How to Cultivate Your Mind, Body and Soul Health by Jimmy Tan

How to Cultivate Your Mind, Body and Soul Health

By

Jimmy Tan San Tek

Do you know that we are tripartite beings? As the title of this book suggests, we consist of three parts: mind, body and soul. Each of us is a living soul who has a mind and dwells in a body. Some belief systems or schools of thought go further and distinguish between soul and spirit. But since this book focuses on how to cultivate your mind, body and soul health, I won’t dwell very much on the spirit. It may suffice to say that the spirit refers to the breath. It is also known as qi in Chinese, ruach in Hebrew, or prana in Sanskrit.

It is said that we are spiritual beings on a human journey. At the core of our beings, we are all one and interconnected in the universe. As we breathe in mindfulness, we are reminded that our breath connects us with all other beings. Since the breath also refers to wind, which is a form of energy, we are all energy in a sense. As you may have learnt from science, energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another. You can transform negative energy into positive energy in order to nourish your mind, body and soul. I will elaborate on that later.

My background

I am from Singapore, an island-state in Southeast Asia. I am 47 this year, and I have been working as an editor in the educational publishing industry for about 20 years. The subjects of the books that I have edited include Geography, Social Studies, English Language, English Literature, and Food and Nutrition. I am also the author of five literature books; namely, Nature Sketch: A Poem about the Twelve Apostles in Victoria, Australia; Sugarcubes and Cupcakes: Assorted Prose and Poetry; Hanaan: Love on the Rocks (Series Book 2); Inspiring Authors: A Selection of Poetry; and Sweet Sounds of Poetry.

Over the years, I have been reading and researching health matters along the way, especially on medical conditions that have been experienced by me and other people whom I care about. Since I am not formally trained in a medical school, I won’t claim to be a healthcare expert. As much as I endeavor to share useful knowledge on health matters, I am aware that new evidence from studies by scientists and medical researchers continues to shape our understanding of health. There is also an element of subjectivity in what I am going to share because each of us has a unique body composition, genetic traits, world views and actual lived experiences. Hence, what works well for my health may not necessarily work equally well for yours or others’. With that in mind, it is good that you are reading an anthology because I believe you will find something of value and relevance to your own life from the different authors’ stories and suggestions on how to cultivate your mind, body and soul health.

In my own healing journey, I have come to realize the importance of holistic healthcare. It involves taking care of our mind, body and soul as a whole. It is unfortunate that a number of medical practitioners today tend to be too specialized in physiology, or the study of how our body functions, to the extent that they sometimes do not take into account psychosomatic factors, or how our mind and soul (or emotions) also affect our physical health.

For example, there was a time when I suddenly experienced heart palpitations in 2005 upon waking up in the middle of the night. It happened so unexpectedly that I was caught unawares, and I thought I was going to die any moment. I tried breathing as slowly and calmly as I could, but my heart continued to race. I decided to call an ambulance to take me to the nearest hospital A&E department. Fortunately, after I reached there and took the electrocardiogram (ECG) test, my heart rate began to slow down and stabilize on its own, and I was discharged from the hospital later that day.

This frightening episode happened randomly a few times over the next few months, and I had no idea why it happened. Eventually, I got to see a heart specialist who examined my heart monitor test report. After hearing about my unhealthy workaholic lifestyle, he said that the likely causes of the heart palpitations were lack of sleep, stress and burnout. After all, I had been working overtime and sometimes over weekends in my workplace ever since I started working in 1997, and I seldom took annual leave from the company to rest and recharge. He advised me to priorities resting my body in order to recover from the sleep debt that had been accumulating over the years. He also advised me to cut down on caffeine intake (since I was a regular tea drinker) for the time being.

Much as I am thankful for his advice, upon looking back, I think there were three other factors that might also have contributed to the heart palpitations. They include the physical factor (lack of exercise for the body), emotional factor (depression) and mental factor (low self-esteem).

Firstly, until the early 2000s, I had been living a fairly active lifestyle. I had been jogging, hiking and playing badminton ever since my junior college days. I even participated in dragon boat rowing around 2000. However, somewhere along the way, I became more involved in work and exercised less often. By around 2003 or 2004, my sedentary lifestyle had caused me to gain a little bit of weight too. It was a matter of time before my health finally broke down in 2005. I tendered resignation from the company to rest at home and did freelance work for several months until I recovered sufficiently to work full-time again the following year. While recovering, I was learning more about the importance of physical exercise. Besides ensuring that I get adequate sleep, I also gradually reintroduced some exercises in my lifestyle, such as taking walks in Nature and climbing stairs, which helped to strengthen my heart.

Secondly, I remember in early 2005, my pet hamster died of old age. It was my first pet hamster, and I felt depressed intermittently for several months. I didn’t know how to cope with grief, and the feelings of depression went unchecked. In fact, I wasn’t aware of how gloomy I must have looked until I saw a group picture taken with my colleagues, and I noticed that my shoulders were slumped and my face appeared glum. I was taken aback, as I had thought I usually looked fine when I peered at my reflection in the mirror, unless of course I only made the effort to smile when I happened to look in a mirror. So, I believe the prolonged period of depression (which I didn’t know how to process properly in order to feel, deal with and heal from it) would have played a part in affecting my heart health.

Thirdly, I had been struggling with low self-esteem since childhood. It may have started in primary school where I was bullied by some of my schoolmates, and I also felt intimidated by the harsh punitive performance-based environment. My low self-esteem persisted in secondary school when I wore thick glasses and hearing aids due to having developed short-sightedness and hearing deficiency by then. I became self-conscious concerning how nerdy and awkward I looked, and I couldn't fit in with the cliques. Back then, there was no social media where I could find support groups for nerds and geeks, so I pretty much felt lonely and left out. Things didn’t improve when I entered junior college as I was teased for looking like a country bumpkin and being socially inept, which caused me to feel rejected and inadequate.

By the time I entered university in 1994 after serving National Service, I was experiencing some form of existential crisis as life appeared meaningless. Although I had studied Buddhism as a religious subject in secondary school and loved its wisdom and insights, its emphasis that everything is impermanent sounded depressing, even if it is true. I was probably going through early life trauma as a result of the cumulative effects of the aforementioned factors. The feeling of isolation and marginalization and the bleak prospects of having to fit into the mainstream capitalistic system in the industrialized world in order to be accepted were taking a toll on me, and I felt suicidal at some points.

