Balance is key to good health

Posted by Neill Abayon

One of the fundamental concepts for achieving balance is the pursuit of harmony within the body and with the environment.
There are regiments you can apply to everyday life, extracted and distilled from the best Asian ways to achieve balance. You need not hie off to a place as remote and exotic as a Himalayan spa to recharge and rejuvenate the body, mind and spirit. This can be achieved right there in the city or in the privacy of your own home or any accessible place of retreat and relaxation.
Instead of seeking treatment, focus on a natural way of being that will allow you to become stronger and healthier

BE KIND TO YOURSELF
Often, we are too hard on ourselves. In daily life, an office worker will stay on the job an extra hours just to finish the paperwork even if he/she is feeling hunger pangs. An executive will skip breakfast just to make it to that important meeting or burn up his/her inner reserves by overloading the day with back-to-back meetings with hardly time to catch his/her breath. Worst of all, a businessman will bring the office-and paper work-to his house. Sounds familiar?

Begin by being kind to yourself.
1. Leave the office where it is. Don't take it home with you. The home is a place for relaxation.
Keep it that way.

2. Listen to the call of nature. If you are hungry, eat. If you have an urgent need to rush to the toilet, by all means go. Do not postpone the important or the inevitable.

3. In-between meetings, deliberations and negotiations, give yourself time for relaxation, enough to do this three-minute breathing exercise: Close your eyes. Sit back. Be comfortable. Recall your favorite music. Hear it in your head. Breath slowly. Exhale gently. Shut out the world. "Listen" to the song till the end.

4. Have five sips of water to energize yourself.

5. Face the world with a smile.


SEEK YOUR BALANCE
According to traditional Chinese medicine, everything in the universe consist of the yin and the yang.
Yin is feminine, cold, quiet, static, dark and wet while Yang is masculine, dynamic, bright, warm and dry. Without yin, there is no Yang and vice versa. True health can only be achieved if they are in harmony within us.
This equilibrium can be destroyed or disrupted by many internal influence (emotional upheavals like sorrow, worry, grief, fear, shock and, yes, even extrewme joy) and external forces (cold, fire, wind, dampness, heat, fire and dryness).


BEING ONE
Considered by the scholars as the oldest healing practice in the world, Ayurveda (ayur-life, veda-knowledge) and its belief centers on being one. The vibrations of creation produced five elements: space, water, fire heat that were reduced to three forces-vata=air, pitta=fire, kapha=earth. It ios the balance of these doshas that rules one's constitution.
What dosha type are you?> Vata = artistic, nervous/high-strung; Pitta = aggressive, hot-tempered, driven; Kapha = loving, affectionate, caring but prone to weight gain. All individuals possess these characteristics but one dosha will be dominant.


HEALING OIL TREATMENT
Vata-calming oils: almond, castor, olive, sesame, wheat germ;
Pitta-cooling oils: coconut, almond, sunflower, sandalwood;
Kapha-invigorating oils: canola, corn, mustard.

Warm without overheating your chosen oil. Rub onto your body from head to toe for 15 minutes. Take a hot shower. Feel relaxed and be still for a few minutes.

Note: Dosha preparations are available at Body Shop.


YOGHURT RUB
Get 2-3 cups of plain yoghurt. Coat your body from head to foot. Leave on for 10 minutes. Get a towelette and rub your body briskly. Rinse in cool water.

No treatment, no matter how simple or sophisticated, can help you feel better if your mind is not at peace. So, open your mind and allow the healing forces of nature to give you your much desired balance.
Love and light!