Stephen Lau shares his reflections on life and living, health and wellness, faith and spirituality, self-help and self-learning--a blog on introspection in the art of living well for triple life makeover in health fitness, emotional centeredness, and spiritual connection.
FREEDOM with BONDAGE
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Many people take multi-vitamins every day. But do they work? The pharmaceutical industry would like you to believe that they do. No matter what, it is controversial. The truth of the matter is that 1 billion people don't get enough vitamin D, which is critical to aging and longevity.
You can ask your doctor to give you a simple blood test called, 25-hydroxy vitamin D test. It can tell you how deficient you might be in vitamin D; 1 billion people don't get enough vitamin D, and you could be one of them.
A study has linked vitamin D deficiency with an increased risk for cancer and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis MS, and lupus, and even heart diseases. According to researchers, mapping vitamin D receptors binding throughout the human genome, vitamin D deficiency is a major environmental factor responsible for the increasing the risk of developing diseases and disorders that may adversely affect aging and longevity.
The cause of deficiency is a combination of not getting enough exposure to the sun and not having enough vitamin D in their diets.
Change your diet to increase your level of vitamin D. Eat more oily fish, such as salmon, mackerel and tuna, egg yolks and mushrooms, as well as cereal and milk fortified with vitamin D. Of course, exposure to the sun (in the morning or late afternoon) may give you 20,000 IUs of vitamin D. Vitamin D must be processed by the liver and kidneys into a form (calcitriol) that can attach to vitamin D receptors in most of the body's cells. Your body stores one form of previtamin D, called dehydrocholesterol, in the skin. When your skin absorbs sunlight, it is transformed into previtamin D3 (cholecalciferol).
Vitamin D can lift moods and strengthen bones -- they are critical to the elderly. Advancement in age may make an individual become easily depressed, especially when confronted with many life challenges and health issues. Brittle bones are conducive to falls, one of the many causes of death among the elderly.
To spend the rest of your golden years in good health with fewer aches and pains, take a walk in the late morning or in the early evening to get as such sunshine as possible to enhance your vitamin D intake.
As you continue to age, you may have eye
problems, such as weak vision. This may be due to weak eye muscles. Your body
muscles control your body movements, while your eye muscles control your
vision. Therefore, strengthening your eyes muscles holds the key to enhancing
your deteriorating vision -- just as a saying goes: use it or lose it.
Healing does
not take place on its own; it has to be initiated.Lao Tzu, the famous ancient Chinese philosopher, once
said:“A journey of a thousand
miles begins with taking the first step.”If
you want vision healing, you must demonstrate yourintentionto heal yourself.Many people know what to do or rather what theyshoulddo, but most of them still don’t do
it; knowing is one thing, while doing it is another.
You must have thedesireto improve your vision.In order to do somethingright,
you need to knowwhyyou should do it, as well ashowto do it right. In other words, you
must empower yourself withknowledgeto do it right.
There is a saying: “Seeing is believing.” But if you “believe”
what you “see” in your mind’s eye, you will “see” the result of what you
“believe”; that is, if you believe what you see, you will see what you
believe—that is, settinggoals.Finally, you needcommitment,
which is practice, and practice, and more practice to achieve your goals.
Vision deterioration is
due to (1) weakness of eye muscles due to aging; (2) stress in eyes as a result
of lack of eye relaxation; (3) bad vision habits over the years, such as eye
fixation, eye straining, etc.; (4) nutrition and lifestyle.
Believe me, youwillimprove your vision even as you
continue to age if you do some eye exercises everyday .But you must have the
intention, desire, knowledge, goals, and commitment.
Wisdom
is never formally taught in school; education may increase only your knowledge
and skills, but not necessarily makes you wise or wiser. To live well in this
day and age is not easy; one needs to know how
life works and how wisdom functions
in life.
For years,
I have been writing books and creating websites and blogs on health, golf and
money, among others. Then, one day, I was awakened to the idea that health is is
important but only one of the many aspects of life. I began to ask myself the
question: “Am I living my life?” One question then led to another, and
internalizing those questions made me become acutely aware that every moment of
my life is a miracle. After months of research, I came up with the idea of
writing a book to share my thoughts with my readers, as well as to create an
awakening experience for them so that they, too, may change their lives for the
better. You start by asking yourself some self-probing questions, such as “Am I
happy?” and “Why am I here?” Asking questions holds the key to unlocking the wisdom
inside us. We all have to look inside us for the answers to the questions asked.
