7 Tools for Health and Happiness

• Right thinking
• Right eating
• Right Breathing
• Exercise
• Herbs
• Massage
• Music and Art

The way we think influences who and what we are. Some thought patterns can emerge as forces for health and others will take you down the path of suffering.

Positive thought

We have a choice. We can transform our emotional nature so that we are also seeing the positive side along with the negative.

Seeing the difference between what we can change and what we can't allows us move past otherwise insurmountable obstacles.

Desire is the driving force of all our actions. When we are in control of this powerful energy we are no longer moving at the whim of external forces. Frustration can now be curtailed.

Thought as a physical force

Thought can do damage to others just as damage can be done using physical objects. Be careful of thoughts of violence as these thoughts can turn around and bite you.

Constructive thought emanates from you and heals all that it touches. This in turn heals your pain and suffering. You will no longer need to cry from the deep sorrow that is within us all.

Here and Now

The conscious mind is always looking to the next moment in anticipation of the future. It is always imagining other places. But you are neither in these other moments nor in these other places. You sit in the eternal Now and cannot escape the Here. Looking elsewhere will only add confusion and keep you from seeing the world as it is. Stop now and close your eyes. Feel your breathing. Feel what your senses are now telling you. You are the Great Healer!

There are many diets and fads which claim to be the right way to eat. The truth is that it is as easy as apple pie, and your body is the expert that you should listen to.

Natural Foods

In this modern world we find that most foods that we eat are processed and made by corporations that have no interest in our health. They add ingredients to prolong shelf life or fool your taste buds. Many of these chemicals will do damage to your system when taken throughout your life. Read the ingredients of foods before you buy them. It’s best to find foods that contain basic foods and no chemicals. Whole grains, vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts can fulfill our nutritional needs.

The food industry has tended towards larger farms as the small farmer has gone bankrupt and forced to sell. These mega-agri-business operations use chemical fertilizers, chemical insecticides and chemical herbicides to increase the bottom line. Grow as much of your own food as you can. What you can’t grow, buy from local organic farms. Start a co-op so that you can buy in quantity and save money.

Masticate

Chewing your food allows all of the energy of the food to be used by your body. Also your body doesn’t have to work as hard to process and eliminate the food when it is well pulverized.

Thankful eating

The aborigines of all continents gave prayer when they hunted their food, when they burned the jungle for growing food, when they planted seed and when they ate their food. This was not because they were superstitious, but because they had an understanding of the interconnectedness between the world and themselves.

Clean Air

The importance of clean air to one’s health is so critical that if you live where the air is not clean you should consider moving.

Deep Breathing

You need to breathe deeply once in a while so that all of the sacs in your lungs are filled with clean air. Open you arms when you inhale and bring them back when you exhale. This expands and contracts your ribcage to make it easier to fill and exhale your lungs.

Shallow Breathing

When the breath is allowed to calm, you can see more because you are no longer muddying the water. This is not the same as forcing yourself not to breathe but rather a natural process that occurs when you send a message of calmness to your body. When you reach the point where you no longer need breath, you have moved to that realm beyond desire.

Stretching

Your muscles must be stretched daily so that they can be in the best shape to serve you. Hatha Yoga is a good discipline to use for this purpose.

Love making

Done properly and lasting over a long period of time one uses most of the muscles of the body and it can even become aerobic.

Fun

Exercise needs to be fun so that you will continue to do it. Some fun exercises are hiking, swimming Tai Chi, hacky sack, running, frisbee and making love. All these activities will increase your heart rate and induce deep breathing. Tai Chi has the added benefit of increasing your balance, control and centering. All exercises must be begun slowly at first. Listen to your body so that you do not overdo it.

Herbs

Disclaimer: I make no claim as to the efficacy of any use of the plants in this database. The medicinal uses presented are for investigative purposes only.

Native Plants

Native plants are the oldest and safest tools for treating illness. Most of today’s medicines are derived or based on the action of medicinal plants.

Plantain - Plantago major

Plantain is a wonderful wound medicine. It is good for bee stings and open wounds. It is also a great tool to fight Staphylococcus infection. I dry the plant and keep it in a dry air tight container for use when it is out-of season. To use: reconstitute with water and put on wound as a poultice. Wrap with gauze to keep it in place. In the Summer when stung by a bee or wasp, chew leaf and apply to the sting area.

Peppermint - Mentha piperita

Peppermint is a good stomachic, which is good to use for upset stomach. It is contra-indicated for pregnant women.

Aloe - Aloe vera

Aloe is a must as a house plant. There are few remedies better than this for burns. Just break off a leaf and spread the juice on the wound.

Onion - Allium spp.

Onion is used as an expectorant for colds and coughs. Cook the onion and mix with honey. It is also a good poultice for burns and stings.

Chickory - Cichorium intybus

Dry the root, then roast and grind it. It is good as a hepatic, diuretic, stomachic, tonic and laxative.

Strawberry - Fragaria spp.

A tea from the leaf and flower can be used as a laxative, diuretic and astringent. The fruit can be used as a dentifrice, a cosmetic and for sunburn.

Gumweed - Grindelia integrifolia

This is the best poultice for poison ivy blisters.

Sunflower - Helianthus annus

The crushed rood is good for bruises, coughs and colds

Catnip - Nepeta cataria

Catnip can be use to decrease the temperature of a fever.

Rose - Rosa spp.

A tea from the hips is used as a refrigerant, astringent and stomachic. Mixed with honey, it is used for coughs.

Figwort - Scrophularia californica

This plant can be used to break fevers.

Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale

Dry, roast and grind the roots. It is good for the liver and is a detoxifier.

Clover - Trifolium spp.

For coughs, liver, sedative, carminative and digestive distress.

Deep tissue massage

This is good for sore ligaments and calcium deposits.

Aural massage

These types of techniques affect the more subtle parts of our nature.

Acupuncture

An ancient medicine that heals by balancing unseen forces that flow through the body. This is accomplished by inserting needles or by finger pressure on selected points.

Invasion of Space

Don't instigate a massage without first asking.

Music can heal

Minstrels of centuries past would be hired to play songs that would get people dancing so as to ward off meloncholy.

Art can make you happy

Art helps release your inner visions so that you can acheive clarity of purpose. As you understand yourself better, you are better prepared to make the choices that are necessary for a fuller and happier life.