‘Be happy in Paris! All you need is London!’ That’s how airlines advertise their destinations. Looking at such enticing adverts, it’s easy to feel the urge to escape from the daily grind, even though we have absolutely no business in Paris or London. Often, we don’t even notice how advertising has shaped our perceived needs, whilst our actual needs go unnoticed amidst the media clamour. Our true needs support our body’s natural processes and create a daily routine from which there is no need to escape.
How can we distinguish between needs that arise from within and those imposed on us from without? The answer is simple: to live slowly, mindfully and lovingly, so that this is also reflected in our attitude towards our own bodies. Unfortunately, rushing only leads us one way – towards the grave.
Humans are homeostatic organisms: our bodily processes function naturally, provided that what’s going on in our heads doesn’t throw us into confusion.
Rest
Sleep and rest are essential for the body’s natural cleansing process. Whilst we sleep, the wise forces of nature at work within our bodies gather together the waste products of metabolism so that they can be expelled in the morning. By staying awake at night, we disrupt this process and cause waste products and undigested food residues – in other words, toxins – to accumulate in the body. If this continues for a prolonged period, it can lead to health problems.
Apart from sleep, the best form of rest for the body and mind is meditation. The simplest way to meditate is to sit for a few minutes with your eyes closed in silence, in a comfortable, relaxed position and without any specific aim. Allow yourself simply to be, doing nothing – it is whilst sitting quietly and focusing on yourself that our true needs become apparent. Nature is also a wonderful way to balance the body and mind: spending time in nature calms the mind and helps us distinguish our true needs from the noise of information.
Routine and stress
The human body, including the metabolism, functions automatically like clockwork when our lifestyle is consistent and in harmony with nature. Such a lifestyle involves a daily routine: eating and sleeping at fixed times, morning hygiene routines and moderate exercise. Any deviation from this routine causes stress to the body, and the metabolism is sensitive to stress.
Stress can be reduced by introducing more regularity into one’s life and by minimising stimuli and the intensity of daily life. Stimuli include both physical and mental activities, such as using a computer and watching television, as well as all information that comes from outside our bodies.
To calm the nervous system, it is very beneficial to practise a simple breathing technique – alternate nostril breathing, or nadi shodhana pranayama. You breathe through one nostril at a time, switching nostrils after inhaling but before exhaling, when the lungs are full of air: in through the left nostril, then out through the left and in through the right, and so on. The levels of stress and anxiety in your life will decrease significantly if you practise this breathing exercise for five minutes every day, or better still, twice a day for five minutes each time. Nadi Shodhana is also suitable as an introduction to meditation, as it is easier to sit quietly after practising this breathing technique.
Check your bowel movements
A healthy metabolism means regular and effortless digestion. This is indicated by a daily, effortless bowel movement that occurs before breakfast. The product of normal digestive activity is similar in shape and consistency to a ripe banana: in one piece and without an unpleasant odour – normal stools have a neutral smell, like soil.
The causes of digestive problems may include an irregular lifestyle, stress, poor diet or side effects from medication, and this issue should be addressed as soon as possible. Checking the toilet bowl after use is a very good habit for preventing more serious health problems. Chronic digestive problems cause a variety of ailments – food intolerances, allergies, digestive disorders, deficiencies in nutrients, vitamins or minerals, and being overweight – and is a sign that undigested food residues, or toxins, have accumulated in the digestive tract.
If you experience any of these symptoms, or as soon as you look in the toilet at your usual time in the morning and do not see a ‘ripe banana’, you should first make your lifestyle more regular, reduce stress by minimising stressors, and review your diet and exercise habits. Diet is a very broad topic; suffice it to say here that you certainly won’t go far wrong by eating simple food that is clean, free from additives, unprocessed, locally grown and freshly prepared. Everyone can make their own choices.
Cleansing the body
Always ask yourself why you want to cleanse your body. Where does this idea come from? Why has the body become ‘dirty’? Is it the body’s need, or the mind’s need for a change? There is no need to undertake specific body cleanses if you lead a peaceful, natural life.
However, if it seems that your digestion is out of balance and toxins have accumulated in your digestive tract over a long period due to an irregular lifestyle and an unhealthy diet, you may undertake a body-friendly cleansing programme. A simple, effective and gentle way for an adult to cleanse the digestive tract is to consume small amounts of turmeric powder regularly over a longer period: take 1/5 teaspoon of turmeric powder (do not exceed this amount) twice a day before breakfast and dinner, mixed with the same amount of honey and a little warm water. Do this for at least 3–4 months. Turmeric acts on the digestive system like a toilet brush.
