Measures of Health and Wealth

When I receive questions on highly specific health matters that don't take into account a person's entire life, I encourage stepping back and taking a big picture view.

Often, the healthiest and most effective solutions are the simplest ones.

After reading this sentence, please consider putting everything on pause, closing your eyes, sitting upright, and slowly breathing in and out through your nostrils, filling and emptying your lungs as fully as you can for three full cycles.

I hope that you tried this simple exercise.

For most of us, breathing slowly and fully reminds us how shallow our breaths are when we are engaged in everyday activities.  

Imagine the impact of taking a minute out of every day to mindfully breathe in this way.  What if we were to do this 5 or 10 times over the course of each day?  

Believe it or not, caring for our autonomic nervous system in this simple way reduces our risk of developing virtually all degenerative diseases.  Put another way, regular mindful breathing has a significant positive impact on our mental, emotional, and physical well-being.  

The next time you find yourself feeling stressed or agitated, I would encourage you to give this simple breathing technique a try and observe its effects for yourself.

With the idea of appreciating profoundly simple truths in mind, here's one to consider:

A primary measure of health is lightness.

If we align our daily thoughts and behaviours to feel lightness of mind, spirit, and body, it becomes natural to experience our best health.  Health is lightness.

Another simple truth to consider:

A primary measure of wealth is freedom.

Can we truly feel wealthy if we don't feel mentally, emotionally, and physically free?  My belief is that we experience true wealth when we consistently make choices that leave us feeling free.  

So the next time you are faced with a difficult decision, you might gain clarity in asking yourself:  Which path will leave me feeling more mentally, emotionally, and physically free?

What do we get when we squeeze an orange?  We get orange juice because that's what's inside of an orange.

In the same way, whatever is within us is what will come out of us whenever we are squeezed.  We cannot hate without having hate within us.  We cannot be compassionate without having compassion within.  We cannot react with care and calmness if these states are not present to begin with.