Rutucharya (ऋतुचर्या)

Rutucharya (ऋतुचर्या)

Ayurveda has depicted various guidelines and regimens (Charya), regarding diet and lifestyle to acclimatize seasonal enforcement easily without affecting body homeostasis. These guidelines and seasonal regimens are known as ‘Rutucharya’. Observance of such behaviour and diet modifications is extremely important in order to prevent diseases developing due to seasonal variations and poor immunity. Thus, Rutucharya forms integral part of preventive healthcare described in Ayurveda.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

Rutucharya has been described in almost all the authoritative Ayurvedic classics. Ayurveda believes that every change in the environment and season affects the internal environment of the human body. This leads to imbalance of Doshas which control all the mechanism in the union of body, mind & life energy. This imbalance further leads to development of diseases which occur as a result of inability of an individual to balance the changes occurring in the internal environment of body. Therefore, it is important to understand the role of seasonal variations in diseases development as well as the measures to correct this imbalance and achieve right balance of bodily elements. Under the topic of Rutucharya, Ayurveda acharyas have provided such measures in the form of dietary and lifestyle modifications, to maintain the equilibrium of internal environment of body even in the presence of fluctuating external environment and climatic conditions. These measures have been put forward after keen observation of seasonal characteristics and their effect on the state of Doshas and Dhatus in the Purusha. In the clinical settings, observance of such regime has been found extremely useful in the cases of individuals falling sick frequently because of seasonal variations due to poor immunity.