''Take the time in your life to look after your body, mind and spirit''
In
ancient times, in the East, people would visit their physician not
when they were ill but when they were well. If they became ill just
after the visit and the physician hadn't foreseen the illness then they
didn't pay the bill!
Physicians at this time were mainly acupuncturists
who kept the bodily systems in health by regular treatment of all the
pressure points on the body, ensuring a healthy energy flow and good
blood and lymph circulation.
This theory still holds
true today. If we could keep our blood circulating freely, and the
lymph moving at its correct speed around the body then illness would be
greatly reduced. Unfortunately though not many of us have a perfect
circulatory system because somehow, we all manage to produce tension of
some sort in our bodies, either physical or emotional.
The
way in which we live in modern society results in many of us sat
hunched at a computer desk, slouched on big sofas and sleeping in soft
beds that offer no support for our backs. It is all to easy for our
lives to become sedentary unless we make the effort to exercise our
muscles.
we often walk incorrectly and when we stand in ques we let our
weight go first on one foot and then the other. The effect of this is
that our muscles are working over time to keep us in our 'slovenly'
positions; tissues and organs are pushed into the wrong place, pressure
is applied where it shouldn't be and as a result the energy flow is
blocked and the blood and lymph have greater difficulty in flowing
around the body.
Our
diets could be a lot better too, it's not always easy to cook a meal
from scratch every evening when we're tired and just want something
quick to eat. Our diet though
plays a crucial role in maintaining the health of our bodily systems.
Unnatural (i.e artificially processed) foods are a contributing factor
in ill-health, too much sugar and animal fat is often said to
contribute to heart disease and the organs of elimination become
congested when too many refined starchy foods like white bread, rice,
pasta are eaten with not enough roughage such as whole grains, fruits
and vegetables. The foods we choose to eat not only affect our physical
health but they also influence the way we feel and our ability to cope
with stress.
Stress is not always bad and in some ways it can often be stimulating
enough to make life enjoyable and motivate us to succeed however It can
become dangerous when we feel a lack of control with few outlets for our
frustration.
When
we are subjected to stress the normal functioning of the body is
disrupted. A hormonal response sent from the pituitary gland triggers
the adrenal glands to release adrenaline into the blood stream to
prepare the body for 'fight' or 'flight'.
The adrenaline coursing
around our body causes our heart beat to speed up, our blood pressure
and cholesterol levels to rise and muscles to tense. Breathing becomes
shallow or rapid, hunger is suppressed, digestion stops and our body
diverts vital resources from the immune system. As a temporary
expedient, the stress response is vital, but if the situation is
prolonged with no release of tension then the result can be disastrous
on our physical and mental health.
As well as
experiencing physical symptoms such as muscular aches and pains,
fatigue, headaches, insomnia and irritable bowel to name but a few; our
emotions can also be thrown into turmoil. If we are under a lot of
stress then we can feel vulnerable and overwhelmed by negative emotions
When the mind is at peace, we experience only positive feelings like
love, contentment, selflessness, generosity, etc., and yet at other
times anger, fear, jealousy, selfishness and depression dominate and
such dis-ease in our mind can then cause illness and 'disease' within
the body.
We
need to learn that it is not always the situation but our reaction to
it that creates stress in our lives. Our fears and anxieties about past
events repeating themselves add to the vicious circle and the
uncertainties of life crowd our mind with frightening possibilities.
As
human beings we have a tendency to always focus on the past and the
future whilst withdrawing our attention away from the present moment and
yet it is in the present moment that we have the greatest clarity to
deal with any situation. It's true that positive lessons and strength can be gained
through adversity, but to be constantly under fire causes battle fatigue
and this is true of our daily struggles.
There are things that we can do to help ourselves live a longer,
healthier and happier life if only we could make them apart of our
daily habits like; becoming mindful of our bodies, the way we move, sit
and stand. Making sure we get enough exercise if our lives are
sedentary, choosing to eat only those foods that nourish us and benefit
our health, becoming mindful of the thoughts that take us away from
enjoying the present moment, taking time out from all the rush, rush to
sit quietly and converse with our inner selves and of course to make
time in our lives for regular massage!!!
So
invest in your well being, It's a way of life. Wellness is neither a
luxury nor a single treatment. Rather, a mindset that benefits body and
soul, for the long run.
Have you noticed how when the sun is shining everybody seems so much more relaxed and happy? It's as if the warmth of the sun just melts our worries away!
The familiar aches and pains we get in our upper back and shoulders when life gets stressful and we feel like we're 'carrying the world on our shoulders'. the niggling worries that become 'a pain in the neck' and the heaviness and sickness we get in the stomach when life deals us a hard blow and we feel 'gutted'. 
Eating healthily, exercise, becoming mindful of the continual stream of thoughts that bombard us and taking time to simply relax are all great tools for reducing and managing stress however nothing beats a good massage to really unlock the storage places of emotional tension within the body.
