Your Friendly Heart

As soon as you step out of mother’s womb, your lungs pick up a natural rhythm of breathing. From that moment on, the lungs keep on breathing and the heart keeps on pumping regularly throughout your lifetime without even a pause or short break.

The heart is simply an intelligent smart pump. One of the very important functions of the heart is to pump blood throughout the body; it is a closed loop circulatory system. Heart takes in certain quantity of blood per beat at a low pressure (systolic), compresses it, and then pumps it out at higher pressure (diastolic). The high-pressure blood stream circulates through major, minor, minute and micro size arteries irrigating the entire body. The blood stream irrigates body's cells with oxygen and multiple nutrients. This is as technical as we want to get on the subject in this essay. We want to develop a genuine friendship with our heart, our closest and constant companion that works for us silently with its own rhythm. A good friendship grows and matures with constant and meaningful communication. Good friends pay close attention to each other’s physical and emotional needs. Genuine friendship is mutual and unconditional.

In the spirit of genuine and caring friendship, our heart maintains a constant and intelligent communication with us. When it senses a small internal problem, it gives out an appropriate small signal. For a larger problem, it will put out a more pronounced signal. But rarely will it give a wrong signal. Some times we may misinterpret a signal relayed by our heart. The signals are put out in various modes such as belching (trapped gases), lack of breath, pain in arms or jaw, light-headedness, sweating and others. Each individual receives signals from heart, which are unique to his or her physiology. The question is, are you paying attention and listening to the signals put out by your friendly heart? We are not talking about listening to these signals with a doctor’s stethoscope. We are not doctors nor do we want to pretend to be. Recognize that our body has built-in smart sensors that can pick up signals from the heart and we don't need a stethoscope for that. We have to stay alert and tuned in to pick up our body's signals.

Self-awareness prompts paying close and constant attention to signals put out by the heart in particular and body in general. Through such vigilance, even small body signals can be picked up to avert or minimize future problems.

Arteries are hollow tubes through which blood flows. The inside walls of a child's arteries are smooth as silk. As a result, blood flows through them without much resistance ~ helping the heart to pump blood easily throughout the body. The arteries vary in diameter sizes from a few millimeters to micro millimeters. The inside walls of child’s arteries generally tend to be clear of any deposits. As we grow older, gradually the inside walls of the arteries tend to become relatively harder and rougher; enabling deposits of sticky materials of blood stream such as cholesterol and fats ~ resulting in reduction of inside diameter of arteries. This in turn raises blood pressure, forcing the heart to work harder and harder. You naturally get tired when you constantly work harder. Progressively if an artery or a bunch of arteries get excessively clogged with the sticky deposits and stop blood flow to the heart, the hearts pumping action stops resulting in a “heart-attack “ or alternately a “stroke” if the arteries in brain get clogged. This is obviously an over simplified model, but helps to drive home some points.

A calamity such as a heart attack or a stroke, when it does happen but does not kill you, can be a blessing in disguise. It is much more than simply a wake-up call. You become aware that a heart attack inflicts damage to the heart and body in direct proportion to the degree of neglect. It is not a revenge by the heart on its caretaker ~ You. Under the conditions, it is the best way that he your heart chose to handle the emergency. It transmitted a strong pain signal or knocked you out to slow you down

In the case of a heart attack, the heart was simply doing its job sincerely in trying to get your attention and medical assistance. As the supply of blood to the heart became throttled, the heart instantaneously transmitted sharp signals to you. You felt the signal as an intense discomfort in your chest, left arm or jaw. You or your doctor identified the discomfort and pain as a heart attack. If you were lucky, a paramedic or an ambulance or preferably both arrived just in time.

Sometimes a heart attack is fatal; sometimes it leaves the person disabled in different ways with complications. If you are still alive without complications after a heart attack, consider yourself lucky and thank the medical community for their expertise and timely assistance.

During the heart attack, your most sincere friend ~ your heart had done its job most efficiently. You were forced to pay attention to its signals when it was necessary and critical. Thank your heart for communicating the effective signals to you in a very timely manner.

The heart attack ~ you think that heart attack is a calamity that sneeked up on you all of a sudden with little early warning. You tend to blame your own heart or your doctor for not communicating with you. Recognize that your heart is your best friend. This friendship started from the moment you first started breathing and will continue until your last breath. You can always count on this bond of friendship.

The reality is that in your youthful years, you have either neglected or disregarded pertinent signals transmitted by your heart. Initially the signals were minor because the degree and nature of your neglect was minor. As you indulged more and more without paying attention to proper eating and exercising, the heart had started putting out more pronounced signals for you. If you still continued to disregard those signals and abuse yourself, a point had come at which blood flow to the heart stopped due to almost total blockage(s) in the artery. Your heart instantaneously identified it as a critical emergency and gave you that intense signal which you could no longer disregard. Medical assistance was summoned immediately. Your heart had done its job to help you and help itself.

A heart attack is the net result of several imbalances in the body, which have been allowed to persist for a prolonged period of time. The imbalances could be physical, chemical, emotional and in all probability a combination of all of these three factors. A combination of these imbalances causes the symptoms of heart disease (hypertension). Therefore an effective recovery from heart disease has to address all of the imbalances. Each individual’s internal imbalances are unique to the individual. Performing angio plasty or an open-heart surgery provides only a partial answer and temporary relief. A fuller or meaningful recovery and true healing comes from within.

Help your ever-willing heart to help you and enjoy the pleasures of a true life long friendship.

Towards Improved Health

Towards improved health for the rest of our life is a commitment we make to our self. It is much more than a wish list or a typical New Year’s resolution. It is about embracing life in its totality and reality.

We often seem to have a need to know something about something, including even irrelevant things that don’t seem to affect us directly or indirectly. Knowing something does not necessarily mean that we understand the spirit behind the content. The interface between knowing and understanding is application. Applying information and knowledge to practical situations in life helps to internalize and understand its essence. Good health is a topic that fits this category and context. Information for improving and maintaining good health is available in abundance via books, audiotapes, CD’s, DVD’s, and TV shows. However to understand the essence of all that information, we have to begin implementing it on a daily basis with enthusiasm and commitment. Out of it gradually emerges the real purpose behind it. Improved health is the most precious gift we can give to our self and enjoy it thoroughly for the rest of our life.