Finding the answers is enlightenment, which is self-awakening.
On the
market, there are many books on life philosophy and philosophy of living, but
many of which are not easy to comprehend unless you have a philosophical mind
and an appropriate background. Many psychologists, philosophers, and
metaphysicians have totally different concepts on the wisdom in living. Most of
them use big and difficult words, jargons, and complex concepts; they are too
dogmatic to be fully understood by the majority of readers.
My book “TheBook of Life and Living” book shows you in simple and clear language that the
truth and the light of all traditions, such as the Christian and the Buddhist,
among others, are all within you. Yes, you, too, can find a miracle in your own
life, if you are willing to look inside you.
One
of the objectives of this book is to present a profound wisdom in ancient China
in plain and simple language that is understandable and reachable to everyone.
Many of us
are always seeking wisdom in living but may not have the know-how. This book
may show you the way.
Albert Einstein once said: "A human being is
part of the whole called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space. We
experience ourselves, our thoughts, and feelings as something separate from the
rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is kind of
prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a
few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison .
. . . "
So,
free yourself from the self-imprisonment of self-delusions created by your
self-consciousness, as pointed out by Albert Einstein. Don’t create your
self-limiting thoughts that prevent you from truly understanding who you are
and what you really want from life. Instead, create a substantially new manner
of thinking through the integration of both conventional and ancient wisdom.
Have you made your New Year resolutions? Many of us have. But
the key question is: how many of them are going to materialize? To accomplish
these resolutions, we need to make some changes in our lives. But making
changes may not be as easy as we think: many of us are not only reluctant but
also resistant to change. We all love staying in our comfort zones and hate
venturing into an area of the unexpected and the unpredictable.
But the truth of the matter is that life is changing all the
time, whether we like it or not. Any change is neutral: neither good nor bad;
it is our perceptions that may play a pivotal role in the changes we are going
to make in our lives. According toJames
Allen, author ofAs A Man
Thinketh, men are “makers of themselves” and the human mind is the
“master-weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of
circumstance.” That is to say, it is all in our minds. So if we can change our
thinking, we may change our lives—making 2016 a better and happier year. It is
our choice.
The human mind is composed of the conscious mind and the
subconscious mind, both of which process and interpret our physical sensations,
leading to thoughts that may be positive or negative, depending on our mental
input. Thus the human mind may play a pivotal role in either changing negative
thoughts into toxic desires, or controlling them in a positive way.
Your conscious mind voluntarily controls your mental input (that
is, what you want to and what you don’t want to remember); while it is your
subconscious mind thatinvoluntarilyremembersallthephysical sensations you are
exposed to. But it is your subconscious mind that directs and controls your
conscious mind. Your subconscious mind is the master mind behind all your
actions and decisions in your life. Therefore, it is important to have the
wisdom to understand betterhowyour subconscious mind works in
order to have better control of your conscious mind.
Your mind is powerful only if know how to control it. Learn how
to empower your mind to control your mind to control your desires. For example,
when you see something that pleases the eye, such as a beautiful dress or a
watch, you may become desirous of it. That perception can bevoluntarilyrejected by your conscious mind,
but it may be imprintedinvoluntarilyon your subconscious mind, which,
ultimately, controls and directs your conscious mind. Live your 2016 as if everything is a miracle.
To be happier, you must become a better individual. Being better means you see your connection with others as well as with everything else. The truth of the matter is that we are all inter-connected with one another, whether we like it or not; no man is an island. This perspective enables you to diminish your ego-self. With a diminished ego, you become not only a better individual as well as a happier one. An inflated ego prevents you from seeing your true self: who you really are, and not who you think or wish you were. The
wisdom of Tao begins with the power of intent in the mind to know and to learn
more about the true “self”— after all, wisdom is about self, and about how the self reacts with everyone and everything around. In the quest of wisdom, the
revelation of having no ego-self is the turning point, where you may begin to
embark on a different life journey with a different mission. Your “conditioned”
mind thus begins the journey of “reverse thinking” which will ultimately change
your life, making you a better and happier you.
