Bart Rademaker, MD
Nurture it, listen to it. Rest it, feed it and quench its thirst when it needs it.
The body has a blueprint for perfect order – why abuse it? In fact, it endures so much abuse – it’s a wonder it does so well and herein lies the miracles for our own cures. Imagine any business or company that constantly is being abused or mistreated by its employees – do you think they could keep their jobs? Only if the employer was ignorant of the malfeasance - as so often we are!
Where does this ignorance or neglect come from?
The results of our bad behavior or neglect is very much delayed by years. For many there is no future vision or experience of what it will be like: pain, weakness, debilitation! In addition to that, the cultural hypnosis through all the media, marketing and special interest groups tell us that we will have to get old and the price is pain – deal with it or take a pill.
We don’t have to suffer!
Look at any of the cultures not exposed to all this deception – they fare so much better than we do and are not intoxicated by temptations that hurt us: processed food, saturated fats, refined sugars, etc.
So why is the motivation to being healthy lacking?
It is simply the result of not having an emotional vision of what you might or want to have in the future -in the context of all the overwhelm we experience because of an overdose of modern life.
Success requires a vision, a reason, a plan and enough tools not to get derailed from it.
Once you have that vision – embrace it all the time – keep on visualizing what it feels like to be fit, healthy and happy. Have a daily ritual that you do not neglect so that you may keep up the momentum. Some people say as little as 25 minutes exercising each day is ideal. Some say a bit more. If you can handle only 15 then that is certainly more than nothing. Commit to some time and if its only stretching in the morning before you get up – it is something. A committed 15 minutes with the enhanced experience will one day lead to 25 and perhaps 45 each day. Over doing it is destructive – other things are going on and its not really a healthy worship of your temple anymore.
With movement, energy and emotion flows.
Without movement – you stagnate. But why stop with just improving your movement, there is more!
Water, lots of it flushes out the toxins.
Don’t like water – get better water! Or add something to give it a taste you can learn to love. Replacing it with all sorts of glorified drinks is not the same as drinking pure water. More than 75% of people are dehydrated and this results in fatigue, aches and pains and more. Thirst will often be masked as hunger since eating will deliver hydration to the body – be mindful of this – in fact drink, pure water before you eat and you will discover less hunger, less weight gain.
You are what you eat
Eating the right food – “live” foods without all the toxins of pesticides and other foreign chemicals that harm the body. A body functions best when it is familiar with the building materials you give it. Once foreign substances are introduced – who really knows what havoc they create in our system. The body does not have this particular blueprint to manage these safely. Its no different if you have someone building your new home and you give them building materials they have never seen before – its likely to crumble.
Navigating the wild health market with success
In today’s health market – it is confusing to know how to eat, what to eat, when to eat…. even why to eat! The combination of eating, drinking, movement and rest in its proper proportions is the solution. It’s easy to follow because we can experience the results immediately – just be aware of how your body feels in the very moment. Every bodily feeling is a sign. In fact each bodily experience also effects your thinking, your emotions and ultimately your behavior – so monitor this too. Asking the question: how do any of the things I do affect my current experience in life? How does what I ate or how I exercised affect me later on in the day?
Clearly plenty of personal growth on our emotions and our mind will help. But to ignore the impact of our body – would take out a huge slice of what is possible in life. Notice how fat or thin you are. Notice how tired you get, notice how irritable or energetic you feel. Experiment with as many different “health cures and miracles” that people promote and find out works and what doesn’t.
Fighting our own temptations.
One of the true devious dangers to your success that is lurking out there are your own cravings. Cravings occur because the body is lacking and has learnt to associate the fulfillment of that need with whatever it is you believe you need even though it does not serve you. Appreciate what you feel after you indulge and have the future strength / courage to make better choices for yourself. Understand how the temptation of neglect – affects your body and your behavior. Realize it’s the temptations we know that are not good for us…., are not good for us!
What else?
There is so much more to choose from, meditation, yoga, pilates - the list is endless. What matters is that you bring in variety and excitement with the experience and get results. Try new things, get out of your comfort zone - constantly improving.
Ultimately it comes down to this:
Focus on what you want, be clear and excited why you want it, experiment until you get the results and consistently do what has worked before.
Taking care of your temple will help you get all that you want out of life. Your body and your emotions are the foundation of what your life is built on. Give your body what it needs and you will get what you want!
About the author:
Dr Rademaker is an accomplished board certified Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, International Results Life Coach with the Tony Robbins Company, wellness advocate and visionary. Whilst nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work his passion is dedicated to promoting personal wellness, growth and transformation with all the insights and genius that is available today.
His mission: To make wellness a must and accessible to all.
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