“Every illness has got a root cause in the mind. When the mind is calm and relaxed, all illnesses can be controlled. By combining mantras (mental affirmations) and breathing techniques, the mind cleansing procedure becomes simple and easy”. This is the beginning message on a cassette titled “Soham – Mind Cleansing” by Dr. V. Sukumaran of the International Institute of Reiki based in Chennai, India. It is an instructional tape on Soham – mind-cleansing technique. You take in a deep breath when Dr. Sukumaran’s voice on tape prompts “So“ and then you breathe out when the voice prompts “Humm“. Dr. Sukumaran guides you through four speeds in which to repeat the breathing pattern of “So” and “Humm”. You simply follow the rhythm of the voice which guides you through four speeds including slow, medium, fast and rapid. The tape runs for 20 minutes. Early morning hours are conducive for this meditative exercise and provide a good way to jump-start the morning. Reminding the mind early in the morning that “Every illness has a root cause in the mind” sets a pattern of healthy consciousness. Medicines do not ensure long term good health. Mental and physical exercises do.

The human mind is capable of consciously producing positive thoughts as well as negative thoughts. Thoughts may be comprehended as bursts of energy. Whether these bursts of energy should be positive or negative is a choice we as individuals consciously make every moment throughout the day and everyday. Positivism energizes our life energy, where as negativity saps it

Through the evolutionary process, Mother Nature has given the human species a brain with the capability for thinking and applying logic; but without any guarantee that it would be used or utilized in a specific manner. We have to make a conscious choice and effort to use our brain for positive thoughts. Brain is the seat of our so-called mind.

Positive thoughts in the mind create positive energy. Positive energy is the driving force that advances our consciousness towards a healthy, harmonious, happy, productive, meaningful and satisfied life. Satisfaction is the ultimate intangible reward and asset.

Positivism is not an intellectual pursuit. Its driving seat is the heart. Trying to understand a fact of life from an intellectual point of view provides one view. Understanding the same fact of life from your heart provides another view, a different dimension.

Human mind and heart generate separate energies. Mind is the epicenter of human consciousness. Heart is the epicenter of nature's rhythm. Harmonize mind and heart to minimize emotional toxins and maximize life energy ~ to ensure good health.

A positive frame of mind provides a platform for human consciousness to soar to newer dimensions that support our life energy. These are dimensions of personal experience that cannot be captured by words of any language. Human life blossoms in rational positivism and optimism. Wisdom of Man through ages guides us in this direction.

Success and failure are judgments of the mind. For one individual a failure is a stepping-stone to success. For another individual, the same kind of failure is a cause for mental depression. In the same context ~ joy and sadness, good and evil, prosperity and adversity are simply the perceptions of the mind. Our mind can create and the same mind can distract as well.

For one individual, the perception of life success is based on accumulating wealth and fame. Another individual defines or perceives life success as having a loving family and friends, enough daily bread and a simple house for shelter; even though that is all that is affordable. This is the individual that makes the simple house a “Home”, a place to want to return to ~ always. This home generally houses a happy and healthy family.

One of our nephews, Ajit Harisinghani, said mischievously one day that he would rather die being rich and miserable, rather than being poor and miserable! The words such as rich, poor, and miserable are levels of our consciousness. Each one of us has to make conscious choices and take full responsibility for how we judge ourselves. Our over-all health depends on it.

Good health is a composite fabric woven out of life’s innate sources and the worldly resources. Life’s innate sources give us what we are born with; and the worldly resources are those that we take from life to become what we want to be. Good and normal health at birth is an innate natural source in the form of inheritance. Be thankful for it. Poor to bad health at birth is not a curse or your fate. Adversity is a noble teacher in disguise. Respect it and learn from it. Good health during lifetime is an attitude to build and maintain throughout life.

Toxins adversely affect our body and mind. Toxins in the basic form of solid, liquid, gas, microorganisms, and combinations thereof are present in food, water and air. Toxins are also negative thoughts, actions, and utterances which generate corresponding negative consequences within and without.

Good health is an important ingredient of a healthy and positive mind. Positivism helps redefine basic concepts of real happiness in life. Positive daily affirmations give each one of us an opportunity to be reborn daily.

Having passion for something in life promotes good health; it must be your own passion stemming straight out of your heart. American comedian George Burns, who always appeared on stage smoking a cigar, was being honored on his 95th birthday by ABC network channel. He was asked about the secret of his longevity. In response George offered a simple comment, “Fall in love with your work”. In the same interview George was asked ~ how many cigars do you smoke every day? 10 to 12 was the response. What do your doctors say about it? They are all dead replied comedian George Burns.

An attitude towards a healthy life:

Live not for living’s sake.
Life is a sweet and delicious cake.
Appreciate the design and the icing.
Relish the tasty wholesomeness of the cake,
Instead of looking beneath for the burnt lining.

The “I” Consciousness

Taking care of personal health requires a constant awareness of balance and control; however doing it effortlessly is something we have to learn from Nature. Human body is an automatic machine with its own built-in intelligence, rhythm, and balance. In the silence of our inner consciousness, we begin to sense how little do we really manage the basic functions of our body and how we tend to abuse our body more often than take care of it.

Let us say that biography of the human body starts out with a fertilized egg, the size of a tiny fluid drop. This tiny fertilized egg, hosted by mother’s womb, has all the necessary “Intelligence” that is built-in to create an entire human anatomy in an orderly fashion. It is this built-in Intelligence that is our body’s constant and silent companion throughout our lifetime. Recognize and honor this Intelligence.

The personal body that an individual identifies as “I” is given a name and that is the extent of its individual ownership. Human body has its own primary built-in sensors namely the eyes, nose, ears, tongue, and skin. These sensors could alternately be called receptors because of their respective information gathering functions. By utilizing these sensors, the “I” feeds the body, cleans it, builds a shelter for itself, produces off-springs, and carries out all external functions in the role of body’s prime care taker. However, because of ignorance “I” feels that it is the sole care taker of the body.

The human body takes care of itself internally with its own built-in Intelligence. Besides the primary sensors listed above, human body has multiple command centers such as the brain, heart, lungs, digestive tract system, nervous system, immune system, and several others. And then there are tiny innumerable individual cells, each one of which has a command center and built-in intelligence of its own. Realize that inside of the human body is a universe, which is managed effortlessly by its own built-in Intelligence. The so-called “I” tries to understand the built-in Intelligence through scientific observations. The “I” is merely an observer of all that is happening.

Diving deeper in our consciousness we realize that human body breathes on its own with its natural rhythm of inhaling and exhaling. The lungs process inhaled air and selectively introduce Oxygen into the blood stream. The digestive tract metabolizes ingested food and introduces essential nutrients, vitamins and micronutrients in blood stream. The human heart beats automatically to a natural rhythm, pumping blood to circulate throughout the body. The blood stream irrigates entire body and its cells with Oxygen and essential nutrients. Its immune system provides defenses against infections and diseases. The nervous system is the body’s balancing mechanism. All waste materials including solids, liquids, and gases are rejected or excreted out of the body at appropriate intervals. The human body does not seek nor require any prior permission of “I” to carry out any of these numerous life sustaining functions. All that the human body requires from “I” is a healthy cooperative joint venture. For that reason, the human body has been awarded a brain. Brain is the seat of our so-called mind.

