The five elements describe what the body is made of. The sixth describes how it is lived in.
In the Jain understanding I was raised with, karma is not a metaphor for luck. It is the accumulated weight of what we do, and the work of a life is to stop adding to it. That is a demanding idea, and I do not claim to have met it. But it is the reason this site is organised as it is: I do not think health can be separated from conduct.
You can manage your food carefully, breathe well, cleanse regularly and still be unwell, because the life around the regimen is not in order. Chronic anger, resentment, dishonest work, loneliness, and the low steady stress of a life at odds with itself — these have measurable physiological effects. That is not mysticism; it is well documented.
Conversely, the things that consistently show up in research on long-lived populations are not supplements or protocols. They are steady relationships, a sense of purpose, community, moderation, and physical activity built into ordinary life.
Ahimsa — non-violence — is the first principle of Jain practice, and it extends further than most systems take it: to speech, to thought, to the smallest creature. It is also the root of my vegetarianism, more than any health argument.
What I would offer to anyone reading, of whatever faith or none, is that the discipline of not causing harm turns out to be good for the person practising it as well. Anger is heavier to carry than to release. That is not a religious claim.
Non-attachment; the discipline of wanting less. In a culture arranged to make us want more, this is a genuinely difficult practice and an unusually reliable source of peace.
This site is a personal account and a record of traditional practice, shared for information. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a treatment for any disease. I am not a doctor.
If you are unwell — and especially if you have a serious illness such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease — please stay under the care of a qualified physician. Nothing here should replace or delay that care.