Over the years, I’ve experimented with many health systems, trying to find optimum health. I’ve tried vegetarian and vegan diets, I lived strictly with the traditional Chinese medicine system, as well as the ancient Indian Ayurvedic system, and many others. I’ve tried juicing diets, fruit and nut diets, fasting, overeating … you name it! Each one offered a different and unique approach to more energy, cleansing and better living. But some of them were very limiting, because they focused on only one aspect of health and nutrition. Some, like Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, were very holistic and balanced.

As a teenager, I played a few sports but found my ‘home’ in martial arts, though, and have been practising tai chi and yoga since an early teenager. I also practised a few styles of martial arts, including karate, wing chun and aikido, until I became a natural therapist, where it was difficult to massage clients when I had jarred fingers and black eyes. The point is, as I practised each health system or martial art, I was looking for some answers – I was looking for a total health package. But I don’t believe it exists in just one discipline. Health and wellbeing must be balanced and holistic. I am also a qualified nutritionist and proud home cook with professonal cooking experience.

So, these days, when people ask me what I think is the best health system, I explain my simple philosophy for health and wellbeing. I’ll share it here.

1. BALANCE OF REST and ACTIVITY

I see many people on the go too often. And others simply seem to sleep or laze their days away. Good health is about a balance of activity and inactivity. Activity means movement, exercise – move it or lose it! The body needs to move. It loves to move. So find your best movement balance and feel the benefits. We also need inactivity – rest and sleep. Quality sleep. Even power naps are beneficial. I read that Winston Churchill got through WW2 almost entirely on 20-minute power naps! Find your own balance of rest and activity for greater health and wellbeing.

2. LOOK AFTER YOUR SPINE

Your spine is your communication highway. Spinal care is vitally important for a quality life. That includes caring for your nervous system also. Good posture, exercise, gentle stretching, avoiding sudden, jarring movements with your spine, are great ways to care for your spine. Our nervous system covers our entire body, and needs care also, like adequate sleep and rest, good emotional management, and healthy nutrition. I’ve heard it said in yoga that the spine is the most important part of the human body to care for.

3. SLOW MOVEMENT FOR THE MIND and BODY

Many countries, since ancient times, have known the benefits of various forms of slow movement for the human body, such as yoga, tai chi, Pilates, Tibetan ‘kum nye’ yoga, and even walking and swimming. Having practised yoga and tai chi for a long time now, I can highly recommend their benefits. These are extremely balanced and holistic systems, working every aspect of our mind and body – flexibility, balance, grace, mental and emotional balance, breathing, immunity, strong bones and toned muscles, and even spiritual balance.

4. CARDIOVASCULAR

Heart health! We need to exercise our heart and circulatory system also. We need some form of cardiovascular exercise to ‘get the blood pumping’ and increase heart health. Walking, swimming, safe running, safe sports and recreation, even sex, are great ways to care for the heart. Slow and faster exercise systems are also important for aiding and cleansing our lymphatic system, further strengthening our immune system.

5. WATER and WATER-RICH FOODS

We are made up of more than 65% water, and as such, we need to ‘top ourselves up’ constantly. Dehydration is a threat to our health and wellbeing, and is responsible for mistaken hunger pains, headaches and other common aches and pains in the body, mental fuzziness and even some emotional disturbances, and lack of energy and vitality. Increasing our water and water-rich food intake also increases our cleansing, energy, vitality, mental alertness and general health and wellbeing. Water-rich foods include fruit and vegetables, herbs and juice, and much more. Our modern diet is also highly acidic, which means increasing our water intake dilutes the acid in our bodies, and this very important!

6. BREATHING

Breathing is very important. The yogis say “Breath is life!” I cannot stress the important and incredible benefits of regular, deep breathing for greater wellbeing. The yogis also think that most people are “dead”, meaning most people don’t really breathe. They shallow breathe, and they miss most of the beneficial blood-gas exchange involved with deeper, controlled breathing. So, deep, controlled breathing exercises are vital for increased energy and the benefits of increased oxygen in our system are innumerable – including fighting and eliminating carcinogens (cancer-causing agents.) Probably the greatest emphasis in tai chi and yoga is on breathing – that’s how important deep, controlling breathing is for health and longevity!

