What Really Makes You Healthy

What your mind, body, and spirit need most.

In her book The Power Is Within You, Louise L. Hay wrote that “the point of power is always in the present moment.” To make the most of the present moment, a healthy lifestyle is an integral component of your journey toward well-being and wholeness. I refer to the healthy-lifestyle components of The LifeLine Technique philosophy as the Five Basics for Optimal Health. It’s important to make sure that you maintain the proper quantity, quality, and frequency of: water, food, rest, exercise, and owning your power. More than optimal health, however, the Five Basics are essential acts of self-love.

Tool #1: Water—Water Is Life

Water is the most crucial, nonnegotiable component of optimal health. After all, you can live for extended periods without food, but not without water. Why is it so essential? Your entire body is 75 percent water. Your blood is 82 percent water. Your lungs are 90 percent water. Your brain is 90 percent water. In fact, water plays a role in every function of your body, from regulating temperature and cushioning joints to bringing oxygen to cells and removing waste. One of the little-known facts about the importance of water is that it greatly contributes to our ability to process emotions. Emotions, e-motions, are energy in motion. Water conducts electricity. Without water, the body can’t maintain its basic functions, including manufacturing enough energy to process emotions.

Tool #2: Food—Understanding the Body’s Ecology

When you think about the concept of “eating healthy,” what comes to mind? For a lot of people, it means going on a diet. But more and more evidence is showing that diets don’t work, and in fact, they often create a vicious cycle of yo-yo weight loss and gain. On top of that, going on a diet is often all about calories and not about how to truly nourish your body. So, where do you begin when you want to start a healthy eating program? The one that I’ve recently found to best complement and support The LifeLine Technique is described in The Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates. Donna and I both teach that good digestive health is fundamental for feeling your best. On both a mind and body level, your digestive system breaks down and extracts the nutrients your body needs to heal, regenerate, and thrive. Body Ecology teaches us to reconnect with nature and with traditional, whole foods as a way of living.

Tool #3: Rest—Restoring Balance with Sleep

High on the list of symptoms that new clients frequently discuss with me is insomnia or restlessness. Typically, they all have several lifestyle issues in common: emotional overload or high levels of stress; poor bowel habits; consuming too much caffeine; and eating processed foods high in cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, white flour, and white rice. Many have also used doctor-prescribed sleeping pills, causing a drowsy effect, which then leads them to consume even more caffeine in order to feel awake during the day. Sleep deprivation affects the body’s immune system. It can speed up the aging process and the onset of metabolic or hormonal imbalances. The act of sleeping not only allows your body to heal, but it also enables your mind to process and integrate your life experiences. Making sure you receive quality rest and relaxation is one of the most significant steps you can take to reduce the stress of modern living and create inner peace and balance.

Tool #4: Exercise—Making Time to Move and Play

We already know the benefits of exercise—increasing energy levels, relieving stress, improving sleep—and it can have a major impact on reversing disease processes. However, have you ever considered exercise as an opportunity just to have fun? I used to have my own struggles with creating time for play and exercise. I had to get serious about personal fitness in order to overcome the challenge of being crunched for time. Now I play tennis, swim or run outside with my children whenever we get a chance, and work out once a week with a trainer who inspires me and encourages me to laugh as she’s pushing me to bring out my best! Take a moment and imagine all the ways you can combine exercise and fun with your friends and family—walking on the beach, taking a hike, or riding your bike. Children are more inclined to model the behavior they observe: when you engage in a consistent exercise program, you teach them the value of self-care.

Tool #5: Owning Your Power and Living a Quantum Life
To own your power is to embrace every aspect of your life with passion, purpose, and courage…knowing that every day, in every way, each experience that you encounter represents the possibility to be so much more. The core philosophy of Living a Quantum Life is the belief that we are co-creators of our evolutionary journey. When we shed the old identity of pain, fear, shame, guilt, or suffering, we let go of the old identity like the snake in Native American medicine, shedding the old skin. We undergo a transmutation process, a metamorphosis, bringing forth our new quantum self. The snake releases everything it has outgrown and moves forward, without judgment. In Chinese culture, the snake also symbolizes wisdom and beauty. When we live a quantum life, we are wisdom; we are beauty. As we arise to observe and participate in our ever-evolving journey, we’re able to be love.