The mischievous human mind is simultaneously capable of playing two opposing roles. One role is to harmoniously co-exist with the body and the other one is to create disharmony and mischief.

Recognize a fundamental aspect that every disease has a root cause in the mind. Therefore we have to train our mind to support the constant balancing operations of the human body. A balanced mind nurtures a balanced body and the reverse is also true. This is why the mutual cooperation or union of mind and body plays a very crucial role. The system of Yoga has evolved to promote a harmonious union or integration of body and mind.

Each one of us is born with one or more handicaps. Some handicaps are easily recognizable and others are not because of their subtle nature. But the largest handicap that a person can have is attitude.

In normal daily life, there is no need to wrestle with the jargon of sophisticated medical terms. Let the qualified medical professionals and scientists use those terms and do their jobs to help us. But first, each one of us must help ourselves through increased awareness and a clear understanding of the mind and body’s constant interdependence. I choose to call it the “I” consciousness.

First, we have to empower ourselves by taking full responsibility for improved awareness. A simple example of improved awareness is in addressing the daily bowel movements. A constipated stomach has its root cause in the constipated mind. A constipated mind holds back thoughts, emotions, and consequently holds back the stools. Free the mind by expressing and sharing thoughts more openly, and the stools will follow suit. Healthy mind will promote secretion of lubricating fluids in the digestive tract that will help easy forward movement of stools. You don’t need to know names of these lubricating fluids simply because the built-in Intelligence of the body takes care of it on its own. Let the “I” be a relaxed observer.

The High Wire Balancing Act

Most of us have been to a circus in childhood. Some of us have been to a circus half a dozen times prior to reaching the age of 20. I am one of them. I have always loved going to a circus. Today at my age of 72 years, I will still enjoy going to a circus because the little boy in me just loves a circus. The smell of circus grounds and the special music played by the circus band for each performance always set a mood of excitement for me. The masked clowns (we called them jokers) with their wise cracks also set the tone for fun and excitement. The elephants, tigers, horses and sometimes bears, monkeys, dogs displayed skills beyond expectations. Various acrobatic skills displayed by men, women and relatively young kids held me in awe of their accomplishments. For the duration of the show, the huge circus tent seemed to be a universe of its own. The tent seemed huge from my perspective when I was a 10-year old. In my childhood, the huge circus tent was always pitched in an open ground, and the arrival of the circus in town was always very well advertised in advance, stirring up excitement.

The ease with which various acrobatic acts were performed by men, women, and the clowns made it all look so simple and easy. When I returned home from crcus and tried to perform the same tricky acts, my crashing to the ground within a few seconds was assured.

In the circus, the high wire act always attracted my special attention. With wide-open eyes in high admiration, I would watch the tight wire rope that spanned from the top of one high post to the other high post. Against each post, there was a tall ladder for climbing up. After eyeing this pre-set assembly, my eyes wanted to make sure that a safety net was in place and that it was wide enough to catch a performer just in case! Then I would wait anxiously to see the high wire act to begin. No matter how many times I had watched the same act before, the excitement at its beginning was always the same.

Each high wire performer looked trim, confident, and wore a pleasant demeanor. At the beginning of the performance, they filed one by one on the ground and bowed gracefully to the audience. Each one of them wore well-designed fancy clothes. Some clothes had sparkles on them, which reflected the floodlights focused on them giving each one of them an aura of a great star performer.

At the beginning of the high wire walking act, usually one or two performers climbed up the ladder and stood on the small stepping platform which was located at the level of the high strung rope. Then the first performer would put his toe on the tight rope to check its tension. It was a quick and careful check. It seemed as if the performer’s toe was connected to an efficient calibrating machine in his mind, which checked the tension of the rope. Then the act was about to begin and suddenly the whole audience dropped its conversation level to almost zero decibel level; and so did the circus band. The performer usually had a balancing pole in hands, which was held horizontally in front at stomach level. Just as the performer set first toe on the wire rope, a gentle music played by circus band set the tone for the balancing act to begin.

As soon as the acrobat’s second toe touched the wire rope, you could tell that the real balancing act had begun. The acrobat looked totally focused on carefully placing each step in front of the other with a measured gentle movement. For the acrobat’s safety, I would pray that no body make an unnecessary sound to distract the acrobat’s concentration. It seemed that I would even slow down my movements and hear the changed rhythm of my pounding heart. Then suddenly, I would hear the circus clown crack a joke reminding the high wire walker that there is a safety-net underneath, just in case! The disciplined high wire ropewalker seemed unperturbed and gracefully continued executing the constant balancing act.

From the very first step to get on the rope and the last step to get off it at the other end, the high wire ropewalker seemed totally focused on every little movement at every moment. Even a slight mental distraction is enough to loose balance and take a fall.

Our individual health and life is just like walking on the tight rope in circus. The first step represents our entry into the world at birth. The last step on that wire represents our exit from the world. During our entire lifetime, we have to discipline ourselves for constantly maintaining a harmonious balance within and without. When we lose our mind and body balance, even slightly, we have to make every effort to restore the balance as quickly as possible.

While our body is constantly carrying out several balancing functions inside, it prompts us to cooperate. The prompts come with appropriate signals. Our body constantly prompts us to eat proper food, exercise regularly, rest adequately, and use the brain (common sense). In absence of it, our body looses its normal and constant balancing acts and disease sets in.

The root cause of every disease is in the mind. Disease is manifestation of imbalances allowed to occur over a protracted period of time. Due to the imbalance, the weakest link in our body snaps and disease sets in.

Imbalance is loss of concentration and focus, which triggers a fall. Nobody knows it better than the acrobat in a walking on high wire in the circus does. For each one of us, life is a high wire walking act with an opportunity to perform.

One Day for Fast Rejuvenation

Dedicate one day for fast rejuvenation of yourself in your own home. It is an opportunity to cleanse and enlighten yourself. Do not advertise or broadcast your chosen day for rejuvenation to the world. But do broadcast it to your inner self to make it an inner soothing experience. This is a commitment you make to yourself. Do not cheat on yourself!

Prepare yourself for the chosen day starting from its preceding day. Eat an early and light dinner. Go to bed a bit earlier than your normal time to insure a good night sleep. You are going to spend the entire tomorrow, selectively and preferably with your own self.

On the chosen day:

1. Get up a bit early, preferably before sunrise. Drink
   a glass of water if you have a desire to drink a fluid. Do not drink tea or coffee. If Nature is calling, do heed the call.


2. Take a good leisurely bath. Then wear comfortable clothes for the day.


3. Put your mind in a neutral gear for the entire day. Today you are not going to put your mind and body to work like you are used to doing every day.


