One of the most profound conclusions I have reached is that health is a choice; virtually no one ever has to be sick – Raymond Francis, M.Sc. in his book ‘Never be sick again’ * 070318

                                                                               

The foremost attitude for good health is being in harmony with the present moment situation. This implies fully accepting the present moment situation including our body’s health as it is now! If we are not in harmony, then we are gripped by negative emotions like fear, anxiety, worry and this results in stress! Stress then gives rise to negative thoughts in our Intellect which affect and hamper the natural capabilities of our body to maintain our  health!

The reality is that good health is not within the realm of control of our Intellect or Ego. Good health happens to each one of us and it is caused by The Totality. But our Intellect and Ego can contribute to improving our health by dropping the ideas like, I will never get well or the disease I have is incurable! Miracles do happen and cures do take place of dreaded diseases like diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, arthritis etc., classified incurable by the Allopathic stream of Medicine.

Good health can be helped by getting good and adequate sleep every night. According to Dr. Joseph Murphy we are spiritually recharged during sleep! He states that adequate sleep is essential to (also) produce joy and vitality in life! About 8-10 hours of sleep every night are required for the body to help cure itself.

Sleep happens when we are tired and when our Conscious Intellect lets go of everything in order to sleep well. When we are in deep sleep, we do not even know that we exist! This state of non existence is what invigorates and  regenerates our body and Intellect!

Likewise, during the day we also need to be capable of invigorating and regenerating ourselves too! This is done by proper and regular Meditation which should also become part of our daily routine. In meditation, however, we have to let go consciously and this process also has a great balancing effect on our life and health!

Be aware that our body, while it is in the womb till it is a small child, is an expression of our Subconscious Intellect or The Totality. As soon as the child’s Ego (conscious intellect) develops then the body follows the beliefs and dictates of the Conscious Intellect. Whatever thoughts and emotions the Ego has, they get reflected in the body. Bad health can also originate in our Ego as a result of our thoughts, emotions and stress levels. If we think that we will be sick if our head is wet for long, our Intellect will oblige and make us sick! Therefore it is very important to consciously think that we are healthy and then the Infinite Wisdom in our subconscious intellect will keep us in the best state of health and fitness. By thinking correctly and positively, we can try and reduce or eliminate numerous diseases like diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, angina, cancer etc., some of which are known to be non curable!

Emotions like anger, anxiety, worry, fear, jealousy, hatred, guilt, sadness, depression, actually injure our body from within! It is like taking a stick and beating our own body with it! Awareness of our thoughts and emotions will help us to lower or eliminate the impact of the internal injuries we are causing to our own body and help us to manage our health better!*

Our thoughts, emotions and stress levels are lowest when we move from our default ‘Ego’ state to a state of ‘Awareness and Acceptance’ of the present moment including acceptance of our Ego, as it is now. We know we are in the state of ‘Awareness’ if our body remains relaxed, whereas in the state of ‘Ego’ our body remains tense as it either ready to fight or to take flight away from the prevailing situations!

Further, we can fuel our Body & Intellect by doing daily deep breathing exercises, also called Spiritual breathing in Brahmavidya or Pranayams in Yoga. Most of us are doing shallow breathing and not even using 10% of the capacity of our lungs! Deep breathing increases the oxygen availability in our lungs which helps purify our blood, improving our health and immunity, and making us feel good and refreshed most of the time.

Yoga and stretching exercises help build flexibility in the body and prevents pain from accumulating in any part of the body. Start yoga and exercises at our own comfort level and not as per the set levels of the Trainer or Physiotherapist to avoid injury to our body. With time the comfort level will increase. Accordingly, the extent and complexity of yoga and exercises can be increased to a higher level.

Similarly, Aerobic exercises like walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, weight lifting, (to build cardiac strength and our bodies) should begin at our present comfort level!

Exposing the body daily, for 15 to 30 mins, to morning sunshine is very necessary to have strong bones and lower joint pains. One can do this easily by doing our aerobic exercises like walking, swimming etc outdoors where there is adequate sunshine. When exercises are not possible, at least sitting daily in a bright, sunny area is very desirable!

