 Hi, everyone. Welcome back to our podcast from the Kamasutra to 2020 where we talk about everything to do with sex and sexuality, all your questions, your concerns, even your worries. And today I am absolutely delighted to have with us a very good friend, Rabina Gupta, who is also a diet and lifestyle Ayurveda consultant. Rabina, welcome. Hi, Seema. Thank you so much for having me on your platform. Tell us a little bit about Ayurveda generally for any of our viewers who may not have come across the practice of Ayurveda. Sure. So Ayurveda literally means knowledge of life, but Ayurveda is actually living life mindfully. And it covers vast aspects of life generally from leading your everyday life and routine in tune with nature and simply living your life with the cycle of nature, circadian rhythms. We go into details of circadian rhythms and morning routines, afternoon routines and evening routines. But we also dwell into complicated health issues like thyroid, cardiovascular diseases and so much more. So that's a very simple definition of Ayurveda. That's just fascinating. It is literally just understanding how to live the way that nature had intended. You know, because there are certain things in the morning which are better for us to do and our body reacts better to them. So what you're saying is it's literally about understanding what nature gives you in the way of energy to use it. Absolutely. Then I remember you telling me that there are eight branches of Ayurveda because when I asked you about what it says about sexual health, I remember you said that there are different branches. There are eight subjects of Ayurveda and they range from internal medicine to child care to pregnancy to even surgery. And the subject that I think we want to talk about today is Vajikarana which is the subject of sexual health progeny and reproduction. And in this subject of Vajikarana, Vajikarana actually means having the virility of a horse. So Vajikarana means horse and Karana means to have the reproductive capacity. So in this subject we talk about aphrodisiacs, sexual health and reproduction. And the subject actually very clearly and very detailed in a very detailed manner tells us about how and when to have sex, who can have sex and when they are ready for having sex and what time of the day to have sex and so on and so forth. But aphrodisiacs are used as a tool to have good sexual capacity to reproduce healthy offsprings. And that's what the whole point is to produce healthy offsprings for a healthy society, healthy world and healthy families and so on. You're saying basically that it focuses more in Ayurveda when you talk about sexual health. You focus more on the reproductive health. So how to have a healthy child as opposed to sex for pleasure. Do I get that right? No, you have got it right but also we totally don't discount the sexual pleasure aspect as well because it is human nature, sex is inbuilt in our lives to have that pleasure. But the most the focus is more on the progeny and producing it the right way so that they are healthy and can do perform at their optimal healthy levels. So that is the idea. You know, that's just fascinating because I get a lot of people asking about what's the best time to have sex if you want a child. How do you make sure that the child is going to be healthy etc. And I mean I even get people saying that, you know, if you're thinking about certain things during a pregnancy, is that going to impact the child totally? Will that become part of their thinking etc. So tell us a little bit more about how this works. Okay, so I think it is important to address how the body functions when it comes to reproducing in a very healthy manner. So what we have in Ayurveda is what we call dhatus, which means tissues in English, but dhatus literally means that which holds or that which nourishes. And we have seven dhatus in human body. And I can quickly go over them because it is important to talk about dhatus because that ultimately leads to good health and good health ultimately leads to good sexual life. So what we have what is rasa, which is the plasma, rakta is the blood, which leads to muscle, which is mamsa. And then we have medhas, which is fat leading to asti, bone, bone marrow, and then shukra. And shukra is the dhatu of sexual capacity and of your sexual capability. And once all these seven are in good functioning order is what we get. Ojas, which is vitality and which is our immunity, the immunity of the body. So let's talk a little bit about these and how they feed into our sexual wellness. Yeah, absolutely. I just want to point out and say that I love this point you just made, Rupina, because we keep saying to people that good sexual health is not just like it doesn't just drop out of the trees. It's not a separate thing. It's far just the overall good health of the body. Absolutely, Seema, because people think of sexual ability as a separate entity, to be honest. But sometimes maybe because we had such hurried paces of life or hectic pace of life, we forget that actually what leads to sexual capacity is your overall health and we need to focus on every aspect of life. So it's not just the dhatus and how the dhatus lead into the sexual health of an individual. We also need to address the three pillars of life Seema. And according to Charaka, who is a respected authority on Ayurveda, talks about three pillars of life. Tara, which is food, Nidra, which is sleep and Brahmacharya, which literally means celibacy, but it is actually misinterpreted many times as abstinence. So we can talk a little bit about all three of them in detail just to touch upon how it affects our overall life, overall health, leading to again sexual wellness. So Nidra literally means sleep, which means not only when we sleep is the quality of sleep and it is the energy of our nervous system. If our sleep is good, we are able to function properly in every aspect of life. And then we come to ahara is what we eat is the diet is the food. And it's just not the food. It's also what we take in through our sense organs, what we see what we hear. It's all digested accordingly in our body. And that's how we react as well. So it's very important we take in the right. That's how I respond with us. Yeah, that's amazing. You know, I've never