4. Permit yourself to give rest, as much as possible, to
   all of your senses including eyes, nose, ears, and tongue.


5. In your mind, avoid generating emotional toxins including anger, fear, hatred, violence and jealousy.


6. Steps one and two should be addressed in a reasonable time of 30 – 60 minutes. Steps three through five are affirmations for your internal reminder. Now you begin the water-purge operation that is going to empty your stomach completely. The term water-purge simply implies that you are going to purge your stomach completely with water. Naturally, it also means that you will be shitting a lot during the next two hours. The simple procedure and steps for conducting water-purge are described in following item.


7. Pour lukewarm water (30-35 degrees C) in a glass
   (approx. 12-16 oz). Add one teaspoon of table salt to the warm water and stir to dissolve the salt. The salt is added to slow down and then stop urination during the water-purge operation.
   


8. Stand up on your feet and start slowly sipping the
   lukewarm salty water. From this point on, keep standing on your feet continuously until the end of this water-purge operation, which may take approximately one to two hours. Walk around the house at leisurely pace, and keep on sipping the lukewarm salty water. Do not engage in active conversation with anybody. Off and on, while you are walking, touch your stomach with open palm and gently massage it in circular motion. The stomach enjoys receiving that attention from you. Continue sipping the salty water from glass until it is finished.
   


9. Refill the glass with the lukewarm salty water and
   continue steps outlined in item 8. Depending upon your constitution, you may have to drink 6 to 12 glasses of the lukewarm salty water. You will notice that the salty water prevents the urge to urinate; and the water gradually builds up pressure inside the stomach and the entire digestive tract. This is exactly what you are trying to accomplish.


10. Keep on walking slowly and continue sipping additional salty water until you get a strong urge for bowel movement. Let the goods come out freely until the delivery stops. The job is not complete as yet. Make sure that a potty is readily available for your personal use during the entire period of water-purge operation.


11. Resume walking and continue sipping lukewarm salty water until the second call for you to rush to the potty. Deliver the goods again. This time, you will notice lesser solids and more fluids deposited in the potty. You are making progress.


12. Continue sipping lukewarm salty water and walking until you have reached a stage where stomach is discharging only fluids and very few brown particles (of you know what!). Soon, most of the discharge from the stomach is almost like clear water that you are drinking. You will no longer feel any fluid pressure in stomach or an urge to revisit the potty. This signals the end point of your successful water-purge operation. The entire water-purge operation may take approximately two hours. If the time required is less or more, do not become paranoid about it.
    
    You have now cleansed your stomach of all food particles and accumulated toxins. The whole abdomen area starts feeling lighter and healthier. Congratulations!


13. After efficiently purging the stomach, it is time for you to take some rest. Take a comfortable pillow and lay down on a carpet or a mat, but not on a soft mattress. Take a comfortable sheet or blanket to cover yourself. Close your eyes and relax your body as well as mind. Lay quietly for one hour and even allow yourself to fall asleep. Somebody in house should prepare for you a 1:1 mixture of rice and moong beans (without its skin) which is cooked to a soft consistency. The cooked mixture is called in Hindi language as Khichadi. When you wake up or get up after the one-hour of relaxing break, you should eat the Khidachi. Sprinkle some salt, black pepper, and butter or ghee to your taste. It tastes delicious at that moment because you are feeling hungry! Try not to flood your stomach with the Khichadi. You may drink little water if you feel like it, but do not take any other beverage. This is your lunch. By this time it is little past noon.


14. After the lunch, you may relax or take another nap, but preferably not go back to any rigorous mental or physical activity. Remind yourself continuously that this is a day of rest committed to your inner peace and rejuvenation.


15. Spend the rest of the day with your close family, listen to soothing music or read books that you enjoy reading. Do not snack between lunch and dinner.


16. The dinner should be light with simple food. You
    may finish the Khichadi that was prepared for you in the morning and complement it with a thin consistency vegetable soup of your choice.


17. Before hitting the bed at night, count the blessings
    that you are enjoying in life. Be thankful for it all. You will awake a rejuvenated person the next morning. Physically and emotionally, you will feel enlightened.
    
    Purging the stomach with lukewarm salty water as described above is an Aurveda technique practiced in India through centuries. It is routinely taught in Yoga classes.
    
    If the above experience becomes truly enlightening, you may want to repeat the water-purge at intervals of 4-6 month or as desired. But more importantly, on a daily basis, you will consciously try to avoid polluting your body with toxic foods and thoughts. With this awareness, you will rejuvenate yourself every day to enjoy a happy, healthy, and peaceful life.
    

Holistic and Practical Approach to Good Health

Most people dream of acquiring and amassing wealth. Towards that elusive objective, they expend tremendous amount of life energy and time. However, not many of them spend even a fraction of that time and attention towards building and maintaining good health. In the absence of good health, wealth looses its charm and usefulness.

King Saud of Saudi Arabia was one of the richest men in the world but he had developed stomach ulcers. As a result, his diet was restricted to intake of only curd,
buttermilk and a few soft foods. He clearly appreciated the full meaning behind the simple phrase that “Health is Wealth”.

Normally, the management of good personal health focuses on proper eating and exercising. This amounts to touching the issue only on the periphery. Several other equally important factors must also be addressed in parallel to ensure a meaningful and practical approach to good health. In other words, a holistic approach to perception and management of good health is required to ensure benefits throughout your lifetime. The following thoughts are presented in a step by step progression.

• The human body is a super machine that performs millions of life sustaining functions throughout its lifetime.


• The human body constantly maintains, repairs, and rejuvenates itself.


• Recognize that your body has an upper tolerance limit for physical and emotional abuse beyond which its basic functions suffer. That is when malfunctions in the body set in.


• Any malfunction allowed to persist within your body over a protracted period of time causes disease. The malfunctions adversely affect your body’s defense systems including the nervous system, metabolism, and immune system.


• Malfunction is an imbalance within the human body. The imbalance can be physical, chemical, emotional or a combination of these factors. Once a malfunction occurs in the body, it is capable of triggering other related malfunctions.
  
  Your body constantly and automatically maintains several chemical and physical balances that include sugar balance, water balance, chemical balance, nutrient balance, temperature balance, hormonal balance, “gas-acidity-cough” balance, and several others. The human body carries out all of these innumerable balancing functions simultaneously on its own with its built-in intelligence. Realize that this is not the intelligence of your brain.
  
  Acknowledge, appreciate, and give credit to your body for doing all this for you constantly. Cultivate balance and harmony within to help the body do its job.


