Rakesh Sethi, BS, CAHP
Wellness Speaker/ Author/
Ayurvedic Practitioner
What is Ayurvedic Consultation?
Posts Tagged ‘Wellness’
How Religion Benefits or Plays Role in Your Wellness
Religion benefits and plays a very important role in our complete Mind Body Spirit wellness. But how? To answer this let us first define religion. The word Religion comes from Latin word religare. Ligare– means to unite and re– means again or back. So the meaning of religion is the one that “units back to your origin”.
What is our origin? Universal consciousness, force, energy, or out of love we have called this energy “God”. No matter what name you give, our origin is one and the same. The purpose of religion is to open our mind and thereby gaining the ultimate experience which merges all distinctions of color, caste, creed, all philosophies, dogmas, our body, mind, & intellect, time, space, and causation in this world & in all other worlds into ONE. Any systematic approach we take to experience this ONENESS is your Religion.
I find the following short story by William Levacy very interesting in illustrating this point. “It seems that God was sitting one day and playfully remarked, “I would like something more enjoyable to do!” So He decided to create a splendid yet complex game for Himself, perhaps a magnificent puzzle. He decided, “I will make this puzzle out of Me! I will break Myself down into all the myriad creatures and creations of existence, and as part of my game, try to bring all the pieces back together into Myself.” God thought for a second (probably eons in our time) and said, “Now since I am God and I can do anything, I will make this puzzle really challenging and fun. I will not only break Myself into all these pieces of creation and bring Myself back together…but I will also make Myself forget that I did this!”
So our challenge, since we have forgotten, is to become aware of who we really are? In words it is easy for us to recognize who we really are but in actions it is entirely different story. When we act identifying only with our physical body, we are like any other machine. When we act identifying with our body & mind, we are a physical being with emotions. When we act identifying with our body, mind, & intellect, we are a physical being with emotions and ability to think & analyze.
In all above instances we act as if we are separate & disconnected entities from rest of the creation. Beyond BMI (Body, Mind, Intellect) is our real Self (God Itself) that is experiencing the creation thru BMI. And it is this real Self when we identify with, we realize that we are not separate & disconnected. However, our BMI can only experience physical objects, emotions, and thoughts but not the Self. It is not possible for BMI to experience the Self as the Self is the subject sustaining the BMI. Just as when we are holding the tweezers, it is not possible for the tweezers to hold the very fingers that hold the tweezers. This is where the benefits of religion come in to takes us beyond our BMI to experience Self (Oneness, God, Energy, Force, and Universal Consciousness).
As long as we continue to identify only with the BMI, we continue to see ourselves as separate beings disconnected from our origin and suffer. Our suffering stops when we start to assert our real Self in all our physical, emotion, & intellectual actions. Any systematic approach that supports our personal efforts in asserting our true Self in all our actions in life is our religion. Does that mean if we do not belong to any religious institution, we do not have a religion and we need to choose one? Absolutely not! Remember your religion is your own personal systematic approach that works for you. It need not have a label of any religion. On the other hand if you belong to a religious institution, does that mean you need to change your religion or quit the institution? Absolutely not! You only need to evaluate and make changes accordingly.
Carefully evaluate your religious path if it does not take you to the experience of oneness, it should be replaced with the path that does take you to the experience of oneness. Your spirit has inherent affinity for this oneness. When you start stuffing your mind with doctrines, ideas, and thoughts that go against this, it creates “indigestion” for your spirit & mind. To live with such “indigestion” creates conflict in your spiritual body which will ultimately manifest as disease in your mind & physical body. All benefits from religion are lost.
A point to note is every one of us has a religion whether or not we belong to any Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or other faiths. Religion is our personal way of living, our routine, our habits, food we take, emotions we take in & give out, thoughts we have, and all actions we do every moment of our life. If we live true to our Self, we will benefit from our religion in promoting health in us. Your religion is a one-on-one relationship between you and your Self (God). Life is a journey back to our Origin. Enjoy & “travel” in good health.
If you liked this article then biggest compliment you can give is by sharing it with others. As always keep in mind natural health tips along with clean eating offer preventive care and promote health and wellness naturally. Be Well!
Share your comments, thoughts and suggestions below. I appreciate your time & will take the time to read every single one!