really thought of that. Sorry, I know you're going to tell us about brahmacharya in a minute, but I just want to make a point of saying that this is what you just said here about the fact that ahara is not just food that you take in the food of the mind, the food of the eyes, the food of all the senses is equally important. And we're constantly trying to say to people that, you know, the overconsumption of porn, what it can do to you, etc. So I hope people actually listen to this very carefully. It is what we call the energy of metabolism, digestion and body and physical energy. It is the energy as we call it. So we have to be careful what we consume in every which way. And then we come down to brahmacharya, which is often misinterpreted as being celibate. But it is also about, you know, sex has been built into our life. So it is a sense of joy and pleasure and there's nothing wrong in having the joy and pleasure. But it's also about not overusing, misusing and abusing a certain aspect. So it's about enjoying life in a certain, in a balanced way. So actually, it's interesting that you should mention brahmacharya because it's something that people have learned the word. And they bring this back very regularly into a lot of my reels and they keep sort of going on about how the practice of brahmacharya is very important. And a lot of people do misinterpret it as abstinence or celibacy. Can you give us a short definition about, you know, what this actually might mean? I think what happens is brahmacharya also in a certain way means leading a life of a monk in a way. So what happens is, what monks have done is they have figured out an alternate way of getting to a point of total bliss. And how they have done is through meditation and through yoga. And what happens is during meditation and yoga, especially meditation, certain juices of pleasure are released. And similarly, having sex, certain juices of pleasure are released. So sometimes we confuse it with being celibate, leading a life of a monk. It's ultimately we are trying to get to the point of bliss and total pleasure. So that is how I put brahmacharya together. It's not abstinence. It's not like if you have taken the vow of being a monk, it's a separate thing. But if you are saying brahmacharya means being celibate, I think it's a little bit of a misinterpretation there. Thank you for that. I think that that in itself is going to be a really important point for people to take away. I hope they understand this. Okay, so yes, please do tell us. You said that these are the three pillars of life that lead eventually to good sexual health. So what we are trying to do is eat, write, sleep well and have a good balance of pleasure. But we are also saying when we have a right balance of all these aspects, which means it leads to a good balance of mind as well, which means there is not a lot of stress. Look, stress is a reality of life. There will always be stress. But then how we manage it and how we keep it in balance is very important. So we also need to figure out ways how we manage it, indulge in activities that destress us. And exercise, I think, Seema is very important. And we need to exercise, have our insulin in control as well, because a lot of people are insulin resistant. And that's when exercise comes in, helps in maintaining a good, healthy vigor. You know, managing our emotions, I think is also a very important aspect of it, Seema. Sometimes we walk around with emotions that are not being dealt with. And that's where the problem lies. We have to, sorry, keep our emotions in check. We need to talk to people, resolve our emotions, generally lead a healthy life. Yes, I think it's of utmost importance and all this actually leads to sexual wellness and our capacity to perform. Rabina, you know, with everything that you're saying, it just reiterates what we have been saying for years. That sex or sexual pleasure or sexual health is not a separate little dirty sinful part. It's very much a part of life and one thing feeds into the other. And I think that also is something that I remember you telling me about, that there is almost like a parent organ and a child organ for each thing. So everything is connected. There's like a cycle of connectivity. Yes. So yes. So ultimately Seema does go down to the concept of our dhatus and how one dhatu leads to the next to the next. And ultimately to the dhatu of Shukra, which is our seat of reproductive capacity and sexual wellness. We had mentioned like how our blood feeds our muscle feeds the bones, etc. So when we talk about, let's say erectile dysfunction. So what happens in erectile dysfunction sometimes is a thick blood in the human body in the man's body. Now, what happens is when they have thick blood, it means it has armor. It has toxins in it. It means it has blockages and it is unable to travel to the right part of the body. And hence we need to take care of that, which means it goes back to eating properly. So it's actually living your life mindfully focusing on every aspect right from food, sleep, pain, pleasure, stress, exercise. And also a very important aspect I think is Seema indulging in activities that fulfill us and have hobbies, have friends that fulfill us. I think all of this is ultimately wellness in every which way. Thank you. I think most people don't realize we keep reiterating this that good erections, good arousal in both men and women depends on really good blood flow to the sexual organs. Absolutely. The blood flow has to be really, really good. And like you said, if the blood is thick, it is not going to get through the sexual organs properly like you were saying there will be blockages. And if there are toxins, it's causing other issues. So the very first thing that you might want to address is something as simple and straightforward as your diet so that your blood flow becomes okay. Absolutely. Absolutely. So like I said, it's just so many things that are intertwined. It's your lifestyle. It's your basic daily what we call dinner charia in Ayurveda is your daily routine and which tells us what we're supposed to do in the morning what we're supposed to do in the afternoon and what we're supposed to do in the evening and bedtime. And that includes food that includes taking in certain herbs if you need to, and