Lifestyle & Well-being

Happiness is the harmony among body, mind and spirit.

Breathing

Breath is the very essence of life. There is no life without breath. Inhalation provides blood with oxygen, which is then circulated throughout the body ensuring all those myriads of biochemical reactions that are necessary for our organism’s function. Exhalation on the other hand, gets rid of CO2, a by-product of human metabolism, and frees the body from harmful substances. A good respiratory and a good circulatory system are the basis of good health and they deserve all attention. Ensure you fill your lungs with good quality air, and do your best to preserve a clean atmosphere, in your house, your immediate environment and in the whole planet. A balanced nervous system and good body posture are also very important for good quality breathing.

And do not hesitate to endeavour into Pranayama, the yogic science of breathing!

Nutrition

It can never be overstressed how important nutrition is for our survival, health and well-being. The types of food we eat define our physical and mental health, they can cause imbalance or protect us from disease and disharmony. Except for vitamins and minerals, that some are also present in animal foods, plants abound with other substances that are most important for disease prevention. Such are dietary fibre, phytosterols, bioflavonoids, carotenoids and several other phytonutrients that are necessary for our organism’s biochemical processes. This is why our nutrition should be primarily based on plants.

Changing our nutrition is the first thing doctors advise us when in need to combat ailments. The typical western diet, being too rich in animal fat, sugar, salt, processed food, and alcohol, is directly linked to all most important health problems such as cardiovascular disease, strokes, hypertention, obesity, diabetes, allergies, or chronic degenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, cancers, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis etc).

When we want to address specific problems, we need to follow a specific diet given to us by our therapist and health scientist because food plays a vital role in the body’s biochemistry. Plant extracts, drugs and lifestyle are also key players.

Nutrition is the means by which we provide our body with the necessary nutrients. Which nutrients are necessary depends on individual situations that are the result of various factors at interplay. Thus, the evaluation of what is necessary, for which individual, at which stage of one’s life and within what circumstances, is not a simple process. Combinations are also very important as different elements and compounds usually interact either in a synergistic or an antagonistic way.

However, there are some basic truths that can serve as guidelines; not easy to follow in the modern lifestyle, but if we do so, they can help us stay strong and healthy.

The purest and the more diverse your food sources are, the bigger the array and quality of nutrients you receive. Food is nutritious when pesticide-free and fresh.
Vegetables, in particular fresh, pulses, fruit and nuts should dominate the diet, and herbs should always be present.
If you eat animal products, be aware that animals produced for mass production are badly fed with unnatural food, injected with antibiotics and kept in horrible conditions. Support local organic farmers and ecological fishing and avoid overconsumption – just as our ancestors did.
Fats that artificially saturated, such as margarine from grain vegetable oils, are chemically produced and they are toxic. So is fructose and alcohol.
Grain vegetable oils are toxic. They are chemically extracted, not the product of mechanical extraction as in the case of olive oil or avocado oil. Furthermore, they are packed with Ω6 fats, which oxidise very easily and as all polyunsaturated fats, should only be consumed when very fresh. Moreover, medical research emphasises the importance of a correct balance between Ω6 and Ω3 fats [Sim 2016]. Together with an excess of carbohydrates and grain-fed meat they are the major drive behind cardiovascular, metabolic and other chronic diseases. Our organism needs both saturated and unsaturated fats; what matters are their correct proportion and their quality. All in all, we can all be different people if we exclude toxic, non-fresh and processed food… And make sure you drink at least 2lt of water and herbal teas a day!

Our food is our life. Choosing the possible nutrition for our needs determines our quality of life. Remember the saying of Socrates and many others thereafter: ‘I eat to live; I don’t live to eat’.