Eating plenty of raw fruits, sprouts and drinking vegetable juices help build and retain immunity in the body. Fried, packaged, processed foods, which have long shelf life, have to be avoided as they lower the immunity of our body! Having three good meals a day, chewing and masticating well, taking 20 to 30 minutes for every meal, will help us in not overeating and overloading our digestive system!

Dieters, who cut down on the quantity of food that they eat, have to be careful that they do not get headaches due to low blood sugar, other eating disorders and health problems!

Having a belly is considered as a sign of prosperity in some countries like India! Make no mistake about this! It is clearly a sign of inflammation in the intestines due to eating incorrect foods that disturb our Gut Flora!

A very good book to read and follow for good eating and health is 21 – Day Tummy written by best selling author Liz Vaccareillo, editor-in-chief and chief content officer of Reader’s Digest. In a matter of a few days we can revitalise our immune system, improve our physical energy levels, reduce our belly fat, eliminate digestive disorders like heartburn, acid reflux, gas, bloating, constipation, cramps, diarrhea as well as irritable bowel syndrome.

Doing creative activities like having a hobby or two or more brings out our passion as well as good health. Indulging in hobbies is stress free or very low stress activity resulting in good health. This will balance our working life which can be very stressful and unhealthy at times because of achieving targets and expectations set by others as well by our own Ego!

Excerpts from ‘The Biology of Belief’ by Bruce H. Lipton Ph.D. 