Thank you for your time and attention. If you liked this article then biggest compliment you can give is by sharing it with others and spread this awareness. Contact me with your results & feedback.
Be Well!
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Change the Definition of Health and Your Approach
What is your definition of health? When are you really healthy? You should no longer think of health as being one dimensional—as just pertaining to maintaining physical (body) health. You are not just a physical body. Health, as defined in conventional terms, has to be redefined. You must take into account all the components constituting the whole being. Collectively all the components work together to create balance in an individual. According to the Ayurvedic medical system, balance for each individual is unique. Therefore, health in one word can be defined as “balance.”
This balance in you exists:
- when you get hungry at the right times and to the right amount, not too little and not too much.
- when your body produces the right quality and quantity of muscle, fat, and other tissues per your body’s constitution.
- when your body systems function in balance, absorbing the proper amount of nutrition and discarding the proper amount of waste at the right times.
- when all three energies—air, fire, and earth—are in the right proportions for your body constitution.
- when your mind deals with the ups and downs of your emotions without losing balance.
- when your intellect is fully available to exercise self-control over whims and make good decisions.
- when your spirit is full of bliss (calm and peaceful).
When all of the conditions listed above exist simultaneously, you are an embodiment of total health and happiness. You live in true wellness. You attain balance in your equation of Health + Happiness = Wellness.
This true wellness, no doubt, is a tall order to maintain on a continuous basis. The best way to look at your wellness is to imagine that you are walking on a high wire and not on solid ground. You have to work continuously to maintain your balance. A small gust of wind or any mental distraction can throw off your balance. A little mistake can cost you your balance. The reality is that, in spite of your best efforts, there is always some disturbance that could rock your balance. It could be overeating and drinking at a party or an emotionally charged argument with your partner at home, or some conflict at work, or an unfavorable turn in the stock market, or any number of other things that could throw you off your physical and/or emotional balance. You need to make constant adjustments to keep your balance.
Dynamic Model of Health
When you participate in maintaining your balance every day, you begin to live a new dynamic model of health. The old way is the static model where you simply go about living your life and only participate to maintain balance after you become sick. In the static model, sometimes it may be too late for the adjustments to work. The dynamic model is where you truly practice prevention and enjoy its benefits.
You may find it easier to live in the static model of health today, but you will pay with your health and wallet tomorrow. Can you really afford to live in the static model? I would like to introduce you to simple knowledge and strategies in the “Health + Happiness = Wellness” book that will make it easier for you to live in the dynamic model of health.
The above article is part of the Section I taken from the book.
“Health+Happiness=Wellness” will help you discover your unique nature and use that information to design your personalized wellness plan that will not only help you stay away from diseases for the rest of your life; it will also save you a lot of money on healthcare. Click on the book to read more.
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Daily Inspirations
Daily Inspirations
It is my privilege to share “daily inspirations” to inspire wellness in your life. The following inspirational thoughts have emerged over the years from reading philosophical and scientific literature, practicing Ayurveda, and of course from observing real life situations. The following pragmatic daily inspirations are subtle but super “food” for your intellect. I hope, these daily inspirations will increase your mental capacity to understand nature’s ways and will support you in releasing the stress in situations you can not or do not control. When you develop mental capacity to let go in difficult situations, you experience true wellness and peace from within.
We will continue to post here new daily inspirations. Please come back from time to time to inspire wellness in yourself and share with others. Be Well.
Rakesh Sethi
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Connecticut Shooting: Sickness in Society Demands Solution
Did you feel the pain after the news of Connecticut shooting? Every time we hear news like this we suffer. How many times do we have to anguish through shooting incidents like this? I don’t have the answer. But we must stop this!
Being a father I feel so much grief. Today I want to talk about why it is happening? I want to talk about wellness in the society we live in. I would like to share some thoughts and would invite your thoughts.