After graduating from university and entering the working world, I poured my heart and soul into work. Come to think of it, it was partly a subconscious attempt to derive a sense of recognition to prove my worth, other than wanting to make a positive difference with my gifts and talents. My search for approval and validation from society turned out to be an emotional roller coaster, as I had unwittingly put myself at the mercy of people around me.

Sometime in 2001, I was invited to a church by a colleague. I decided to keep an open mind as I thought going to church could help me in my search for the meaning of life. When I was spending more time to read the Bible, some verses somehow resonated with me, such as Ecclesiastes 1:1 which acknowledges the meaninglessness of life. I began to accept the Christian faith as part of my spiritual journey. However, I was listening to mixed messages about God’s love and the fear of punishment in that church, which caused me to easily feel condemned for every little mistake I thought I was making in my deeds, words or thoughts. Life eventually became a drag, and it felt as if I was just spinning my wheels heading to nowhere in particular. Then, the inevitable happened that fateful night in 2005, which turned my life upside down.

That period of time was one of the lowest points of my life, if not the lowest. But it also became a turning point in my life because usually when one hits rock bottom, the only way to go is up. It so happened that while I was still jobless and recovering from heart palpitations at home, a kind friend gave me a Christian book called Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen. It opened my eyes to see myself differently and dare to believe that I am unconditionally loved and I am intrinsically valuable as a child of God. Though I may not agree with every theological view written in that book, I acknowledge that it was instrumental in helping me to rise above low self-esteem and heal emotionally, which in turn boosted my physical healing.

This leads us to the next part of this chapter, which is about how to cultivate your mind.

Cultivating your mind

I believe the quality of our health and well-being starts with our mind, which has to do with our belief system. As illustrated in my story above, what you believe about yourself will ultimately manifest in your physical, mental and emotional health. Thus, you need to guard your eye-gates, ear-gates and mouth-gate (i.e. what you see, what you hear, and what you say about yourself respectively). It may help to imagine your body as a building or a temple, where your eyes, ears and mouth are gateways through which you allow positive energy or negative energy to enter.

Nikola Tesla, a scientist and inventor, once said, “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” Similarly, to learn the secrets of good health, it helps to know how to transform negative energy into positive energy. Negative energy may take the form of fear, shame or condemnation, which is harmful to your health and well-being if it remains unprocessed and untransformed over time. On the other hand, positive energy may take the form of love, self-worth or empowerment, which is beneficial to your health and well-being.

Hence, the litmus test for evaluating a belief system is: “Do I feel loved or fearful? Worthy or shamed? Empowered or condemned?” As regards belief systems, I believe there is something worthwhile to learn from religious or spiritual traditions, even if you don’t consider yourself religious or spiritual. Even for secular literature such as science, medicine, philosophy or psychology, or simply an email, text message, newspaper or advertisement, you may wish to check yourself as to whether you feel empowered or disempowered upon reading it. I will share some examples of how certain beliefs can affect your mind, body and soul health mainly from my own experiences with the Buddhist philosophy and Christian faith. Though these traditions have diverse teachings, I believe that there are certain universal principles which may apply in your own life as well, even if you don’t subscribe to either of the traditions.

Love or fear?

Love comes in many forms. According to the ancient Greeks, there are eight types of love. These include agape (selfless unconditional love), philautia (healthy self-love), storage (kinship love), philia (friendship love), and eros (physical or romantic love) and so on. Since I am talking about cultivating your mind in terms of your belief system, I will focus on agape, which is the highest form of love. Buddhists describe it as metta or universal loving-kindness, while Christians describe it as the infinite self-sacrificial love of God. It is said that unconditional, unlimited love is the highest frequency in the universe.

The opposite of love is fear. Although fear can serve a useful function by preparing you to react to danger, living in chronic fear can weaken your immune system and damage your physical and mental health. As shared earlier, when I was attending Sunday services in a former church, I used to listen to mixed messages about the love of God and the fear of punishment. As a new believer who was immature in the faith, I didn’t know how to rightly divide the word of truth, in terms of distinguishing between the old covenant of law and new covenant of grace. Nor was I aware that the Bible may be interpreted from a psychoanalytical perspective, whereby the people living in biblical times might be projecting their fears and hopes onto a mental image of a schizophrenic god (until Jesus came to reveal the full expression of Divine Love and the mystery of humanity’s union with God).

Consequently, I developed a mental image of a "god" or deity who is a pernickety all-knowing judge who was hard to please and was out to find fault with everything I did, said or thought. I would find myself mentally apologizing repeatedly if I happened to do or say or think something improperly. Many a time, I felt frustrated with myself for being such a sorry existence, and at some points, I even asked “god” to kill me so that I would not cause any more embarrassment. Also, whenever something bad happened to me, such as a sickness or mishap, I would invariably wonder if that was a punishment from “god” for something I did wrong or something I didn’t do correctly.

It was after reading the book Your Best Life Now and going to a grace-based church, which preaches the gospel of grace, that I began to realize I was living in the fear of punishment. One of the verses from the Bible that set me free from fear is this:

“There is no fear where love (agape) exists. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18, ISV)

The gospel has shifted my perspective from seeing God as an angry dictatorial judge to a loving and gracious divine father/mother, as it declares that “God is love”. Not only that, it gives me the revelation that we and God are one instead of separate entities, for “as Christ is, so are we in this world”, and “nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus”. I believe that knowing how much I am unconditionally loved plays a significant role in my recovery from heart palpitations.

The above episode underlines why it is so important to be mindful about what you read hear or say about yourself because what you believe will affect your health. It helps to question your belief system and ask yourself whether it brings love or fear. For example, some of us may be confused about certain Christian doctrines that seem to have to do with the fear of punishment, such as the hell doctrine, the fear of the Lord, and so on.

To address such confusion, I would like to share some findings from my own research. As these are huge topics that can fill a whole book, I will summaries them as succinctly as possible here. Simply put, the word “hell” in the Bible is symbolic or metaphorical, not literal. It also directly relates to the Jewish audience in the first century AD when the New Testament was written, not to today’s audience, although we can learn something from the writings. As for the fear of the Lord, it refers to the reverential awe and worship of God, in whom we live and move and have our being. It is not about being afraid of God (since God is love) but rather acknowledging the wisdom of God in us, as us, with us and for us.*

Last but not least, Proverbs 4:22-23 exhorts us to guard our heart above everything, for from it flow the springs of life. Hence, instead of paying attention to fear-based doctrines or fear-mongering news reports that sicken or paralyze people, you may like to tune in to words of grace and truth that encourage and build you up. In fact, researchers have found that people who feel loved and supported have stronger immune systems and are less likely to get sick.