Movement / Sensory experiences

Physical exercise

Living physically and using properly all our body systems gives us reason to stay alive and healthy. Life is, in fact, movement; its balance keeps a nice steady flow of vital energy throughout body, mind and spirit. Exercise is absolutely necessary for good health, but it has complex and broad implications. What needs to be stressed is again a certain balance, as the modern sedentary lifestyle feeds not only disease due to lack of movement, but also health problems due to exercise addiction. Hatha Yoga, distinguished for its proper breathing, a flow of Asanas and relaxation techniques, is the most balanced form of physical exercise. Walking in the nature and swimming in the sea are also irreplaceable. Moreover, dance, especially forms that are not too austere, is a great combination between exercise and self-expression. Open up to healthy, flowing movement and fight against the stagnant waters of stillness and rigidity.

Live senses & Nature

Our senses are our means of communication with the outside world and they are responsible for the messages transferred to our brain regarding danger or safety. Adaptability and survival depend on our senses, and so is our well-being. If the message conveyed is one of health and harmony, it’s going to show in our general physical, mental and emotional state. Living as natural beings is what we are designed for, and there is no coincidence in the fact that we all feel better when in a natural setting.

All our senses and sensual organs can be trained and if this is achieved in relation to nature, we feel better, our communication organs send a message of safety and joy and all systems are nurtured. It is, therefore, important to:

Hear and listen to peaceful sounds
Look at harmonious views or sights
Smell beautiful natural aromas
Taste a wide spectrum of natural tastes
Feel the breeze, the water, a flower or a human being

Relaxation & Stress Management

Learn how to – Train yourselves

Relaxation time and mostly sleep is when our system can take a break and restore energy levels. However, this is not as obvious as it seems; a tense nervous system and an always hyperactive mind with high stress levels do not allow the organism to rest. Our muscles may be tight even when sleeping and our mind may keep us awake or anxious. It is only natural that lack of rest, relaxation, and stress management result in poor health.

For starters, allow yourselves enough hours of sleep. Secondly, train yourselves in both: a) how to really rest, whether this is conscious relaxation or sleep; b), how to manage your stress. Nutrition and phytotherapy/aromatherapy can play a vital role in balancing as much our physiology as our psychology. Moreover, yoga is a powerful means of stress management. Nature and natural living are also amazing in releasing stress and work with a good analyst can be defining. Do not cover and hide problems, they work underneath; always look for ways out.

Self-expression

Being in conflict with ourselves and others results in great stress. Living in accordance with our true nature and being able to express ourselves make us blossom. Self-expression is, of course, suffering greatly in a world where our movements, emotions and way of being is constantly under pressure to fit the proposed social characters of our times. However, one who discovers oneself and tries to stay as close as possible to his true being, he/she lives in peace with oneself. And being who we are, it is important to find ways to express ourselves, our physical, spiritual and mental energy through movement, speech, creation, discussion, writing or laughter. Blocked feelings, believes, and desires or aspirations that are not shared or expressed, form a fertile ground for the construction of illness.

Time with oneself / Socializing / Relationships

Time with oneself is indispensable for a person’s rest, self-care, redefinition and self-development. Living in peace with ourselves requires a certain level of self-understanding, and unfortunately we are not taught, trained or encouraged to pursue it. Self-understanding, however, and well-being are inseparable, for without it it’s impossible to seek to satisfy our real needs. Within this framework, honest and quality time with oneself plays a key role.

On the other hand, humans are social beings like many others. We need to share and communicate, to love and feel loved, to have a group identity through common goals and efforts, and to feel safe in family/friends/community support. We all know how important socializing is, however sometimes our social environment acts to our disadvantage and we need to be able to discern when this happens. Understanding ourselves and others allows for the development of positive thoughts and feelings for both. This, in turn, allows for good, healthy relationships, which define communal and therefore, personal well-being.

To sum up, happiness passes through quality time with us and others and even though learning how to achieve it in modern societies may be a lifetime’s effort, what else is it worth living for?

