<p>Sathya Sai Baba consistently taught, “Health is wealth.” He explained that we, not others, are in charge of our bodies and minds, change the thought, the belief and the action and you step into freedom.<br /><br /></p>.<p>For instance, he said, “You must be able to get up with the same ease with which you sat to have your food. If you sit down feeling light and feel heavy and difficult to get up after eating, you have taken more than you need and it will develop Tamasic (promoting dullness) qualities.”<br /><br />I believe this same principle applies to taking in too much negativity!<br />There are days we feel so alive, and days we feel half dead. Monitoring my feelings, I try to find the cause of my downs. I have discovered what I ingest contributes to my ease or (dis)ease. It’s not just what foods I eat but what media I tune into and what people I spend time with. I don’t choose to shut out all the news, but I try to avoid long stretches, since it primarily focuses on catastrophe, corruption, and calumny.<br /><br />I’ve become so attuned to vibrations around me that I often sense a tragic event without even hearing about it. For example, a recent air crash that killed more than 200 people, catapulted me into a pit of sadness before I even learned about it. It took focus and meditation to lift me back up.<br /><br />These subliminal messages surround us; so it is important to wash them away frequently. Puttaparthi Sai placed much emphasis on eating properly in order to achieve spiritual advancement. So, the dining area is a convenient place to start. He said, “The space in your stomach is divided into four parts. Youngsters should fill three parts of their stomach with food and the remaining one part with water. For adults, two parts of stomach with food, one part for water and one part for air is advisable. If you fill all four parts with food with no place even for water, you are violating the rules for digestion.<br /><br />“After having your lunch, rest for just 10 minutes. That will help blood to circulate freely from your head to your toes. At night, after dinner, you must go for a walk. This is a sound routine for good health and to develop Sathwic (promoting calmness) nature.” In the past, sitting for 10 minutes after lunch would be an eternity for me. It was my time to run to the market, run to the bank, run to meet one of my children’s teachers…Such a fast pace made me nervous and anxious; yet the idea of slowing down never occurred to me until I came under the care of my Satguru (true teacher).<br /><br />I often balked at Swami’s instructions; but I listened. He warned, “The relationship between food and habits should be properly understood. We should see that proper balance is maintained between the physical body and inner feelings. Modern man is continually in a hurry. Hurry causes worry which affects physical health. The main causes of heart trouble may be said to be hurry, worry and curry.”<br /></p>
<p>Sathya Sai Baba consistently taught, “Health is wealth.” He explained that we, not others, are in charge of our bodies and minds, change the thought, the belief and the action and you step into freedom.<br /><br /></p>.<p>For instance, he said, “You must be able to get up with the same ease with which you sat to have your food. If you sit down feeling light and feel heavy and difficult to get up after eating, you have taken more than you need and it will develop Tamasic (promoting dullness) qualities.”<br /><br />I believe this same principle applies to taking in too much negativity!<br />There are days we feel so alive, and days we feel half dead. Monitoring my feelings, I try to find the cause of my downs. I have discovered what I ingest contributes to my ease or (dis)ease. It’s not just what foods I eat but what media I tune into and what people I spend time with. I don’t choose to shut out all the news, but I try to avoid long stretches, since it primarily focuses on catastrophe, corruption, and calumny.<br /><br />I’ve become so attuned to vibrations around me that I often sense a tragic event without even hearing about it. For example, a recent air crash that killed more than 200 people, catapulted me into a pit of sadness before I even learned about it. It took focus and meditation to lift me back up.<br /><br />These subliminal messages surround us; so it is important to wash them away frequently. Puttaparthi Sai placed much emphasis on eating properly in order to achieve spiritual advancement. So, the dining area is a convenient place to start. He said, “The space in your stomach is divided into four parts. Youngsters should fill three parts of their stomach with food and the remaining one part with water. For adults, two parts of stomach with food, one part for water and one part for air is advisable. If you fill all four parts with food with no place even for water, you are violating the rules for digestion.<br /><br />“After having your lunch, rest for just 10 minutes. That will help blood to circulate freely from your head to your toes. At night, after dinner, you must go for a walk. This is a sound routine for good health and to develop Sathwic (promoting calmness) nature.” In the past, sitting for 10 minutes after lunch would be an eternity for me. It was my time to run to the market, run to the bank, run to meet one of my children’s teachers…Such a fast pace made me nervous and anxious; yet the idea of slowing down never occurred to me until I came under the care of my Satguru (true teacher).<br /><br />I often balked at Swami’s instructions; but I listened. He warned, “The relationship between food and habits should be properly understood. We should see that proper balance is maintained between the physical body and inner feelings. Modern man is continually in a hurry. Hurry causes worry which affects physical health. The main causes of heart trouble may be said to be hurry, worry and curry.”<br /></p>
