Here it is the first of the month and it’s already time to publish a new article. I haven’t even thought of what I might write about. Actually, my reservoir is rather empty. After sharing so much through my Health Light Newsletter over yea these past twenty-five years (a printed issue for twenty years) I simply don’t know what more I have to say—about health, that is. I’m truly empty. Besides, others have taken on the task of advocating what has come to be known as “whole health.” Just yesterday PBS had three programs on the subject, two of which featured Deepak Chopra with his “eat the rainbow” theme, and Wayne Dyer with his “I can see clearly now” theme. A third program, which I only watched for a few minutes, featured a woman whose topic was “Whole Health.” What I saw of it was very good, just what I and many of my colleagues have been teaching since the early decades of the last century.
I was intrigued by her visual aid, which was a pyramid made of large smooth rocks with words printed on them that told of several things that affect our lives. The top rock was “Physical Health.” Below this capstone were other things like nutrition, relationships, job, career, exercise, etc. . . . and in there somewhere near the obscure middle of the stack was the word “Spirituality.” It struck me how much we focus on our physical bodies and our physical health. After working in this field for fifty years, I’ve become rather bored by the subject.
So, as I sit down to write this article with an empty reservoir of topics, I pause to reflect on a simple truth that was stated for me many years ago by my mentor, Dr. William Bahan: “Expression allows release.”
We give so much consideration to what we put into our bodies. Into our mouths we strive to put healthy foods and beverages and try to avoid putting in things that are bad for us. Into our minds we strive to put knowledge and wisdom from books, seminars and workshops, and try to have positive thoughts and feelings and avoid negative ones. Into our hearts we seek to put God, grace and virtue through religion, meditation, spiritual retreats and pilgrimages to holy lands and sacred sites. Not that these disciplines and practices are not valuable and necessary. But our health care and lifestyle practices appear to be all about putting things into ourselves to make us healthier and happier—or taking things out that are bad or have gone wrong with surgery. We exercise our bodies with jogging, walking, gym equipment and Yoga postures. We steam them, rub them with oils, sauna and sunbathe them and put them on diets to lose weight. When all this fails to achieve promised and desired results, we turn to drugs for relief from pain and suffering and prayer for miracles when our situation seems hopeless.
We’ve become resource poor. Just look at all the books on health. Look at all the prescription medications in the Physicians Desk Reference and all the vitamin products on the market. We’re left with no excuse for not being healthy and happy. And yet, we’re still unhealthy and unhappy and addicted to putting stuff into ourselves to change our experience of our selves.
To paraphrase a Biblical phrase, it’s not what we put into our mouths that makes us healthy and happy, but what comes out of our mouths. Health is within us. We already have a whole and healthy spiritual body standing in the wings behind our physical body waiting to be enjoyed in the flesh. It’s what gives our very flesh life and function! We cannot live without it. It’s perfect! It’s beautiful! It’s just the right shape and size, too! It cannot be sick! It cannot even die! What we can live without is our physical body. Think about it!
Now, think about this. If you can find a way to put your spiritual body into your physical body completely, your physical body with its mind and emotions would be perfectly healthy and happy. Oh, it will still die, but it will die healthy and happy! YOU, however, will carry on living in your spiritual body. Not on this beautiful Earth, of course, but in the incredibly beautiful and wonderful realms of Light in Heaven. (I don’t believe there’s a hell, except for what we’ve made of life here on Earth.)
But, of course, we can’t just put our spiritual body into our physical body like we download programs onto our computers. We can, however, use our physical body with its mind and heart to express our spiritual body with all of its vibrant life, eternal truth and its endless and unconditional love. Expression allows release.
A little poem by George Varghese comes to mind that Dr. Bill Bahan often used in his symposiums:
How To Be Happy
Are you almost disgusted with life, little man?
I’ll tell you a wonderful trick
That will bring you contentment, if anything can:
Do something for somebody, quick!
Are you awfully tired with play, little girl?
Wearied, discouraged, and sick?
I’ll tell you the loveliest game in the world:
Do something for somebody quick!
Though it rains like the rain of the flood, little man,
And the clouds are forbidding and thick,
You can make the sun shine in your soul, little man:
Do something for somebody, quick!
Though the stars are like brass overhead, little girl,
And the walks like a well-heated brick,
And our earthly affairs in a terrible whirl,
Do something for somebody, quick!
Do you feel all bottled up inside? Then let your Self out of prison! Expression allows release. Though we’re constantly told by just about every health author that we are what we eat, the fact is you are not what you eat. You are what you express in your moments of living. That’s what you know, what you experience. We know and experience that which we express in thought, word and deed in and through our hearts, our minds and our physical bodies. You want to be happy? Express joy. You want to know love? Express love. You want to know truth? Express truth. You want to know life? Express life. You want to have peace? Be peaceful. This is what will give your body whole health. It’s that simple. Everything else will follow.
Spirituality rightly belongs at the top of the pyramid. Your spirit, motive and attitude will set the direction of your actions and guide your choices in life. When in doubt, start with thankfulness. When you’re anxious, try patience. When worried and confused, try stilling your mind with the assurance that all is well. Realization of what we need to do in any moment come through a tranquil mind from within. Be still and know. As I said, we’ve been given all the resources we need to lead a healthy and happy life. All we need is to be fully present as a conscious being in each moment. A wise spiritual teacher put it very succinctly in a poem:
Any Moment
Any moment of hating, any moment of lying, any moment of resentment, is a moment of dying.
Any moment of loving, any moment of giving, any moment of thankfulness, is a moment of living.
All our moments add together like the digits in a sum, and the answer tells us plainly whether life or death shall come.
And now my reservoir is full again. Expression has allowed the release of this article. I wish for you a beautiful day. Here’s to your health and happiness!
Read more about expression in BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD: How to master the art of expression>>
[su_panel background=”#f2f2f2″ color=”#000000″ border=”0px none #ffffff” shadow=”0px 0px 0px #ffffff”]Dr. Anthony Palombo has been a holistic health practitioner for the past forty-eight years, specializing in health and wellness coaching, nutritional therapy and sacred sound healing. Of the latter he writes: “Attunement with sacred sound provides a carrier wave for the healing current and for consciousness in mending the connection between outer body-mind-heart with inner Source.” Connect with Tony at www.healingandattunement.com.
image: Demion (Creative Commons BY)