Nourish the mind

Self-development

Just as we need good quality food to nourish healthy bodies (and not only), we need a fertile ground for our minds to evolve. Philosophy (from Greek Philos = friend/lover + Sophia = wisdom) is vital. Love for learning opens doors and clears cloudy skies, while egoism and fear of failure keep us in the darkness. Allow yourselves to learn from others, accept help, be inquisitive and dubious, ready to change and evolve your mind; It is with passion for learning, patience and perseverance we all ascend the ladder of understanding, and understanding is a path to peacefulness.

Learning about the history of humankind and the planet, studying the self and sociocultural temporality, gives us access to understanding better ourselves in the present and therefore be able to choose and set personal goals that are fulfilling. Opening up to ideas and thoughts of other people and cultures expands our consciousness and frees us from time and space bound conceptions and misconceptions. Our reality is nothing more than the sum of our thoughts, dependent on our social, environmental and personal focus. Plato’s allegory of the cave explains this very well: unless we free ourselves from the chains of an ephemeral, subjective and distorted reality through education and dialectic (discussions based on logical arguments), we remain prisoners to a ‘reality’ that consists of shadows and not ‘real’ forms and ideas. Quantum physics have also demonstrated our restricted perceptibility and the relativity of ‘reality’; such discoveries reveal the magnitude and complexity of cosmos and urge for an open, curious mind that humbly seeks to understand. Every level of comprehension we acquire is another step towards accomplishment and serenity.

All that said, even though education plays a crucial role in well-being, we don’t need to pursue numerous qualifications; there are qualified people that are uncultured as there are ill-educated people who promote themselves as experts. We need to be open to learning, always, as this is the path of intellectual and spiritual elevation. We also need to cultivate an ability to discern false and fanatic ideas and remember that the mind is an ally when it serves logic and not passion or psychological weaknesses. Dogmatic views are nothing but heavy chains that drug us down to a false, disharmonious and meaningless way of living. Having a real discussion where we listen to what the other says and allowing ourselves to even change opinion, is a door to an enlightened mind. Feeding our minds with good quality culture, music, art, reading and thinking gives us incomparable pleasure.

Meditation & Positive thinking

Thoughts can make us happy or unhappy. They govern our lives, define our whole being. Naturally, they revolve around our experiences, the sensory stimuli we are exposed at and which delineate our memories, mental associations and resulting feelings. Unfortunately, modern life is overburdened with negative sensory stimuli (e.g. scenes of violence, deafening sounds, unpleasant smells etc) and negative feelings (fear of failure and exclusion, jealousy, lack of safety in a competitive environment etc). An easy, universal tactic to escape from thoughts and worries that stress us out is to concentrate on external stimuli; this is why TV, for example, is an ‘addictive mind pill’. However, watching scenes of violence are anything but calming to the mind. After all, if there is an appeasing feeling in not thinking of what worries us it usually lasts only for as long as the external stimuli last.

It is only natural that we cannot feel content and happy unless we have a peaceful mind. Meditation is exactly this: the art of calming the mind. It is the technique of concentrating on the ‘inside’ rather than the ‘outside’, which allows us to really rest and come closer to our true selves; to escape from external influences that drive us away from self-fulfilment. True peace of mind transcends time, space and causality helping us to eliminate stress that relates to a temporary and biased ‘reality’. Meditation calms the mind and as a result also the body, and leads to positive thinking and peace.

In short, if you want to be healthy and happy, ensure you have positive sensory experiences and think in a positive manner. Meditation is key to a peaceful mind.

Nourish the soul

Give and accept love

Even though it is scientifically proven that sharing love and positive feelings are an immense immune booster fortifying us with vital energy, we don’t really need scientific proof; we have all experienced life-giving moments of love and life-taking moments of negativity or hostility. To have and share positive emotions is one of the most important factors of being healthy.

The truth is that we can only give from a surplus, and unfortunately in modern times, solitude and imbalance together with our culture’s prevailing value of always being in need makes us being stingy both with material and immaterial things and cultivates a grabby attitude. Competition and negativity favour aggression, which usually hides a very low self-esteem. When weak and scared, we cannot accept love, we cannot spare to give. On the contrary, offering love and positivity is actually a sign of strength and braveness just like accepting it. Whoever feels good with oneself, he/she need not be aggressive, need not lie. He/she is full, has surplus and can offer and give, a true smile, a true hand.