Tao
wisdom enables you to see the wisdom in the oneness of all life—that everything
exists because of its “opposite” and that everything will ultimately become its
opposite, just as youth becoming old age, and life becoming death. Spontaneity,
which is following the natural laws of nature, holds the key to attaining true
human wisdom to live your life as if everything is a miracle. Be A Better and Happier You With Tao Wisdom
Part
One of my book explains the prerequisites of human wisdom. Without true human
wisdom, it is almost impossible to perceive the innate human goodness in self,
as well as in others. Human goodness leads to the attributes of genuine human
happiness.
Part
Two is the complete translation of the 81 short chapters of Lao Tzu's "Tao
Te Ching" in simple English for readers to understand the complex and
controversial wisdom of “Tao Te Ching.”
Part
Three highlights the essentials of Tao wisdom, and shows how it can be applied
to contemporary living so that you may live as if everything is a miracle to be
a better and happier you.
To
be a better and happier you is both easy and difficult: Tao wisdom is easy to
understand with an empty mind, but difficult to assimilate its depth and
profoundness
To
download the digital copy of my book, click here; to get the paperback
edition, click here.
Happiness
makes your life meaningful and living worthwhile. Nearly every one of us pursues
happiness. Unfortunately, happiness is like a carrot stick in front of us,
forever unattainable. Why? It is because life is never a bed or
roses: it is forever filled with grief and sorrow.
Given that everything is
this world is impermanent, grief and sorrow are as inevitable as death. But don’t let
your grief and sorrow make you unhappy over the long haul; protracted grief and
sorrow may lead to depression and negative thoughts that may haunt you for the
rest of your life. Overcoming grief and sorrow requires an understanding of how
you should process your grief and sorrow. Above all, it demands an honest understanding of who you really are, and why you are here.
To illustrate, after the
death of a dear friend or someone close to you, you may experience a period of denial—refusing
to accept the harsh reality of death. This is the human mind's self-delusional way of shielding us from painful emotions associated with grief and
sorrow.
Then next comes anger: anger with yourself or
whoever responsible for the death of your loved one. The human mind always looks
for an answer or explanation of why something undesirable happened. If you
blame yourself, then guilt and regret may ensue; if you blame others, you
cherish anger or hatred towards that individual.
The last phase is bargaining with God or
with a higher power about reversing what has happened to you. You may even beg
God (or fate) for second chances, using "what if?" and "if
only" sort of pleas.
These are the phases that make you unhappy. How do you
turn your grief and sorrow into happiness? You need wisdom to know your true self -- who you really are, and not who you wish you were.
Be A Better And Happier You With Tao Wisdom is based
on the profound human wisdom expressed in “Tao Te Ching” written by Lao Tzu,
an ancient sage from China. The book not only contains the translation in
simple English of the complete text of this 5,000-word immortal classic, but
also shows you how to attain true human wisdom through asking self-intuitive
questions, creating an empty mindset with reverse thinking to let go of the
ego-self in order to become a better and happier you.
Happiness plays
a pivotal part in the art of life and living well. The mind plays a pivotal role in
shaping one’s personality, which is responsible for one’s happiness or
unhappiness. In other words, your personality is
all in your own thinking, just as Descartes, the famous French philosopher,
once said: “I think; therefore I am."
In this day and age, living in different phases of life is challenging. For one thing, in this world of technology and information, many of us are addicted to speed, which seems like a prerequisite for success in career and in many others facets of life. As a result, stress is unduly created, which may lead to toxic actions, reactions, thoughts and emotions. Consciously and subconsciously we have created for ourselves a world in which our bodies, our minds, and souls have become toxic and we live as if nothing is a miracle.
To do just the opposite -- living as if everything is a miracle -- we have to renew the mind, renew the body, and reconnect the soul, and realign the being so that we know who we really are, instead of who we "think" we are.