My first thought- The society is a large living “organism” and you are a small extremity of it. If the society is sick that sickness impacts your wellness as well. More and more, especially the young, live in isolation disconnected from real human contact. Electronic devices, especially texting and social media, has minimized or almost eliminated human contact. No warm handshake, no face to face, not even hearing voice. It is like bunch of electrons communicating with each other. It seems as if a human is reduced to a robot with “user name”. A robot doesn’t have human sensitivity, compassion, and consciousness. Is this what we call progress for human beings? You decide
Second thought- Consciousness in our society is dwindling day by day. It is being replaced by greed in individuals and corporations alike. You are no longer judged by your character rather by possessions and bank account. I understand we are going through economic crisis. But I believe there’s a bigger crisis at hand, the consciousness crisis. In the last three decades we have moved towards measuring profitability in dollars so much so that we have forgotten about profitability in the human happiness and wellness. Society, corporations, and individuals are focused on the bottom line. It is a race to improve the bottom line while it is taking everyone to the bottom. For example, right after Pres. Obama’s reelection few corporations, and I won’t name them, took the stand almost immediately that they are going to either increase prices to cover for healthcare or lay off workers or reduce their hours, all to keep the profitability in dollars. Imagine if the corporations had sacrificed a little on bottom line and thought about profitability in terms of employee’s wellness. Such corporations would take a leadership role in exhibiting corporate consciousness in times of consciousness crisis.
I am opening this subject for discussion. With any crisis come opportunities. I would love for you to think of ideas and share here, with your friends, place of work, or with your congressman. If you have influence in any place where you can make a change, become a catalyst of change. Will Connecticut shooting be the shooting incident to change the course we are on, I don’t know? But one thing is for sure that there is consciousness crisis in our society today and yours, your families and friends wellness is at stake so what are you going to do about it.
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5 Simple Ways to Get Rid of a Headache
Frequent headaches indicate your body is aching for help. Eliminate the cause, do not just mask by taking a quick fix pill. There are simple ways to get rid of a headache.
Common Causes of Headache
- Lack of water (dehydration)
- Lack of sleep
- Lack of downtime (mentally tired)
- High blood pressure (Hypertension/Stress)
- Indigestion/gas/bloating
- Nasal Congestion
Dehydration: Take two glasses (20 oz.) of warm water. You may not be drinking enough water. Read how much water should I take? Throughout the day you can take ginger tea. You can also take fruits rich in water content like water melon. KEEP YOURSELF HYDRATED.
If your body lacks sodium, even if you drink enough water, you will not retain it. Too much sodium is bad but you need healthy level to hold water. Take ¼ teaspoon rock salt, if you weigh less than 110 lbs or ½ teaspoon if you weigh more than 120 lbs. Let it dissolve on your tongue and wash it down with two glasses of water. Caution: do not take rock salt if you have high blood pressure.
Lack of Sleep: Take a hot glass of milk with teaspoon of ghee (clarified butter) and a pinch of ground cardamom just before going to bed for sound sleep. When you have headache during the day you may take a cup of hot milk with cardamom without ghee.
High Blood Pressure: Tension/stress can create high blood pressure temporarily. Breathing yoga exercising can lower the pressure. Read more on naturally lowering blooding pressure.
Indigestion: Include ½ teaspoon fresh finely chopped ginger in your meals. You may also take peppermint tea
Nasal Congestion: Congestion, sinus pressure can be released with Neti pot. Add a pinch of salt in warm water and use the Neti pot to flush nasal passages. This technique flushes the mucus blocking the breathing passage and releasing the sinus pressure to give relief.
By taking a pill for a headache you simply mask the symptom, the root cause is not address. The root of your problem will continue to accumulate and show up later in more serious disease.
You need to nip it in the bud. Using these simple ways to get rid of a headache, you will remove the real cause behind your headaches.
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Ayurvedic Massage: What a Great Benefit!
Wouldn’t you like a massage that does more than just relaxation? Ayurvedic massage is a unique massage that offers incredible following benefits:
- Nourishes the mind and body
- Strengthens immunity
- Increases stamina
- Builds muscle tone
- Reduces stress
- Removes toxins (more effective when followed by exercising and sauna or steam bath)
- Slows down aging
- Calms mind and helps sleep better
- Balances and heals body faster
With so many benefits, wouldn’t it be nice to get an Ayurvedic massage every day. Well, it is recommended that you do it every day. However, with limited available time every other day will be fine too or even once a week will offer tremendous benefits. Imagine, that is fifty two times a year more than what you do right now.
