ETHICS AND MORALS

Dharma or right action, bestows the gift of a quiet mind.  As the Free Mason says “Live respected and die regretted”.  Dharma is the ancient Indian golden rule of righteousness.  This includes practising Truth, doing your duty without worrying about the results, treating all life with reverence, non-violence and peace.  When a man lives by his Dharma, he inherits health and peace; because he lives in harmony with the laws of the land and the laws of God.  Dostovsky in ‘Crime and Punishment’ charts the mental torments of a criminal.  The wages of Sin are death, says the Bible.  The wages of Sin are certainly illness as tension and anxiety create the unease and toxins where diseases flourish.

When young student watched a film by mother Theresa, their immune response was immediately heightened.  It has been proved by studies conducted in the Harvard school of medicine that altruistic, volunteer work increases the body’s capacity to fight disease and remain healthy.  Being kind is certainly the path to health.  Perhaps the ancient Hindu belief that all souls are part of the Divine Being and are therefore connected, ensures that when we make others happy, we receive a jolt of bliss.  When we make others sad, we receive a dose of health destroying poison.

Healing Heart Meditation

Close your eyes, place you fleet flat on the ground. Make sure your spine is erect and your breathing is slow and even. Visualize your heart in the centre of your chest, toward the left side. Place your left hand over your heart and then the right hand over it.

Breathe in and out gently, watching your breathe in and as you breathe out.

Take your attention to each part of your body and consciously relax it from the tips of your toes to the top of your head.

Visualize pure golden light pouring into you through the top of your head and filling your body, like cool water could fill a glass jug. Sit peacefully and watch as your hands surround your heart with healing golden light.

Affirm to yourself. Everyday, my heart is becoming stronger, kinder and healthier. Everyday, my arteries are becoming clean and flexible. Everyday my heart beats regularly and strongly.

Integrate Exercise into your daily routine

Work in the garden and with plants. Keep a pet. Walk up all steps. Walk around your home, look under beds. Make sure the energy in your home is clean and bright. Cycle on a stationery bike as you watch T.V. Trek down to the vegetable shop. Walk to the coffee shop or machine. It helps our ‘feel good’ chemicals to circulate.

Be careful what you put into your mouth. Food turns prana into you. Make sure everything that goes into you is fresh, clean and full of prana.

Do not eat frozen or processed food as far as possible. Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. Develop positive self talk and learn to soothe yourself, like you are talking to your best friend or your favorite child. Be happy wipe out negative feelings.

Yoga Nidra

Learn to talk to each part of your body as you breathe gently, evenly and peacefully. When you breathe in, feel your whole body fill with oxygen and powerful energies from the Universe. Your body fills with oxygen as though it is a balloon.

When you breathe out, let every bit of tension, toxic wastes and stale air leaves your body.

As you breathe mindfully like this, with eyes shut, lying in a quiet spot, talk to every muscle of your body. Reverently, move your awareness from the muscles of your toes, right up to the muscles of your head and face and ensure that they are released. What you would say in your mind is ‘Let the muscles of my feet be totally relaxed’. Pay particular attention to the muscles of your shoulders and right arm which are usually tense in corporate settings. Soothe and relax the muscles of your jaws and forehead and back of the neck. The muscles of the stomach are usually scrunched with tension.

Absorbing Sun Energy

The sun is the source of all life. Choose a time when the sun is not too hot – before 8.00a.m or after 6.00p.m. Sit in comfortable clothes on a thick mat in a place, that is your sacred place.

Close your eyes and be still. Breathe gently and attuned yourself to listen to your breathing.

Imagine the energy of sunlight entering your body through the top of your head and filling every part of your body with energy.

Chant the holy ‘Om’ as you breathe in, with your hand on your navel, breathe in the energy of the sun.

As you breathe out, feel all the impure and the stale toxic waste leaving your body.

Imagine the brilliance of the sun in your face. Imagine the might of the sun touching and healing and energizing your friends and the whole earth. Everywhere you look, everything you touch will be energized by the sun, which you are blessed with. Everyone you meet is happy to meet you.

You are surrounded by sun energy as you walk. The Gayathri Mantra which seeks to infuse the body with the energy of the sun has been used by Indians for thousands of years to incorporate sun energy in the body, mind and spirit. 

Exercise for Healthy Living

All of us knew that we could increase our muscle power and strength through exercise. So what happens when you have no time to exercise? Why not change your daily actions into exercise. Walk frequently around your office. Take the stairs instead of the lift.
Walk the dog a little longer. Play in the park with your toddler. Invent ways by which you can say hello to every muscle. Do stretches at your desk. Schedule meetings at the golf course. Incorporate swimming into your lunch appointment in a hotel. Keep an extra pair of walking shoes at the office and take a walk break at sunset. Let the kids meet you after work at a park or the beach. Incorporate yoga into your daily life. Yogasana is the science of beauty of form which combines effortless postures and definite stances in the projection of a healthy and striking personality. Yogasana covers the harmony of bodily stances and breathing techniques that mould, every part of the body to its ideal contour. Asanas are thus not merely yogic postures but they embody the proper physical and mental disposition through the harmony of body and mind. Some of them you can do in bed as soon as you are awake. So exercise your mental options.

Love Letters Every Day

Today, with life speeding away like a runaway train, the human need for touch and smiles and affirmation are often not meet. Sometimes hi-tech may mean that the need for hi-touch is often ignored. Touch can be physical, verbal, tonal or non-verbal. Reach out and touch those you love. No material objects can really substitute the intangible benefits of parental love. Parents, except in a few extremely exceptional cases, can provide the best hi-touch care in the world. I will write a love letter to my parents before it is too late.

Maybe you can send off cheques for hugs, back rubs and compliments to your loved ones. Because love is not about things. It is about hi-touch. You can touch with a loving look and hug with a gentle, affirming word. Today when so much interaction is digital, let us not forget our powerful human need to be moved and touched by the ones we love.

Write love letters to your brothers and sisters, entitled “What I really love about you is……..” Write love letters to your old friends. Send them by post, handwritten, in the old forgotten way. Do it today and every day.