People will often say that health and wealth are the two primary goals in life. You need to have money and a functioning body to be at your best.
But when you really think about it, both health and wealth are just a means to an end. The only reason you accumulate either of them is so that you can enjoy the fun stuff in life. Having a healthy body but not the quality of life would seem like an odd trade-off.
Wise people tend to think of their bodies as platforms – something that’s in the background, doing its job, allowing the rest of their being to have fun. Essentially, a healthy body gets out of the way of the rest of your life, allowing you to enjoy it.
So how do you build it? What can you do right now to create a better body and mind and live your life to the fullest? Let’s take a look.
Keep A Quiet Heart
There’s an expression that Eastern religions, such as Daoism, use often: that of the “quiet heart.”
To them, the heart and the mind are the same thing. So when they say “keep a quiet heart,” they actually mean find ways to overcome your internal chatter.
You know what it’s like when you’re alone. Your brain generates thoughts constantly, and there’s little to nothing you can do about it. The trick to keeping a quiet heart is not to stop these thoughts from arising, but to allow them to pass away, without judgment or further consideration. Imagine your brain is a train station, and your thoughts are like trains arriving. All you do is stand on the platform and allow the trains to pass. That’s all there is to it.
Move Your Fluids
We tend to steer clear of terms like “fluids” in modern western parlance because it sounds unscientific. But the body is full of them. And they need to move.
Exercise is good for you because it keeps the blood pumping and lymph moving. It’s also good for blood vessel walls, thanks to the shearing forces of the blood as it passes by.
If you can’t get to the gym at the moment, just download a free home workout guide and follow the instructions. Any movement is better than none, so don’t worry if you don’t feel like pushing yourself as you ordinarily would.
Try Breathing Deeply Before Sleep
We all know that sleep is essential for the functioning of the human body. But getting what you need can be a tremendous challenge. Our minds are so full of thoughts, it’s hard to switch them off at night.
Here’s a trick you can try: deep breathing. Try breathing in such a way that your stomach sticks out as you do it – like it did when you were a child. Avoid heaving or expanding your chest. Keep it flat. Just allow your stomach to rise and fall with each breath. Breathe in for six seconds, pause, and then breathe out for six seconds. You should find that your body automatically relaxes.