Can you do this massage at home? Of course you can. In fact giving Ayurvedic massage to each other would be an excellent activity for a couple. In addition to the above benefits, you nourish your relationship as well.
What oil to use?
Ayurvedic Massage oil herbal formula for men and women
You can use sesame oil but to enhance the benefits of the ayurvedic daily massage use Ayurvedic Massage Oils. These precise blends of ayurvedic herbs and aromas are more easily absorbed by the skin than sesame oil or other regular massage oils, and as a result, rejuvenate your body quickly. You can purchase Rejuvenation Massage Oil for Men and Women in our online store.
How do you do Ayurvedic massage?
Follow the simple instructions below:
- Warm cold pressed three table spoons of oil (per person)
- Start with vigorous massage on the head with palm of your hand
- Using gentle strokes, massage the forehead, temples, ears, and face
- Massage the rest of your body arms, hands, legs, feet, back, and chest
- Massage stomach with gentle clockwise strokes
Note: To get more familiar with the Ayurvedic massage strokes, I would recommend receiving a massage a few times from an Ayurvedically trained massage therapist or Ayurvedic practitioner. But even if you don’t have a chance to learn from a trained therapist, you should continue on your own. The most important part is to supply the oil in a loving way.
Caution: No hard deep tissue strokes should be used. Remember gentle loving strokes promote calming effect on the mind. Do not do Ayurvedic massage if you are overweight, have fever, or bad digestion.
Give 20- 25 minutes time to absorb the oil to deeper layers of your skin. Use this time to do stretches, bending, twisting, or even gentle running. After oil nourishes to the deeper layers, sweating in sauna or steam bath is wonderful to detoxify your body. Stay in sauna till you are sweating, perhaps 10 minutes or so. After that take warm shower with mild soap and shampoo. Avoid using hot water and harsh soaps.
Portable Sauna
Note: If you do not have access to sauna, you can get one a portable sauna here. For full benefit of massage, use sauna after every massage.
One of my clients, a woman in her thirties had spotting after her periods around the ovulation time for over three years. After some tests, her doctor couldn’t find anything and recommended taking birth control pills to remove this problem. She didn’t want to take the pills with concern of possible side effects plus she was also trying to get pregnant. Just then she had started to do an Ayurvedic massage two times a week. After about eight weeks, she saw her spotting completely went away.
This real life example illustrates how Ayurvedic massage can strengthen, balance, and heal minor irritable problems in otherwise healthy body. Ayurvedic massage is a loving treatment for your mind and body. Enjoy it with your partner. Be Well!
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How to Realize Benefits of Meditation in the Real World? Part 2
In part one of meditation article series, you discovered what is the true purpose of meditation. Here you will find out how to realize benefits of meditation in the real world. First we must understand how our body, mind, & intellect work. While body can do multiple tasks, the mind can only do one task at one time. When our mind gets involved in performing multiple tasks it gets tired easily & the quality of each action suffers. Which in turn leads to uncertainty, uncertainty leads to increase in anxiety, and anxious mind creates restlessness ultimately leading to stress.
Now this is where we realize the benefits of meditation practice. Just as in during meditation in room alone, we used our intellect to keep the mind on one & one thing alone, we do the same thing here. Our intellect must always keep strict observation over our mind & prevent the mind from wandering off into past or future and taking on multiple tasks. By staying focused on the one task at the present moment and completing it gives us great satisfaction; then completing five tasks with uncertainty in mind, which ultimately leads to do-over & stress. You must have heard of “living in the moment”. Well, my friends, this is how you live in the present moment. When we start to live like this, we practice meditation every living moment of our lives.
We discussed stress created due to mind involved in multiple tasks. Another source of stress is mind living in conflict. Often conflicts create a sea of emotions in the mind since people’s egos are involved. Therefore, here it becomes extremely important that intellect over sees action or actions that will resolve the conflict without creating any additional conflicts. Here again we realize the benefits of meditation. Using meditation technique, the intellect must use the mind as a field on which various different resolution action scenarios can be played out. While playing out these scenarios, intellect must keep emotions, egos and selfishness in check. The mind focuses on an action that resolves a conflict without creating any additional ones. This is a technique for conflict resolution and to avoid any potential conflicts.
