Health is a state of complete physical, mental
and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. ~World Health Organization, 1948
Briget Menezes, who is 75, running two weekly
newspaper columns, becoming an author
and motivator discloses her inner secrets of staying young while
growing old in a recent New Straits Times interview on January 28, 2012. Here
is an extract of what she has said about living a healthy life:
On staying physically active
·
Healthy aging is a goal, not anti-aging
·
Growing old is inevitable,
occasionally there may be forgetfulness or some aches and pains, but she laughs
it off with good humor.
·
Menezes believes in the importance of
exercise and has maintained an active lifestyle since her 20s but emphasized that effort is required for both mental and physical fitness. She said with
regular exercise and a positive outlook, inner greatness is built which
protects oneself from illness.
·
She is a vegetarian, and I eat
vegetables with the colors of the rainbow.
·
She goes for a brisk walk three times a
week, covering about five kilometers in one hour. She exercises basically to be
mobile so that when she is required to run, she can run.
·
Her motto is to live a healthy life –
rise with the sun and if possible exercise in the morning because of our body
clock takes its cue from the sunlight to release hormones to function well.
On a strong and healthy mind
·
Menezes said she practices Raja Yoga
Meditation to maintain a state of calm that refreshes the mind and relaxes the
body. She said meditation gently and naturally opens to our perception,
producing insights and experiences that bring lasting changes to our lives.
Meditation heals old wounds and restores our capacity to love, to learn and
adapt, to envision, and to build a better future. In short, it awakens us and
our interaction with others, based on respect and love, instead of selfishness
and dependence.
·
About 70% of her physical fitness level
is due to a positive state of mind. She always tries to keep her mind cool
without much fluctuation, accepting people and situations as they are. Change
the inner attitude and you can change the outer aspects. It’s about inside out.
When our thoughts are stable and steadfast, the breath level is found to be
rhythmic in the vicinity of 14 to 16 times per minute, which is a sign of a
healthy life. To her, everything starts with the mind, as a healthy mind
creates a healthy body. Through silence, our mind becomes strong and stable, and
we are able to manage our thoughts better and take charge of our lives.
·
She handles stress by learning to
respond in an appropriate way. Stress is not caused by people, events
pressures, or the environment. It is created by how we respond to all these. As
long as you feel others should change for us to become tension-free, we will
always remain in dependency and fear.
On the ways to live a healthy life
·
Most importantly, think positive and be
happy because the magic elixir of positivity can work miracles, transforming
and healing illnesses. Remember, where there is happiness, there is also health
and wealth. A happy disposition increases the level of endorphins and lowers
the production of stress hormones.
·
In a nutshell, a healthy lifestyle is
not a difficult goal to achieve. The basis factors are a positive frame of
mind, good rest, positive interaction, emotional stability, invigorating
exercise, proper diet, and a fulfilling job.
·
You must remove fear. Fear is stress,
fear is pain, fear attracts fear. As for death, she welcomes it, because she
knows that only the body dies but the souls are eternal
The
body is like a piano, and happiness is like music. It is needful to have the
instrument in good order. ~ Henry Ward Beecher (1813 – 1887)
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