A number of people have asked me what I do to keep my energy level up. It’s because I begin my day early sitting in meditation and practicing yoga, run between two offices, stores and a museum for meetings, cocktails, teach yoga couple of nights a week, and burn the midnight oil when writing is best done. But I can say that I haven’t been sick (like in fever sick) for a number of years. I guess I have been trying to challenge my own philosophies of balancing a healthy physical Body, keep equilibrium and focus in my Mind and work on elevating the Spirit. I actively check my body systems (by this I mean respiratory, circulatory, lymphatic, digestive and elimination systems) like a race car being tuned daily. I have found out that to meet the speed of activities in my life with maximum awareness, it is necessary that such a conscious effort be done to maintain this vehicle, this body at tip-top energy level.
My respiratory system is kept in check by conscious breathing deep into the belly especially since my doctor said I don’t bring enough oxygen into my heart as I expand too much energy out. Yogic breathing, as they call this, is breathing like a baby where we expand our bellies with relaxation. I check myself whenever my breathing becomes fast and tensed, and gets stuck in the throat area. Plus I practice pranayama which is the scientific manipulation of the vital energy.
My circulatory, lymphatic, skeletal and respiratory systems attune well to yoga practice where postures, called asanas, allow the flow of vital energy through the various systems. Toxins are released through the sweat when practice is dynamic and lungs are worked out to pump good blood around the body. I guess this is true for all kinds of body work, exercise and sports that maximize the work of all our systems to allow toxins to be released.
Eating consciously and choosing healthy food is key to keeping this body vehicle in shape. One secret is that I am a major vitamins and supplement addict only also because I know the food we have today lacks the real amount of nutrients and minerals needed by our bodies. To be able to get all the maximum nutrients from food, we would make us have to follow stricter, organic and fresh food choices which can often be quite difficult if we live in a city.
I take megadoses of Vitamin C and amino acids to repair tissues at cellular level, multi-vitamins, and support this with herbal capsules like malunggay (fantastic Vitamin C, betacarotene) and turmeric (for anti-inflamatory specific for joints and muscles, a great Ayurvedic natural cure) and Lagundi ( to prevent colds). I have become so “OC” obsessively compulsive with these herbal supplements that we have even started to capsulize them ourselves at ECHOstore Sustainable Lifestyle only after I found out that certain drug companies that sell herbal capsules only put in around one fourth of the herbs and load them with binders. So our capsules are organically grown (we source from a community of farmers in Palawan) and 100 percent of the herbs are used because I personally use them (selfish reason) and want to know exactly what I am taking in.
Another “OC” dietary supplement I regularly take is fiber. Firstly, not only does fiber reduce appetite, but more importantly lowers blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes and facilitates regularity of stool elimination. The latter process is key to prevent constipation because a lot of diseases begin when the elimination process is hampered and toxins that stick to the intestinal walls. Fiber is great because it doesn’t stick to minerals and vitamins to decrease the absorption but does its own work. The Psyllium plant, commonly found in Africa and some parts of Asia, is said to be one of the greatest sources of soluble fiber. For the past decade or so, even before it became popular, I have been taking fiber through psyllium plant husks (The brand C-lium is my personal choice) and swear by it. As in the wide consumer market where the natural food and supplement industry has become mainstream, consumers often get confused with all the advertising claims these products make. Not all plant fibers are equal. It’s been years I have been taking C-lium as it’s the top quality around with 100 percent psyllium plant fiber with 14 times more fiber content than oatmeal and cereals. For a health conscious person like me, I would choose the “super” choice in the market. First, fiber makes me fuller faster, which makes me eat less, allowing me some control with the waterloo of my life — overeating! It also absorbs fat — so for those who are on all those pills and herbal diuretics that take out the precious electrolytes out of our bodies — C-lium is a healthier option you may want to consider. With my stressful, activity filled life, carrying some fiber capsules or sachets with the husks allows me to regularly take in fiber.
The ironic thing about fiber is that it actually bulks us up to be lighter. Why lighter? Because it makes the elimination system work regularly and consistently to throw out bacteria, mucous, toxins and other waste materials that can be categorized as carrying “negative” energy. And the wiser and healthier direction of our lives is to move towards lighter, more positive energies — beginning first and foremost with our physical bodies and moving our way up… lightening our emotions, freeing our minds from constricting, self-defeating and judgemental thoughts — all these to allow the Spirit to be fully awake.
(I will run a Past-Life Group Regression session on July 3, Saturday, at 4 p.m. at ECHOyoga Community Center. For inquiries, call 0906-5063958 or check out http://echoyoga.echostore.ph for other regular schedules of workshops and classes.)