So far we have been discussing “outward” benefits of meditation. If you are comfortable here, it is absolutely fine. But there are also an “inward” benefits of meditation. This inward journey is very subtle, must be taken seriously, and only after one is at peace with all external matters. Otherwise it is difficult to stay with it, and if one becomes frustrated, one should immediately step back from this type of meditation practice and take up again later at an appropriate time.
Imagine if You Tried These Simple Meditation Techniques
Imagine benefits of meditation if you were to start using meditation techniques in your everyday life situations. In one sentence your stress will decrease and success will increase. You will have more control over your life. You will avoid creating excessive stress from conflicts at home & at work, conflicts in relationships, and problems with health. Stress and mind in conflict can become a root cause of a disease. By practicing regularly and daily, you could avoid any future potential health problems and create true wellness.
A mind living in conflict cannot meditate. How can you know peace without meditation? How can you know joy without peace? So if your goal is to live in peace and experience joy in your life, you must give these techniques a serious try.
Summary
In nut shell, we practice meditation in our part time only to put meditation into practice full time all day to realize benefits of meditation in all of our other affairs.
If you liked the benefits of this article then the biggest compliment you can give is by sharing its benefits with others.
Be Well!
Rakesh Sethi
Share your comments, thoughts and suggestions below. I appreciate your time & will take the time to read every single one!
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Health Conscious: Are You Born with This or Not?
Body’s natural state is health and it inherently gravitates towards health. No one doctor can give you health from outside. The outside sources can only help to remove diseases. Once the disease is removed, body restores itself to its natural state, health.
I think when it comes to health most people are health conscious and have an inkling of what is right choice and what is wrong. Then why is it that people often take the wrong choice? Okay I will accept in some cases people do not know but what about most people who hear and see many times what they ought to be eating and doing. Still they do not follow the advice, and knowing very well, take wrong decisions and land themselves a disease. What happened to their health consciousness?
Sense objects, in this case food, can have enormous power over one’s mind, even when the mind is healthy. And if one is going through depression, this power is even more gripping. Mind gets carried away by the senses; sight, smell, and taste of food. And the next thing you know is that outside elements have grab hold of your senses; as a consequence senses control your mind, and influence your decisions affecting your inner wellbeing.
The irony is your inner self is equipped with health consciousness and intellect, remarkable tools, to take decisions. However, yet your mind continues to take decisions without consulting with your health consciousness and intellect. You need to change the direction of taking your decisions.
Let the health consciousness guide your intellect to take a decision for inner wellbeing while the intellect keeps your mind under its strict control so it would not to be taken for a ride by the outside (sense objects). This is the right direction in taking decisions. Health consciousness, this “natural intelligence” resides within us. You are born with it! No one thing or person can “install” the natural intelligence from outside. Just because you don’t access it, it doesn’t mean you do not have it. You already have it in you, but it is dormant. It needs to be awakened.
You just need someone or something to awaken your consciousness to make you health conscious. This someone or something becomes the enabler for awakening the consciousness. It could be a person or perhaps even this article. You just need to find your own “enabler”.
You cannot lead your life by taking decisions at the surface level, namely under the influence of sense objects, and depending on external quick fixes, for example diet pills. You must take control of your life by taking decisions from the “depth” of your being. Stop taking decisions at the “surface” level. When consciousness, intellect, and mind are in agreement, lasting wellness dwells there. Isn’t it time you awaken your consciousness to become health conscious? Be Well!
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How to Implement an Excellent Employee Wellness Program?
Profits and Corporate Consciousness
Today rising health care costs present a challenge for both employees and corporations. Here is an opportunity where corporations can take a lead in providing employee wellness program that not only helps employees to be productive, live healthier & better quality of life, but also put a dent in the corporate health care premiums. Frankly for a corporation to pickup this challenge is a display of consciousness that goes beyond measuring just tangible profits.
A good corporate consciousness strikes a balance between tangible and intangible profits. Having gone through a decades of measuring and improving quality, growth, and productivity, corporations must also pay keen attention to an employee “wellness & happiness index” along with customer satisfaction index.