This 125-page book is about the wisdom in living as if everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein once said: "There are
only two ways to live your life. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other
is as if everything is a miracle."
Life is a miracle; even your breath is a
miracle in itself. To live your life as if everything is a miracle, you need
wisdom of the body, the mind, and the soul.
The body perceives all sensations and
experiences in the physical world. The mind interprets and registers them in
the subconscious mind, which controls the conscious mind in its daily life
choices and decisions, resulting in actions, non-actions, and reactions of the
body in the physical world. The soul feeds the mind with spirituality that
provides connection and interconnection with others through empathy and
compassion, gratitude and generosity, as well as love and forgiveness. The
body, the mind, and the soul—all play a pivotal role in wisdom in contemporary
living. The essence of this wisdom is their “alignment” with one another for
balance and harmony in the being of an individual.
Having said that, living in the physical
world, the body can easily become toxic, and its toxins may contaminate the
mind due to the scientifically proven body-mind connection. A toxic mind is
filled with toxic thoughts and memories, which result in toxic choices and
decisions that further exacerbate the toxic body with its toxic actions,
reactions, and behaviors in the physical world. The spiritual guidance of the
soul is often ignored by a toxic mind.
You mind provides the map for your body to go
on your life journey, and your soul is the compass; without the compass and
map, you are going nowhere, and you live your life as if nothing is a miracle.
This 125-page book provides information on
how you can rethink your mind, renew your body, and reconnect your soul for
alignment of your being to live your life as if everything is a miracle. Click here to download your copy.
Nowadays, almost everyone has a phone. You live by your phone, and you can't survive without it because everything about your life is stored inside your phone. Your phone has become your being. Honestly, can you live without your phone? Probably not.
If your phone is your being, most likely you feel that time flies, that you are always on the verge of good health and success but never quite getting them, that even you have some achievements in your life and yet you are not quite enjoying the fruits of your success, and that you are always struggling with something you can never identify or understand. If your use your phone all the time, and your life has evolved around your phone, it has, indeed, become your being.
Without a doubt, we are all living in a world of speed. and many of us have developed a compulsive mind without even knowing it, as evidenced by our overuse of the phone. Well, what is a compulsive mind? A compulsive mind is one which is always shuffling between the past and the future, but rarely stays in the present. A compulsive mind is about doing, and not being. That's why a compulsive mind cannot quiet down, let alone rest. A compulsive mind, which is essentially a distressed mind, is the source of imbalance and disharmony in the mind, and thus leading to disease and disorder in the body because the body and the mind are interconnected. Science has attested to the body-mind connection in human health.
Do you have a compulsive mind? You may have a compulsive mind if you talk on the phone while driving. Being means you are living in the present moment; that is, you have presence of mind in what you are doing right now. Talking on the phone while driving means your mind is on the phone, and you have put driving on autopilot. Are you talking on the phone, or are you driving? Which is more important? Your mind can be present moment to moment on doing only one thing at a time. Multitasking distracts the mind and blunts its mental awareness, which is critical to a healthy body.
Mental awareness or mindfulness holds the key to good health. Your body communicates with your mind through messages to warn you of the imminence of a disease or disorder. But without mindfulness, you may not recognize the subtle signs and symptoms in the form of fatigue, discomfort, restlessness, aches and pains. In addition, according to research studies, mindfulness strengthens your immune system to protect you from disease.
The bottom line: enhance your mindfulness with moment-to-moment presence of mind. The simplest and easiest way to practice mindfulness is to focus on your breaths. Again, most of us are totally unaware of our breaths unless we have breathing problems. But breaths give us life; without our breaths, we die more or less instantly. Practice mindfulness to sharpen your mental alertness by noticing your breathing in and breathing out through your nostrils. You can do this anytime and anywhere if you choose to -- just give your mind a meaningful break from its compulsive thoughts.
Or, next time, when your phone rings, don't pick it up; instead notice your breaths to slow down your mind. Your mindfulness is much more important than that phone call!
Remember, stress is the root cause of all human miseries and diseases. Mindfulness is the antidote to stress. Be present to the now. The past was gone, the future is unknown, and only the present is real, and that's why it is called "present" because it is a gift from above.