• A disease did not just happen to you on that day when your doctor announces that “You have the disease ". Recognize that your disease is the result of cumulative malfunctions within your body over a protracted period of time. A simple example is irregular bowel movement that can trigger related malfunctions if allowed to continue unchecked.


• Care and cure of disease lies in harmonizing the physical, chemical, and emotional imbalances.


• Disease, simply stated, is manifestation of the malfunctions within your body preventing or hindering metabolism of food.
  
  Metabolism is the sum of processes within your body by which a particular substance is processed and assimilated in the body. Metabolism is the super intelligence provided by Mother Nature within your body.


• Recognize that in the first place, a major malfunction occurs because various other malfunctions or imbalances have been allowed to prevail and remained unnoticed or unchecked over a protracted period of time. Therefore, it is imperative that you constantly stay tuned to the numerous signals that your intelligent body provides for existing problems.
  
  The preliminary body signals may manifest in the form of fatigue, depression, frequent infections, sleeplessness, excessive urination or thirst, dual vision, itching, slower healing of wounds, belching gases, migraine headaches and other related symptoms.


• Recognize that each and every substance you eat or drink is metabolized and as a result contribute suitable nutrients to your body through the blood stream. Components of the food that are not useful for the body are excreted automatically out of the body.


• There are different forms of sugars namely Glucose, Sucrose, Fructose, Sucrose and others although all of them taste sweet. Table sugar derived from sugar cane contains mostly a form of sugar called Sucrose. Carbohydrates (contained in rice, wheat, corn, rye, oats, millets and other grains) once ingested by your body are metabolized into a form of sugar called Glucose. Fruits, honey, nuts and vegetables also contain sugar in various forms and quantities. Disciplined world-class athletes who develop remarkable stamina completely avoid table sugar in their diets simply because table sugar has no nutrients or food value. Table sugar offers only impoverished calories.
  
  As sugar appears in the blood stream, the pancreas secrets a hormone called insulin in the appropriate amount. Through a marvelous mechanism, insulin helps convert sugar into energy. Sugar is thus metabolized and then converted into energy.
  
  A reasonable amount of sugar is absolutely necessary for the body. Shortage of sugar causes confusion in brain. All of the sugar required by the body is easily available through adequate intake of natural fruits, nuts and other nutritious foods. As a simple model, be aware that every food that is ingested gets converted into sugar and then energy. Excess sugar and unutilized energy (calories derived from it) will be deposited as fat in the body. This fat is a bad form of fuel for the body.


• Besides sugar, the body also requires several other nutrients, which must be supplied to the body through consumption of appropriate natural foods. After extracting necessary nutrients and metabolizing them from the ingested food, the nutrients are carried by the blood stream to irrigate all parts of the body. Your blood stream carries all life sustaining ingredients or nutrients such as Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Uric acid, Albumin, Globulin Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Iron, Protein and many others. The blood stream flowing through the arteries, veins, and very thin blood vessels is like a large river and its tributaries. Blood stream irrigates every cell in the entire body with necessary nutrients as well as important gases such as Oxygen, Nitrogen and others.


• Modern pathological laboratories conduct several tests on a blood sample. The following table shows the reference range for important tests performed on a blood sample.
  
  (Ref: Smith Kline Beecham Clinical Labs):
  
  **** CHART GOES HERE ****


• Recognize that the human body has different built-in intelligence systems in its framework to identify and utilize every component of food that is ingested. For example, if spinach is coming down the throat turnpike into the stomach, the human body is fully capable of processing it and identifying its composition. It recognizes that iron is present in spinach, although most of it cannot be abosrbed by the body. The body also knows that calcium which is present in spinach has a synergistic effect in improving the absorption of iron. Thus the human body’s built-in intelligence metabolizes spinach and extacts iron from it. Man just discovered this secret in 19th Century!
  
  Besides iron, spinach also contains magnesium, copper, manganese, vitamin E, cobalt, chlorine, silica, sodium, vitamin A, vitamin B-6, biotin and oxalic acid (www.templewiltoncommunityfam.com). The long list sounds like a multivitamin tablet. That is why Popeye the sailor man loves spinach!


• Another example is in consumption of meat as a food. Meat is one of the most well balanced sources of protein, essential acids, iron, vitamin B 12 and fibers. Its ingredients, through compliments of Mother Nature, are also present in synergistic combinations.


• The presence of multiple ingredients in each food in synergistic combinations simply means that their presence is complimentary to the overall magic of the metabolism of food in the human body. Edible natural food products are metabolized by the human body in a joint venture with Mother Nature. These are simple examples through which we see how human body performs as an efficient machine with its built-in intelligence. Become aware of it and recognize its contributions to your well being. Also recognize that all of the above-described metabolizing functions are being carried out constantly within your body without your approval or supervision. And, the body is simultaneously carrying out innumerable other chemical reactions and processes for sustaining the body. It is mind boggling to say the least, but not confusing.


• Intentionally or unintentionally, Man often does not cooperate with the efficient working of his own body. Man introduces unnecessary stresses in the system. Excessive indulgence, negative attitude, lack of adequate exercise are typical examples that disrupt the body’s efficient machine. That is when disease in one form or another sets in.


• Diabetes is a disease that afflicts many people. When diabetes strikes, your pancreas looses or partially looses its capability (intelligence) to convert sugar present in blood stream into energy. When the doctor announces that “You have diabetes” your attention focuses on the pancreas, probably for the first time! When the pancreas was doing its job efficiently, normally and constantly, you probably never recognized the help you received. When the pancreas slowed down in performing its natural function, your body had provided preliminary signals such as excessive thirst, more frequent urination, itching of skin, fatigue, dual vision, dizziness and others. In most cases you simply ignored the symptoms or did not take notice because you were distracted by different priorities of life.
  
  Recognize that diabetes does not strike suddenly. In some cases its seeds are sown in your DNA, which simply means that you are prone to developing diabetes if you do not take good care of your health.


• Cancer is as yet a disease of undefined proportions and origin. Look at it as a disease that is a manifestation of several malfunctions within the body that disarms the body’s self-management systems including the immune system. A healthy body’s immune system has enough fighting power to resist and subdue the invading cancerous cells and annihilate them in their track. Only when several malfunctions gang up and weaken the body’s internal built-in defenses do the cancerous cells get an opportunity to attack the body.


• Heart disease, which is also identified as hypertension, is progression of multi-dimensional imbalances within the emotional and physical faculties of human body. Recognize that the root cause of each disease is in the mind. Each fit of anger should be considered a mini heart attack. When you hurl an abuse at another individual, initially it hurts you internally at a sublime level. Your external action in anger has an internal reaction and consequence. If you have had a heart attack, realize that you have earned it.
  
  A heart attack is much more than just a wake up call.
  Consider it as a blessing in disguise. It may teach you to own full responsibility for yourself.
  