Self-worth or shame?

Self-worth is a sense of your own worth or value as a person. It is said that you are more valuable than many sparrows, which are taken care of by God. Therefore, realize how much more you are loved and well taken care of by your heavenly Father. Your intrinsic value as a child of God/Universe is immeasurable. Your innate value is neither increased nor diminished by what you do or how much you possess or how popular you are in the eyes of society. When you value yourself and have healthy self-esteem, you are less likely to suffer from anxiety and more likely to reach your full potential.

* If you wish to know more details about these topics, may I invite you to read my blogs in themysteryofchrist.wordpress.com?

On the other hand, shame is the feeling of unworthiness or the feeling that you are inadequate or not good enough. According to social work researcher Brene Brown, shame is different from guilt in the sense that shame reflects on who you are, whereas guilt reflects on what you do. Some of the shame triggers that she has identified include body image, work, family, religion, speaking out, surviving trauma, being labeled, and so on.

For example, you may occasionally come across an advertisement that tries to dictate how a person’s body shape or skin color should look like in order to be considered “good-looking” or “beautiful”. You can choose to reject such superficial views and refuse to allow yourself to be objectified or to give in to body shaming. If the truth be known, your body is a sacred gift of God/Universe, and there is nothing shameful about it. As inferred from Psalm 139, each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made. One way to overcome body shame is through nudism or naturism, which can be practiced at home or in a safe and appropriate social environment. It is a movement that promotes body acceptance and positive self-image, while denouncing misleading propaganda that distorts our self-perception or over-sexualizes the human body. Naturism may be an aspiration to model the lifestyle of indigenous peoples in traditional societies who live naked and unashamed in Nature and interact with one another with respect, dignity and civility, regardless of appearance or social status. Its health benefits include having better self-esteem, feeling more relaxed, and receiving more natural vitamin D from sun exposure, which boosts your immune system.

Another way to overcome body shame, especially if you identify as a Black, Indigenous or Person of Color (BIPOC), is to reject the propaganda of white supremacy which exalts fair skin over dark skin. In actuality, our skin color is an evolutionary adaptation to the climate of the area in which our ancestors live. People who live in warmer climates generally have darker skins, which have more melanin. The melanin protects the skin from UV radiation of the sun. Hence, our skin color has nothing to do with our self-worth, or racial or ethnic superiority for that matter. Sadly, the black and white doll experiments on children done in the 1940s in the USA reveal that the Black children had been brought up in a racially discriminatory system to hate themselves for having darker skins, according to Welansa Asrat, a specialist in cross-cultural psychiatry, exposure to anti-Black bias is a risk for internalized racism and low self-esteem. Fortunately, there are ways to protect against that risk, such as having a pro-Black identity bias and appreciating the purpose and power of melanin in your skin.

In a work, family, social or religious setting, you may sometimes hear or read messages from people who use shame to belittle, denigrate or manipulate others. If you feel shamed by their judgmental words, acknowledge how you feel and choose not to react or be controlled by them. It is advisable to maintain healthy boundaries with them in order to protect your peace and well-being. Understand that their words are not a reflection of your worth, but rather a reflection of how they feel shamed themselves. If their internal issues of shame and low self-esteem remain unresolved, they will be likely to perpetuate these issues by shaming others. This can happen to any one of us because we all have our internal issues due to having suffered from past injustices, mistreatments or misunderstandings from others. Each of us needs to acknowledge and process our feelings of hurts and pains in order to experience healing and wholeness.

As Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh noted:

"When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending."

On another note, if you are a survivor of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), you may be prone to shame because of the stigma of being judged by society as weak or unworthy. Likewise, if you are labeled in a dismissive or derogatory manner, you may experience shame. For example, you may have come across insensitive marketing campaigns that use disparaging labels or negative stereotypes, such as “freeloaders”, “over thinkers” and “unsuccessful people”, as an attempt to manipulate the audience by shaming into responding to their call to action. Such shaming tactics fail to take into consideration the systemic challenges you may be facing in your daily life, and they can understandably cause anxiety and distress.

Regardless of the kind of shame triggers, studies have shown that shame contributes to suffering, impairs health and interferes with healthy relationships. According to some counselors, the antidote to shame is vulnerability and self-compassion. It takes courage to be vulnerable and admit your pain, fear and trauma as part of being human. When you practice self-compassion, you no longer shame yourself or allow others to shame you for any perceived flaw or weakness. Instead, you can tell yourself, “It is okay to be human. In spite of any imperfection I may see in myself, I am still a precious child of God/Universe. There is nothing wrong with me, and I am intrinsically perfect, whole and complete. This is my true identity.” Being gentle with yourself and practicing non-judgment and positive self-affirmations regularly will rewire your mental pathways, which will lead to better mental and physical health.

Empowerment or condemnation?

Empowerment comes from knowing that it is your birthright to receive good gifts from the universe and you have the power to make a positive change in the world. It comes not by doing anything but by trusting in God’s grace and resting in the truth that you are a beloved child of God/Universe. The word “grace” means undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor of God/Divine Love. That means you don’t have to do anything to qualify for divine favor. Similarly, nothing you do can disqualify you from receiving all the blessings of God/Universe. These blessings include peace, healing, health, wholeness and prosperity in every area of your life. (3 John 2)

On the other hand, condemnation refers to penalty or punishment due to violating the law or failing to meet certain requirements. According to Christian pastor Joseph Prince, condemnation is the deepest root of our problems that cause shame, fear and stress. It began in the biblical Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve partook from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That tree is a symbol of the law, for "by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). The word “sin” means falling short of the mark. As a noun, it isn’t referring to wrongdoing, but rather a state of mind in which we forget our true identity and feel alienated from God or our highest self. (Colossians 1:21) The law is also known as the 10 commandments, which were written and engraved on stones, and is described as the ministry of condemnation or the ministry of death in 2 Corinthians 3.

How your mindset or belief system affects your mental, physical and emotional health. The tree of life represents the grace mindset, which produces empowerment. The tree of knowledge of good and evil represents the law mindset, which produces condemnation.

After eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve became sin-conscious. They felt condemned and mistakenly thought they became separated from God, which is contrary to reality. It caused them to feel naked and ashamed, and they decided to cover their sense of unworthiness by using their own efforts to make a covering with fig leaves. Then, they were fearful upon hearing God’s voice and expected bad things to happen, even though they were created to enjoy blessings freely. They would also feel stress and anxiety that came with the painful toil through which they would eat from the ground that was accursed.