Drinking ginger tea every day also gently cleanses the body and slightly boosts your appetite. A good appetite is a sign of a strong digestive system: it means that digestion is coping with the food eaten and produces little or no waste.
Why quick-fix cleansing regimes don’t work
As every body is unique and the causes of health problems vary, it is implausible that a single ‘miracle cure’ would help everyone in the same way. Unnatural, rapid, intensive and overhyped methods of cleansing the body should be approached with common sense. Detoxification is a highly individual process that should ideally be carried out under supervision: what suits one person may worsen another’s health and lead to complications.
People who lead busy, responsibility-filled daily lives and have a family, children and a job should avoid any form of intensive body cleansing, including complete fasting, especially during the cold season. Fasting according to the Christian tradition before Easter, which involves abstaining from meat and dairy products, is, on the other hand, an excellent rest for the body.
Various types of bowel cleansing, short-term weight-loss diets and complete fasting have, by their very nature, a body-reducing and cooling effect. They are therefore unsuitable for people who are thin or whose lives are already characterised by stress and instability. Any kind of intensive body treatment places stress on the body, weakens the immune system and is simply yet another stimulus in a life that is already full of stimuli.
Following a rapid detox, a sense of lightness is experienced, accompanied by emotional instability, where a temporary, intense feeling of well-being alternates with negative emotions. The stability of bodily processes is disrupted and, as a result, physical ailments may actually be triggered – which is why it is important to undergo such procedures under professional supervision. After a ‘rapid cleanse’, the digestive fire must be rekindled; this is then a favourable time for renewing and rejuvenating the body and changing one’s behaviour. If one returns to the familiar environment, lifestyle and diet which, due to their unsuitability, caused the health problem in the first place, one will soon face the same problem again and the body will have been needlessly exhausted.
The most effective and reliable way to overcome chronic health problems is to slowly and lovingly change one’s behavioural and thought patterns over a long period of time, whilst gently supporting the body’s cleansing and renewal, for example, through herbal therapy and a mono-diet. A mono-diet means eating a single food or similar foods at one meal or on a single day, such as only vegetables or only grains. It is precisely this logic upon which home panchakarma is based. The most important thing, however, is to create a calm and balanced environment for the body’s natural cleansing and healing.
Harmful habits should also be given up gradually and with self-compassion, as giving them up too quickly causes stress and, in turn, throws the body and mind out of balance.
Body and mind
It is worth bearing in mind that whilst the body and mind form a single whole, they unfortunately have different interests. The body craves a familiar, safe and stable rhythm of life – in other words, a routine. The mind, however, constantly craves new things and more stimulation, and quickly grows tired of the status quo – the entire advertising industry is built on this phenomenon. The mind turns towards whatever makes the loudest noise or flashes the most colourfully and frequently. This means that the mind is not always at the service of the body. We must recognise this characteristic of the mind and gently and consistently direct our attention towards the body’s needs.
It is often said that all troubles stem from wrong or negative thinking. But how can we change our thinking? It is difficult to do so using the very same mechanisms by which the mind itself operates. A sure and pleasant way is to change our thinking through enjoyable physical practices: by making small, gentle, positive changes in the way you treat your body, it is possible to make your thinking more positive and your attitude to life more loving, because the body and mind are one.
Love as a healer
It is worth remembering here that the feeling of love is the greatest healer. Humans are social beings and receive both positive feelings and negative impulses through their interactions with others. By treating oneself gently and lovingly, and avoiding abrupt or extreme physical treatments, one becomes gentle and loving towards those around them as well. By being slow, gentle and loving with our own bodies, we create more slowness, gentleness and love around us. It is lovely to create a sense of slowness, care and love together with our loved ones in simple moments of togetherness.
It is lovely to create stillness – be it a break from media, a pause from emotions or the hustle and bustle of the city, pleasant, calming music or a massage. By treating ourselves with love and by cultivating and following natural habits, each of us can also contribute to the purification of our home planet and to a healthy metabolism. Through greater personal peace and balance, we create greater peace and balance within our families, communities, humanity and Mother Earth as a whole – for the damage caused to our planet by all human activity can be seen as the result of habits that are alien to the human body and sudden flashes of insight. May there be more peace, love and common sense!