  Some times the very first heart attack is fatal and
  it leaves the person disabled in different
  ways with different complications. Realize that a heart attack inflicts a damage, which is directly in proportion to the neglect of the body.
  
  A heart attack is not a revenge by the heart against
  you. It is a way that heart chose best to handle an
  emergency in the best way it knew how to. The heart
  was simply doing its job sincerely and trying to get
  your attention and medical help. As soon as the supply
  of blood to the heart was throttled, the heart instantaneously transmitted a sharp signal to you. You felt that signal as an intense discomfort in your chest
  or arm or jaw. You or your doctor identified the
  discomfort and pain as angina. If you were lucky, a
  paramedic or an ambulance arrived just in time. Your
  most sincere friend, your heart, had done its job most
  efficiently. You paid attention to the body’s signal when it was absolutely necessary and critical. Thank your heart for communicating the effective signal in a very timely manner.
  
  Recognize that your heart is your best friend, always
  has been from the moment you first started breathing.
  The bond of friendship between you and your heart will be permanent until your last breath. Maintain a constant friendly dialogue and relationship with your heart. No body is closer to you than your own heart.
  
  The heart is simply a muscle from a medical
  standpoint. But your heart that beats to the universal
  rhythm without your permission is also the epicenter
  of life consciousness. Brain is the seat of your mind. Mind and heart have a very special mutual and life long relationship. Enjoy it to your heart’s content.


•  When a disease strikes, your first reaction to the doctor’s verdict is usually denial and or panic. For some people, the denial stage can last for months, even years. In many cases, procrastination and ignorance complicate the matter further. The result is that during the denial and procrastination period you give permission to the disease to further invade and harm your body within. Do not procrastinate. Get the bull by the horn. Simply said, try to understand and tame a disease starting immediately. Take full responsibility for yourself. Recognize that some diseases can be cured, some can be managed through lifetime, and some cannot be cured depending upon the time of intervention. In this context, one of the old and simple prayer offers very practical consolation. The prayer is “Lord, grant me the courage to change things that I can, and to accept the things that I can not change; and the wisdom to know the difference”.


• Now having recognized all of the above factors, we focus our attention on the further understanding of prevention and management of disease. Disease offers an opportunity or an excuse to understand yourself.


• Recognize that a pill, an injection, a bypass, or a transplant alone cannot offer an optimum cure for a disease. Be aware that taking excessive amounts of medications can cause detrimental side effects. Therefore consistently make every effort to minimize the intake of medications. Like alcoholics, some people get emotionally addicted to excessive medications.


• Recognize that your doctor can do just so much to help you deal with your disease. Depending upon his assessment, he can prescribe the appropriate medication, its dosage and recommend lifestyle changes for you. A professional doctor is neither a magician nor a miracle maker nor claims to be. You yourself will have to take complete responsibility for helping yourself to better health. Effective management and control of disease demands constant awareness, self-education and faith in self.


• Listed below are significant complementary actions for execution in parallel to ensure the optimum control and management of health. These recommended actions are mentioned in order of their importance:
  
  
  
  1. Minimize stress.
  
  
  2. Exercise daily.
  
  
  3. Eat proper food.
  
  
  4. Monitor Blood Sugar Level (BSL) and Blood Pressure (BP).
  
  
  5. Take appropriate medications.
  
  
  6. Be informed to help your doctor help you better.
  
  


• Minimize Stress.
  
  Recognize that stress does not come from outside. You generate stress within depending on the way you perceive and react to the events around you. Experiences of the past constantly affect your reaction pattern to events in the present. Negative perceptions cause stress. Positive perceptions create harmony within. Your present is a reflection of your past. If you want to know what your future will be, then carefully examine your present. If you do not like your present, then change it.
  Stress reduction is effectively accomplished through meditation and not through medications, drugs or alcohol.
  
  Meditation promotes positivism within. Recognize that
  meditation is not a religious ritual. Meditation is not
  the denial of anything. Meditation is not an intellectual
  pursuit or pursuit of scholarship. Meditation is not and
  should not be a rigid system. Rigidity is not discipline.
  Individual’s discipline should not come out of
  compulsion. Discipline with free choice promotes
  creativity, growth, and maturity. Different cultures
  around the world have put forth different techniques of
  meditations. Find a meditation technique most
  conducive to your inner self. Search and you will find
  a technique that best suits you.
  
  Meditation is simply an individual's latent desire to
  establish harmony within one self. Meditation is self-
  discipline for silencing of the mind to experience harmony and bliss within. Carefully read or listen to the words of wisdom offered by self
  enlightened individuals through human history. They all say the same thing, just in different words and languages. To experience harmony and bliss within, you must take full responsibility for yourself and take the first step to practicing meditation. In meditation you are alone, but not lonely. When you take the first step, only then will it lead to the second step, then to the third and you move on forward. Stepping in the right direction forward may take some trials and tribulations. but out of it will surface the right direction. Inner blissfulness will help you experience happy coincidences in life. Meditation suggests:
  
  At this moment, be here.
  Be here, in this moment.
  In this moment, behold your self.
  Behold the universe that lies within.
  In it lie the realities of existence.
  Universe is orderly, integrated and harmonious.
  
  
  
  
  1. Exercise Daily
     
     Regularity is the key. Just as you breathe regularly, you must also exercise regularly. Have an active and stimulating life style most suitable for your age and physical condition. Most recommended is the system of exercises which is commonly identified as Yoga.
     
     It is a broad system of postures and movements complemented with breathing techniques. The breathing technique is a system by itself and is identified in Sanskrit language as Pranayam which is a composite word:
     
     Pran + Yam = Pranayam
     
     The word Pran implies breath, and Yam implies speed or rhythm. Pranayam is a system of breathing exercises with variations in the rhythm and speed of breathing.
     
     The Yoga system of exercises complemented with Pranayam, represent centuries of fine tuned knowledge and wisdom. Performing Yoga and Pranayam requires no equipment, only your commitment and dedication.
     
     Yoga and Pranayam address body’s elasticity, balance, mind focus and control. An elastic and balanced body stays healthy, both physically and emotionally.Yoga and Pranayam promote self-awareness leading to the innate desire to understand one’s true universal identity.
     
     It is preferable thatYoga and Pranayam should be learnt under the guidance of an experienced Guru (teacher) who practices daily what he or she teaches. Reading books, watching TV or video instructions are not proper substitutes for a Guru. Earnestly seek out a good Yoga and Pranayam teacher and you will find one. Based on your personal physical abilities and limitations, your Yoga teacher will recommend appropriate levels of Yoga and Pranayam for you.
     
