A couple of days ago I was suddenly overcome by the realization of how incredibly fast and furious we are living and how quickly our technology is changing, even just within the short span of my paltry 40 years of life.
Remember when we used to pick up the stationary bulky phone to call someone? Maybe we didn’t leave the house for fear that we may miss that “important call”. Or, we might get a busy signal back in the day before “call waiting”. What about coming home to a blinking red light on our “answering machines”? Compared to those times, we are light years ahead, simply texting our pithy messages on our slick, handheld cell phone that fits in our back pocket.
Or, what about music? I can recall collecting albums and have fond memories of receiving my first Supertramp LP as a pre-teen. However, soon after, LPs became outdated with cassette tapes taking their place if even for a blink of an eye, to be further replaced by CDs. Now, we just buy iTunes from the Internet in single songs if we choose. In fact, a friend of mine has discarded all of her CDs and now has all her music on her laptop so she can take it wherever she goes. Who needs the bulk, right?
What I am observing is that our lives are becoming a series of sound-bytes rather than short stories. We may not have time for novels but we certainly have a blip of time to catch the latest Facebook posting. Indeed, the feel of time transitioning is now in micro-seconds rather than minutes. We can dip into the river of the quickly moving information, allowing it to wash over us, or to run through our fingers and mind, leaving us with lots to digest. It’s difficult not to feel overwhelmed…
There is no doubt that the rapidity of our lives translates its effects into health. In some cases, ease of information transfer is a good thing. After all, think back to what it was like before the Internet – we actually had to drive, bike, or walk up to the library and hunt down encyclopedias for our knowledge the old-fashioned way. Now, anyone anywhere can learn anything – about how to get healthy, their symptoms, what other people do for these ailments and then even buy products for these disease conditions. Telemedicine is on the verge of breaking through mainstream medicine. We are only steps away. Textbooks are being revamped and renewed with the latest information on how the body works. We are learning that what we were taught in school 20 years ago has been re-formed and re-sculpted, as if it were a piece of art. Science and medicine are among the fastest evolving disciplines.
On the other side, fast could also have a flipside – and mean less quality. “Fast food” is the bane of contemporary society. Kids are fed convenient foods like pizza and chicken nuggets in school because they are quick to prepare and inexpensive. Unfortunately, they lack the nutrient quality we’d like them to have for healthy minds and bodies. Fast eating at any age often results in eating more than we need and more of unhealthy, highly refined foods.
In essence, in this day and age, we are eating the “energy of fast” and getting indigestion, becoming overweight, and falling out of balance and harmony with our bodies. If you are aware of the more recent emerging theories within quantum physics, what you have gathered is that we are more than our physical bodies: we are a blend of both dense matter (the slower energy body) and fine matter (mind, emotional body, soul). Our less physical, tangible self may be able to process the chaotic flux of energy, thought, and emotion to some degree, but our body moves slower. And, the greater the gap between our body, mind, emotions, and soul, I believe, the greater the occurrence of symptoms, and, ultimately, diseases. For example, thoughts translate into matter, it’s just a matter of time. That is why visualization techniques are so powerful. If we continually visualize an outcome, there is a high probability that it could occur compared to not visualizing it.
But what if you have cluttered thoughts piled in your mind – how do these manifest? As disordered physiology and scattered psychology? It is highly likely, in my opinion.
The unearthing of issues of the 21st century such as adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue, non-specific pain syndromes, rampant indigestion, bloating, and food intolerances may be simply a deficiency of not the “taking in” but the lack of “reflection and contemplation”, the scarcity of the slow. I predict that if we had ingestion in equal measure to that of assimilation, we may be able to harmonize our body, mind and spirit in a way that resonates optimal, vibrant health.
Here are some ways to introduce the “energy of harmony” into your everyday life:
• Take 20 minutes to eat a meal so that your gut and brain can talk with each other about your sense of fullness from eating.
• Keep listening in balance with talking.
• Spend at least 5 minutes per day in silence and reflection. Slowly graduate to higher levels.
• Spend at least 5 minutes per day in nature – at a park, in your backyard, admire a tree.
• As one of my favorite teachers, Paramahansa Yogananda has stated, ‘if you read one hour, then write two hours, think three hours and meditate all the time’.
What a breath of fresh air – Spring has been birthed just a few weeks ago and now Easter is upon us! Traditionally, the change of the seasons, and in particular, springtime, is a time for renewal, cleansing, and purification. I don’t know about you but it is in March and April that I start to move out of the seeming slow-motion hibernation of the cold winter months…I start trimming trees, preparing the garden, and cleaning out closets that have piled up all sorts of items. Along with that movement is the transition and urge to clear the body of all it has accumulated that is no longer serving. Some of us may call this process “detox” or cleansing. The idea of “spring cleaning” the physical body, clearing out any toxins like pollutants or unhealthy food and water contents that we have ingested, as well as any mental thought patterns and stuck emotions that have lodged their way within our psyche, may be a refreshing focus for you at this time.
On average, we need between 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day. Unfortunately, the average American diet provides much less than this amount (as low as 12 grams per day). Pack in some high-fiber foods during the day for healthy, regular elimination. Legumes are an excellent choice, as they typically provide the highest fiber per gram when compared with other foods. For example, 1 cup of cooked split peas has more than 16 grams of fiber, 1 cup of cooked lentils, 15.6 grams, and 1 cup of cooked black beans, 15 grams. Wow – if you had just one cup of any of these legumes, you’d already have half of your daily requirement! Don’t forget to drink lots of water with all the fiber to maximize its “eliminating” effect! In addition to physical elimination through bowel movements, evaluate what thoughts, emotions, and situations in your life you would like to “let go of”…
A general rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces spread throughout the day, and more if you are active or using hydrotherapies like saunas or baths. Also, allow gentle movement to wisk away blocks in your creativity and/or emotional stagnation that needs some “shaking up!”
refined sugar, and coffee reduces liver congestion. And, most importantly, it is essential to introduce action into one’s life in areas where it is needed, especially if anger or resentment is present. Anger is a catalyst to “do something”. If we do not act accordingly by releasing anger in healthy, beneficial ways (e.g., journaling, exercising, etc.), it may turn into bitterness and depression.
superficial skin movements and massage can assist the lymph in its circulation for the health of the immune system. The goal is to circulate the ultimate elixir, love, to dissolve clots of resentment, traces of bitterness, and plaques of hurt. Love and its partner, forgiveness, are healing salves for removing emotional hurts and pains.
The SIXTH step is MEDITATION, linked to our third eye chakra that guides our brain activity. Clearing the mind of cluttering thoughts is one of the most cleansing processes for many people living in the hustle and bustle of the Western world. We are always thinking, doing, and living either in the future or past. If we allow ourselves to take a clearing mental bath of stillness, we can better reflect, gather, receive and let go. the stillness becomes a purgative for old thoughts that have taken up residence in our consciousness that may not serve us.
Basking in gentle sunlight and the emerging warmth of Spring can help us to reset our inner biorhythm so that we can more fully connect with our inner, deep self, others, and God (Source).
