Shiatsu

Many of us are constantly working on the computer.  Tension in the hands, wrist and forearm is common.  You can help yourself with the following exercise.

Grasp your left hand with your right.  Using your thumb and forefinger, touch the 108 energy points on the hand.  Put pressure on the point between the thumb and first finger and hold it for five second.  Reflexology is a similar technique used on the energy points on the feet. Use your hands and press from the base of the big toe to the heel.  Pay attention to the Achilles tendon.  A foot massage or even a pedicure is one of the most relaxing things you can do.

Being Still

Everyday, let the silence fall, so far that you are completely quiet.  Choose a quiet, clean place in your home, close your eyes and be still.  If thoughts arise, let them pass by like clouds in the sky.  Watch out your slow silent breathing.  Carry this silence amidst the noise and haste of this world.  Your restful presence will soothe all those around you. Being still creates the space so you can disconnect from the outside world and turn your energies and awareness inwards.  It gives your mind and body the opportunity to rest and digest the day so far. Silence helps to settle and calm your nervous system. “The aim of  stillness is simple.  To pay more attention to your inside world rather than your outside world”  Carole Fogarty

Ojas and Tejas

According to an ancient Indian belief ‘ojas’ is the dazzling, vital life force in all living things.  If you see a fruit freshly plucked from a tree it is full of ojas.  A child playing cricket with complete josh is full of ojas.  Sunlight is ojas.  A plant burgeoning with green shoots and flowers, is full of ojas.  Pure air, the earth, rivers, fresh water, freshly cooked food are full of ojas.  If you consciously approach your body, mind and soul reverently to fill it with ojas, you will enjoy vibrant, vital, good health.

Ojas fills you with ‘tejas’ which is the dazzling splendour that shines forth from one who celebrates ojas like the ancient rishis.  Invite ojas your life to keep yourself healthy.

Enhancing Your Happiness

Having a high happiness quotient will create a healthy heart.  You can increase your happiness quotient by filling your mindspace with positive emotions, events and people.  You can also enhance it by focussing of all parts of your mind, body and soul.

“Let all Beings be happy”.  Not just friends and family, but all men, not just men but the wider world of all Beings. Look at yourself with love and understanding.  All the internal conversations you have with yourself should be loving and kind.  Speak to yourself as you would speak to your Beloved or your child. .  Living compassionately boosts the immune system.  It is this feeling that promotes altruism and the many service clubs in the world.  While you give compassionately, the gift you receive is happiness. Social networks can help us change our health activities. We need social relationships to be methodically developed to promote compassion and mutual empathy.  

Increasing your Happiness Quotient

Do not put yourself down

Take pride and pleasure in what you do

Do not do things that make you unhappy

Do consciously all the things that make you happy

Do not be unkind to others

Do something to make others happy

Do what you love, enjoy it.

Admit mistakes; walk away from them

Forgive, let go of resentment.

You are responsible for your life.

Use your time fully and in a way that pleases you.

You can be a baby sometimes; enjoy the child in you

Growth is painful; adventure is risky; but it is worth it

Enjoy the moment; forget the past

Accept that you will make mistakes

Learn to soothe yourself when you are hurt

Soothe others who are hurt

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.