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Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Chronoprakriti

A Word Chronoprakriti is a combination of two roots, viz chronotype and Prakriti type. We all know what is Prakriti but very few us are aware about what is chronotype.

So let us first understand what us chronotype and then we discuss its correlation with Prakriti.

Man is evolved on the revolving planet Earth just like any other creature and is bound to the natural laws alike. Major geophysical cycles such as day/night or ebb/tide are repeating with known periodicities has conditioned all living entities to evolve a mechanism called biological clock to adapt the environmental changes. Physical clock helps us to follow the social schedule whereas the biological clock prepares our body by anticipating the changes in the external and internal environment.

Individual variation in functioning of biological clock is exhibited in the form chronotype. It refers to the idea that there are individual differences in the time of day in which people perform at their peak. In the common vernacular, terms such as "morning person" or "early bird" versus "night person" or "night owl" are reflections of the extreme ends of chronotype. In biological terms, chronotype refers to the individual difference in preferred timing of sleep and wakeful activity. Both genetic variations and environmental factors influence the distribution of chronotypes in a given population. You may find out your own chronotype with the help of our chronotype questionnaire. There are various other options available to find out your chronotype such as sleep analysis or clock gene analysis.

Research has linked chronotype to performance on cognitive tasks in academic and workplace settings. Studies consistently find that those asked to perform tasks at times that are misaligned with their chronotype show poorer performance than those who perform tasks at more optimal times of the day. Chronotype analysis will help in various fields such as sports or education or specific professions such as round the clock service industry for performance optimization. More our society will lead to 24x7 lifestyle more will be relevance of chronotype based physical or mental activity in profession or education.

The science studying the mechanism of biological clock is called Chronobiology. Chronobiological research is focused on studying the mechanism of biological clock. As per the latest understanding, biological clock is regulated by natural light, physical activity and time of food intake. Unfortunately, all the three parameters are completely disturbed in course of urbanization.

Ayurved believes that everything in nature including humans are made up of five basic elements. Hence there is similarity at many levels between nature and man which is called ‘Loka-Purush Samya Siddhanta’ Ayurved recommends daily as well as seasonal variations based on the changes in the surrounding nature which are called ‘Dinacharya’ and ‘Rutucharya’ respectively.

According to Ayurvedic concepts, body is made up of three types of Doshas, viz. Vata, Pitta, Kapha. Balancing between Doshas leads to health whereas the imbalance leads to disease condition. At different times in a given day, during specific seasons of the year as well as at given age the balance between Tridosha is in constant flux.  Balancing of Doshas are possible with ‘Dinacharya’ and ‘Rutucharya’, which will lead to syncing of the inner biological clock. Thus, the lifestyle disorders could be managed with changes in the lifestyle and not with mere medications. 

Prakriti is one of the basic concepts in Ayurved. As individual Prakriti is unique, the same Ayurvedic formulation is not recommended to all. Ayurvedic medication not meant to supress the disease but to act at the root cause considering the psychosomatic aspect. Hence there are more dos and don’ts as compared to modern medicine.  

According to Chronobiology each person has a unique ‘Chrono Type’ whereas according to Ayurved each person has a unique ‘Prakriti Type’ Modern science is restricted only to the physical body whereas body and mind both are considered in Ayurved. Majority of the lifestyle disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, anxiety or depression are not caused by any specific reason & linked to circadian dysfunction. 

As we are aware about Vata dominant, Pitta dominant, Kapha dominant or their combinations of Prakriti types, Chrono type are divided into three types viz. Morning, Intermediate and Evening type or their combinations. Due to our round-the-clock urban lifestyle, a morning person has to work in the evening which leads to misalignment inside the body. Though we cannot change our professional assignments suddenly, at least awareness about the mechanism of biological clock will help us to monitor the daily schedule and make step by step changes in the right direction. 

Human mind and brain both are evolved mechanism and much more manipulative hence it will not be enough to tackle it only at physical level but need more holistic approach. Combining the concepts in Chronobiology and Ayurved, we are proposing a novel concept of ‘ChronoPrakriti’. The lifestyle management will be more effective and sustainable if we suggest the recommendations based on individual ‘ChronoPrakriti’. 

For more details do visit: www.chronoprakriti.com

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