My daughter got married in May, 2013 -- almost a year ago. Now as I look back, it was a wonderful wedding: it was a simple wedding, very well planned, and everybody enjoyed it. Now it's May, and you may be hearing wedding bells: loved ones, friends and relatives are getting or planning to get married.
A
wedding is a lifetime grand event for great celebration. However, it may
create undue stress. Planning a wedding may take months or even more
than a year, and therefore the stress may be cumulative and protracted. Overcoming wedding stress, you need to understand the causes of wedding
stress.
There are four main causes of wedding stress:
Money is the major factor in wedding stress. A wedding is about
spending money, and financial stress is often a byproduct of a wedding. An average wedding in the United States may cost between
$20,000 and $30,000, and a 5-tier wedding cake could have a price tag of well
over $2,000, not to mention the other accessories that come with the
celebration, such as wedding attire, the ceremony and the reception, among
others. Everything costs money, and money creates stress, especially in this
economic environment.
The second cause of wedding stress is the wedding planning with the many details of the wedding. Although it is often just a one-day event, a wedding involves many
details, such as the ceremony, the reception, the honeymoon, the bachelorette
parties, the rehearsal dinner, the bridal dress, the bouquets and flowers, the
gifts and favors, the decoration, and the photography, among others. Each comes with its many unique details that demand attention and planning, involving a multitude of venues and personnel. On top of that, they are often a
source of conflicts, disagreements, and disputes among those involved..
Time element is another cause of wedding stress. Wedding planning requires time
to put everything in the right order and in the right place. However,
procrastination, a common human weakness, may become the source of stress and
hassle in the planning and the outcome of the wedding.
Finally, man proposes but God disposes. Unpleasant surprises and mishaps may
get in the way during the planning process, or worse, on the wedding day. No
matter how organized and thoughtful is your planning, something may go wrong,
such as the vendor has gone out of business, the Maid of Honor has fallen sick,
or the photographer has failed to turn up due to an accident.
To overcome wedding stress, you must plan ahead, give yourself sufficient time to deal with all the anticipated and unforeseeable issues.while planning
a wedding.
If money is no object to you, by all means plan a lavish wedding.
However, many of us do not have that luxury at our disposal, so the
option is to go for a budget wedding, in which all unnecessary costs have been
eliminated and all wedding items have been acquired at their best prices. A
budget wedding is essentially a "resoureful" wedding based on the
principle of "dollars and sense." It is important to understand that
a wedding, which is only a one-day event, is only a part of a marriage, and
that it is crucial for a married couple to enter into their married life
without incurring a big consumer debt. The bottom line: Spend according to your
means.
Planning a wedding is no easy task. For this reason, it is important to
involve your family members and close friends as well; you don't have to listen
to them, but they may help you one way or the other. Delegate them with fun
errands and wedding projects. Don't try to do everything yourself. Learn to
relax and enjoy the planning process.
Conflicts
and disagreements are inevitable during the planning process. Look upon wedding
planning as an opportunity to experience what married life is all about. For a
marriage to work, a couple must understand each other's needs, differences and
preferences, and, most importantly, the need for compromise. Planning based on
agreement and disagreement will help the couple to prepare for the married life
ahead ofthem. To deal with time stress and procrastination, get yourself organized. If
both you and your partner are unorganized, consider hiring a wedding
consultant, even though it adds cost to the budget.
No matter how careful you may have been with your wedding planning, something
may still go wrong. Look at everything in perspective. Just remember that the
wedding is only a small part of your marriage. Don't lose focus on what is the
most important: your marriage, not the wedding. It is the love and bond with
your future spouse that matters, so fully utilize wedding planning to enhance
that love and bond. Keep this in perspective whenever you feel any wedding
stress.
Just be yourself, and learn how to relax and enjoy the engagement and experience of wedding planning prior to the
wedding.
The mind controls everything: how you think, how your experience what happens to you, how you perceive your past and present experiences, how you anticipate your future expectations, how you make decisions and take actions that affect your future experiences. In short, your thoughts become the raw materials with which you weave the fabric of your life.
Unfortunately, we were never taught how to think. Albert Einstein rightly said: “Thinking is difficult; that’s why so few people do it.”
