We all desire health improvement, but most of us simply lack the time and energy to go on the strict diets, complicated fitness routines and drastic changes in our lifestyle. And this is precisely where Ayurveda comes in as reassuring and even natural. A common rule in Ayurveda that has been applied in a very practical way is the 80/20 rule, which is a simple rule that demonstrates how minimal, conscious actions may result in long-term health without putting a life upside down.
The 80/20 Rule: Your New Best Friend
The Ayurvedic 80/20 rule in Ayurveda is not a fashionable trick or a cheat. It is a re-packaged ancient wisdom to our hectic lives in the modern world. The idea? Ayurvedic 80% of the time, and be human 20%. No guilt trips. Not starting all over again every Monday.
According to my aunts in Kerala, even a straight river folds. What she was saying was about life, but it is absolutely accurate here. Rigidity breaks. Flexibility endures.
The Overrated (and Pernicious) Leader Why Being Perfect.
Have you ever noticed that the most strained individuals are those who are struggling to be healthy? There’s a cruel irony there. I have seen individuals in Why Ayurveda come to their health resort in Kerala totally exhausted, exhausted, not due to the lack of concern about wellness, but because of the excessive preoccupation with it.
And here is the secret everybody tells you: The fear of being perfect makes its own kind of poison. In ayurvedic medicine we refer to it as ama-toxins accumulated in your system. So, unless this ama is a product of your mind, it is equally real just like the physical one. You might be on the ideal diet yet the hormones that can be caused by stress are driving crazy. What’s the point?
What This Would Have Appealed to in Real Life.
Let me get practical. Suppose you have studied about Ayurvedic health treatments that you are mostly of a Vata type, that is, dry, cold, anxious when out of balance. Thus you are aware that warm, grounding foods are your medicine. Breakfast of Oatmeal with ghee? Perfect. Kitchari for lunch? Amazing. However, when Friday comes around your colleagues are ordering sushi and sake.
Old you might panic. Sushi is cold! Sake throws off my digestion! I had better stay at home and my thermos of hot soup.
New you, Ayurveda, 80/20 rule? You go. You enjoy yourself. You could take some ginger tea afterward. Life continues. Your Vata does not get into anarchy, as you have taken care of it the entire week.
This is what is the difference between the Ayurvedic way of life and being in Ayurvedic jail.
The Stories That Stick
This is a guy that we had, say Rajeev or Raj, who had come to Why Ayurveda with a complaint of his stomach. Pitta type of classic, all inflamed and all urgent. The practitioners could provide him with all the appropriate advice: chilling foods, relaxing routines, routine.
Six months later? Still struggling. Why? After two weeks of being extremely obedient, he had flunked at a birthday party, and on that basis, he had concluded that he was a failure, and tossed the entire matter into the wind. All or nothing. Sound exhausting? It was.
All this changed when he eventually heard about the 80/20 approach where his body would only be capable of taking the occasional slice of his daughter birthday cake. The last I could hear of him is that he is constantly adhering to Ayurvedic principles since more than two years. Not perfectly. Consistently. There’s a massive difference.
Your Non-Negotiables vs. Your Flex Time
The following is your assignment: take out a piece of paper. On the one hand, list the three ayurvedic medicine and rituals that make the needle move in you. Perhaps it is oil pulling before bed, having lunch as the largest meal of the day, or your meditation in the evening. These are your 80%–they are your base.
On the other side? Everything else. The nice-to-haves. The ideal scenarios. What you will do when the life goes your way. You have your 20 per cent and it is not failure–it is structural elasticity.
I have a friend who claims that she will never negotiate without drinking warm water in the morning. Sounds simple, right? But to her one practice predetermines her whole day. All the other things, the yoga, the scraping of the tongue, the meditation, all that happens as it happens. And now she’s healthier than in her attempts to do everything just right.
This is in fact supported by the Ancient Texts.
You know what’s beautiful? The Ayurvedic elders of old were not dogmatists. They conversed of “yukti”–your intelligence and common sense. This is because they realized that life occurs. Seasons change. Circumstances shift. Something that is effective in summer may require rearranging during winter. What worked well in your twenties might have to be changed in your fifties.
The wisdom was always there. We have only been a bit lost in trying to commodify and perfect everything.
Coming to Terms with Not Being Watchful.
I still make mistakes, I go wrong, you see. Last week I had to work on a project until 2 AM, and I totally disregarded all principles of Ayurveda regarding sleep. Did I beat myself up? For about five minutes. After which I recalled: a single night of insomnia does not cancel out months of previously sound sleep patterns.
It is not day by day that your body counts. That is the true key of the 80/ 20 rule in Ayurveda. You are not checking a checklist, you are creating a lifestyle.
The ayurvedic practitioners that I have come across that are truly practicing ayurvedic medicine are the ones that have been doing it their whole life, and they are not hardline. They’re adaptable. They can understand when to be serious and when to be lax. They believe in themselves and their physical bodies. That’s the goal.
So What Now?
Start where you are. Identify three practices that are manageable and helpful. Do them most days. Let the rest go for now. When someone presents you with cake in a party, then maybe you get you a small portion and savor. You do not do any downward self-blame when you wake up after sunrise on Sunday.
This is sustainable. This is realistic. Such is the way people continue to be well not weekly but decades.
Your Ayurvedic practice does not have to be flawless. It only requires that it be yours, sincere and regular enough to be a difference. The rest? That’s what the 20% is for.
Commonly Asked Questions
Q: But will my health problems reoccur when I do not bow down to the task?
Okay, well, maybe you have to be more careful in the recovery process, you see, you are dealing with something serious. Be with somebody who is knowledgeable about it, a qualified practitioner who can mentor you. However, even at that moment, it is too difficult to be too serious as stress is a physiological issue as well. It means getting your middle ground, not whipping yourself.
Q: How I can know what is in my 80?
Pay attention to your body. Which practices do you feel make you feel better? In my case, it is a morning warm lemon water and having my big meal at lunch. To you it may be entirely different. That is what Ayurveda is all about- it is individual. After attending some health retreat in Kerala or having been with a good practitioner, you will begin to realize your patterns.
Q: Is this really effective or is it a way to be lazy?
The fact is that this rule is easy to follow: those practicing the 80/20 rule in Ayurveda have a tendency to follow it years. Individuals who attempt to be flawless usually drop out of the program in months. Which of the two methods does sound more lazy to you? Unity outshines intensity each and every time. It is not a matter of reducing standards, but increasing sustainability.
Q: Does this mean that I will lose the benefits?
Absolutely. Consider it–when you are practicing Ayurvedic health remedies and Ayurvedic health principles 80 percent of your time, even then that is a lot more than most people. You continue to develop good digestion, sleep, reduced stress levels, and increased energy. The difference is that you are doing it without the burnout. Such locations as Why Ayurveda educate this practice as they have seen it performed with thousands of patrons. Actual change occurs when you can continue doing things over a long period of time, but not because you are excellent two weeks and then you quit.
