I loved learning about the full meaning of the Sanskrit words āhāra and vihāra in a recent Sanskrit class. These two words are used in Ayurveda to denote diet/food and lifestyle. Both āhāra and vihāra comes from the same seed syllable 'hṛ', which changes to 'hāra' and is related to the action of 'taking or carrying'.

The prefix ā in āhāra means to bring something so very close to oneself, that it becomes an act of taking it inside, thus eating. The 'vi' in vihāra means to go out in all directions and from there comes the meaning of sport, play, pastime, pleasure. Learning the full meaning of āhāra and vihāra absolutely blew my mind. In fact, I'm loving learning the Sanskrit language so much, that since completing my Sanskrit IGCSE exam, you'll now find me attending 2 different Sanskrit classes every week.

What I love here with the full definition of vihāra, is that it includes a sense of playfulness and enjoyment. Living a healthy lifestyle where you exercise regularly, eat well, meditate etc. should thus be something that brings a sense of joyfulness and playfulness to your life. Or perhaps if it doesn't, we can try to cultivate an attitude of joyfulness towards these activities.

In the Ayurvedic classics like the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, all treatment protocols contain a recommendation of what diet and lifestyle changes would benefit each disease.