Personal Hygiene, Daily Regimens, and Seasonal Practices in Swasthavritta: Applications in Public Health

Abstract

Public health systems across the world are increasingly facing challenges related to communicable diseases, lifestyle disorders, environmental health risks and mental stress. Rapid urbanization, unhealthy living habits, pollution, poor sanitation and weakened lifestyle discipline have significantly affected human health during recent decades. Although modern medicine has achieved remarkable progress in diagnosis, vaccination, infectious disease management and emergency healthcare, preventive healthcare practices at individual and community levels still require greater attention. Ayurveda, particularly the branch of Swasthavritta, provides a highly comprehensive preventive healthcare framework emphasizing personal hygiene, disciplined daily regimens and seasonal lifestyle adaptation for maintaining physical, mental and social wellbeing. Swasthavritta focuses on preservation of health through Dinacharya (daily regimen), Ritucharya (seasonal regimen), personal cleanliness, ethical conduct, balanced nutrition and healthy lifestyle practices. Ancient Ayurvedic scholars emphasized that proper hygiene, sleep regulation, exercise, dietary discipline and environmental adaptation are essential for disease prevention and long-term wellbeing. Interestingly, many of these traditional concepts closely resemble principles of modern preventive medicine, behavioral health and public health sciences. This paper presents a detailed review of personal hygiene, daily regimens and seasonal practices in Swasthavritta and their applications in modern public health systems. The study analyses classical Ayurvedic concepts and compares them with contemporary public health approaches related to sanitation, infection prevention, lifestyle medicine, environmental adaptation and health promotion. It also evaluates the relevance of Swasthavritta principles in addressing communicable diseases, lifestyle disorders and mental health challenges. A qualitative and comparative methodology was adopted through systematic review of Ayurvedic classical texts, public health reports, preventive medicine literature and interdisciplinary healthcare studies published during recent decades. The findings indicate that Swasthavritta principles possess significant relevance in modern preventive healthcare systems, especially in community hygiene, immunity promotion, behavioral health and disease prevention. Integrative healthcare approaches combining traditional lifestyle practices with evidence-based public health systems may contribute significantly toward improving long-term health outcomes and reducing healthcare burden. The paper concludes that Swasthavritta offers a valuable and holistic preventive healthcare framework that aligns strongly with modern public health priorities. However, scientific validation, standardization and interdisciplinary healthcare research remain essential for broader integration into contemporary healthcare systems.

KEYWORDS: Swasthavritta, Public Health, Personal Hygiene, Dinacharya, Ritucharya, Preventive Healthcare, Ayurveda, Lifestyle Medicine, Community Health