Personal development
Reclaim your health
A couple of weeks ago I returned from a week in Scotland,
having attended Tony Robbins Life Mastery seminar on rejuvenating
mind, body and emotions. I was staying at St. Andrews Bay
resort just before the open started and what with that and
people from the G8 summit, including Kofi Annan, staying on
the floor above me it was an exciting week. Also, the Scottish
coastline here is simply stunning.
One of the things that always strikes me as I learn more
about health is the distinction between what’s normal
and what’s average. If you experience normal health
and a good level of fitness then your expectation should be
that you have high energy levels, remain free of illness and
generally feel great. As a society we are letting ourselves
go and the average level of health is well below what’s
normal.
Modern life is very demanding on our physical and mental
well being. Our bodies become poisoned by poor diets, lack
of exercise, polluted environments and negative emotions.
Because it happens slowly the reduction in our vitality often
goes unnoticed until illness sets in. But, of course, just
being free of illness does not necessarily indicate peak health.
If we choose to become more conscious about how we live we
can make better lifestyle decisions, which lead us to a more
fulfilling and enjoyable life. We can begin to transform our
health and vitality just by creating healthy daily habits
such as
• Choosing to reside in positive, happy and joyful
emotional states. Eliminating negative thoughts and consistently
felt negative emotions because they poison our systems as
much as a poor diet. Having specific ways of controlling stress
levels, such as practicing meditation or yoga.
• Eat fresh, organic when possible, vegetables and
fruits. The ideal ratio is 70-80% raw food (e.g. salad) to
20-30% concentrated food, such as pasta, rice or fish. This
helps to maintain your body’s alkalinity, which is what
keeps your cells healthy. The blood, for example, needs to
be slightly alkaline at a ph of 7.365. The average modern
diet is very acidic, which is what causes cells to mutate
and die and leads to disease.
• Drink plenty of water. Half your bodyweight in ounces
per day. If, for example, you weigh 160lbs, then drink 80oz
a day (roughly 33oz to a litre which means 2 and a bit litres
a day). Our average daily fluid loss is about 4 litres. If
we don’t hydrate then we dehydrate which has all sorts
of negative consequences.
• Regularly lymphasise. We have more lymph in us than
blood and our lymph system is a waste system. If we don’t
eliminate waste we become toxic. Unlike blood, lymph is not
pumped round our bodies. It has to be stimulated. Correct
breathing works the diaphragm, which stimulates the lymphatic
system. Try power breathing three times per day. Inhale for
the count of one. Hold for the count of four. Exhale for the
count of two. Do this ten times. Also, rebounding for 10 minutes
a day, using one of those small trampolines (or rebounders)
is excellent.
• Commit to regular aerobic exercise, a minimum of
three times per week. The important thing is to sustain movement
for longer than 10 minutes with a heart rate of above 55%
of your maximum (maximum heart rate is approximately 220 minus
your age). Aerobic development takes time but as your heart
gets bigger it doesn’t have to work so hard. Lance Armstrong’s
resting heartbeat is about 34 per minute!
• Cut out cigarettes, alcohol, overeating, processed
foods, tea, coffee and soft drinks, foods with e numbers,
preservatives etc. For many of us these are a challenge to
stop but they all weaken our bodies. Cut out or significantly
reduce one at a time.
None of these practises are radical or controversial and
are, in fact mostly common sense. I hope that one or two of
these ideas may strike a cord with you. For most of us, the
best way to manage change is to simply focus on one thing
at a time until it becomes a habit. You can then move onto
the next and in no time at all made a significant and positive
contribution to your quality of life.
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