7. PERSONAL EATING

Experiment! Balance! Moderation and variety! These are very important. I tried so many diets and nutritional systems over the years, and I know now that the most effective eating system in the world, is YOUR system. Every body and mind is different. We can’t place people in strict categories. For this reason, I personally disagree with blood-type diets, or personality diets, or suggesting that everyone become a vegetarian. It’s crazy, and in some cases, dangerous. I advocate experimenting with your diet. Try different systems. Work ON your best system, not IN it, until you find an eating and exercise system that best suits you and YOUR type, and that provides you with the essentials for a good life – energy, vitality, mental and emotional alertness, and a “feel good” approach to life.

I can highly recommend Dr. John Tickell’s system – Laughter, Sex, Vegetables and Fish – also the title of his best-selling book. Take a look today!

8. ALIVE FOODS

Many of the foods we eat in western societies are DEAD – plain and simple! Meat from ‘dead’ animals is ‘dead’. You can’t deny that. Processed and over-cooked foods are dead also. The best foods are alive, living foods, like fresh fruit and vegetables, herbs, nuts and seeds (especially seeds), juices, and foods which have been unprocessed and unaltered in some way. Raw or lightly cooked foods are better than highly cooked foods. Food freshly obtained from its natural, living state is best. Fresh, clean water is alive also! Salads and fruit and juicing is very beneficial. We should try to eat at least 90% fresh, living foods for maximum health and wellbeing. The Asians eat foods based on energy levels – what they call ‘chi’ or ‘prana’ – and try to balance their nutrition based on how much and what type of chi a food possesses – like yin and yang.

So many books have been written about health. So many speakers and doctors and nutritionists, etc have advocated certain systems of health. And so many of us have tried different diets, exercise systems and health programs. My advice? They are ALL relevant! They all have something important to promote, and they all advocate good health. However, humans (along with every living organism in the universe) are holistic, balance-seeking creatures. We need balance and moderation. We need variety. So I highly recommend experimenting with these different health systems, and find YOUR way.

Read a thousand books if you have to. In fact, I still read books regularly on health, exercise and nutrition. I’m always open to and looking for new ways to improve my health and wellbeing – especially to increase and balance my energy levels. My partner is Korean, so we eat a lot of Korean and Japanese foods, which are very healthy, high in energy, low in fat, high in antioxidants and really yummy (most important)!

I also recommend drinking up to 3 litres of water a day. For those of you who don’t drink any or enough water, this may seem like a bucketful, but once you get used to it, and it becomes a daily habit, you will feel incredible. In fact, once you are drinking at least 2 litres of water a day, you will notice a decrease in energy and vitality if you stop. It also helps to cleanse and wash out your body. The increased energy alone will spur you on to continue drinking more water.

Finally, stay away from diets, nutritional and exercise systems which promote a specific way of life forever. Diets (and remember the first 4 letters of diet) and some exercise systems are for short-term use only, such as for liver-cleansing or fat-loss, etc. Be cautious of fad diets and products. Always research your chosen diet or system carefully. Perhaps the longest standing systems are the best. I mean yoga, tai chi, traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine has been around a LONG time. They are sharing a powerful and ancient message. Let’s listen a little closer to their wisdom.

Some of the books I recommend for health and wellbing include:

Laughter, Sex, Vegetables and Fish – by Dr. John Tickell (also his DVD of the same system is excellent, and all of his books)

You Are What You Eat – by Dr Gillian McKeith

Perfect Health – by Dr. Deepak Chopra

The Power of Chi, The Power of You, and Youth & Beauty Secrets from the Orient – by Geoff and Phyllis Pike (these are absolute gems of wisdom)