Thankfully, right after the fall, there began the salvation story where God prophesied that the woman's Seed would eventually crush the head of the serpent that had tempted them to partake from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That Seed is Christ, who came to set humanity free from the law of sin and death through his finished work at the cross, as it is written:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, NKJV)

How do the above verses in Romans 8 relate to cultivating your mind in everyday life? Let’s decode the symbolic language and see how it applies to you. “Walking according to the flesh” refers to depending on your efforts to prove your worth. It falsely assumes that you have lost your value and connection with Divine Love. On the other hand, “walking according to the Spirit” refers to depending on divine grace that affirms your innate worth. It rightly presupposes that you remain worthy and connected with Divine Love.

From a psychoanalytical perspective, salvation is about being saved from the “death drive”, which refers to our self-destructiveness. Salvation isn’t about being saved from some physical place called “hell” or from an external being in the sky called “god”. In the context of Romans 7, the apostle Paul was describing his struggles with the death drive when he tried to follow the law that tells him to do something in order to be accepted by God. But the more he sought to establish his own righteousness by keeping the law, the more condemned he felt because the law demands perfect obedience at all times. He finally came to the end of himself and proclaimed in the next chapter (Romans 8) how Christ has set us all free from the law of sin and death so that we can experience life and peace.

Similarly, according to radical theologian Peter Rollins, your journey from selfhood to sainthood is about being free from the shackles of guilt and condemnation. It is about experiencing radical grace and being free from striving after some object that seems to offer satisfaction, such as seeking attention for social recognition, which inadvertently causes you to turn against yourself or others. In fact, Buddha also identified the wrong kind of striving (or craving or unwholesome desire) as the cause of suffering.

For example, if you depend on your works striving to become righteous or worthy, you will be susceptible to stress, anxiety, fear and shame, as you will get stuck on a performance treadmill. It will cause you to feel condemned whenever you fail to measure up to some impossible standards or arbitrary societal expectations. It will also cause you to feel self-righteous whenever you think you have performed well in order to become someone great and be accepted by God or by society. It is actually a miserable way to live your life because you have placed your sense of identity on the unstable ground of performance-based living, fluctuating between highs and lows, instead of on the unshakeable rock of grace-based living, with Christ as your everlasting righteousness. It may also sabotage your healing if you fall sick because you may erroneously believe that the sickness is a result of some divine punishment that you deserve for something you did in the past. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Jesus' healing of the man who was born blind testifies that the blindness has nothing to do with his performance in his past life or his parents' actions, and he qualifies for healing purely by God's grace.

Hence, the grace of God/Divine Love empowers you to rise above condemnation by renewing your mind that you are already a beloved child of God/universe, who is your highest self. You will realize that you have never been separated from God, and you will cease to rely on your performance to derive your sense of worth and identity. Instead, you will rest in what Christ has done for you, knowing that you can freely enjoy the abundance of blessings. Symbolically speaking, Christ is the tree of life, who is also personified as Wisdom in the book of Proverbs:

“[Wisdom] is a tree of life for those who take firm hold of it. Those who cling to it are blessed.” (Proverbs 3:18, GWT)

To be sure, resting in Christ doesn’t mean doing nothing or having a sense of entitlement because it is not about living as though the world owes you something. Rather, it is about living your life with the knowledge of your true identity, which is complete and whole. It is also about doing things out of love and acceptance instead of doing things to earn love and acceptance. You will stop comparing yourself with others and participating in the violent system of competition. Your actions will also naturally line up with your belief that you are righteous in Christ, for right believing will lead to right living. Above all, you will live a life of inward rest that produces inner peace, deep joy, and vibrant health and well-being.

Testimony on healing through finding freedom from condemnation

According to a praise report written by an anonymous church-goer in Singapore, although she had accepted Christ at a young age in kindergarten, she had been listening to messages containing a mixture of law and grace while studying in Christian schools. As a result, her thinking and actions became law-based under the legalistic teaching. After leaving school, she was having trust issues from broken friendships, experienced social anxiety and felt lost in life. Later, she met an old friend in university who invited her to a church where she heard the gospel of grace. She felt God was speaking to her directly, and she kept attending church to hear the messages and receive healing. She learnt there was no condemnation in Christ. She kept confessing “I am the righteousness of God in Christ” whenever negative thoughts came. She believed that the Lord healed her broken heart and old wounds in less than a year. She could love others out of an overflow and could hear God’s voice even better now. She was thankful for her new life in Christ and what He has done for her at the cross.

Source: https://www.josephprince.org/blog/praise-reports/healed-of-broken-heart-no-more-condemnation-in-christ

Cultivating your body

Cultivating your body is as important as cultivating your mind. While your belief system directly influences your mental health, your actions directly influence your physical health (which in turn will influence your mental and emotional health). For example, if you neglect eating well, getting adequate sleep or exercising regularly, you will experience negative consequences in your body, mind and emotions, and vice versa.

Your body can be likened to a holy temple that houses your mind and soul. Just as a good steward seeks to maintain the splendor of the temple, you can take care of your body by watching what you eat and drink, as well as how you rest and move about in your daily life.

Eating and drinking guidelines

There is an ancient saying that goes, “Let thy food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” It emphasizes the importance of nutrition to prevent or cure diseases. In other words, the quality of food you eat influences your body’s capacity to protect itself from diseases or to heal itself. Hence, instead of processed foods or dietary supplements, your main source of nutrition should come from natural foods and/or minimally processed foods that contain a variety of nutrients, including fats, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins.

As mentioned earlier, each of us has a unique body composition, genetic traits, world views and actual lived experiences. Hence, different dietary habits work best for different people, as it depends on factors such as food sensitivities, allergies, lifestyle, health conditions, gut microbes, etc. For example, some people may be gluten-intolerant, while others may be allergic to nuts. Some people can survive on vegan diets, while others such as Eskimos are used to mainly meat-based diets. Dietary concerns also differ for babies, young children, pregnant women, elderly people, and patients with health conditions or who are undergoing health treatments. Nevertheless, I believe there are certain principles or guidelines regarding eating and drinking that may be universal.

Firstly, studies have shown that many of the tried-and-tested healthy diets, such as Mediterranean diet, low-carbohydrate diet, paleo diet, and whole foods, plant-based diet, share certain characteristics. They include low added refined sugar, low refined carbohydrates, low saturated fats, no artificial Tran’s fats, high fiber and plenty of green leafy vegetables. In addition, diets containing probiotics such as fermented foods, like yogurt, kamahi and sauerkraut, boost immunity and support the digestive system, as they contain good bacteria. Since the nervous system in your gut is connected to your brain, having a healthy gut is beneficial for your mood and mental health too.

