Happy Mothers Make Happy Families

In September 2022, DAAJI released his latest bestseller, The Wisdom Bridge, and throughout 2023 we are sharing highlights from the various chapters to give you a taste of the wisdom the book offers. This month the excerpt is from the chapter on Principle 4: Happy Mothers Make Happy Families

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In China, despite warp speed modernization, the age-old practice of the sitting month still flourishes. For one month after birth, the mother stays at home and follows a strict diet and lifestyle that keeps her and the child healthy. In Columbia, something similar is practiced for a period of forty days. In Nigeria, the first bath for the baby is given by the grandmother or an elderly aunt. The ceremonial bath is a much-celebrated milestone. In India, the expectant mother goes to her parents' home where many practices like the ones shared above are followed. Are these practices mere cultural protocols or do they have a greater significance?

Focusing on the Pregnant Mother's Care

While our elders may not have used the word "Epigenetics," they must have understood its influence on a person's health. For example, in Caraka Samhita, an ancient Ayurvedic text, there is a section called "Garbhini Vyakarana," meaning the development of the embryo. It is the palm leaf version of What to Expect When You're Expecting.

In it, there is a verse that reads, "If a cup filled with oil right up to the brim is to be carried without spilling even a single drop, every step has to be taken with care." This verse refers to the care and nurturing needed for an expectant mother during pregnancy.

What's special about this ancient text is it focuses on physiology as much as it does on the environment surrounding the expectant mother. The postconception care as detailed in the texts offers prescriptions for diet (aahara), daily routine and activities (vihara), and medicines (aushada). Everything from recommended foods for each month, types of massages and exercises, air quality, sunlight, moonlight, aromas, and even music for the expectant mother are described. What we would today call epigenetic influences are well documented in the ancient text.