Seer of Puttige Mutt in Udupi Sugunendra Tirtha, who recovered from COVID-19 a few days ago, has urged the Union government to declare the period between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. as national resting period.
All television and other entertainment programmes and night travel should be banned during this period, he said in a statement in Udupi late on Sunday. The government should take the required steps to ensure that the ban had legal back-up.
It is because, during his treatment for COVID-19 at a hospital in Manipal, he experienced that if one slept well during the period, it would help in boosting one’s immunity.
An initiative for declaring national resting period is needed for promoting the health of all people, the seer said and added that one should stop the habit of sleeping during the day.
The seer said that COVID-19 symptoms in him started with cough beginning at 4 a.m. every day. When he asked the experts about the reasons for this, he was told that he slept late in the night and that it [coughing] was the result.
In hospital, he tried going to bed before 9 p.m. intentionally.
When he practised this, there was improvement in his health and coughing reduced. He realised that there was a direct link between sleeping habit and immunity. Earlier, he did not go to bed before 11 p.m. or midnight due to his activities and travelling. He had ignored proper sleeping and eating habits.
“Taking timely food and sleeping at the right time are the key to maintaining immunity,” he said and added that Sri Krishna has in the Bhagavad Gita laid stress on timely sleep and food. He said that the need of the hour is for all to have strong immunity to face any type of infection or disease such as COVID-19. Balancing eating and sleeping habits mattered a lot in boosting one’s immunity.
The seer said that like the new National Education Policy, the time is ripe to re-frame the national health policy to protect the health of all people. While re-framing the policy, thrust should be given to yoga, pranayama and Ayurveda.
He said that there is a need to change people’s lifestyle. The government should bring in necessary legislation in this connection. The seer was discharged from hospital recently after recovering from COVID-19. He tested positive after returning from Bengaluru