Key Factors in Successful Implementation of an excellent Employee Wellness Program
The following factors are common and critical to all corporations for a successful implementation:
- Even if corporation with good conscious takes a lead on providing an employee wellness program, the difficulty is to first have employees voluntarily participate in the program and then apply it in their lives. The old habits and attitudes take some incentive and time to change. However, if employees see their top management participating and serious about investing in everyone’s well being, there is increased probability of employees engaging and shifting their health attitudes. And shifting health attitudes is the key to the success of the employee wellness program.
- Another key to success is to choose a wellness program that generates buzz, excitement, and engages employees. It offers more individual based recommendations as oppose to one-size-fit-all. Employees need to know how this program works and why it will work for them. The studies, statistics, and other numbers are boring and not very engaging.
- Lastly, the employee wellness program should include follow on “refreshers”. The refresher gives an opportunity to employees to refresh the concepts learnt in the initial meeting, take away some new ideas, and ask follow on questions on their individual plans. This reinforces and encourages employees to stay with the plan.
- (Other factors like number of employees, multiple locations, and multiple shifts which are unique to a corporation and must be considered separately in each situation)
I agree this is not a short term plan. But profits in the long run are multifold. Corporate consciousness invokes the employees’ consciousness creating a different employer-employee relationship where one values the association with the other for more than just a profit number or a paycheck. Such corporations (with consciousness) cultivate both employee and customer loyalty.
Aside from savings in health care premiums, I know these intangible profits are difficult to measure. What value would you place on retaining talent in the company longer with lower employee turnover? What value would you place on positive image of the company in social media? Especially today in a fast developing social media, a picture of corporate consciousness, good or bad, goes viral online in a matter of minutes, hours, or just a few days. You decide.
Supporting Services/products from True Wellness Group:
Rakesh Sethi recently published “Health + Happiness = Wellness” book to revolutionize how one should approach disease prevention. Invite Speaker Rakesh Sethi on company events to inspire employees to participate in their wellness. Wellness workshops or breakout sessions offer individualized approach to employees to develop their unique path to wellness.
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How Do You Improve Memory and Keep It Sharp?
As we age something strange happens to the best of us. You walk into a room looking for an item and forget why you came there. Or another interesting thing happens we start to work on a chore A but along the way we find something else needs attention so we start to work on that, chore B. While working on chore B we realize another chore C that was left unfinished and immediately get on that. Some of us may even start chore D and E as well. My point is- are we losing our memory, sharpness, and focus? Or are we just carrying too much on our mind? While the latter of course makes the matter worse but how do you improve memory and stop it from getting worse. To that fact, Ayurvedic medical science shows us there is something else at play here.
As we age, “Air” (Vata) energy increases in us. Just as air moves from one place to another and cannot stay still in place, our mind takes on the same quality of air. We move from one chore to another and cannot stay focused on one chore and would like to finish all the chores at the same time. But this only explains our behavior. What about our focus and memory?
Do we lose our memory and focus as we age? Short answer, no! However, wrong diet, drugs, alcohol, and sedentary life style can penalize our sharpness and memory over the years. You can turn this around and improve your memory by taking few simple steps.
How Do You Improve Memory? Take the Following Corrective Actions:
• Reduce or remove high saturated fat from your diet
• Include green leafy vegetables, broccoli, avocado, and root vegetables in your diet
• Consume 1-2 tablespoon of vegetable oil (change varieties) per day
• Get 6-7 hours of sleep at night and must also manage fatigue efficiently to improve his memory. Fatigue is caused by a myriad of factors, not just physical activity or long working hours. For example, excessive coffee consumption or increased sugar intake can also exacerbate the symptoms of fatigue in the long-term because the body becomes dependent on short bursts of energy.
• Take B12, D, & E vitamin supplements
Great “Divine” Herb
Gotu kola or Bacopa, also known as Brahmi (a great divine herb) strengthen memory and sharpness. In several studies, this herb has shown impressive results in treating mental and nerve diseases. Take as directed or consult with an Ayurvedic practitioner.
Now there are no reasons for you NOT to improve your memory as you age, and have a sharp memory and focus in your mature years. However, you will need to prepare and take supportive and preventive actions now to improve and maintain your memory for benefits in later years. Also see Aging Gracefully. Be Well!