An example of an unhealthy diet is one that contains too much refined sugar, which can overload the liver and cause diabetes, heart disease, tooth decay and type II diabetes. Also, be careful of foods that use synthetic sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners, such as saccharin and aspartame, as they may have negative side effects such as harming your gut bacteria. In my case, I have learnt to avoid foods and drinks that contain added refined sugar or artificial sweeteners, such as donuts and soft drinks or soda pop, wherever possible. Instead, I choose to eat fruits which contain natural sugars, use honey as a natural sugar substitute, and drink tea without sugar. Besides honey, you may also consider other safe sugar alternatives such as agave nectar, date sugar or maple syrup.

Secondly, when it comes to choosing foods and drinks, moderation is the key. As you may already know, too much of a good thing can be bad. For example, while it is good to drink plenty of water every day 一 about eight to 10 glasses of water on average, depending on your health, lifestyle and the weather 一 in order to stay hydrated, prevent constipation and eliminate toxins from the body, it is possible to be over hydrated if you drink much more water than your body needs within a short period of time. Over hydration can result in low sodium levels in the blood, which can be dangerous or even life-threatening. However, it is unlikely for most people to drink too much water, except for some athletes who may unwittingly drink excessive water in a bid to avoid dehydration, or some patients who suffer from heart failure or kidney disease as they may not be able to excrete excess water from their bodies properly.

One popular method to avoid extremes in eating and drinking is the 80/20 rule. For example, you can ensure that 80 percent of what you eat is wholesome foods, such as nuts, grains, fruits, legumes, mushrooms, green leafy vegetables and lean meat, while the remaining 20 percent may include less healthy foods that you happen to love to eat, such as an occasional cake, bacon, ice-cream or fried chicken wings. However, the 80/20 rule may not work for everyone, nor does it work all the time. For example, not everyone meticulously keeps track of what they eat on a daily basis. Also, there may be times when you have to totally avoid certain unhealthy foods, such as those containing added refined sugar, especially if you are experiencing health conditions such as toothache. It is better to be safe than sorry, and prevention is always better than cure. Having said that, the 80/20 rule can be useful as a general guideline to help you eat and drink in moderation.

Testimony on the health benefits of eating a balanced diet in moderation

Known as one of the fastest septuagenarians in the world, Charles “Buddy” Allie held nine world records for sprinting at a ripe old age of 72. In 2018, he broke his own record for the 400-metre race in Spain, reaching the finishing line in 57.26 seconds. No one in his age group came close to hitting the under-a-minute mark. He attributed his record-breaking speed to his diet. (He also ensured that he gave his body enough time to recover during training.) Charles’s approach to eating is simple food in moderation, without supplements, protein shakes or energy bars. For example, he would start his morning with orange juice, oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar, fruit, and green tea. Sometimes, he would put bananas and blueberries in his oatmeal; other times, he would put raisins, walnuts or pecan too. This has been his breakfast for the past 25 years. On a running day, he might add some eggs and bacon to the mix for extra fuel. On some days, he wouldn’t eat again until dinner. He usually eats simple meals of mostly proteins and vegetables, together with grains like rice and pasta.

Source:

https://heated.medium.com/this-is-what-one-of-the-worlds-fastest-runners-eats-for-breakfast-b71b3a53eb8d 

Thirdly, if you fall sick, you may wish to rely on healing foods such as herbs rather than pharmaceutical drugs for optimal recovery because natural plant compounds are usually safer and more effective than their synthetic counterparts. Like spiritual musician and herb advocate Bob Marley said, “There’s an herb for every system, every organ, and every tissue of our body. Mother Nature has put medicine in our food.” 

Although herbs have been used as natural remedies in traditional societies for millennia, they are usually considered alternative medicine in our modern societies. Thankfully, herbal remedies are experiencing a resurgence of interest as more and more researchers are conducting scientific studies on how herbs can be used to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s. In fact, the President of China, Xi Jinping, has called the 21st century a new golden age for traditional medicine.

A National Geographic article dated 2019 on how ancient remedies are changing modern medicine observed that herbal prescriptions are a big part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). These formulas may comprise a single herb or a combination of many herbs and are customized based on a patient’s condition, age, gender, and body type. Since herbalist is a vast topic, it is impossible to cover every herb and its uses and possible contraindications and side effects without filling the whole book. Perhaps it would suffice to share my poem below, which offers a glimpse of how herbs can be used to treat common ailments.

If you're coughing, add rosemary.

If you feel bloated, add parsley.

If you have menstrual cramps, add oregano.

If you're always feeling tired, add cilantro.

If you've achy joints, add curry powder.

If you're feeling nauseous, add ginger.

If you're feeling down, add basil.

If you've an upset gastrointestinal tract, add dill.

Of course, each herb has more than one medicinal use, and each ailment can also be treated by some other herb than those mentioned above. For example, during those times when I experienced a sore throat or the common flu, I would occasionally drink thyme tea or oregano tea for treatment. Both herbal teas worked equally well for me. Like all the other information I am sharing in this chapter, the above poem is only a brief overview, which I hope can inspire you to research and discover the numerous benefits of herbs for yourself. Do keep in mind that the safety and effectiveness of herbal therapy depend on a number of factors, such as where the herbs are grown and how they are harvested, and some herbs may not be suitable for infants, young children, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Also, it may be inadvisable to stop taking prescribed medications in favor of herbs without first discussing it with your General Practitioner or doing research on its overall health implications.

Before moving on to the next part of this chapter, I would like to add that healthy eating and drinking isn’t confined to foods and drinks alone; in a broader sense, it includes anything that you ingest through your five senses (taste, smell, see, hear and touch). It means taking responsibility for anything that you ingest through your mouth, such as ensuring that you are eating foods that are free from harmful chemical pesticides or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) wherever possible, and refraining from substance abuse such as smoking cigarettes which is harmful to your health and the health of those around you. It also means taking care of your eye and ear health, such as resting your eyes from the screen every 20 to 30 minutes or so when using your Smartphone or computer, and avoiding prolonged exposure to excessive noise. In addition, it includes skin care, hair care and dental care. For example, avoid wearing tight clothing that irritates the skin and restricts blood circulation, and avoid using shampoo or toothpaste that contains toxic chemicals, such as parabens and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), which may be carcinogenic.

