation or the suppression of the urge to eliminate your bowels. Just like the way a clogged sink doesn’t smell or look good, a blocked colon also does not look or smell good.
The suppression of the urge to urinate can lead to urinary tract infections, overactive bladders, and even kidney disorders. Suppression of the urge to sleep can lead to many sleep disorders such as insomnia and restlessness during sleep. Suppression of the urge to sneeze can cause respiratory allergies, congestion, and sinus problems because all the irritants that need to come out will remain in the passageways creating the irritation that will cause the symptoms. And the list continues. For every natural urge that you suppress, you will create more problems for yourself in the long run.
Our bodies are set up to eliminate toxins and regulate themselves to maintain balance. They are systematically set up to give us internal signals on when its time to drink water, when its time to urinate, when its time to eliminate bowels, when its time to sleep, when its time to sleep and eat, and so on. When these internal signals go off, we should listen to them and not ignore them. Prevent diseases from arising by not suppressing natural urges.
