A good health

We often confuse good health with just the physical appearance-looking lean, slim or achieving ideal
weight or the mere absence of illness. But is it true? Whether we have understood the meaning of
good health in its essence holistically?

Reflecting on my own life, I used to consider myself healthy based on the fact that I rarely fell ill, and I
maintained a slim and fit physique. However, life's unpredictable twists and turns brought about a
sudden change in my environment, pushing my stress levels to new heights. It was during this
challenging period that my health took a toll, shattering the illusion of my understanding of good
health. This realization led me to understand that good health is a multifaceted connection between
physical, emotional, mental, moral and spiritual well-being.

Since childhood, our education often focuses solely on physical health. The emphasis on physical
appearance creates a misconception that a slim physique is a synonym with good health.
Unfortunately, the essential elements of emotional and mental health are frequently neglected. The
societal stigma for discussions on emotional and mental well-being has led to the suppression of
emotions, impacting both the mind and body at the subtlest levels. And as we age, our bodies
struggle to take the accumulated emotional burden and one day it got outburst in the form of severe
diseases or illnesses.

In today’s fast-paced world, the term "spiritual health" might seem anonymous or being reserved for
sages or the elderly. In this hustle and bustle of modern living, taking out time for spiritual practices
is often deemed impractical. But what if spiritual health is the missing piece in our quest for
complete well-being?

It's believed that a significant portion of illnesses—around 90%—are psychosomatic arising from a
disturbed mind accompanied with stress, worry, anxiety, and anger. In today’s hustling bustling
world, it is quite imperative to take some time out to relax and cleanse our mind as we used to do for
our body. Generally, for relaxation we used to go to the beauty parlour or binge watch our favourite
series or chill out with the friends. Isn’t it??But let’s question ourselves do we actually feel relaxed
after doing this and whether in any way is it helping us to bring the balance of body-mind back in its
true essence? In today’s fast paced world, we have even demeaned the meaning of Relaxation and
hence with time, our body and mind gets accumulated with so much stress that eventually it takes
up a toll on our health and make us miserable one day.

Often when we fall ill, we go to the doctor or take treatment for the symptom such as cold, fever etc.
We do not try to correct the wrong habits and attitude that are causing this. If we keep the track of
our habits, our thoughts, we will better able to deal with the root cause of the problem.

There is a saying in Yoga, “Jaisa anna waisa man”, (as the food, so the mind). Let’s understand here,
it’s not only the food intake we are talking about, however, it’s also about thoughts, actions, what
you perceive etc that you take inside your body through the five senses.

It may be quite easy to achieve physical fitness by doing regular exercise or Yoga asanas however for
mental, emotional and psychological fitness is to be brought by reducing feelings, attachments and
other negative traits of mind. Love, compassion and friendliness free the mind. These positive
feelings help to overcome hatred, jealousy and other negative feelings. For spiritual upliftment,
cultivating faith, perseverance and disinterestedness helps in improving the spiritual growth.
Conclusion

Let’s understand that in the pursuit of physical perfection, let's not overlook the intricacies that
define true health. It's time to shift our focus from mere appearances to a comprehensive definition
of health that incorporates the emotional, mental, moral, and spiritual aspects of our being. A good
health is the by product of balanced state of body and mind that is the result of what we feed in our
body, regular exercise and constant cleanliness of body and mind.

“We believe that Yoga is a way of life which should help

one to acquire a healthy body, a superior mind and a higher
spiritual consciousness”. – Dr. Hansaji