Resting and moving guidelines

Just as it is important to have a balanced diet and eat and drink in moderation, it is also important to maintain a healthy balance in terms of resting and moving your body. Some ways to rest your body properly includes getting adequate sleep and breathing mindfully, whereas some ways to move your body in a healthy manner include going into Nature and exercising. These ways are by no means exhaustive, as I want to highlight mainly methods that I am familiar with and have personally benefitted from.

According to National Sleep Foundation guidelines, healthy adults need an average of seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Babies, young children and teenagers need more sleep to enable their growth and development. Older adults over 65 may find seven to eight hours of sleep every night sufficient.

To decide how much sleep you actually need, consider your overall health, daily activities, and typical sleep patterns. For example, if you are recovering from fatigue or illness, you may need to sleep more to aid your body’s recovery. Otherwise, a lack of sleep can result in negative effects on your health, such as irritability, poor concentration, raised blood pressure, reduced work efficiency, reduced awareness of the surroundings, and difficulty in solving problems, remembering things, making decisions, and controlling emotions and behavior. In fact, a study reveals that sleep deprivation could be as risky for drivers as alcohol. As a cyclist, I also need to ensure I get sufficient rest in order to stay alert while cycling on the road. I learnt this lesson the hard way in August 2017 when I fell down while cycling down a sloping road ー I had lost concentration momentarily, possibly due to lack of sleep, and I sustained injuries from the fall, including chipped teeth and bruises on my lips, arms and legs. Thankfully, I have recovered since then.

To recover from a sleep deficit, it helps to take naps during the day where possible. It is better to take naps, say for 20 or 30 minutes or longer if necessary, than to stay awake for extended periods of time. Taking naps has been shown to boost a person’s memory and creativity, as well as improve one’s mood and performance. It is unfortunate that in the post-industrial world where we are treated like machines and busyness is worshipped, the importance of sleep is often neglected and rest is usually mistaken for laziness. I hope that what I have shared so far will bring home the point that getting adequate sleep has profound beneficial effects on your mental, physical and emotional health, which in turn can improve your relationships with others as well.

Like in the case of sleep, the beneficial effects of mindful breathing on your overall health cannot be overstated. Although breathing comes naturally to us without us having to make any effort, it often goes unnoticed as we tend to keep ourselves occupied with miscellaneous activities. Yet if you choose to practice mindful breathing or deep breathing at any point in time, you can enjoy its health benefits immediately. Taking deep slow breaths improves immunity, lowers blood pressure, reduces heart rate, oxygenates the blood, exercises the lungs, decreases stress hormones, and increases physical and mental energy. In fact, deep breathing is one of the body’s strongest self-healing tools. To cap it all, it is free and accessible to everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, and status or belief system.

Understandably, it may not be possible to practice deep breathing exercises at all times, especially if you are having a runny nose or you are in a crowded place where the air isn’t really fresh. I have experienced such constraints before. Nevertheless, it is still possible to practice mindful breathing wherever you are by simply being aware of your breathing patterns, gently noticing the inhaling and exhaling of air. I suppose for many of us in modern societies, this may sound easy but can be one of the most difficult exercises to practice. The very accessibility of our breathing may lull us into complacency as we tend to take it for granted. Also, its sheer simplicity tends to confound the mind, as we may have been influenced by the frantic world system that screams at us, “Don’t just sit there. Do something!” The paradox, however, is that when you take time to just sit there and breathe mindfully, you will feel more restful, enjoy the present moment and find more clarity in your purpose or directions in life, and you will end up doing something that will bear good fruit in due season. Perhaps Thich Nhat Hanh said it best:

“Breathing in, I calm body and mind.

Breathing out, I smile.

Dwelling in the present moment,

I know this is the only moment.

The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.”

Another way to calm your body and mind is to go into Nature, which can be a park, garden, forest, lakeside or seashore. Studies have shown that trees and other plants give off airborne chemicals called phytoncides, which have antibacterial and antifungal qualities for fighting disease. When you breathe in the fresh air in a forest or other green spaces, you also breathe in these chemicals, which cause your body to increase white blood cells that kill tumor- and virus-infected cells. Besides boosting your immune system, spending time around plants and looking at the greenery can reduce stress, improve your mood and lower your blood pressure. Likewise, research has found that taking a walk near blue spaces, such as seas, lakes, rivers and even urban water features, can improve your mental and physical health.

Last but not least, exercising, such as brisk walking, jogging and cycling, boosts mental and physical health. For example, exercising improves your mood through the release of endorphins in your body. Endorphins are chemicals that interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. The endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in your body, similar to that of morphine. At the same time, exercising reduces your risk of heart diseases and helps your body to manage blood sugar and insulin levels. As shared earlier, when I began to exercise more regularly during my recovery from heart palpitations, such as taking walks in Nature and climbing stairs, I gradually regained my heart health and mental well-being.

According to World Health Organization, sedentary lifestyles increase all causes of mortality, double the risk of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases, and increase the risks of anxiety, depression, osteoporosis, colon cancer and high blood pressure. Hence, one key goal of exercising is to get the body moving in order to improve blood flow and circulation as well as keep any stagnant qi or energy moving in the body. Studies have found that a daily walk can reduce the risk of stroke in both men and women and even lower your risk of death by up to 39 percent. Also, one study has found that just 12 minutes of walking resulted in an increase in vigor, joviality, attentiveness and self-confidence, versus the same time spent sitting.

It is useful to note that exercising doesn’t have to be vigorous like aerobics, nor does it have to involve going to the gym or taking part in competitive sports. Gentle exercises, such as qigong, taichi, yoga and Pilates, are accessible to people of all ages and body types and can be easily customized according to your health needs and conditions. These exercises improve flexibility and postures, increase muscle strength and tone, and help prevent injury when done properly and mindfully. As with eating and drinking mentioned earlier, moderation is the key, so take care not to overstretch yourself or overdo any form of exercise beyond your body's limitation in order to avoid or minimize the risk of injury.

Cultivating your soul

One definition of the soul is that it refers to our emotions. Our soul is different from our mind, which deals with our thoughts, mindsets or belief systems. An emotion can be understood as "energy in motion" because we can feel or sense the vibrations of its energy. Though your mind is different from your soul, your thoughts and emotions are intertwined because what you think can determine the kind of emotions you feel. Likewise, your actions and emotions are interconnected; for example, you can choose to do things that make you feel happy, such as listening to your favorite music or taking a walk in Nature to stay grounded.