You are who you are and what you have now become because of how you think; that is, your thoughts have become you. Given that life is complex, and living is never simple, it is important that you know how to control your mind, and hence your thoughts to enable you to make the best and the most out of your life.
When you were young in the early phase of growth and development, you were exposed to the world around through your five senses; then your mind began to process what you perceived in your experiences, generalizing and interpreting it according toy our mental input, and applying it whenever and wherever you thought appropriate and applicable. Over the years, these perceptions and experiences have made you think this is who you are. You seldom challenge your thoughts.
If you have not been living a life of your dream, most probably it is because your mind has been pre-conditioned by your thoughts. Remember, where you are right now is only temporary -- conditioned by your mindset. If you can change your thoughts, you can change your life; it's just that simple!
We are all living in a belief-generated world, and our beliefs are generated by the media, the people around us, and, most notably, by ourselves in our subconscious minds. Our beliefs create our own reality in life. If we believe we can change for the better, we can. On the other hand, for instance, if we believe we are victimized by our fate, then our victim mentality will keep us in that state indefinitely until we change that negative mindset. To make any significant change in how we think, we must separate ourselves from our thoughts, and this requires mental awareness. To develop and enhance this mental awareness, we must, first of all, have the intent to change, that is, our total responsibility for what is happening to us or what we have become.
Now, you can see how powerful your mind is. Yes, there is always another way to live your life; nothing is set in stone. If you don't like the life you are living now, don't just sit there, whining and complaining about this and that. Do something about it! Your mind is the most powerful life tool. Make good use of it.
Contemporary life is like a pressure cooker into which are dumped obsessive thoughts and worries about career, money, children, relationships, health, and social responsibilities. As a result, contemporary living is hectic and stressful. The human mind often becomes a victim of undue tension and distress.
Stress is a complex problem involving the body's response to increased mental tension, which is a byproduct of contemporary living. Learn to live by Zen.
What is Zen, or the way of Zen?
Zen is a way of living, which is crucial to contemporary living. Zen is a philosophy of living to deal with stress. Make no mistake, Zen is not a religious belief. Despite having its origin fromBuddha, Zen is notthe foundation of Buddhism. Zen is only a philosophical approach to human happiness through intellectual cultivation.
The word “Zen” is Japanese, but it derives from the Chinese, meaning “meditation.” It is an Oriental mental practice for self-enlightenment. More specifically, Zen is atranscendental mental state that affects the overall physical and mental well-being of an individual.
Zen cultivates intuitive knowing,which isnaturally knowing the ultimate truth of living. According to the ancient philosopher Plato, life is a process of “forgetting” with episodes of experiences and happenings that can make you “forget” how to live. The way of Zen is to help you re-discover that innate wisdom of knowing the eternal truth of living. That re-discovery is “self-awakening,” which cannot be taught but can only be intuited through stillness of the mind attained in meditation. Through "self-enlightenment," you will be liberated from the shackles of memories of the past and worries of the future.
The way of Zen is simple: live in the present. Unfortunately, most of us don't live in the present: we live in the past, rummaging through memories of both pleasant and unpleasant experiences, and then projecting them into the future, striving to repeat the pleasant ones and to avoid the unpleasant ones. That is how many of us live in the past and the future, but not in the present. In the process of picking and choosing, we create not only stress for ourselves but also problems that did not exist in the first place. Zen living is living in the present, embracing whatever that may come along in life, without picking and choosing, and learning from both the pleasant and unpleasant experiences. Essentially, Zen living is learning how to relax by acquiring the wisdom of neither avoiding problems in life, nor seeking solutions to problems that might not even have existed in the first place.
Contemporary way of life is often an unhealthy lifestyle: it is much like living in a pressure cooker. The endless challenges, demands, and goals continue to churn out stress in every form.
Zen living focuses on the present moment—not the past, and surely not the future.
Zen living teaches us to relax through meditation that may give us the "self-enlightenment" to truly understand the essentials of life and living. The essence of Zen living may be summarized in the following Zen poem:
"The perfect Way is without difficulty.
Save that it avoids picking and choosing.
