Happy Soul Food Friday!
If you can’t tell, each week I reflect and share something that I am personally working on or struggling with (like sleep hygiene) or noticing with alacrity (like the importance of art and culture) in our world.
This week I dug into the oldies but goldies file and revisited something I curated many moons ago and updated it.
Hopefully, this week’s missive is still timely and resonates with you…
The Six Guardians of Health and Wellness
Food and Diet:
You are what you eat.
Both disease and energy come through food.
Unfortunately, most of us eat for the sake of eating not for the sake of health.
Our food, from a holistic perspective, serves two primary functions.
The first is to nourish and give us energy (assimilate).
The second is to clean out and detoxify (eliminate).
All foods eaten for health and not just to indulge the taste buds should aid in either or both these functions.
Typically, eating natural unrefined foods provides the optimum source of nutrition and energy.
Eating “food without faces” is often suggested for a long and healthy life.
Unless you have an eating disorder, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to eat less.
(Systematic under-eating)
For the average person in western cultures today, only one fourth of what we eat actually helps us.
The rest helps the doctor! (No offense my dear doctor friends, but a bonus for you below…)
Overeating simply overtaxes our system, wastes valuable natural resources, and creates other health problems down the road.
Do you know there are as many starving people in the world as there are overweight people?
Finally, it is not just what you eat or how much you eat, but HOW you eat that makes a big difference.
So many of us eat junk, eat too much and, if you are like me, eat too fast. Learn to take time to enjoy the process of eating.
Savor every mouthful.
Be grateful you are not one of the people on this planet today that is hungry, malnourished, or starving to death.
Half our planet is undernourished!
Mindful eating counts.
Don’t put another mouthful in until the previous mouthful has been completely swallowed.
Take time to make the process of eating a joyous, even meditative experience.
This conscious eating honors the food, appreciates the chef, embraces the life energy made available through the meal and ultimately provides more than calories, protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants etc.-it provides life itself.
Try changing one thing about what, how and how much you eat today and notice the difference…
Your Living Environment:
Usually, when we think of our living environment, we think of the place where you live.
Your living environment, however, includes the place and CONDITIONS under which you live.
It is not enough to have a clean, bright, airy home or apartment in outer harmony with nature in perfect feng shui alignment, if the inner environment is one of stress, tension, and discord.
Creating an environment of support, comfort, and inner safety can do wonders for the health and well-being for all members of the household.
See if you can identify some things you can do to make your living environment a sanctuary from the stress and tension in and around you.
Commit to making your living environment the best you can!
Exercise:
All exercise is good, but not all exercise is good for all people!
Today, everyone seems to be touting the benefits of exercise for strengthening the body, relaxing the mind, reducing heart disease, and even offsetting depression.
Exercise can be broken down into vigorous, moderate, and gentle forms.
Recent studies have validated the dramatic benefits of even a little exercise on our health, with less dramatic advantages of intense exercise over longer periods.
If a little is good, a lot must be better, doesn’t hold true when it comes to exercise, although this varies from individual to individual.
The old adage of no pain, no gain is also vigorously disputed in the current literature, which validates what holistic practitioners have been saying for thousands of years:
Involve yourself in types of exercise you enjoy.
Enjoy the process of exercising not just the end result.
Exercising for admirable abs or bodacious buns is probably not worth it if you don’t enjoy the process.
In fact, it might be killing you!
So much for the killer workout… It might be doing just that!
It seems that certain types of exercise do suit most people.
These include-walking, swimming, yoga, and tai chi.
Yoga and tai chi emphasize the flow of life energy in the whole-body releasing toxins and creating a sense of wellbeing.
Maintaining flexibility and range of motion have long been key elements in developing total health-so stretch yourself every day!
Regardless of the form of exercise or cross-training regimen you select, make sure you learn, practice, and emphasize the proper breathing method.
The benefits of using the proper breathing method cannot be overstated and makes a tremendous difference in the process of exercising and the ensuring results.
Attend to ki, chi, prana, life force or whatever you choose to call it.
Rest:
One of the most sorely neglected aspects of wellness, pun duly intended, is rest.
In today’s fast-paced society, most of us simply do not get enough rest. The right amount of rest is defined by your ability to recoup energy and repair damaged tissue.
Depending on your lifestyle and disposition, the amount of rest you need will vary. If you are involved in a lot of hard labor or intense exercise you will obviously need more rest than those whose lifestyles are more sedentary.
But… “rest should not turn into rust!”
Communing with Nature:
Living in the urban jungle, we often lose our connection to nature. For countless generations, our ancestors lived in balance with nature, and recognized and celebrated the interconnectedness and interdependence with all of nature.
Reawakening our primal links to Mother Earth, Father Sky, Brother Sun and Sister Moon reminds us of one simple fact:
Nature is full of energy!
It is yours for the taking (Shakuraki is a term the Japanese use about how we can borrow energy from nature) and there is an abundance of it so take as much as you need!
Sunshine is a natural source of Vitamin D.
Sunshine is also a natural germicide and insecticide.
Fresh air purifies the organs and sharpens the senses.
We take in air through the lungs but also through the skin.
Pure water flushes us inside and out.
Drinking seven glasses of clean water a day is excellent for us.
Getting in cold water (hydrotherapy) causes the capillaries to shrink on the outside and forces the blood to be shunted to the heart, thereby cleansing and tonifying the circulatory system.
Spending time outdoors in communion with nature can do wonders for one’s state of mind.
Get out your calendar right now and block off some time in nature today, this week and this month.
Heck the weather is wonderful…
Right Mental Attitude:
It is well known that the mind governs the body and the body affects the mind. In western psychology, we talk about a psychophysiological isomorphism– a one-to-one relationship between body and mind.
In today’s society of negats and negaholics, one must put on the armor of one’s own positive thoughts. It takes practice to re-program ourselves toward positive thinking.
Sadly, according to scientists, we give ourselves thousands of negative messages each day.
Worrying is nothing but negative goal setting.
And 90% of the things we worry about-NEVER HAPPEN!
Positive autosuggestion takes practice.
We all get to choose whether we want to elevate or degrade our mental attitude.
Being grateful, practicing forgiveness, rewarding yourself daily, laughter and humor, play and recreation, meditation, and prayer, practicing self-love, using affirmations, developing your own self-healing script, and practicing positive self-talk are some powerful ways to change your attitude and keep the change.
As a Sensei of ours would say, a sense of pleasure, accomplishment, contentment, and enthusiasm for life (PACE) are some key indicators that you are on your way to cultivating and developing the right mental attitude.
Drill for skill.
Practice like you want to perform.
What you do-you become.
Repetition is the key to anchoring a new behavior, attitude, or skill.
With the six guardians mentioned above, you are well on your way to creating a healthy life.
sow a thought-reap an action
sow an action-reap a habit
sow a habit-reap a character
sow a character-reap a destiny!
And lastly a bonus after dissing my doc friends 😊
A doctor set out to find what helps people ‘defy disease’—here’s what she found:
Doctor set out to find what helps people ‘defy disease’—here’s what she found
Be well and keep up the PACE. You’ve got this!
Love,
Neville
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You may have a small body, but great strength.
You may have an ordinary mind, but great wisdom.
You may have a wounded heart, but great courage.
You may have a weary soul, but great love.
Happy Soul Food Friday! 