Ayurveda on Airborne Pandemics

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I’d like to take a few moments today to look at what Ayurveda says about Pandemics and how to protect ourselves. This amazing information is found in the ancient text Charak Samhita, and for those who are interested, it’s Vimanasthan Chapter 3.

First of all, Charak is really clear about the role that Climate Change and environmental degradation has in creating the unfavourable conditions that can lead to epidemics. He points out that abnormalities in the seasons and damage to the environment will impact the effectiveness of herbal remedies and asks us to plan ahead so that we are well-supplied and prepared for these eventualities. An Iron Age Pandemic Preparedness Plan!

Then he looks at the important question we’ve often asked in the last two years—when people differ in their constitution, diet and lifestyle, how come they can all fall prey to the same disease? The explanation is quite simple. We all differ in so many ways, yet we share a common place and time, breathe the same air and drink the same water. Place, time, air and water are the causative factors of Pandemics. We live in a time in history when a new virus has been unleashed upon the entire world; hence we see the old and the young, the sick and the healthy in various continents developing the same illness. While water is a vehicle for some epidemics, cholera being an example, air is listed by Charak as the most important vehicle for Pandemics, and prevention is recommended over attempts at cure.

COVID is indeed an airborne disease, although it took the medical community some time to acknowledge this. Remember when we spent all that time scrubbing doorknobs and wiping surfaces, only to learn that fomites are pretty irrelevant in the transmission of SARSCoV-2?

COVID is airborne—and we are not speaking of droplets, we’re referring to aerosols. You can get infected in a break room, corridor or public toilet when nobody is around. The virus lingers in the air. And now omicron is on the scene, a variant that is far more strongly airborne, far more infectious. We’ve lived through the first omicron wave, but BA2 or omicron 2 is on the way, and is even more infectious. Millions have been infected in the UK. Harvard epidemiologist Dr Eric Feigl-Ding tweeted, “97-99% of UK residents have SARSCoV-2 antibodies already. Reinfection and breakthroughs is now the name of the game.” BA2 is the most infectious disease in recent history. And unlike measles, you can get COVID again and again.

So, with most public health mandates over, how can you protect yourself from a highly contagious airborne virus?  I, like most doctors and public health experts, do consider that getting vaccinated and boosted is a part of the solution, for society, for your personal safety and to protect others. I know that’s not a popular position in the yoga and Ayurveda community. But anyway, vaccinated or not, please don’t just get back to business as usual.

Here are simple ways you can protect yourself and others:

  •    Wear a good mask—N95, KN 95 or equivalent--whenever you are indoors with other people.   Even if there’s nobody around, such as in the toilet, you still need to wear your mask, because aerosols linger.

  •   Require visitors to your home to wear a good mask.    Keep HEPA air purifiers running in your home or place of business. Keep them running for 30 minutes after everyone has left, before you unmask.

  • Ask your workplace to install a whole building air purification system.

  •   It’s getting warmer. Open windows and keep spaces ventilated.  Move gatherings outside.

  •   Avoid outdoor crowded spaces like sports events if attendees are unmasked.

  • If flying, keep your N95 mask on the whole time. That precludes taking longer flights.

  • ·Handwashing, plexiglass, hygiene theatre only serve to distract and bring a false sense of security. Focus on aerosols.

    But…omicron is so mild, why should I bother? Well, omicron isn’t mild for everyone. The R0 of BA 2 is a staggering 12, meaning that each infected person will infect 12 others. You need to bother, both for your own protection and also for the sake of others, such as the elderly, cancer patients and immunocompromised people. In subsequent articles, we’ll explain in more detail why you don’t want to get COVID—or have another bout of it; and how Ayurveda can help those suffering with Long COVID.

  • Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.

    Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!