Only when you stop liking and disliking
Will all be clearly understood.
A split hair's difference
And heaven and earth are set apart.
If you want to get the plain truth,
Be not concerned with right and wrong.
The conflict between right and wrong
Is the sickness of the mind."
from an old Zen poem
Start Zen: Learn the healing art of Zen meditation. Free yourself from the thoughts and emotions that are holding you back in your life. Dramatically improve the quality of your life by enhancing the quality of your mind. Living By Zen: Learn to live a life of inner peace without stress from Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, the famous psychologist and best-selling author. .
Read my books: The Book of Life and Living -- a blueprint for living a stress-free life through an integration of the ancient wisdom of Tao, the contemporary wisdom, and Biblical wisdom; Your Golden Years and Santa Claus -- a book on the wisdom in living your best in your senior years. . Visit my website: Wisdom in Living.
With a physical body, we are all living in a physical world often
filled with toxic desires. Do not let the body become toxic too.
In the physical world, our bodies with their five senses (seeing,
smelling, tasting, hearing, and touching) are constantly exposed to sensual
sensations around us that may create desires in our bodies. In addition, we all
have both a conscious and subconscious mind that process and interpret our
physical sensations, leading to thoughts that may be positive or negative,
depending on our mental input. The mind plays a pivotal role in changing
negative thoughts into toxic desires in a toxic body.
Our conscious minds voluntarily control our mental input (that is,
what we want to remember and what we want to forget); but our subconscious
minds involuntarily absorb all physical sensations we are exposed
to. The subconscious mind is the master
mind behind all actions that the conscious mind takes; therefore, it is
important to have the wisdom to understand better how the subconscious mind
works in order to have better control of the conscious mind, lest the
subconscious mind create toxic desires in a toxic body.
To illustrate, according to CNN (1/24/2014), Bob McDonnell
“was once one of the Republican Party's rising stars. There was even talk of hisrunning for the White
House. But today, the former Virginia Governor and his wife are charged with
taking gifts from a local businessman in exchange for using the governor's
position to help his company.”
Four years ago, McDonnell was sworn in as governor. Demonstrating
his potential as a rising political star, he gave an outstanding GOP response
to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address; he had won back
the governor’s office from Democrats by double digits.
But now McDonnell and his wife are both facing criminal indictment
for taking expensive gifts, including luxurious Rolex watches, they were not
supposed to.
In politics, there are always political rock stars tumbling to
fallen stars at their own hands due to their toxic desires in their toxic
bodies. Some survived (like Bill Clinton), but most ended their careers
in disgrace.
How could a political rock star become a fallen star? Toxic
desires in a toxic body!
We all have desires, which come
from our five senses. For example, when we see something that pleases the eye,
such as an expensive Rolex gold watch, we become desirous of it. That
perception can be voluntarily rejected by the conscious mind, but it may
be imprinted involuntarily on the
subconscious mind, which, unfortunately, controls and directs the conscious
mind. So, if the conscious mind does not even voluntarily reject the
perception, it may become a toxic desire. Ideally, the mind should control the
body, but if the body controls the mind, that is, letting the toxic desire get
out of control, the mind will do just anything and everything—even to the
extent of breaking the law—to gratify that desire of the body. That’s how toxic
desires in a toxic body come into being.
Learn how to increase your mind
power to control your subconscious mind to your advantage.
Mind Secrets Exposed: Learn
the art of getting what you want out of life. If you find yourself facingconstant
frustration from never-ending problems in life, or you feel as though your life
is a proverbial treadmill, not going anywhere. Now is the time to take charge
of your life. It is all in your subconscious mind that is the real power center of
your being and the "headquarters" of your body. Use
state-of-the-art subliminal messages to transform your subconscious mind in
order to change your conscious mind.
I
have just published “Wellness Wisdom 2014 Newsletter.” The goal is to share
with you information and tips regarding wellness of the body, the mind, and the
soul, all play a pivotal role in our overall wellness and well-being.
In
this 2014, many of us have made our different resolutions to change ourselves
so that we may have a better year than the previous one. Wellness is indeed a
blessing from above, especially as you continue to age or you are already
advanced in years. Make your golden years “golden” and not tarnished
golden. To do just that you need wellness—holistic wellness of the body, the
mind, and the soul.
