In my life i have observed through time that the key to total health and wellbeing is the integration of body, heart, and mind. There was a time when i was at the peak of my triathlon training with all the diet and exercise when i suddenly got hypertension. The reason: i was having problems with my masteral thesis. At another time when i thought that i was not training as hard as my friends and i was just competing not to win but for the fun, i was surprised to have won first place. The reason: I was so emotionally happy at that time. I have a friend who went to different doctors already because of a recurrent liver problem. When he finally came to an acupuncturist after a long interview, the acupuncturist advised him to quit his job or lose his health. He quit his job and got cured. The reason: he was so angry at his boss but just kept up with him for a long time–anger eats up the energy of the liver according to traditional Chinese medicine. I have another friend who defied all the doctors predictions that she would die in three months time because her cancer has already spread throughout her body. Nine months after she seemed to be on the way to recovery when she got into a terrible fight with her daughter. Hurting words were spoken and one week after that she died. It turned out that it was her daughter that gave her strength to live. She simply gave up her will to live after the quarrel with her daughter. The heart is an important part of us because it is not only a physical heart that needs cardio exercises but also an emotional heart that needs love. Those who die of heart attack not only die of physical strain but more because of emotional strain. Sudden anger, surprise and extreme happiness can precipitate a heart attack. Health practitioners have also found out that mental activity can actually prevent one from getting old that fast. Medical science have stressed too much on the physical aspect which is not actually bad. But we also have to look at the emotional and psychological aspects in order to attain holistic health and wholeness.
