IF BODY IS UNFIT, MIND CAN'T BE FIT
Only
a healthy body can house a healthy mind. If body is unfit, mind cant’ be fit.
It took me
almost 58 years to come to this realization.
I have been a
very positive person all through my 58 years. Moreover, I did not smoke or
consume alcohol in my life. My vices – I think they should be called so –
included late-dinner and going to bed almost immediately… Worst, after eating
heavy non-veg food.
People like me
– who read and preach a lot of motivational stuff – too have our ‘ignored’ areas.
In my case, it was lack proper physical exercise and healthy eating habits. My
doctors had regularly advised me to do at least half-an-hour walking every day.
I did not take it seriously. Then, some three years ago, I joined Tai Chi. But,
it was limited to an hour or so only on Sundays. Our Tai Chi teacher would
always urge us to practice at home. But, then, I did not take that seriously,
either. It is only when my doctors kept adding one tablet after another, yes,
when the scene became quite scary - and, after a heavy dose of counsel from my
friend, Dr. Deepak - that I decided to start my daily morning walks at 5.
Recently, my
wife and I visited Dr. M.V. Prasad when we were on a holiday at Wayanad
(Kerala). A friend of ours had told my wife to visit this popular doctor who
believed in ‘reversing’ the diabetes. It was a significant step towards our
health consciousness. This doctor encourages all diabetes patients to see diabetes
as a ‘condition’ and not as a ‘disease’. He believes in activating the ‘sleeping’
pancreas (made almost dead by loads of medicines)… He recommends consuming some
small quantities of sugar, cutting down on carbos and increasing the protein intake…
sticking to a discipline (twice a day) of simple ten exercises… and, above all,
limiting medicines to just a tablet or a half. My wife, who had been diabetic
for eighteen years, is now put on half a tablet (three times) and one vitamin
tablet. Medicines had stopped working on her. So, she had to choose to go along
that route of further chemical onslaught and gradual decay or to get up and do
something about her body. I was asked to throw away all my medicines. “You don’t
need any of the medicines,” Dr. Prasad declared.
Now, it is
like this: my wife and I wake up sharp at 4:15… We do 45 minutes of Dr. Prasad’s
exercises and, then, we both go for another 45 minutes of walk. While walking,
I incorporate the Tai Chi slow and rhythmic moves which jell perfectly well as
birds sing and sky quietly wakes up… On Sundays, I get another one-hour-plus
Tai Chi, too!
I have stopped
working after six in the evening. Close and go home… Have dinner by 7, latest
by 8… A simple dinner…
No more
desperation for non-veg food… No more carvings for fatty, sweaty, chilled stuff…
Sleep – even though
it is about five hours – is sound and
sufficient. Yes, I do take short cat naps in my office whenever I feel like…
When
you care for your body and keep it healthy, mind just follows the path… Anxiety
dissolves… depressing bouts disappear… You do not think about old age and
health issues… You do not worry about ‘What may happen tomorrow’… Life
insurance and health insurance seem sufficient… You react less… fear less… Yes, your look forward to live, love and hope!
Too early to
say all this?
No… I
seriously think, I am too late in saying this!
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Khushboo Gulrajani
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