• A cell’s life is controlled by the physical and energetic environment and not by its genes. Genes are simply molecular blueprints used in the construction of cells, tissues, and organs. The environment serves as a ‘contractor’ who reads and engages those genetic blueprints and is ultimately responsible for the character of a cell’s life. It is a single cell’s ‘awareness’ of the environment, not its genes, that sets into motion the mechanisms of life.
• My new understanding of the nature of life not only corroborated my stem cell research but also, I realized, contradicted another belief of mainstream science that I had been propounding to my students– the belief that allopathic medicine is the only kind of medicine that merits consideration in medical school. By finally giving the energy-based environment its due, it provided for a grand convergence uniting science and practice of allopathic medicine, complementary medicine, and the spiritual wisdom of ancient and modern faiths.
• I was exhilarated by the new realisation that I could change the character of my life by changing my beliefs.
• Signal transduction science recognises that the fate and behaviour of an organism is directly linked to its perception of the environment.
• This new awareness reveals that our genes are constantly being remodelled in response to our life experiences.
• Understanding on a scientific level how cells respond to your thoughts and perceptions illuminates the path to personal empowerment.
• We are not victim of our genes, but masters of our fates, able to create lives overflowing with peace, happiness, and love.
• Positive thoughts have a profound effect on behaviour and genes but only when they are in harmony with subconscious programming.
• The science of epigenetics, which literally means ‘control above genetics,’ profoundly changes our understanding of how life is controlled. In the last decade, epigenetic research has established that DNA blueprints passed down through genes are not set in concrete at birth. Genes are not destiny! Environmental influences, including nutrition, stress, and emotions, can modify these genes without changing their basic blueprint. And those modifications, epigeneticists have discovered, can be passed on to future generations as surely as DNA blueprints are passed on via the double helix.
• In contrast to conventional wisdom, genes do not control their own activity. Instead it is the membrane’s effector proteins, operating in response to environmental signals picked up by the membrane’s receptors, which control the ‘reading’ of genes so that worn-out proteins can be replaced or new proteins can be created.
• The cell’s operations are primarily moulded by its interaction with the environment, not by its genetic code.
• Genes cannot pre-program a cell or organism’s life because cell survival depends on the ability to dynamically adjust to an ever-changing environment.
• The membrane’s function of interacting ‘intelligently’ with the environment to produce behaviour makes it the true brain of the cell.
• To exhibit ‘intelligent’ behaviour, cells need a functioning membrane with both receptor (awareness) and effector (action) proteins. These protein complexes are the fundamental units of cellular intelligence.
• In multicellular communities, there is a division of labor. That division of labor is evident in the tissues and organs that carry out specialised functions.
• There is enough scientific evidence to suspect that we can tailor a waveform as a therapeutic agent in much the same way we now modulate chemical structures with drugs….Neuroscientists are conducting exciting new research in the area of vibrational energy therapies.
• All organisms, including humans, communicate and read their environment by evaluating energy fields. Because humans are so dependent on spoken and written language, we have neglected our energy sensing communication system. As with any biological function, a lack of use leads to atrophy.
• It was harder to get rid of the energy-draining defeatist thinking in which I habitually engaged. Thoughts consume energy as surely as does marathon running
• Thoughts, the mind’s energy, directly influence how the physical brain controls the body’s physiology. Thought ‘energy’ can activate or inhibit the cell’s function-producing proteins via the mechanics of constructive and destructive interference.
• The fact is that harnessing the power of your mind can be more effective than the drugs you have been programmed to believe you need.
• I do not believe that simply thinking positive thoughts always leads to physical cures
• It is important for our health and well-being to shift our mind’s energy toward positive, life-generating thoughts and eliminate ever-present, energy-draining, and debilitating negative thoughts.
• What those positive-thinking dropouts haven’t understood that the seemingly ‘separate’ subdivisions of the mind, the conscious and the subconscious are interdependent. The conscious mind is the creative one, the one that can conjure up ‘positive thoughts’. In contrast, the subconscious mind is a repository of stimulus-response tapes derived from instincts and learned experiences. The subconscious mind is strictly habitual; it will play the same behavioural responses to life’s signals over and over again, much to our chagrin.
• When it comes to sheer neurological processing abilities, the subconscious mind is millions of times more powerful than the conscious mind. If the desires of the conscious mind conflict with the programs in the subconscious mind, which ‘mind’ do you think will win out? You can repeat the positive affirmation that you are lovable over and over or that your cancer tumor will shrink. But if, as a child. you heard over and over that you are worthless and sickly, those messages programmed in your subconscious mind will undermine your best conscious efforts to change your life (or health).
• The mind can affect the body…Some people get better when they believe (falsely) they are getting medicine. When patients get better by ingesting a sugar pill, medicine defines it as the placebo effect. * 190717
