Treat Your Body as a Temple

Our bodies are the physical vessel in which our spirit resides.  If you want to make the most of your life and want optimal health, we must treat our bodies as a temple.  One definition of a temple according to Webster’s dictionary is ” a place devoted to a special purpose” or “a house of worship”.  Your body is the only vessel you get here in this world so you might as well take care of it the best you can.  The bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  Therefore, honor God with your bodies” (NIV).  If we want to honor God and live fulfilling lives, we need to take care of our bodies.  They say that if you don’t have your health, you ain’t got nothin!  Nothing on earth means more than your physical well being because without your health, God cannot use you properly.

Eat to Live

Eat God’s food as the mainstay of your diet – that is foods that are as close as possible to the way nature presents them.  Here is a list of God’s food:

• unprocessed fruits and vegetables
• intact whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa, barley, oats, wheat berries (soaked or sprouted is best)
• seeds                                                                                                            
• beans and legumes
• unprocessed natural cheeses (grass fed or raw is best)
• milk from grass fed cows
• fermented dairy
• wild caught fish
• fowl
• game
• herbs
• raw honey
• virgin or expeller pressed oils (olive and coconut are best)
• grass fed or pastured land roaming animals
• unprocessed salt
• vinegar

Supplement Your Diet with Whole Food Nutritional Supplements

You probably heard the old saying “Eat whole foods and you’ll get all the nutrients you need.”  The intention behind this affirmation is pure-but that’s just not true anymore these days.  Decades of cross breeding fruits and veggies for the looks and not nutrition, raising animals the wrong way and depleting our soils greatly reduced the amount of nutrients you get from virtually any food-and in a dramatic amount.  In fact, you would have to eat eight oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin C as our grandparents got from just eating one 50 years ago!

It’s advantageous to cover your bases by taking good quality whole food based nutritional supplements, which offer a concentrated source of nutrients that today’s animal and plant foods don’t always provide.  Here is a list of the essentials that I recommend:     

• whole food multivitamin and mineral (look for one that has 100% whole food based preferably) or a comprehensive Greens Superfood supplement (no fillers only derived from green juices not whole green plant)
• probiotics (with effective bacterial strains – like lactobacillus acidophillus DDS-1) that has a protective coating that makes it survive the stomach and into the intestines
• fish oil that is ultra-purified and concentrated (high EPA and DHA content), extracted from wild caught fish, guaranteed sustainable fishing practices and is 3rd party tested for contaminants and purity

Reference: Scientific American, 2011, April 27. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss

Condition Your Body with Exercise     

• Make a commitment and an appointment to exercise at least three times per week.
• Focus more on micro-movements throughout the day (incorporate more movement into your everyday life like parking further away or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.).
• Take a brisk walk and see how much better you feel at the end of the day.

Get Adequate Rest and Reduce Stress

• Go to sleep earlier and try to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
• Sit quietly for at least ten minutes per day (de-stress with meditation, prayer or visualization).
• Take a break from work and carve out time to socialize.
• Make a conscious effort to practice deep breathing exercises once a day. Inflate your lungs to full and hold for several seconds before slowly exhaling.
• Don’t try to do so much – slow down.
• Use essential oils for mood management and stress reduction.                

Reduce Toxins in Your Environment

“Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (NIV). — 2 Corinthians 7:1  When it comes to dealing with toxins in your environment, I’m referring to reducing the toxins in the environment inside your home, the air you breathe, the water you drink, the lotions and cosmetics you put on your skin and the products you use to clean your home.  The reason we must pay attention to these mundane daily activities is because we live in a toxic world.

• Improve indoor air quality by opening windows, changing air filters regularly, setting out house plants, and buying an air filtration system.
• Drink only purified water (filtered).
• Shower in purified water (buy a shower filter).
• Use natural products for skin care, body care, hair care, cosmetics and toothpaste.
• Use natural cleaning products for your home (essential oils are great for this).
• Don’t heat food in plastic.
• Don’t cook with Teflon cookware.