10 Principles to Wonderful Health

I was privileged to attend a workshop on self-healing with Inna Segal about a year ago. Inna has written a couple of books relating to healing, namely The Secret Language of Your Body. She is an advocate for self-healing and talking and listening to your body.

Can you talk to your body? Absolutely. And listen to it? Absolutely. How? Well, you basically verbalize to your cells, “Dear body, I felt a sharp pain right here. Tell me what it is I need to know?” And you lightly touch the area where the pain is. Then you wait and you listen. And your body talks to you through your intuition. It’s that inner voice or inner wisdom as some people call it.

Our body has the intelligence to reverse illnesses and heal itself. Inna calls it the Divine Healing Intelligence.

And I quote below Inna’s ten principles to wonderful health which is taken from her book The Secret Language of Your Body.

Principle 1- MAKE YOUR HEALTH A PRIORITY
In order to heal, it is necessary to commit to making your health a priority. This means believing you are a valuable being, who deserves brilliant health and wellbeing. Making your health a priority also gives you an opportunity to examine your thinking. Are you open minded and willing to explore the root causes of your dis-ease or discomfort, and work on releasing the negativity which may have contributed to your condition? Or is your definition of healing taking a pill and perhaps shutting your body down? True healing means listening to the messages your body is trying to give you, then making changes which create ease rather than dis-ease, and flow rather than stuckness in your body and your life.

Principle 2 - FEEL YOUR EMOTIONS
Feel your emotions rather than keeping them buried. Many people spend much of their time thinking rather than feeling, because they find the experience of feeling uncomfortable. When unwelcome feelings come up they try to shut them down by being distracted, watching TV, eating junk food, talking on the phone, reading a book, listening to music, smoking, taking drugs, etc. However, your feelings hold the key to your wellbeing. They tell you what is honouring you and what is not, if your life is flowing the way it's meant to or if you are moving in the wrong direction. Your feelings give you the opportunity to expand, purify pain, create your ideal weight, change and break down the armour which prevents you experiencing health, peace and joy.

Principle 3 - BREATHE CONSCIOUSLY
Breathe consciously. Many people breathe shallowly, thus keeping the body tight, stagnant and working harder. When you breathe slowly, deeply and consciously you can feel your body, tune into your intuition, calm your mind, relax, and help purify the blood. You also experience an increase in energy and wellbeing as the breath circulates energy around your body.

Principle 4 - EAT HEALTHILY AND CONSCIOUSLY
Eat healthily and consciously. Most people know what constitutes a healthy diet. Yet in our stressed and busy lives, it is easy to go for fast food, which usually contains lots of fat, sugar, caffeine and unhealthy chemicals. Often people eat quickly, on the go, without being consciously aware of what they are eating, or truly tasting and enjoying their food. This leads them to eat more than what their body requires. Being healthy means eating healthy food which nourishes your body, giving you energy, vitality and wellbeing. Taking time to create healthy food, that you eat slowly and chew consciously gives your body the opportunity to heal and regenerate quickly and easily.

PRINCIPLE 5 - EXERCISE
Move your body. Many people complain about feeling stagnant, depressed, uninspired and overweight. However, each person has the ability to create an exercise program which can help them lose or maintain the weight they desire and become strong, healthy, lean and fit. Regular exercise can help you feel better about yourself, enjoy your body, have more energy, detoxify and heal. Plan an exercise program you will enjoy, such as walking, swimming, going to the gym, dancing, participating in yoga, martial arts, Tai Chi etc.

PRINCIPLE 6 - LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
Listen to your body. Recognize when you need to rest, play, have fun and work. What are your cycles? When are you at your best? What can you do to make your life more productive? When people don't listen to their bodies is when stress, tension, fear, overwhelm, anxiety and dis-ease set in. Take a few minutes' break every couple of hours. Stretching, deep breathing or even a short meditation can make the difference between feeling tired, stagnant and stressed or healthy, creative and relaxed.

Principle 7 - BE CREATIVE
Creativity allows you to relax, have fun and explore. It gives you opportunities to learn, expand and discover your talents. When people are creative they are often more inspired, imaginative and resourceful. Fun and creativity prolongs your life, so find something that you can participate in and create.

Principle 8 - ADD MORE COLOURS
Add more colour to your life. Colours can make people feel heavy, depressed and fatigued or light, vibrant and joyful. Become aware of what colours make you feel great and what qualities those colours have. Then add these colours to your life. For example, this could mean painting your walls green because green makes you feel relaxed and tranquil. Or wear a bright orange dress or a shirt, or bring more flowers into your home. Whatever it is, make it colourful.

Principle 9 - MAKE GRATITUDE YOUR ATTITUDE
Make gratitude your attitude. Focus on all the great things you have in your life, instead of thinking about what you don't have and complaining about your lack and limitation. Remember, what you are grateful for grows, what you don't appreciate is taken away from you.

Principle 10 - MAKE TIME FOR LAUGHTER
Make laughter a priority. For a long time people believed that they needed a reason to laugh. However, the benefits of laughter are so great that laughing for no reason has become a motto of countless people all over the world who participate in laughter clubs. There is even a laughter yoga, which teaches specific laughter exercises. Even if you don't do laughter yoga, looking at life from a humorous angle allows you to let go of stress quicker and to heal faster.

And Inna further advised that if you take 15 minutes a day to listen to your body and meditate you can make the difference between sickness and health. Just imagine – if you improve your health and well-being at the rate of 2% a day, by the year end you’d see more than 100% improvement.

Well, I took the challenge last year. I was close to weighing 60 kg in September and I wasn’t happy with the image of myself in the mirror and I felt sluggish. So I had a talk with my body and asked what can I do to improve my overall well-being. I wasn’t prepared for the answer that came back. I needed to eat healthy wholesome food, exercise regularly, think more positively and have more fun….I’ve been taking life too seriously lately.

Hmmmm. Okay, Doctor Divine. Ill take on this new project. And I called it Project Oribel. I signed up for a 12-week program of hatha yoga and body sculpture at the neighbourhood sports club. Because of my new belief i.e. all life forms come from the same Source, I decided that I was ready to go vegetarian. And I was both mentally and emotionally prepared for this change. And I built myself up from being a pescetarian first (a vegetarian who consumes fish as well). After 3 weeks I switched to being 100% vegetarian.

And I’m happy to let you know that Project Oribel was/is a resounding success. I’ve lost at least 5kgs. The 12-week exercise program has just ended. And I need to continue with my exercise regime that has worked so well for me. And now I’m happier and lighter being a vegetarian. I took the opportunity to discover vegetarian and vegan restaurants around town. And I now write food reviews and take photographs of my meals to upload on to happycow.com. I go cycling once a week and watch a funny video every now and then. And I sing and dance to Bryan Adam’s Summer of ’69. I’m also learning to cook vegetarian for myself. I call this intuitive cooking i.e. whatever vegetable I can find in the fridge appears in the recipe. You see, I made the transition into an exciting and joyful experience. This made a difference. I followed my divine doctor’s orders. And it worked.

Don't take my word for it. Take up the challenge and witness it for yourself. Remember that at the end of the exercise YOU are the benefactor. How cool is that?