Newborns do five main things in that first few weeks of life that keeps them balanced: Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Eliminate, and Cry. I”m sure you’re thinking that the first four things are a given but the “cry” part…where does that fit in. I’ll tell you later. First let’s talk about the first three (elimination is a whole blog in itself if you could believe it….it’s coming).
The three simplest activities that keep us balanced if done proportionately and properly are the three things that we seem to take for granted…especially the breathing. We breathe automatically, because our brain is designed to force us to breathe to keep our bodies functioning properly; to keep oxygen flowing to the brain and tissues. However, we don’t always recognize the value of breathing consciously instead of unconsciously. Take for instance you are in the middle of your crazy day, running from one meeting to the next (or in my case one patient to the next). Taking 1 minute (that’s right 60 seconds) to STOP, close your eyes, and take several deep breaths, can be just the shot of tranquility you need re-focus and get through the next few hours (try it right now…pause and breathe). Alternatively, taking longer periods of time like 15 min at a lunch break, or just before starting the day, to do a guided or un-guided music meditation will have healing and energizing effects at the same to keeping you centered and relaxed.
Now sleeping is another activity that seems to get put on the back burner for some. Sleep is a time to recharge. It’s the time when the body physically heals itself and detoxifies the cells from the physical and emotional stressors of the day. As a general rule, most people need approximately 6 – 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep to function optimally on a daily basis. Notice I said function optimally, not just function. Many people can function with less, but consider the consequences of not allowing your body it’s natural chance to regenerate and recharge for extended periods of time. Obviously, the aging process can be accelerated in this way. What’s also important to realize is that the brain processes and integrates the last things that you experience physically and emotionally during the day. So, it’s important that if you have a particularly stressful day that you do something to decompress, wind down, and de-stress so that you don’t take that junk to bed with you. If you don’t dump the garbage in your mind before you go to sleep, you’ll take it with you to your dreams and carry it over to the next day.
Finally, eating properly is the final thing of the big three mentioned earlier that make a huge difference in how our bodies take on the continuous addition of years to our life. Since there are oodles and oodles of blogs to be written about this, let me simply say that there are foods that promote inflammation, foods that fight inflammation, and neutral foods. As much as possible, try to go towards the neutral and inflammation fighting foods to keep your cellular youth. What would these foods be? There is a wonderful chart that I will refer you to for the full list (http://acidalkalinediet.com/Alkaline-Foods-Chart.htm) but suffice it to say that your vegetables, citrus and berry fruits, and unrefined grains are the best at fighting inflammation. The chart mentioned above is an Alkaline/Acid food chart. Note that the foods that are most Alkaline fight and prevent inflammation, and the foods that are more acidic promote inflammation. Also, remember that drinking water is a very important part of keeping our vitality. Since our bodies are 80% water, we need to make sure to keep the cells hydrated for proper function.
Now, in the beginning I mentioned that babies eat, sleep, breathe, eliminate and cry. While, of course, crying in infant-hood is a form of communication to get them what they want, it is good to note that they DO COMMUNICATE!
So, it’s not so much the crying that is the thing that keeps them balanced so much as the communication that they need something or that something is not right with their bodies. This speaks to a very important point that will be followed up in the next blog. Our feelings are very important. Stifling emotions and unhealthy communication is one of the underlying causes of stress in our society. Stress is a known cause of inflammation and promotes rapid aging (look at our poor president, bless his heart…how many new gray hairs do you think he’s already gotten in just the past year?). It is important to keep an awareness of what we are feeling (taking private time to breathe and even write in a journal can help this process). Just as important is to communicate with the people we interact with on a daily basis our wants and needs in a healthy and respectful manner.
Stay tuned for more on this….keys to keeping our vitality part 3.
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