This
“Wellness Wisdom 2014 Newsletter” will be regularly updated with news, comments
on news, and tips regarding health and wellness of the body, the mind, and the
soul. In addition, if you subscribe to the newsletter, you will also be sent an
email (on the 1st and 15th of each month) with
information to boost your health.
Remember, health is often not valued until it
has deteriorated. To turn back the clock is a bit harder, but it could still be
done—provided it is not too late. So, take matters into your own hands, and do
what you can with what you have, and do your very best at that. Dr. Deepak
Chopra, M.D., bestselling author, and founder of the Chopra Center for
Wellbeing, once said: “If you don’t take care of your health today, you will be
forced to take care of your illness tomorrow.”
Stretches are important to health andwellness because they not only eliminate muscle pain but also promote muscle flexibility, which goes a long way to preventing falls, which are common among the elderly. Use stretches to "wake up" your senses and vitalize your body for wellness.
Dr. Robert Oexman, director of the Sleep to Live Institute, said that stretching
your back prevents slipped discs, which often occur within an hour after waking
up, because people get out of bed too soon and too quickly without giving the
rested body time to adjust.
Extend
your arms over your head and extend your legs as far as possible, as evidenced
by the stretch in the tips of your fingers and toes. Meanwhile, inhale deeply
through your nose. Then breathe out deeply and slowly while drawing your arms
down along the side your body with your palms facing up. You will feel full
relaxation in your legs. Repeat the stretches several times to energize as well
as to relax your body.
Do
a single / double knee hug. Start by bringing your knee into your chest. Massage
your hip joint by moving your leg in circles in both directions. Repeat with
the other knee. Finally, hug both knees into your chest, raising your nose to
your knees as much as possible. Now relax your body and let your knees fall gently
down to either side. Repeat the whole process several times for stretch and
relaxation.
Use Pilates to relieve back and joint pain after waking up..
By the time you are in your golden years, you may
have lost 20 to 40 percent of your muscles—and, along with it, their strength.
Scientists have discovered that a major reason you lose muscle is that you have
stopped doing everyday activities that use those inactive muscles, and not just
because you are growing older.
Yoga
is one of the best exercises in the golden years to normalize your muscle tone,
as well as to balance the activity of opposing muscle groups, and thus lowering
your risk of falling, as well as injuring muscles and ligaments. As minimal
effort is required, you feel relaxed rather than stressed—this is a plus in
your senior years. In addition, unlike other strenuous exercises, your
breathing remains natural and controlled throughout the exercise. In addition,
you enhance your internalized awareness through focusing on your breath and the
infinite. As a result, you attain peace and tranquility.
Yoga has a unique holistic approach to
wellness. Yoga exercise also requires the application of its basic principle of
nutrition, which is the consumption of small quantities of high-quality
life-giving foods, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts,
with meat in strict moderation.
Yoga
provides physical fitness to reduce the risks of becoming ill, disabled, or
dying prematurely. The mental fitness of yoga enables you to adapt
appropriately to negative changes brought on by diagnosis and treatment of
chronic disease. The spiritual fitness of yoga may facilitate you to bounce
back from the devastating effects brought on by sudden and unexpected changes,
such as bereavement of spouse or loved ones.
Brilliant Yogais a 200+page
e-book with videos on body-mind-spirit transformation! There is all-in-one
support you need in every chapter with comprehensive and easy-to-follow steps
to guide you on how to make yourself look, feel, and live your life to the
fullest. This is the perfect yoga program with everything you need to know
about healing yoga. It is for everyone-from the beginner to the advanced
learner-who believes that yoga is a science of health. Brilliant Yogacomes with additional bonus books on back pain, pilates,stretching, and weight loss.
Your Golden Years and Santa Clausis a 252-page book on the wisdom
in living in the golden years, which includes dealing with health, money, death
and bereavement issues, coping with the impediments of vision impairment,
vision loss, and breathing problems. Brilliant Yoga may prepare your body, mind, and
spirit to confront all the challenges ahead of you in your golden years.