Although we often use the terms “feelings” and “emotions” interchangeably in our everyday life, we shall differentiate them here for the purpose of understanding our soul better. It is said that feelings are emotional experiences and physical sensations felt consciously, such as pain, pleasure and hunger. In comparison, emotions may be experienced consciously or subconsciously, such as love, joy, peace, fear, guilt, shame, grief, anxiety and excitement. In fact, it may take years, or even a lifetime, to explore and understand the depths of your emotions.

If you do not acknowledge your emotions, especially painful ones such as fear, guilt and shame, they will remain buried in your subconscious mind and may sabotage you in terms of your health and relationships, often without you realizing it. For example, people who struggle with chronic guilt tend to have a higher risk of depression and anxiety. Studies have shown that if you repress your emotions for a long time, you suppress your body’s immunity, which makes you more vulnerable to a variety of illnesses, ranging from common colds to cancer.

Furthermore, if you do not come to terms with the trauma of being confronted with a difficult emotion, such as chronic fear or guilt, you may also invariably find yourself censoring or condemning others for exhibiting the same emotion. You may have seen such examples of the cancel culture being played out on social media, where many people join forces to publicly shame a celebrity or personality for doing or saying things they disagree with, such as regarding xenophobia or body shaming or some other offence. By doing so, they are actually shaming and condemning a part of themselves that they see in the other person, instead of choosing to acknowledge their own internal issues and engage in healthy productive conversations. Philosopher Rene Girard calls this defense mechanism “scapegoating”, while psychoanalysts such as Jacques Lacan call it a “projection”.

According to therapist Jenny Florence, if our eyes are the windows of our soul, then our emotions are the voice of our soul. They connect us to the very core of how we feel about ourselves, others and life itself. Thus, cultivating your soul means nurturing your emotional health. In order to do so, you need to make friends with all your emotions, instead of treating some of them as enemies. That means being willing to feel your emotions and deal with them, especially the difficult ones, instead of numbing, denying, ignoring, downplaying or repressing them. For example, distracting yourself with work, entertainment, emotional eating, etc in order to avoid facing your trauma may provide temporary relief, but it doesn't allow you to heal effectively and stay emotionally healthy. It takes tremendous courage to be honest and vulnerable with yourself and work through the painful emotions and trauma as it may feel like going through the dark night of the soul or the wilderness experience, but it is worth the journey.

Feeling your emotions

The first step of cultivating your soul is to acknowledge your emotions and give yourself permission to feel the emotions, whether they are positive or negative. Though this sounds simple, it is not always easy to practice. For example, I grew up in a fairly repressive environment at home, in school and at the workplace, where an open expression of emotions seems to be frowned upon most of the time. I remember there were times when I laughed or showed happiness, my parents at home or my seniors in the junior college or my boss at the workplace would show signs of disapproval, as if I wasn’t supposed to enjoy life too much or as if I should look serious all the time. Similarly, I remember there was a time when I cried at home as a young boy because I felt sorry for a doll whose finger was broken, and my father happened to return from work; he somehow became angry when he saw me crying and started to cane me for no reason. Such traumatic episodes remain in my memory until today. They have invariably caused me to hide or suppress my emotions many a time, instead of expressing them in a safe and healthy way.

To be sure, living in a society does require us to moderate how we express our emotions to a certain extent, depending on our cultures, especially when we reach adulthood. Data journalist Rosie Cima observed that according to cultural studies, in an individualistic culture like in America, an individual’s value system puts more emphasis on the individual, as opposed to the greater good, and their own happiness — and freedom from suffering — becomes much more important. Thus, the individual wants to feel good instead of feeling bad in order to stand out in a positive light. Conversely, in a collectivist society such as in many Asian countries, feeling too good could be undesirable, if it poses a threat to harmony. Likewise, negative emotions might be seen as more advantageous for a variety of reasons. These reasons may include politeness, reciprocation of favors, and respect for tradition.

That being said, there is a place for acknowledging and feeling our emotions in our personal life or our private space, as it is part of being human. After all, machines or robots are unable to feel emotions as they are mechanical, cold and lifeless. Emotions are a sign that you are human, warm and alive, and you are capable of generating positive or negative energy, which can potentially heal or harm yourself and others. For example, when you feel happy or loved, you experience healing and peace, which in turn will positively impact others too. On the other hand, when you feel depressed or fearful, you can choose to transform it through mindfulness practice in order to experience healing and peace, instead of allowing it to remain unchecked and cause harm.

Dealing with your emotions

As a form of psychotherapy, practicing mindfulness meditation in a quiet space can help you to transform painful or difficult emotions, such as chronic fear or anxiety, without judging or suppressing them. For example, as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh, you can nourish your mindfulness with conscious breathing and transform fear by being aware of it. You can calm your fear like a mother tenderly holding her crying baby, and you can say soothing words like “Breathing in, I calm the activities of body and mind.” When the baby feels his mother’s tenderness, he will calm down and stop crying. Similarly, as you feel calm and at ease, even when the fear is still there, you know that the fear will not grow into something that will overwhelm you. It gives you the opportunity to look deeply into the nature of your fear and find out what could have caused it. You will then know what to do and what not to do to transform the emotion and experience healing and freedom.

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, when dealing with fear, it helps to know and believe the unconditional love (or agape) that is ever present with you. As for overcoming shame, you can practice being aware of how much you are intrinsically valuable and worthy as a person. From a Christian perspective, the gospel of grace identifies the root cause of many emotions and offers a solution to transform the energy of emotions that are negative. In Galatians 5, we learn that the works of the flesh include negative emotions such as hatred, jealousy, rage and envy, whereas the fruit of the spirit includes positive emotions such as love, joy, peace, patience and gentleness.

As we have learnt earlier, walking according to the flesh refers to depending on your efforts to prove your worth. It invariably causes you to lose sight of your true identity as a beloved son or daughter of God/Universe and mistakenly think that you are separate from others as well. As a result, you may start to compare yourself with others and compete with them to prove your superiority, and you may experience the works of the flesh in the form of negative emotions, such as envy, jealousy and bitterness. Conversely, walking according to the Spirit refers to depending on divine grace that affirms your innate worth. It reminds you of your authentic identity and intrinsic value, and it keeps you connected to positive emotions, such as love, joy and peace, which embody your true nature. Thus, the good news of grace empowers you to walk in inner bliss and enjoy good health. As Proverbs 15:30 says, “Good news gives health to the body”.

