Self Healing and Illness Prevention

There is an old adage about a man driving down the road when the oil light illuminates on his dashboard. The man takes out a shotgun, shoots out the light, and blows away the entire dashboard. 
This story describes the way we tend to treat our health problems. We address the symptoms, but not the causes. The oil light comes on because the car was low on oil and shooting it out doesn't fix the problem, but it does take care of that annoying light. In the same way, when symptoms occur, we know how to get rid of them: that itch, that skin eruption, that headache. But are we removing the cause of the problem?

Like a car, your body sends out warning lights. It creates symptoms such as pain to alert you to problems. If you only look at symptoms and not the cause of the problem, you will illuminate the very warnings that the symptoms represent.

Self-health is maintained by listening attentively to those warnings, learning how to refill the "oil" in our body/engines. How can you listen to those symptoms? Let's look at what the body wants to communicate. Let's look at the goal of healing. Let's look at health.

WHAT IS HEALTH? 
Health is a state of balance that is much like riding a bike. Health incorporates mind, body, and spirit. Health is freedom. 
When you have health, you are free to move in a healthy physical body, free to create with clear mental energy, and your spirit soars.

WHAT INCREASES YOUR VITALITY?

WATER AND HYDRATION 
Our bodies are made up of 80% water. We need to keep this water flowing to carry the nutrients around our bodies. Drink up!
SLEEP 
While we sleep, invisible forces heal our bodies. New skin replaces old, bruises are healed, muscles rebuilt. Sleep is imperative to self-healing.
RELAXATION 
Just like your body breathes in and out, there is a time for everything. Self-healing means regeneration. Regeneration happens during rest.
JOY 
Following your bliss. Take time to enjoy what brings you joy.
EXERCISE 
Exercise increases circulation, breathing, stimulates the body to do what it does best: work. Exercise need not be a sprint through the park. Recent research has shown that as little as three miles of walking a week can have dramatic improvements in health. This is about 20 minutes of walking three times a week or only ten minutes a day.
SPIRIT 
Spiritual endeavors feed the body/soul connection. This includes the power of prayer.

WHAT DIMINISHES YOUR HEALING ENERGY?

TOXINS 
Car fumes, electrical fields, noise, even too much sun can stress your body. With long-time exposure, this can lead to illness. Avoiding toxins will prevent disease. Drink extra water when you are exposed to extra toxins, to help flush them out of your system.
EXHAUSTION 
Overdoing--whether physical, or mental--can lead to illness. Even overdoing exercise can stress the adrenals and reduce one's adaptability to stress. Listen to your body, and if you are tired, rest!
SADNESS AND DEPRESSION 
Moods are caused by both emotional and physical reasons. Recent work in brain chemistry has shown that many nutrients can alter mood. You can alter your mood by addressing issues such as food allergies, hormone issues, and nutrition. A number of recent books discuss the use of nutrition in mental health.

Listen to your body and address the cause of the problems, and not just the obvious symptoms. 
Feel the intrinsic connection between body and mind, as it exists for you, and take charge of your health.