To Be Good It Helps to Feel Good!

 

 

My husband, Bud, and I attended a funeral this morning.  Bud gave one of the eulogies.

 

The funeral was for a man named Patrick, a former colleague of Buds’.

 

Don’t funerals help you to place things in perspective?  Attending funerals, or celebrations of life, as they are so often referred to today, always remind me of the importance of character and values.  Isn’t it our character and values that help us to navigate life’s difficulties?  Integrity is a quality that keeps us thinking straight even when the going is rough and tough.

 

On one hand, it seemed as if Patrick had had a relatively easy life.  He had a lovely wife, a successful career, and two grown sons, who made him very proud.  But was it all easy?  Patrick’s Mother died when he was four years old.

 

He had had to drop out of college because of a lack of funds.  Eventually he did go back to school.  He battled cancer as a younger man and after 28 healthy years he had to resume this battle.  This time he lost.

 

Each speaker today mentioned Patrick’s integrity, his fine character. He was described, over and over, as a “good, good” person.  I think his character dominated his life experience and were evident to all who came in contact with him.  I am certain that it was character and values that guided him through the rough patches, he, like all of us experienced.

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I discuss the importance of keeping the mind-body in harmony with nature.  The necessary tools for this endeavor are awareness and intentionality. We are constantly affected by the environment; by what happens to us and what goes on around us.  In spite of challenges it is possible to maintain our natural internal balance.

 

Physiological balance allows us to think more clearly and to have happy feelings even in times of stress.  Physiological balance helps us to maintain our character.  No one behaves well if they feel dreadful emotionally, physically, or mentally.  Balance is key for character, values and integrity.

 

The mind, body and spirit is one seamless energetic system and no matter where we intervene we affect the totality.  Are you behaving the way you believe you ought to behave?  Are you following your values and living according to your belief system?  I hope you are but if you are letting yourself down how about checking into Ayurveda?  This ancient system of medicine can help you to find internal balance, to feel better, and to, therefore, be who you want to be!  The thing about Ayurveda that we treasure is simply this:  it works!  It helps us to achieve perfect health and this assists us in becoming the person we wish to be.

 

As always, Sandra and I send you our best wishes for perfect health and happiness!

 

 

A Lifetime of Liveliness and Energy

Is life short or long?  I suppose it all depends on how you look at it.  Days can pass quickly.  Unhappy times seem to go on and on; while times of great joy pass in a flash.  Young people cannot imagine becoming old and believe that “old age” will never happen to them.  Older people look back and are amazed that the years passed by so quickly and that they have reached an age defined as “old” or “elderly.”

Recently a friend of mine visited his hometown and saw a group of his high school friends for the first time in a long while.  His friends had been athletes in high school, in shape and vigorous.  He told me that he was saddened to see how time had taken its toll on so many of his friends.  Several of them were extremely overweight.  A few suffered from diabetes type 2.  There were those who had battled cancer and heart disease and those who looked weak, ill and just plain “old.”

My friend said he left the group feeling grateful for his health and vitality.  Should he be grateful or should he be patting himself on the back?

I think he should be doing both of the above.

There is no doubt that a tendency to good health is genetic.  At the same time, we know that more illnesses can be prevented and Ayurveda teaches us that it is possible for the vast majority of us to enjoy a healthy and happy old age.  Old age will come knocking at your doorstep and, of course,  you want to enter this stage of life with a vital physiology.

The human physiology is an aspect of the natural world and if we do not live according to the Laws of Nature we will experience disease and a less than delightful old age.  Living life according to the Laws of Nature is more than common sense but once one learns the basic concepts following the directives is easy.  In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I explain these concepts in detail.  Whether you wish to avoid depression or strive to have a healthy old age the answers are the same:  keep doshic balance and clear the physiology of toxins (ama).

The three doshas (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha) operate in the macrocosm of the universe as well as in the microcosm of the human being.  Every aspect of the natural world, including the human being, is a pattern of intelligence, and it is the doshas that govern the workings of this pattern of intelligence.  Knowing how the doshas influence your individual mind and body is the key to functioning in harmony with nature.  The necessary tools are awareness and intentionality.  Awareness of how the doshas function allows us to become intentional about our daily choices and habits in order to keep our physiology in a state of balance.  Had my friend’s buddies had this awareness I believe they, for the most part, would be enjoying vitality, not illness, in their old age.  Read about the doshas in Chapter 3 of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way.