Healing your emotions

When you deal with difficult emotions by transforming them through mindfulness meditation, you can seek to maintain the conditions that are conducive for healing your emotions. For example, chanting mantra or listening to healing music or sound waves or guided meditation messages is therapeutic. Sound therapy has been demonstrated to improve physical and emotional health by easing pain, calming anxiety and releasing stress. According to Crystal Bowl and Gong Master Malbert Lee, the adult body is 75 percent water, which is a great conductor for sound vibrations. When the vibrations travel through the body, they promote circulation, energy flow, and rejuvenation. The sound frequency synchronizes with the brainwaves and activates de-stress responses in the body.

Another way to heal your emotions is to say the Hawaiian prayer called Ho’oponopono, as taught by therapist Ihaleakala Hew Len. When he was working in a hospital, he practiced saying this prayer to himself over and over again while reviewing the files of the mentally ill patients. Miraculously, the patients began to heal.  The four steps of this simple prayer are repentance, forgiveness, gratitude and love. These energetic forces have the amazing power of forgiveness and reconciliation to heal unsettled emotions, especially when you happen to feel down or when it feels like everything seems to go wrong. Here’s an outline of the prayer, which can be recited in any order, whether verbally or mentally, as often as you need:

1. I am sorry.
2. Please forgive me.
3. Thank you.
4. I love you.   

The Ho’oponopono prayer is a process of making things right in your health and relationships with others, ancestors, deities, the earth and yourself. By healing the past, you heal your life in the here and now. When you are engaged in this prayer (or any other prayer that you know of), you may find yourself crying at times, crying is common and cathartic, as it is a sign of blocked emotional issues and energy being released. You may be encouraged to know that some prayers have no need for words, especially when you are at a loss of what to say. For example, praying in the Spirit doesn't involve using a known language. It is a powerful prayer that can not only heal your body, mind and emotions, but also give you the assurance that regardless of the kind of challenge or predicament you may be facing, all things work together for your good. As Romans 8:26 says, “The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words”.

Speaking of cathartic release, yoga therapy is an effective psychosomatic medicine too. Some practitioners may find laughter yoga helpful for defusing painful emotions such as stress and anxiety. It combines laughing exercises and deep breathing to let go of the disturbing emotions embedded in the subconscious mind in a painless and harmless manner. As Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine”. Science has also shown that the mere act of smiling can lift your mood, lower stress, boost your immune system and possibly even prolong your life. According to neurologist Isha Gupta, a smile spurs a chemical reaction in the brain, releasing certain hormones, including dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine boosts your feelings of happiness, while serotonin release is associated with reduced stress.

Other yoga practitioners may find certain poses or asanas helpful to uncover deeply stored emotions, bring them to the surface, and let them completely release from the body. These yoga poses include backbends (also known as “heart openers”) and hip openers. I remember there was a time when I was doing a hip opening pose during a hatha yoga class several years ago and suddenly felt like crying while holding the pose for a few minutes. I later did research on this pose and learnt that many of us tend to store our emotions in the hip region. Hence, the hip opening pose serves as a way to ignite this energy centre and open ourselves up to processing the stagnant emotions and healing the emotional scars of the past.

To those who are skeptical about the origin of yoga, I wish to clarify that yoga is not a religion by itself but is based on the scientific understanding that the universe revolves around energy. The word “yoga” means “to unite”; hence, yoga practice can serve to combine physical exercises, meditation and breathing techniques to create union between body, mind and soul for healing and wholeness.

According to scientist Gregg Braden, every organ in the human body has the ability to heal under the right conditions, such as fresh air, clean water, proper nutrition, and positive thoughts, beliefs, feelings and emotions. The heart sends triggers to the brain, and the heart-brain conversation depends on the quality of emotions we create in our hearts. Hence, by transforming negative emotions to positive emotions, such as gratitude, appreciation and compassion, you can reduce stress, balance the nervous system, and improve the heart rhythm and cardiovascular system. For example, instead of praying for a healing (which acknowledges a current lack), you can choose to give thanks for the healing that you envision and emotionally feel to have already taken place.

Last but not least, if you are a highly sensitive empathy, setting and maintaining energetic boundaries is crucial to protecting and sustaining your emotional healing. It is an act of self-love and self-respect. It is not selfish to priorities your own healing, in order to be better able to help others. Also, as much as you want to help others heal; you are not responsible for their healing because healing is a personal responsibility. Sometimes, you can help others from a safe distance in order to protect your own peace of mind, by sending prayers and healing thoughts towards them, especially if they are unaware of (or unwilling to acknowledge) their need to work through their internal issues. Each of us is at a different stage of our journey, and we may find that we tend to resonate with some people more than others at a particular point in time. As the process of healing from painful emotions and trauma takes time, remember to be gentle and patient with yourself, especially when emotional triggers continue to happen unexpectedly, even long after a hurtful incident or accident had happened in the past. There is nothing wrong with you, as these responses are normal reactions to abnormal events. What remains is the eternal truth that you are loved, whole and complete, just as you are.

Summary

I hope what I have shared in this chapter is helpful, and I apologies if there is anything I have fallen short of in my sharing of views and experiences with you. Like you, I am on a journey of healing and self-discovery, and I am learning new insights and information to apply in my own life as I go along. Writing my story has been a catharsis for me as I am also working through my own issues. Even as I share about the healing practices with you, I am reminding myself of the importance of continuing to practice them in my own life. I am blessed and grateful to have learnt much useful information about holistic health matters from various experts and professionals through my family and friends, especially my best friend.

As mentioned earlier, I believe we can learn something good or useful from a religious or spiritual tradition, even if it has a record of oppression and violence carried out by some of its (misguided) followers at some point in history. This is because the tradition may have universal principles, such as compassion, empathy, prayer and meditation (which are simply forms of energy transfer), that promote health and healing. Also, we can aim to find the middle path and practice moderation in all that we do, like Siddhartha Gautama did when he avoided the extremes of asceticism and hedonism in order to attain Enlightenment while meditating under the Bodhi tree and eventually enter Nirvana.

I believe that we are our own best healer or physician too, and we can heal ourselves by listening to our bodies attentively and finding out what works best for us, whether it be a certain belief or dietary habit or healing modality. That said there may be times you need to see a medical doctor or therapist or counselor for professional advice, or perhaps find a support group for more help, resources and encouragement. Above all, let’s do everything in love, for love is the fulfillment of the law, and love does no harm to a neighbor.

Finally, thank you for reading my story. May I close this chapter with the following prayer for you?

“Dear friend, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.” (3 John 2, NET Bible)

Disclaimer:

This chapter is for informational purposes only, even if and regardless of whether it features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This chapter is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice.