Dear Students,
I promised 2 articles before I leave. So here is the second one. Actually I submitted this a while ago but unfortunately admin has informed me that it did not come through to them. I did not even save the post so I am retyping it again, this time maybe even better.
Health is an important factor for writing CA exams. Why?
1. Many students have met with accidents even while going to the exams! due to ill-health, stress and strain of not eating properly and hence not being able to concentrate on the road while driving or crossing the road.
2. Many students do not eat properly and consequently are exhausted to carry on the stress more than a few exams and they say, "we will see next attempt".Little do they realize that their health is also making them take such decisions.
3. A healthy mind in a healthy body is sinequa for success in any venture and yet this is the least cared for.
4. Many students live in hostels and are not able to get good food to keep them nourished and energetic.
5. Many go out of station for audits and find that they don't get proper food.
6. Many have unhealthy habits like smoking, drinking, excessive masturbation(increasing Acetylcholine,dopamine,etc in the brain making them inefficient),etc
********************************************
1. First things first: What goes in decides what comes out! If you are on a high after drinking naturally you start speaking expletives unnecessarily,you start off with a bawdy langage,etc.
In a similar fashion, if you eat healthy foods, your output would increase considerably and you become more efficient in handling stress and remaining bouyant.
I am a vegetarian and rarely I eat an egg or two. I turned into a veggie-lover after reading books by Maneka and my choice is both for compassion towards animals and for strong scientific evidence supporting vegetarianism as the healthy option.It has also been proved that the alimentary canal is basically designed in humans for herbivorous content and not even for omnivorous content and that many toxins released in the animal products due to many factors accumulate in the body after non-vegetarian consumption.
However, since this is a sensitive topic, I leave it to your discretion to either abide by it or not.It is purely your personal choice but I would encourage you to read some scientific books on vegetarianism if you entertain any doubts in my statements above.
Veggie diet provided me a light head to enable me to study easily without falling asleep and also some Jain friends ;) from Jaigopal Garodia School who were impressed by my campaign for veggie and gave me active help from their seniors for my CA exam!
Oily items, heavy dishes, etc impede brain activity and makes one sluggish.
Healthy foods include salads, buttermilk, fresh fruit juices(organic is best),etc
If someone is a meat eater then maybe he or she can have it occasionally.
Incase, students are living in hostels, then I advice to take extra caution to take regular meals in a decent mess/hotel nearby or best cook for themselves if they have the facility in their rooms/apartments.I also advice them to take regularly supplements
Supplements include caretenoids(instead of synthetic Vitamin A),Becozinc tablets,Vitamin C,etc.You must consult a Doctor and not act as per my advice here as I'm not a medical doctor. There is also a book called "What your doctors do not know about nutritional medicine might be killing you". You can buy that and peruse it.It is the best book which will aid you take care of the supplements portion of your intake. You do not find all the necessary vitamins and minerals in food in the daily recommend intake levels..
We need to take supplements as we do not get all supplements in the food. Ended intake level and thus the need for taking supplements. WHO statistics say that Indians are the most malnourished among the fast developing economies. And this holds good for even meat eaters here.Most of the nutrients are lost in dry-roasting ,frying, etc
Some students take brain tonics, memory pills, etal but I would advice caution regarding all those and advice you to meet a natural health practioner for this.My Dad took me to a kerala Ayurvedic doctor who gave me the following brain tonics to peak my performance during exams:
Brahmi leaf.
In Tamilnadu Brahmi leaf has its counterpart called "Vallarai", one can use that too. Both are useful to improve brain power.
1. Brahmi Thailam--for external use on scalp.(I used Ramtheerth Brahmi oil later because the smell was good for this product and I dint want to go dripping oil! It is also called Saraswathy Thailam)
2. Brahmi Ghritham(Morning)
3. Brahmi Lehyam(Night)
However, these would help only if the person puts in effort in studies. Do not think that these medicines would make one super intelligent.
Also caution is needed if one has cholesterol, sugar and other complaints. So best bet would be to visit a local doctor or an approved ayurvedic medical practioner and discuss the possibility of taking these medicines(this is over and above healthy foods and vitamin supplements).
Take lots of fresh water during the day and sips of water during studies. This keeps the PH balance in brain fit and primed.
2. Exercise: Diet is one thing but exercise is the factor which will pump in energy into your body.It has been proved that exercise be it jogging or walking would increase the "happy hormones" in the body and these are necessary for a depressive course like CA.I used to go for a walk,practice Taichi and kungfu exercises,do Yoga and 5 tibetan rites (and ocassionally swimming.).However dont stress out here and work your way through gym and have nice muscles and lose out on the course.
Strength, stamina and suppleness is what is the ideal combo and this is what I looked for
My weights(dumbbells) a bit gave me strength, my walk, Kungfuetc gave me stamina and Yoga gave me suppleness.
3. Sleep and relaxation: Lot of CA students burn the midnight oil but this is not a good strategy and that is why I ask students to start early and be regular and this way the comprehension and memory is also stabilized.
Sleep depravity causes many problems and the brain gets affected.You deprive brain of the necessary rest.Thats no good, if you wanna please Mr.Brain!
You need to know relaxation methods, how to relax during exams using deep breathing(I used Taoist breathing exercises like 6 healing breaths,skull breathing,etc to relax daily after my heavy study session).
I found lately that Yoganidra technique is a great way to unwind.Im practicing it to great benefit.It is better than catnaps and powernaps we do in USA.
Know relaxation methods whatever suits you and it will become a habit, and retain your cool.
I also took care of my eyes and till now despite long hours before computers or reading I do not have power.
I have my own strategies to beat this eye power degeneration, which includes the usance of a medicine called Nayanamritha Kuzhambu(Kerala Ayurvedic prep again),eye exrcises,intake of caretenoids and keeping the laptop,computers away with screens and mounted on to a stand and using wireless keyboards,etc.I need good care of my eyes and use palming techniques and splashing cold water every now and then.But sleep is the best balm for eyes.
-----------------------
4. Mental health: This is very essential for CA students who are giving the exams. Many get depressed and leave attempt after attempt.
Mental health downturn happens to a combination of factors like the ones listed above--sleep depravity, no vitamins or supplement intake, tensions, improper food and sleep habits, no exercise, etc
If the mind gives in, body collapses, if the mind is in body is in....so the need to maintain good mental health.
Mental health also means a good plan to beat negative elements in this course and this includes:
1. People who depress you. I used to have friends of other courses but not CA friends much except one or two, who were world enough.
2. Environmental factors--Keep your surroundings clean, visually attractive and have good ventilation in your study room.
3. Clinical health factors (this also includes genetic predispositions the ambit of which cannot be covered in this mini-posting of mine).
4. Presence of unhealthy habits--Excessive Smoking, drinking,excessive mastrubation,etc
I have seen lot of CA students smoking,especially when they are staying alone in hostels, thinking they are cheating their parents or for "lightening up" or they think they are becoming mature and adults(hey no! only the cells inside your body are becoming mature due to oxidative stress and you die soon!).They are cheating themselves and I pity them for what they are doing.Somehow try to shirk this bad habit once and for all, it does no good is all I can say.Even I was tempted once to take to this habit in my teens but then sense prevailed.
Drinking many do and think it is relatively harmless, when compared to smoking but the chart above tells otherwise.
Other bad habits include tobacco chewing,snuffinf, panparag typeof narcotic chewing,etc...All these might provide some relief and give a false sense of confidence but the longterm effects are not worth it and one also loses one'sself-esteem.Anyways, I do not wanna preach much.It is all upto you guys to decide after all it is your life and body!
Even while skimming through newspapers I DONT READ the whole content..i JUST SEE THE TITLES....and if the title says something depressive...that's it...I skip it....I read interesting, inspiring news and unless it is something urgent I dont read depressing news in newspapers or internet news channels.Infarct I don't have time to read such nonsense and depress my mind about whats going on.I try to trasmute the negativity alchemically to something positive and keep myself happy.
I also avoid tittilating myself with the popular media like cinema or vulgar sites on the net.This too is a distraction and collosal time waste.
Success Principles by Jack Canfield is a good book to follow in this regard and it is not about mental health alone it is a chart how to succeed.
Reading books is one thing, I read many books per week but then one should retain what one reads and use it purposefully.
Keep your health in prime condition as mentioned above.
Summing up my posts CA exam success comes like this:
1.Keep your health in prime condition(mental health and confidence included)
2. Crush the fear factor
3. Avoid depressing seniors, students,teachers and friends and enjoy the company of only super-confident people.
4. Keep the ammunition ready(I mean proper study materials, coaching classes, etal)
5. Sharpen the axe--knowing study and memory techniques
6. Start early, revise as many times as possible to ink the concepts in subconscious memory
7.Release all tensions...LETGO... to the unmanifest, God,subconsious or whatever you might call
If you follow these 7 and focus on purely positive outcomes, success will come to you and it is like an equation 1+2=3
These seven when followed punctiliously will get you success in CA.
With this I have fulfilled my promise of 2 posts before I go.
God Bless all of you with good health, abundance and success.
Win it all!
Your friend-of-heart,
"Vidhyashankar"
CAclubindia
