Secrets
Any good salesperson can tell you that price is a reflection of quality; hence what is free is obviously worthless. In fact, these three secrets are worth less than nothing because you can’t even give them away! How so? Because they’re true, and if there’s anything that I’ve learned in this lifetime, it’s that truth is a dangerous and despised commodity.
Not only can’t you give it away, but scarcely anybody wants to hear it, and in fact they may well resent and hate you for uttering it. So, that’s why these three truths were neglected and became secrets.
You are probably about now somewhat curious as to what this hidden, arcane and dangerous knowledge is. Maybe you think you already know what it is (you don’t actually), or that it’s nothing especially profound (it is), or maybe you’d prefer to not know, because once the cat’s out of the bag there’s no putting it back in.
Anyway, what can some obscure physiologist with an unpronounceable surname possibly add to the treasure trove of western medical knowledge, a fine tradition that embodies the collective erudition of more than a hundred years of trial and error (mostly error)?
History shows that medical science has proved ingenious in inventing ways to make health care ever more complex, expensive and dangerous, and in devising solutions to problems we haven’t yet discovered.
Never mind that the cure is sometimes more deadly than the disease if the theory is good but the outcome bad, we can always blame the patient for being uncooperative. Or as they say – the operation was a success (it’s just that the patient died.
Let’s be fair though. It would certainly be a grave injustice to blame the medical profession for its failure to fix the epidemic of chronic ills that is threatening to break the bank. After all, doctors are ordinary folk, just like you and I. The main difference is that they’ve read more books than is good for their health and sanity, so it’s no wonder they get a bit confused by the mountain of data and sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees. For some unfathomable reason, the average Joe treats doctors as sages and the font of wisdom in the domain of health.
Ask yourself – is your doctor fit, healthy, well adjusted and happy? If not, on what basis do you entrust them with making life and death decisions on your behalf? And when you go to consult your doctor, what do you walk out with, aside from a pocketful of pills, a further referral to yet another doctor, and a lighter wallet? That is, unless he’s a real healer, one who’s dedicated to his vocation and serious about your health, in which event he will give you the time and attention you need.
Moreover, such a doctor makes it his business to be knowledgeable about all facets of the healing arts so that he is able to dispense sound advice, and not just prescribe the pills and poisons that the drug companies purvey.
Legend has it that in ancient China, doctors were only paid when their clients were healthy. If they were sick, then it was considered that the doctors had failed in their duty of care and hence were undeserving of payment.
Your mechanic’s job is to keep your vehicle serviced, safe and on the road if he is negligent in that regard, you ask for your money back and look for a better mechanic. Why then do you not apply the same criteria to your health servicer?
You may think that I’m being overly disparaging of the medical profession, but to provide a balanced perspective, let me assure you that I am equally critical of many of the practices of alternate medicine as well.
When conservative medicine fails to relieve pain and misery, the afflicted in desperation turn to the legions of alternative practitioners, hoping to find a fix for their ailments.
The choices are bewildering, covering the whole spectrum from acupuncture to zero balancing. The things that we do to ourselves, or allow other people to inflict on us in the name of health are quite extraordinary, if not foolish, unhealthy or dangerous.
Please don’t assume that my intention is to denigrate the medical sciences and healing arts. Far from it, I assure you, for healing is a sacred profession. As Hippocrates wrote some 2,500 years ago in reference to the practice of medicine “With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my Art.” My contempt is reserved for the many charlatans and incompetents who cause more harm than good, and moreover profit from it.
Ultimately though, the type of therapy or the theory behind it is irrelevant – the outcome is all that counts, and that’s when things get really interesting. Why? Because of the placebo effect.
Medical trials report positive outcomes for placebos of between 30-60%, which means that often the placebo is equally as effective as the method or drug that it’s being compared to (and sometimes even better).
The intention of the discourse above is to point out to you that both conservative and alternative medicine have either forgotten the essentials, or have conspired to keep you in the dark and them in the money.
I hear you thinking “ok, whatever, I’ve paid my penny for this paper, now just tell us what these secrets are already”. Fine, you asked for it, but I assure you, you won’t like what I have to say.
1st Secret
First secret: Shut up!
Come on now, be honest, you weren’t expecting that one at all, were you! But what’s the benefit? For a startaccording to the precepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)when your mouth is open, the most important bioenergy circuit in the body is broken.
That’s the circuit comprised of two energy channels: a) the Governor meridian (Du Mai) that runs up the spine, and governs all the masculine functions and nourishes the brain, spinal cord and reproductive system; and b) the Conception meridian (Ren Mai) that flows down the front of the trunk, and regulates the feminine functions as well as the kidneys, liver and spleen.