• I call it the belief effect to stress that our perceptions, whether they are accurate or inaccurate, equally impact our behaviour and our bodies. *
• I believe that medical education should train doctors to recognise the power of our internal resources. Doctors should not dismiss the power of the mind as something inferior to the power of chemicals and the scalpel. *
• If researchers could figure out how to leverage the placebo effect, they would hand doctors an efficient, energy-based, side effect-free tool to treat disease. *
• The groups who received surgery, as expected, improved. But the placebo (fake surgery) group improved just as much as the other two groups (with two different types of surgery). *
• In this world anything is possible when you put your mind to it. I know that your mind can work miracles. * 190717
• You can filter your life with rose-coloured beliefs that will help your body grow or you can see a dark filter that turns everything black and makes your body/mind more susceptible to disease. You can live a life of fear or live a life of love. You have the choice! But I can tell you that if you choose to see a world full of love, your body will respond by growing in health. If you choose to believe that you live in a dark world full of fear, your body’s health will be compromised as you physiologically close yourself down in a protection response.   200717
• …Survival mechanisms…can be roughly divided into two functional categories: growth and protection. * 220717
• Gravitating to a life-sustaining signal, such as nutrients, characterises a growth response; moving away from threatening signals, such as toxins, characterises a protection response.* 220717
• Humans unavoidably restrict their growth behaviours when they shift into a protective mode. * 220717
• Growth processes require an open exchange between an organism and its environment. For example, food is taken in and waste products are excreted. However, protection requires a closing down of the system to wall the organism off from the perceived threat. *220717
• Inhibiting growth processes is also debilitating in that growth is a process that not only expends energy but is also required to produce energy. * 220717
• To fully thrive, we must not only eliminate the stressors but also actively seek joyful, loving, fulfilling lives that stimulate growth processes. * 210717
• In multicellular organisms, growth/protection behaviours are controlled by the nervous system. * 240717
• The body is actually endowed with two separate protection systems, each vital to maintenance of life. The first is the system that mobilises protection against external threats. It is called the HPA Axis…….When the brain’s hypothalamus perceives an external threat, it engages the HPA axis by sending a signal to the pituitary gland, the ‘Master Gland’ which is responsible for organising the fifty trillion cells of the community to deal with the impending threat. * 240717
• The pituitary gland sends a signal to the adrenal glands, informing them of the need to co-ordinate the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response. * 240717
• Once the adrenal alarm is sounded, the stress hormones released into the blood contract the blood vessels of the digestive tract, forcing the energy-producing blood to preferentially nourish the tissues of the arms and legs that enable us to get out of harm’s way. * 240717
• The visceral organs stop doing their life sustaining work of digestion, absorption, excretion, and other functions that provide for growth of the cells and the production of the body’s energy reserves. * 240717
• The body’s second protection system is the immune system, which protects us from threats originating under the skin, such as those caused by bacteria and viruses………the adrenal hormones directly repress the action of the immune system to conserve energy reserves…….it interferes with our ability to fight disease…..(also results in) diminished conscious awareness and reduced intelligence. * 240717
• Our hyper-vigilant lifestyle is severely impacting the health of our bodies. Our daily stressors are constantly activating the HPA axis, priming our bodies for action. Unlike competitive athletes, the stresses in our bodies are not released from the pressures generated by our chronic fears and concerns. Almost every major illness that people acquire has been linked to chronic stress. * 260717
• Depression is caused when the brain’s stress machinery goes into overdrive. * 260717
• When you are in that much pain and you’re in an unfamiliar setting, you wind up trying things you would never consider in your cushier moments. * 010817
• When your conscious mind has a belief that is in conflict with a formerly learned ‘truth’ stored in the subconscious mind, the intellectual conflict expresses itself as a weakening of body’s muscles.  010817
• More shocking was the fact that this hidden mind, the mind I knew little about (except theoretically in psychology) was actually more powerful than my conscious mind, just as Freud had claimed……My conscious mind was awhirl over the implications of the superior power of my formerly hidden subconscious mind.  010817
• Thoughts could propel behaviour more efficiently than physical molecules. * 010817
• The lower an organism is on the Tree of Evolution, the less developed its nervous system and thus the more it relies on programmed behaviour (nature).
• Organisms higher in the Tree have more complexly integrated nervous systems headed by a bigger and bigger brains that allow them to acquire intricate behavioural patterns through experiential learning (nurture). The complexity of this environmental learning mechanism presumably culminates with humans, who are at the top, or atleast near the top, of the Tree. * 010817
• Human intelligence can only be fully understood when we include spirit (‘energy’) or what quantum physics-savvy psychologists call the ‘superconscious’ mind. * 010817

