I was going to save this post for my future book, but after visiting with some customers over the last week I figured it might be nice to talk about balance and harmony at this time before the holidays add more stress (in turn aging us).
We are a very reactive society. We wait for a problem to happen and then approach it in an all or nothing manner. I ate a lot of crap so now I'm going on a juice cleanse so I can eat more crap and wonder why I feel and look like crap! This is not balance! This is compulsive, reactive behavior that gets really tough to cope with or hide after 40.
Beauty and health is about Balance. Balance is not really taught in our culture and you're not necessarily going to find it on a yoga mat or in a Buddhist temple. Instead of eliminating, depriving or starving we should look into the art of cultivating the balance of our bad habits.
For instance when someone eats a lot of sugar they cause a process called glycation. Glycation is where the sugar breaks down the proteins of the cell (and spikes insulin if your body does not regulate it). IF I ever eat a simple carb or sugar I make sure to eat protein with my sugar. It's not actually a choice. My body naturally craves protein (especially if I drink alcohol)! Pro diabetics always try to mix protein with their carbs for this very reason.
The yin yang equation of health and beauty is to find out what the bad is in our habit and neutralize or rather balance it! Another for instance: smoking depletes our system of oxygen. An oxygen promoting product could be a supplement called Cell Food. Smoking also breaks down collagen and robs the cells of negative ions (susceptible to cancer). Vitamin C promotes collagen and donates negative ions (antioxidants). Through the years I've seen SEVERAL smokers supplement with heavy dosing of Vitamin C as per Linus Pauling.
IN NO WAY AM I TELLING YOU TO GO SMOKE, etc! I have just learned eliminating a vice only sets oneself up for failure. That's why over 90% of diets fail. Here we are again with that all or nothing mentality.
Figure out your vice or habit. Find out what it's doing to hurt your mind, spirit or others around you and come up with a solution. What is the Yin to your Yang? Now go find that balance!