The tongue is the link between these two channels, but if the mouth is open the circuit is broken, and if the circuit is broken the energy levels and libido will be low and the organs disharmonious.
As another consideration, if your mouth is open then you’re breathing through your mouth instead of your nose. In that event pathogens and dust that are ordinarily filtered by the nose are inhaled directly into the lungs, and cold air cannot be warmed by the nasal passages. In case you forgot, your nose is the primal survival organ; it serves to detect and warn us of toxins in the air.
If your mouth is open then you’re probably doing one of two things, namely, putting something into it, or talking. I very much doubt that you are undernourished if anything, we all consume way too much, and therein lies a prime cause of disease and accelerated aging.
It makes little difference whether we’re talking about food and drink, drugs or vitamin pills, the fix for many health problems is to reduce intake, not to add expensive supplements and/or substitutes. Keep your mouth closed more often and you’ll be delighted by how much you’ll save in terms of health and wealth.
And talking about talking, when your mouth is open your ears are closed. So, not only are you losing valuable energy by blowing it out as hot air (no doubt a major cause of global warming), but it also means that you’re also not listening. When you’re not listening, you’re not learning, and that brings us to the next secret, which is …
2nd Secret
Pay attention!
Awareness is the light of consciousness. We use it to illuminate our inner being as well as the external world, so that we may better perceive, understand and navigate the dimensions we exist in.
Naturally, the brighter that light, the greater the clarity in that regard, enlightenment is a state of heightened awareness attained through cultivation of the senses. The sensory faculties however are not just the physical subset of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, via which the body perceives external stimuli, but also the proprioceptive senses which enable the body to navigate in the dimensions of space and time. In addition there are a variety of extrasensory perceptual abilities that we use to tune into the bioenergetic, spiritual and mental domains.
But wait, there’s more, for the sensory network is only half of the story, i.e. its primary function is data input. Data is meaningless until it’s processed, and that’s where the cognitive abilities come into the picture.
Cognition enables us to discriminate and make sense of our input so that we can react and act appropriately, and not merely in a blindly instinctual manner. On top of that we have our emotional and aesthetic sensibilities, which are qualities that transcend the purely utilitarian, rational and survival instruments of consciousness.
Paying attention requires growing and extending your awareness. How do you achieve this? By tuning up your senses and developing your cognitive faculties and that requires time and disciplined effort.
Developing awareness is similar to body building in that it involves programmed exercise; it’s not simply a matter of reading books and thinking, of meditating and praying. The mental and spiritual aspects are important, but raising one’s consciousness is a wholistic process that also demands tuning up the physical body, i.e. your health. And that brings us to the third secret, which is …
3rd Secret
Move your ass!
Otherwise known as “use it or lose it”. However, it’s not sufficient just to be active – what is called for is the right activity done in the right way. In other words, don’t merely move, but move smart, otherwise you’re making things worse, not better. The aim of the game is to build your health, not to cripple yourself, nor to accelerate the wear and tear on your body so that you grow old before your time.
It is a forgotten maxim in medical circles that there is no better medicine than physical exercise to prevent disease, and that it is an essential part of therapy for every ailment.
Physicians and philosophers alike have been exhorting us to get off our ass, get out of our comfort zone, and get with the program since time immemorial. To quote Plato “Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.”
The standard excuse for neglecting our bodies is that we don’t have the time to spare for regular workouts. It’s all a matter of priorities, so ask yourself which suits your schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead twenty-four hours a day?
People no sooner hear the dreaded word “exercise” and they start to sweat. Working out does not have to be painful or boring, quite the contrary, it can and should be engaging and fun.
Actually, the very concept of ‘exercise’ is somewhat unhealthy – what is healthy is being active, not merely working out for an hour and being a sloth for the other sixteen waking hours in your day. In other words, fully engage your body as well as your mind in everything that you do, whether it’s working, walking or watching the birds. Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.
So, there you have it. Three simple little secrets: the keys to living a healthy, active and productive life. These are things that you can’t simply buy, put in your mouth and swallow, or that you can pay somebody to do to you or for you, or that can automatically happen to you while you’re out watching TV.
Achieving self-fulfillment requires little expenditure (of money that is); it does require you to invest your most valuable commodities, i.e. your time, attention and energy.
Now I’ll let you in on another little-known secret. Kinergy. In brief, Kinergy is the most advanced, comprehensive and effective health conditioning modality available. The programs are safe, scientific and fun. Not only will you feel better – you will function better and look better.
A distinctive feature of Kinergy is that the techniques and routines are not just for use during the training sessions. Kinergy is a School for Life – what you learn has immediate relevance to and application in all your daily activities, whether work or play. So, do yourself a favour and get with the program