Good health is maintained when we find joy and peace within, which is dependent on our accepting the present moment situation fully as it is now! – Gul Malani 

Our Ego’s non acceptance of the present moment and fear of the future can cause health problems starting from minor headaches to major illnesses like Cancer – The Totality 

Our Ego causes fear and stress within us when we do not fully and unconditionally accept the present moments as they are now. This can lower our body’s immunity resulting in poor health – The Totality *

‘I am not feeling well’ is a reflection of our not thinking well!– from teachings of Brahmavidya

A strong belief is necessary that The Universal Subconscious Intellect or Totality, which has Infinite Knowledge, is fully capable of keeping us in Good health and delivering to us what we desire! – Gul Malani *

I would not die before death actually came. I would value each day and each moment for the precious gifts within – Neelam Kumar from her book ‘To Cancer with love’ *

I also cherish and take confidence in knowing that the body is designed to heal itself…..The body wants to heal, and every cell carries extraordinary intelligence and fortitude. While we all sometimes need outside help and direction, healing is an inside job – Donna Eden*

Brahmavidya, an art of spiritual breathing and meditation, not only cleans our Blood but it also cleans our Intellect of all the impurities our Ego is dumping into it -The Totality *

We truly detoxify our body when we become aware of our Ego’s thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions and when we fully accept the present moment as it is now – The Totality

Healing doesn’t come from outside. All that medicine can do is to help the body bring its own healing force into action…..Health cannot be forced from outside, it is your energy flowering. – Osho ‘Buddha, his life and teachings’ *

Being one with The Totality (Emptiness) regenerates and strengthens the body while being our Ego (filled with thoughts) weakens our body –The Totality *

When our Ego stops reacting to internal and external situations, then our body regains it’s best health and gives out it’s best performance – The Totality

Our Ego’s commonsense says that we should be concerned about our health in order to make the necessary effort to improve it. The fact of the matter is that even our own health is not in our Ego’s hands. It is in the hands of The Totality! Instead, let our Intellect become peaceful by accepting our health as it is now, with gratitude This will allow our body’s internal pharmacy and other capabilities to become productive and bring our health back to the best level possible now. –The Totality *

While our body is capable of maintaining reasonably good health, the main culprit that disturbs this balance or this capability  is our Ego. Ego can create situations of lowering the immunity of our body resulting in minor health issues like headaches, colds etc as well as difficult to handle situations like cancer. By becoming aware of our Ego, its thoughts and reactions, we can reduce its negative impact on our body’s health! – The Totality * 

We can rejuvenate our Intellect & Body by being in the present moment, when our Ego dissolves and we are one with The Totality – The Totality *

Sometimes, all that is necessary to heal another person is just to love them at the spiritual level. You connect to the loving essence of the ill person, allow them to heal by their own recognition that they are loved, and enable them to realise that love is an important factor in their healing. – Carnelian Sage, in her book ‘The Greatest Manifestation Principle in the World’ *?

Good health depends on good digestion, so eat the fruits and foods that our body can digest easily and in quantities that are also easily digested – Atul Bhole, Ayurveda, Pune*

An underfed body heals quicker than an overfed body – The Totality *

If we overeat or eat food that we cannot digest easily, then the food gets converted into Toxins, leading to poor health and diseases. So, eat less than feeling full; that is, only 75% of your requirement and food we can easily digest. Then, enjoy good health free of doctors and medications. – Dr. Arti Supekar, Ayurveda *        050717

Pharmaceutical drugs suppress the body’s symptoms but most never address the cause of the problem…..We are now more educated to the dangers of drugs and more open to alternative therapies….But even today very little scientific rigor has been marshaled to assess the effectiveness of complementary medicine.- Dr. Bruce H. Lipton Ph.D. *             120717

Become aware of our perceived threats besides being aware of real threats. We will notice that perceived threats occur much more often than real threats which seldom happen. Threats, whether perceived or real, shut down our Immune system and our physiological growth processes leading to disease. By become aware and thereby automatically eliminating perceived threats, we will live a healthier life! – The Totality * 250717

Our body is strongest and healthiest when our Intellect is The Infinite Emptiness state and weakest when our Intellect is in the Ego state. – The Totality * 161017

Experience reveals that our body manufactures and delivers the necessary drugs and chemicals to cure itself only when the blood requirement of our digestive organs reduce or the digestive process is nearly complete. So, to maintain good health eat 25 to 30 % less, than feeling full at every meal, eat at periodic intervals and not throughout the day. Eat early at night, preferably around sunset; eat very light so that digestion process is over soonest and the body gets most of the sleep time to manufacture and release the required drugs and chemicals to regain or maintain it’s normal good health. – The Totality  050118

There are five important indicators of good health. First is good sleep as the body repairs itself during sleep. Second is good Energy level, third is good Appetite, fourth is good Digestion and fifth is quick Recovery from sickness. – Dr. Shonali Bijlani M.D. 081218