  Ama is the Ayurvedic word for toxic accumulation.  Whereas Western medicine focuses primarily on putting substances into the body (such as medicines) Ayurveda has always considered purification of the physiology – getting things out –  to be equally important for health maintenance.

According to Ayurveda,  “gunk “is what causes disease because it blocks the free flow of our innate intelligence at different levels of our being.  This gunk, or ama, is the product of inefficient metabolism.  There are three types of ama:  physical, mental, and emotional.  Physical ama obstructs our biological processes and is formed when the food we eat is not digested properly. Emotional ama is a residue carried from one experience to another, obstructing the full enjoyment of the here and now.  Mental ama blocks access to our inner knowledge, our intuition.  Ama cements depression and illness.  A physiology filled to the brim with ama will not be a physiology capable of an active and healthy old age.  Read about how to prevent the accumulation of toxins in the mind-body in Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way.

Once disease invades the mind-body it becomes very difficult to return to vitality and good health.  Old age will sneak up on each of us one day at a time but this stage of life doesn’t have to be a time of misery.  Ayurveda gives us all the information we need to enter old age with vitality and happiness.  We just need to apply the information in our own lives.  We encourage you to begin to learn about the doshas and ama today and to prepare for a vital future and a totally enjoyable old age!

 

Thanks for reading and have a great week,

A Sweet Story

Americans love sugar.  According to the experts the average American eats 150 grams of sugar a day. One-hundred and fifty grams is about one-third of a pound. One third of a pound of sugar a day!  Wow!  We must all really want to be sweet.

Are you thinking that you don’t eat that much sugar?  Well, maybe you eat more than you realize.  Most people ingest their sugar a little at a time, a hard candy from a dish at a store, a teaspoon in a cup of tea or coffee.  Maybe a soft drink or one or two cookies after lunch.  Yes, some people demolish a few candy bars a day, but most of us get our sugar in small doses.

Are you saying, “So what?”  Do you think that if it tastes good then it must be OK for you?  After all, we all know that sugar is an energy booster so what can be wrong with a bit of it every now and then (and every now and then and every now and then and so on and so forth).

Well, guess who else besides you loves sugar?  Cancer cells, that is who.  Cancer cells gobble up three to five times as much glucose as normal cells do.  Cancer cells kill for sugar and they kill healthy cells by depriving them of the sugar they need to survive.  Eating less sugar is an insurance against tumors.

But, avoiding cancer is not the only reason to avoid an overdose of sugar. Sugar also weakens the immune system.  The immune system is composed of different types of white blood cells.  Some of these fight disease and others kill bacteria. Research has discovered that two hours after eating sugar people had 50% fewer of these disease fighters in their system.  If staying healthy is your goal then avoiding sugar should be on your to-do list.

Sugar isn’t good for adults or for children.  Ask any pediatrician what week of the year is his or her biggest money maker and you will hear the following, “The week after Halloween.”  If you don’t believe me go to a neighborhood doctor’s office next November and you will find it full of coughing,sneezing, wheezing and runny-nosed children. They are recovering from their sugar addiction!  They are feeling neither healthy nor happy.

Happiness is a side-benefit of a healthy, strong mind-body.  A strong immune system is necessary for health and happiness.  You might think that a candy bar, soft drink, or cake, cookie, or hard candy is going to bring you happiness and maybe it will…..for even longer than five minutes—-maybe up to a half an hour!

However, if you are looking for long-term well-being we suggest you find natural ways to ingest sugar.  Fresh fruit is number one on the list.  Dates and dried fruits are good too.

If you do have a sugar addiction then we suggest that you not try to cut back all at once.  As we mention in our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way lasting change must always be done gradually.  If we stress or strain to make changes in lifestyle we end up losing the battle and resuming our unhealthy habits.  Take it one-step at a time, but do begin to think about your sugar intake and notice all the “little” bites of this and that that you pick up during the day.  Feed the immune system what it needs for strength—-don’t feed those dangerous cells!

Thanks for reading and have a great week,