Your Body Speaks — Are You Listening?
Get to know your body and its messages.
This story was inspired by a Facebook post I made three years ago.
It’s allergies season in Texas. I used to suffer from them until I realized the truth and started acting accordingly. Now I can breathe freely, all the time. Well, almost all the time.
The allergic reaction — sneezing, watery eyes, and runny nose — is your body’s way of rejecting and expelling the enemy, the undesirable alien intrusion.
We see this Natural Defence Mechanism as a problem instead of the solution that it is and react to it by shutting it down. It causes not only the alien intrusion to accumulate within our bodies, but also weakens its ability to take care of itself. Doing so creates new problems that require us to ingest poison in the form of medicine. Anytime we put poison in our body, it makes it even weaker and more susceptible to other “dis-eases.”
You can go for a quick fix of the symptoms, or endure the “dis-ease” and allow the body to do what it is designed to do naturally to take care of the causes.
It took me many years to break the addiction to the antihistamines and the inhalers, but I have come to trust my body to do its job. My body has relearned to produce the “antihistamines” on its own. When I started paying attention to my body’s guidance about what to eat and how to act, instead of reacting to the changing seasons, I started getting better. I became naturally healthful.
Listening to my body taught me much.
When I recognized that after many years of drug therapy, my “problem” was getting worse instead of getting better, I decided to do something about it.
We are designed by Nature for optimum health, and our bodies do a fantastic job of keeping us healthy if we allow it to do its job. We have three essential aspects of our make-up; physical, mental, and spiritual. All three work in harmony with each other.
Our spiritual Nature functions as a guide and communicates via the intuition. We innately know when we need to make some adjustments, but we don’t always know what they are. The guide leads us to where we can find solutions.
I grew up in India/Pakistan and knew about Ayurveda, which translates to Life Science. Deepak Chopra, who is trained in the school of Western Medicine and is also well versed in Ayurveda, has done a marvelous job of showing us how the two can work to complement each other.
His books Quantum Healing, Perfect Health, and Ageless Body Timeless Mind, were instrumental in my paradigm shift. I went from being solely reliant on prescription medicine to a balanced lifestyle, with an occasional kick in the rear adjustment in the form of medicine when I fell out of balance.
Learn to harmonize with Nature.
My mom used to tell me that she ate a lot of onions when she was pregnant with me. Onion is an excellent antihistamine as well as a mild antibiotic. I have always enjoyed eating raw onions, both as a side dish and an ingredient in my salads.
“Let the food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” ~Hippocrates
When I say that we are designed for optimal health, I mean it literally. Success is inevitable. All we need to thrive in this world is always present and available, and we are introduced to it before we even come into this world.
I learned that garlic is a powerful antibiotic, as well as an immune booster. Combined with ginger, it works to regulate your blood flow and helps you keep your blood pressure in check.
The fundamental difference between Ayurveda and Western Medicine is that the former is preventive while the latter is reactive. They each have their purpose and place in your life.
How I made the change happen.
When I decided to cut my reliance on prescription medicine, I stayed focused on that intention as I introduced preventive measures to my diet and lifestyle. I started a walking routine, which improved my cardiovascular health. I also added garlic and ginger to my diet.
Two cloves of fresh garlic with every meal has been my year around regimen for several years now, and it has strengthened and boosted my immune system tremendously. A friend of mine introduced me to Juice Plus — fruits, vegetables, and berries — whole food in capsules. I get 15 servings of fruits and veggies daily.
It took me a few years, but I am no longer dependent on pills and inhalers. I keep my inhaler handy in case of an emergency, but I have gone from one inhaler per month to less than one per year.
My habit of walking kept me in excellent shape, and when I had the crazy idea to walk cross-country at the age of 62, I didn’t have to think twice. I walked over 2,500 miles along historic Route 66, from Chicago to Santa Monica in six months.
It’s mind over matter, always.
As I mentioned, it’s about creating harmony between body, mind, and spirit.
Whenever you choose to make lifestyle changes, you will need to act with discipline. It requires mental fortitude of unmeasurable proportions. Again, let your spirit guide you.
I found books and programs, along with coaches and mentors to help me tread this uncharted and challenging territory. I learned the art and science of the Emotional Freedom Technique, found trustworthy hypnotherapists, and reconnected to my spiritual roots in a new and profound manner.
My newfound spiritual vigor helped me stay mentally sharp and focused as I trained my body to adjust to the new regimen of a clean and healthy diet and exercise.
That, along with the attitude of gratitude for every sneeze and every episode of “bronchial asthma attack,” has enabled me to breathe more and more freely every year.
The bottom line.
Life is a series of decisions we make. Every decision leads to an action, or inaction, which brings forth an opportunity to make another decision.
You can choose to be proactive, or you can wait to be reactive.
When you’re proactive you’re preventing fires. When you’re reactive you’re putting out fires. The choice is yours.
I used to be reactive when it came to my health. I intentionally became proactive and life is much easier.
What will you do?
As always, thank you for reading. Here is more for your reading pleasure.
I am a self-proclaimed weirdo, Jack of Many Trades and Master of Some. I live the Freedom Lifestyle — life on my terms, and help those who are interested in doing the same. (Join the Tribe)
“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”