The good news is that by giving love and kindness to others we actually empower ourselves with positive feelings and vital energy. We create a fertile ground for us to grow and we attract positivity. We may not take back from the same people; we may even feel empty after giving and not receiving. Still, as our acts and thoughts create an energy circuit that affects our lives, it is to our advantage to create a positive one. Even though we should protect ourselves from ungrateful and greedy people who only take, and who could unfortunately exist in our immediate environment, giving makes us stronger, more positive, loved and lively.

Sharing

It cannot be overstressed how important sharing is for our lives. It means communication, which is a natural need, and exchange of positive feelings, which nourish our existence. Sharing makes one richer, not poorer. It gives reason to our life; it is a prerequisite of successful relationships and forms the basis for communal living. Being able to share means that ‘I know how to coexist with other beings’, which in turn means that ‘I understand and respect my own nature’. No one is the only existence in the universe; egoism and atomism brings loneliness and unhappiness. On the contrary we all know that our happiness depends on harmonious relationships, for which sharing and respect are the founding stones. Surpass the ego and the fear for ‘not having enough’. Delve into the beauty of giving and receiving, into the magnificence of sharing.

Giving and sharing are the art of living. Competition, jealousy, greed, even the least violence will make us sick, whereas love, affection, respect, and generosity will nourish our whole being.

Good habits

I don’t know if you have noticed, but our lives are dominated by habits. I believe there are two reasons for this. Firstly, a certain repetition provides us with the feeling of stability, and therefore safety. Satisfying a primary need probably relates to the release of endorphins and the feeling that ‘all is good’. This is why it’s difficult to change our habits, even if they are actually harmful. Furthermore, our senses, which are our communication system with the outside world and the regulators of appropriate signals to internal processes, are also closely related to the secretion of endorphines. Eating and drinking habits or patterns of physical movement are typical examples. Even though it is probably impossible to alter our psychological need for the feeling of safety, to our good luck, our senses can change and are relatively easily trained. For example, most people have the experience of liking a taste they used to dislike or vice versa.

To sum up, since habits play an important role in an individual’s health and well-being, and they can actually change over time, it is to our advantage and not impossible, to try and have ‘good’ habits rather than ‘bad’ ones.

Be honest

There’s an unrivalled grace about being honest. It shows a clear and strong mind that can differentiate between right & wrong, a brave character that has the courage to support the truth and which is not afraid of responsibility. A liar resembles a worm that always needs to hide under the ground. Those who are not scared to tell the truth gain respect from themselves and others. The truth shines thousands of times more than the sun (Mahatma Ghanti); it is the foundation for meaningful relationships, for a meaningful existence. Even though we may easily find excuses to justify our lies, we should not forget that having a clear mind, soul and consciousness is a prerequisite for well-being. Hiding the truth can be rarely justified if, for example, there are issues of survival; still, our heroes are those who did not deny it.

Be grateful

Nothing should be taken for granted. Every day and every moment we are alive and free, we can chose to live in positivity. Empathy and the ability to look at our lives from a wider perspective and in relation to others across space and time, allow us to have a clearer picture and recognize our good luck. We should think of and feel grateful for all those good things we experience. If you think of the negative ones, do so in order to find solutions and a way out. Do not fill your heart with bitterness, you’ll get sick.

Here are a few examples why I am grateful; Start thinking of all the reasons why you should be grateful; you’ll feel a lot more content!

I am grateful for the beauty of existence all around me.
I am grateful I am alive and free, able to work towards happiness.
I am grateful for everything I have succeeded, and for being able to try for more.
I am grateful for all the beautiful experiences I’ve had, all the nice feelings I’ve shared.
I am grateful to those who I’ve shared love with.
I am grateful to all those strangers that were kind to me without expecting anything in return.