     Commonly heard is an excuse that I do not have adequate time for exercise. This statement is simply an admission that your priority for other life activities is higher! Realize that regular daily exercise will enhance your ability to function much more efficiently and effectively during the entire day. Yoga and Pranayam invigorate your life energy and reinforce your personal foundation on a daily basis.
     
  
  
  
  2. Eat Proper Food:
     
     Do not go on any fancy dieting plan. Eat wisely. Food can be selected and prepared to be appetizing as well as delicious. Take time to enjoy your food. Just make sure that you choose your food wisely every time you snack or eat a meal. The food you choose to eat must supply a broad range of vitamins and nutrients that your body requires on a daily basis. Stay away from nutritionally starved foods such as table sugar. Here are some broad guidelines for eating wisely with a common sense approach:
     
     * Gradually minimize intake of raw sugar (table sugar, and products made from it such as jams, jellies, cakes, pies, laddoos, and burfees) from your diet. The word “gradually” is used simply to minimize shock to your body and psyche as you begin to manage your eating habits. The broad variety of recommended foods that you can and should eat will provide more than adequate amounts of sugar, essential vitamins, nutrients, micro nutrients, fiber and bulk required to support your body functions.
     
     * Eat fresh foods offered by Mother Nature. Avoid canned or preserved foods.
     
     * Eat a wide variety of seasonal fresh fruits and
     vegetables. There is a reason why specific fruits and vegetables grow in specific seasons.
     
     * Eat a broad range of bright colored vegetables and fruits (red, green, purple, yellow, etc).
     
     * Eat a wide variety of whole grain cereals and
     sprouted grains
     
     * Eat a wide variety of nuts in small portions.
     
     * Eat lean meats including fish and poultry. Avoid red meats such as beef, pork, goat, lamb, deer, Bake or grill meats.
     
     * Eat 3 to 5 eggs per week. Consume egg whites and minimize consumption of yellow yolk.
     
     * Eat a broad variety of spices.
     
     * Drink plenty (1 to 1.5 Liters) of pure water every day. Minimize or eliminate intake of carbonated and sugar sweetened drinks.
     
     * Gradually minimize intake of table salt and fats in food you eat. Eat iodized salt.
     
     * Cook your food in pure vegetable oils, instead of hydrogenated oils such as margarine that are solid at room temperatures.
     
     * Choose cooking oils that have low saturated fats
     (Canola, Olive).
     
     * Minimize intake of whole milk or products made from it. Preferably consume low fat milk, curd (yogurt), and butter milk. Drink soymilk.
     
     * Minimize intake of dairy products such as cheese, butter, ghee.
     
     * Freely consume soybean products including tofu, soya milk, soya burgers etc.
     
     * Eat sprouted grains such as Mung, Matki, Chickpeas, lentils, and other sproutable beans and grains of your choice.
     
     Moderation is the key. Eat wisely.
     
     Different foods are digested in stomach at different
     rates and therefore the sugar produced from them
     comes into the blood stream at different times. For
     example, the sugar from candy will enter the blood
     stream almost immediately, where as in comparison the
     sugar from an apple or a carrot will get into the blood
     stream at a much slower rate. White bread made of refined flours will digest rather quickly as compared to bread made from whole grain. Sprouted raw Mung grain will digest more slowly than bread. Meat will digest more slowly than sprouted Mung. Eating the slower digesting foods helps Blood Sugar Levels rise slowly, which is very desirable.
     
     Eating a wide variety of foods is highly recommended.
     
     Be aware that besides the basic vitamins (such as vitamin A, B6, B12, C, and E etc.), each food brings certain unique combination of micro nutrients which are absolutely essential for the body in its life sustaining functions or processes. Many of these micro nutrients such as sodium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, selenium, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, chromium, molybdenum and others are present in various foods in extremely small quantities. We may not even be aware of them, yet these micronutrients in balanced quantities are vital to our life sustaining processes. Receiving these micronutrients through consumption of natural foods is much more preferable than taking them through vitamin pills and capsules. Nature provides all of the vitamins, minerals and micro nutrients in a chemical form and synergy that makes it easy for the human body to
     metabolize efficiently and utilize fully.
     
     Enjoy the food you eat at all times. Do not be too picky about food you eat and unnecessarily raise your stress levels. Recognize that high stress levels throw your nervous system and metabolism out of balance. Eat wisely and moderately.
     
  
  
  
  3. Monitor Blood Sugar Level (BSL):
     
     What I should eat and how much should I eat to maintain good health are two commonly asked questions. The answer to both questions lies in your BSL. A simple test that can be performed quickly at home will help you check your BSL. The simple test is performed with a palm-sized unit called a glucometer, which is now commonly available. The BSL reading indicates the amount of sugar present in the blood stream at the time of testing. It measures and reports BSL in mg/dL unit.
     
     The target range of fasting BSL (reading taken after 12
     to 14 hrs of fasting) normally taken in the morning is 80 to 120 mg/dl. This is the BSL range of a normal healthy body.
     
     By eating wisely and exercising adequately, if you can
     maintain your BSL close to this ideal range of 80 to
     120 mg/dl throughout the day, everyday, your body
     will soon reach an ideal weight for itself. And your
     body will maintain the right weight range automatically; guaranteed. Using this technique, I have been able to maintain my personal weight between 145 and 160 pounds for he past 10-15 years. Within this weight range, I have adequate energy level for my daily activities and feel over-all healthy; therefore I consider it as the right weight range for myself. Consequently, I have no need to ask my doctor what my body weight should be. It would be an over statement to say that during those 10 to 15 years my BSL has been controlled precisely within the desirable 80 to 120 mg./dl range. There must have been several unmeasured high spikes of BSL. However, the awareness of controlling BSL helps control indulgence and temptations for rich food. It is ok to indulge off and on without feeeling guilty about it, but not repeat it often. Follow the discipline and verdict of BSL for your overall wellness.
     
     As an exercise in self-education, measure and record your BSL several times during the course of a day. This information will help you clearly understand the relationship between what you have eaten and how it affects your BSL. Once you grasp the concept of BSL control for maintaining a healthy diet and body, you won’t have to play the futile game of tracking calories or following the standard height and weight charts.
     
     More importantly, be aware that body weight alone does not define your health. Generally speaking, healthy weight of a body is a balanced combination of muscle, fat and water; the weight of bones is presumed constant. Muscles can be developed and maintained only with regular exercise. There are no short cuts. Do not get tempted into using hormone therapy for developing muscles quickly.
     
     Use the following guideline when you are just starting
     to develop your own BSL profile:
     
     o Check first BSL in the morning (12 to 14 hours of fasting).
     o Check second BSL 90-120 minutes after breakfast.
     o Check third BSL just before lunch.
     o Check fourth BSL 90-120 minutes after lunch.
     o Check fifth BSL just before dinner.
     o Check sixth BSL 90-120 minutes after dinner.
     
     In the beginning you may have to do this type of BSL profiling, once a week or a frequency of your choice. Correlate this information with your corresponding food intake, exercise and stress level during the day. As you get more knowledgeable in interpreting your own BSL data, you may repeat BSL profile whenever you feel it necessary. Try to establish the correlation yourself and pretty soon you will understand how to better manage your own health and the health of your family.
     
     After consultation with your doctor, set your own standard for BSL control. Do not set BSL standards too tight and frustrate yourself. Frustration causes stress and adversely affects general health.
     
     Do not become paranoid about your BSL. Do not become careless either. Clearly understand its significance.
     
     Another test is available for checking the long-term
     BSL picture. This test is identified as Hemoglobin A1C
     (HbA1c). The HbA1c blood test measures the amount
     of sugar that attaches to the protein in your red blood
     cells. These cells live for approximately three months. So the HbA1c indicates your average BSL during that time period. At this time, this test cannot be performed conveniently at home. It has to be performed in the lab by trained technician; althogh some HbA1C measuring units for domestic use are gradually appearing in the market.
     
     The greater the amount of sugar in your blood, the
     higher your HbA1c results will be. The unit in which
     HbA1c is reported is different than the units of BSL
     reported by the glucometer. The HbA1c is reported as
     a %. If your HbA1c results are near target (6 % or
     less), you are managing your BSL quite well. If your
     results are higher than this, you are at risk for
     developing obesity and related complications.
     
     The HbA1c test may be done once in six months
     depending upon your BSL control issues. Table below may be used as a general guide:
     
     **** CHART GOES HERE ****
     
     The seesaw of BSL keeps on swinging throughout the day. Try to understand it and control the swings within a reasonable range. Stay tuned to your body signals.
     
  
  
  
  4. Take Appropriate Medications
     
     Follow your personal doctor’s recommendations for
     appropriate medications if and when necessary.
     Communicate with your doctor openly to help him
     help you better. But also remember that nobody
     knows your body any better than you do. You live in it
     constantly and you have been living in it ever since
     you were born. After carefully listening to your doctor,
     his recommendations and examining alternative
     medicines, use your intuition and common sense to
     guide yourself. Be well informed. That is your
     personal responsibility.
     
  
  
  
  5. Help your doctor to help you better:
     
     Buy a glucometer and a blood pressure (BP) measuring unit to enable you to measure BSL and BP at home. Recognize that your BP also changes throughout the day. If you cannot afford to buy the BSL and BP measuring units, you may form a group and purchase collectively to share the cost and benefits.
     
     Checking BP, pulse rate and BSL give you reliable absolute figures to base your judgements. You will be helping your doctor immensely by providing him with your BSL, BP and pulse rate raedings taken at various times during a day. This is your homework. The BSL, BP and pulse rate profile during the day will enhance your doctor's ability to better diagnose your physical condition. Visit your doctor for a general checkup when you are feeling normal and healthy. He may give you some useful tips and preventive measures to continue feeling healthy.
     
  
  
  
  6. Take responsibility for yourself:
     
     Take full responsibility for effective management of your own health because nobody else will do it for you.
     
  
  
  
  
  

A Doctor Can Do Just So Much

We have faith in doc’s prescription
To relieve pain and cure any disease
Swallowing a pill is so very easy
To soothe anxiety and rush a cure

From childhood, we learn and believe
That a spoonful of medicine, a pill or a shot
Will cure any problem, physical or mental
And we can go on with our lives as usual

We marvel at the doctor's stethoscope, and
A doctor's ability to diagnose our body’s ills
We accept and take doc’s recommended medicines
With total acceptance and faith to cure ourselves

Sometimes, the doc's medicines are not enough
And an invasive procedure is required
To repair, remove, or substitute organs
For refurbishing the body to function normally

Full credit must always be given
To doctor’s medicines and invasive procedures
Scientific advances are constantly occurring
To relieve discomfort of disease and pain

It seems that in pursuit of material prosperity
We humans often get so very busy
Working, eating, drinking and indulging
With very little time left for our inner self



Being busy is a desirable thing to be
With right activities and priorities of life
Life has to be a balance of wit and wisdom
To make the life-boat sail smoothly ahead

When internal body functions go astray
Causing body discomfort and disease
Listening to the doctor is one choice, but
Realize that a doctor can do just so much

Responsibility for your body
Is yours and yours alone
Realize that there is a doctor inside your body
Attending to your body during every breath

This doctor residing inside your body
Knows your body inside and out
Knows every cell, tissue, and organ
Every vibration, emotion, and function

This inside doctor is your body's built-in intelligence
Much more vibrant, powerful, sensitive, and capable
Than any outside doctor, medicine or procedure
Always attentive, caring, and trying to effect a cure

You must learn to listen to this inside doctor
Constantly providing various intelligent signals
For every malfunction within the body
While constantly curing and healing

The inside doctor constantly provides signals
A small signal for a small malfunction
A strong signal for a large malfunction
But never a wrong signal or a wrong diagnosis


The very function of the inside doctor
Is to cure and care for you alone
Manage every malfunction within the body
Around the clock for a full lifetime

This inside doctor does not prescribe medicines
Nor recommend invasive procedures as we know
Because it’s medical vocabulary is different
Than the science created by the human mind

The inside doctor’s unique medical expertise senses
The presence of every substance within the body
It senses, diagnoses, understands and acts upon
Every bodily function and dysfunction

The inside doctor has not much control
Over the food that is fed into the mouth
But the inside doctor will spare no effort
To help process it all for the most benefit

Our body processes incoming food at each step
With salivation, hydration, pH control and other processes
Including assimilation, fixation, absorption, and rejection
For constant maintenance, preservation and regeneration of the body

For the inside doctor within our body
No effort is insignificant or too burdensome
No effort is complicated or tiring, because
Preservation and harmony is its very nature

Since we keep on running endlessly
Always looking outside and away
We fail to notice our inner doctor’s help
Its care, love, and harmony within

If we stop running around and just pause
Turning our mind’s attention within
We can begin to learn and to listen
To our inner doctor’s cautious signals

Then we will learn and wonder
How well the inner doctor cares and cures
And put more faith in the inner doctor
At the very first sign of discomfort or pain

Our inner doctor needs our help
To do its job better every day
With proper exercise, rest and food intake
And living in harmony with Nature

When we prudently put more faith in the inner doctor
Body malfunctions get resolved timely and smoothly
Mostly without the need for pills, injection, or pain
Without undue toxins and side reactions within

Utilize the outside and the inside doctor wisely
Understand each for their respective strengths
And let your own wisdom navigate decision
Whom to listen more, and whom not as much