just generally, you know, small, small routines of even tongue cleaning and so on and so forth that is so much we can talk about here. Wow. Okay, so tell me something when you talked in the beginning about the fact that Ayurveda basically focuses when they talk about sexual health. They focus on progeny on how to have healthy progeny so that, you know, the life cycle continues in a healthy way. Rubina, can you give us some advice on this idea of how to have really good sex in order to produce really healthy progeny. Absolutely Seema. So there is not just one thing that you can do. There are several things you can do. And okay, let me not put pressure on you by saying there are several things you can do because let's say if I tell you 10 things and even if you're not able to do 10 things you can do maybe three things properly. This can bring about a massive transformation in in every aspect of your life including your sexual wellness. So when I say sleep on time, it's just not like just going to bed. It means like what time and 10, 10, 30 p.m. is the best time to sleep, touch yourself in bed. And how do you wake up when you wake up in the morning, the quality of your sleep, good nutrition, which includes actually no smoking and limited alcohol. I won't say no alcohol exercise, avoiding stress, figure out ways of dealing with your stress, resolve any emotions that bother you, keep them in check, seek advice, if you haven't tackled emotions, limit sugar intake, hydrate, do yoga. And lastly, indulgent activities that fulfill you, that make you happy, that give you joy every single day. I think that's the best aphrodisiac if you ask me. So yeah. I agree with you. I think all of those things that you said are the best aphrodisiac because people don't also realize that it's the level of comfort and relaxation that you need to have before you have sex for it to be good sex. It's a state of mind, like they say. So, and also realistically, even if you can't do all of these, try to do three a day and see, you know, it does make massive, massive, it can bring about massive changes by doing even the simplest of three of these things that I have mentioned here. Tell me something. I think one of the biggest problems in today's world is unresolved emotions. You know, we have so much noise around us, and I'm not just talking about physical noise. I'm talking about the over stimulation, whether it's the television, whether it's social media, whether it's just everything around us is just so loud that it doesn't give the brain enough time to just calm itself down. It doesn't give us, I mean, I find that there are days when I'm almost frazzled and like, I feel like I'm running ragged because we all do a lot of things and we could easily go from one thing to the next quite calmly, but we don't. Yes, Seema, that's where I would suggest like when you feel that way, it's just that when you have to mindfully tell yourself that you withdraw all your senses, go within, take your time and just let them not play a havoc on you. All these emotions, like you said, they over stimulate you. You just need to go within yourself, quiet in the senses and do what you do best in your time, maybe even read a book or do some breathing exercises. That can help you. And also there is something about willpower. I would like to talk about willpower here. It's very easy to go into and get caught into the frazzling lifestyle that you have or may have. So you just need to have a little bit of willpower, a little bit of discipline. When you have to use your willpower for your discipline, it's a problem. It should just come naturally to you. And that again, it will come to you with practice. Willpower is a strong, strong thing. It can do loads for you. Very true. I find that to everybody out there I'm going to admit I need to use a lot of willpower for my discipline. So I need to change that about myself first, don't I? We all do SEMA. I think we are at the end of the day, simple, normal human beings. But to try is our duty to ourselves. It is indeed. You know, certainly having reached a certain age by, you know, I'm now going to be 61 this year. And I think that the best thing that a lot of people will say or the best thing you can do for yourself is to stay healthy. I think the best gift that we can give our families, our children, is to keep ourselves healthy. I think we all have to learn that we are responsible for our own good health. It's not somebody else's problem. There is no debate about this that yes, we have to 100% look after ourselves. We don't want to be a burden on our children, on our families, on our societies. We need to be functioning at our 100% optimal self. Rabina, thank you so much for your time. And I hope that everybody listening in has managed to take away a lot of tips, really useful, sustainable, good advice for your life ahead. And I think the most important point that Rabina has made today and I really hope it comes and finds a space in your mind and in your heart and your body is that sexual health is part of your overall good health. It isn't a separate thing in your life. Everything in your body, everything in your mind is connected one to the other. So for everybody who is listening and would like to consult with Rabina on any of these issues that she's talked about or any other kind of lifestyle and diet help to do with Ayurveda, you can get in touch with her either on her Instagram handle, which is five elements Ayurveda, or she also has an email address which is Rabina's Ayurveda at gmail.com. But don't worry if you didn't catch that because it's all going to be there in the captions below. If you found that this was a useful podcast, please do like, comment, subscribe. Or you can of course write to me with your other questions on info.seema.anand at gmail.com. Our message to you as we finish is stay healthy, stay well. Everything begins from here. It's how you think that will impact the way that you behave, which will impact the way that you treat yourself and your body. Because everything is one great big entirety. We are not little fragments. We are a whole. And I think Rabina, I'd like to finish by saying thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. It was absolute pleasure. Take care everyone and we will see you next time.