dinacharya: daily routines

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every couple of weeks here, i am saying hi to some one new, someone who has washed up on the shore, like a new character in the ayurvedic island world of 'lost'. they are all interesting: robin the chicago-ite with skin as bright as her large blue eyes, only outshined by her speed to be stimulated; noorin, whose kerala tanned ebony skin shines diamonds when she giggles; miguel, the pretty ayurvedic practitioner from portugal who walked in one eve with a surfboard n philosophy; govinda, the professor of music from italy whose dialect was as unique as his govinda-expressions; bianca the spirit trapped in a body and floating through india like music notes...

some of them, i got to know deeper, fell into a hole with. some of them i broke bread with one night, then every night, talked vata, pitta, kapha with. as we grew, we took walks to the beach and swam through our past fears, n our future hopes, taking slight pauses to catch stars hovering like spaceships over the sea. then it's over. they leave. done with their treatments, their 1 week or 3 week or 1 month ayurvedic programs.

some of them, like my crew – j.c, ray, tama, n maud – i've gotten to know for months. we ran past infatuation, shared walks longer than days, train rides through time, laughter enough to wake temple gods. then, goodbye.

each time i say goodbye, a part of me breaks. when bianca, manisha, vallerio left, i sat around till their morning ride came.  each of them sang variations of “i'm leaving on a jetplane, i don't know when i'll be back again.”. when the dust cleared, i was still there and would've fallen, as i almost did when my boy jc left, when ray told me she was leaving, when they actually left, both before their time, before we could both be on our way, mutually abandoning each other in a chapter in our story of life.

i'm used to departures. ny is a transient city, an overnight bedfellow for many. hello's and goodbyes are like swivel doors, so much so, new yorkers grow callouses on their speech, stones in their eyes.

i understand other new yorkers - immigrants from the global south n migrants from down south in america - louisiana, georgia, the carolinas - trapped in our economic drown, without knowing how to get out.

in babylon, relationships r ephemeral, unaccountable, quick steamy affairs and poof.

i could be sunk, but i have rituals/things to do, to keep it pushing. 

after watching each friend here leave, i look at the sky, and depending on the position of the sun, step into the arena of daily regiment. i have to go to the beach, do pushups in the sand, sun salutations in the water, jog before the sun could see me, meditate to the sound of waves and give thanks and prayers for mama earth, for fam n strangers. i have to shower, oleate, and dress before school, and then it's time for me to leave.

constancy, as the prophet muhammad has shared with the world, will keep you from floating away, from losing your mind, from falling apart.

every day, there are rituals that keep you anchored. five prayers a day, sleeping with your head to the east, fasting 30 days a year, eating light, washing your body and openings, dabbing scented oils... are some of the prescriptions for groundedness that the prophet of islam conveyed.

the yogis have lived this wisdom for millenia, by way of the shat-kriyas, detailed ways to engage with cleaning, with being, from nasya and vamana to asanas. the yogi code, described in patanjali and hatha yoga texts, and lived by the real, is known as ashtanga-yoga. ashtanga guides the yogi practice – from ahimsa - active non-violence to all beings - to karma yoga - service to the community.

among the mohawk, iriquois and many of the northeastern as well as continental tribes in north america, the practice of rituals was known as a warrior code. warriors awoke while the moon was still out, meditated by sunrise.

the zulu in south africa, the masai of east africa, the tuareg of north africa, each have their kriyas, their warrior codes, as did the lost and found nation of islam in chicago, the five percenters of harlem, the zulu nation in brooklyn.

in ayurveda, the prescriptions of quran and vedas resound. the warrior code manifests in rituals throughout the day, known as dinacharya.

dinacharya is the code of rituals that ayurveda prescribes. things to do everyday, to keep you grounded, keep you from sinking into overthinking, into immobility or unsteady erratic movement. dinacharya is warrior code.