Healthy Lifestyle | A New Disease?
The strive and effort towards a Healthy Lifestyle creates stress and causes many physical diseases and mental health ailments. Is the push for a Healthy Lifestyle the new disease?
A Healthy Lifestyle today has become more about image and less about well-being. The pressure people put on themselves to be healthy is a sickness in itself. As an example:
A Healthy Lifestyle today has become more about image and less about well-being. The pressure people put on themselves to be healthy is a sickness in itself. As an example:
- Eating – gluten free, sugar free, fat free, carb free etc.
- Power Exercise
- Hair colouring
- Plastic surgery – breast, lips, butt, cheeks
- Vitamins and supplements
- Excessive detoxing
- Botox of all kinds
- Hair implants
The human body is highly intelligent. The body does many functions without conscious involvement. In the past, observation of Self and body awareness was a measure whether to seek medical care or not. Intuitive awareness or gut-instinct was highly regarded.
Persuasive and aggressive marketing of a Healthy Lifestyle causes many people to bypass the simple technique of body awareness and instead, dive into pre-healing themselves before an actual disease occurs.
We have moved from a culture of simplicity to complexity. What was once a stroll in the park has become a vigorous army march.
Recently my daily stroll left me lying on the grass as a fast-paced walker ploughed into me. I was not injured and quickly got up. I am 58 years old. The person, who was much younger, was out of breath, sweating profusely and her temples pulsated as if a vein would pop any minute. How can this be enjoyable or healthy?
Before the saturation of electronics, exercise was part of our life as we moved through our day, not a designated time frame. Vitamins were taken as means of recuperation after an illness and not a prevention to illness. Eating healthy was common sense not an online course.
We are bombarded daily with advertisements on keeping healthy. This subtle programming into the human psyche has created fear around aging, illness, suffering and death. Natural processes of life.
Marketing and social media has stripped many people of their ability to “think for themselves.” Excessive and aggressive marketing hypnotizes you into an unreasonable expectation of yourself. According to yogic tradition any expectation creates an attachment to results. Attachments of any kind births suffering.
The immense push towards a Healthy Lifestyle sends a subconscious message of longevity. As far as I can tell, none of us can cheat, beat or avoid death. The guises we use, as an example, anti-aging vitamins, are a ruse that fools only you.
Longevity disguised as a Healthy Lifestyle is not working, instead, it seems to create an adverse effect on the human psyche. The way a Healthy Lifestyle is being marketed, makes us forget our mortality, death.
Consciously we know we will die some day. Subconsciously, if you are programmed into the culture of longevity, youth and image, the pressure to preserve the body becomes more intense and stressful. It has been proven stress causes cancer. If this is so, isn’t stressing over a Healthy Lifestyle, unhealthy?
What is longevity after all, isn't it preservation of the body? It certainly isn’t preservation of the mind. Mental health disabilities have become a pandemic.
Persuasive and aggressive marketing of a Healthy Lifestyle by way of ageless products coupled with pharmaceuticals and social media has created a multi-billion-dollar retail industry. It has systematically programmed the current generation to feel they will live forever. People are under mental pressure to have a perfect image, be healthy and keep looking young. Body image has undoubtedly contributed to many suicides and ongoing mental neurosis and psychosis. Instagram and Facebook have proven to be one of the biggest contributors to mental health disabilities.
I recently read an article about people pre-purchasing body organs for usage in later life when their own organs fail. Is this a Healthy Lifestyle or the pursuit of longevity? What is this telling us about our society?
Many parents are also influenced by longevity under the guise of a Healthy Lifestyle. The pressure to preserve youthful looks has created many dysfunctional relationships.
As an example, a parent who colours-out their grey hair will appear younger than a parent who is greyed. The perception of youth in the parent subconsciously causes the adult child to see physical strength in an otherwise aging body. The adult child is unaware of the aging parent, due to the parent concealing their age with products. The visual perception of youth in the parent creates challenging interactions that often leave many families fragmented. Simply, adult children are not seeing their parents aging.
If we believe we will be young forever and live forever, forgiveness and reconciliation will cease to exist. As a Mental Health Awareness teacher, I can say without a doubt, this is already happening.
When a Healthy Lifestyle becomes your mission, longevity will subconsciously seep into your mind followed by fear of illness and death. A healthy mind ceases to exist in the face of fear. An effortless life is a joyful life. An effortless death is compassionate.
A Healthy Lifestyle is individualized to the person. We are not a one-size fits all.
A Healthy Lifestyle is fulfilling, satisfying and balanced. A Healthy Lifestyle means less electronics and more community interaction. It requires body awareness and trust in one’s self. It is a Lifestyle which requires you to be especially cognizant of the influence of marketing and social media. It requires you to know when to walk away or simply slow down and stop. A Healthy Lifestyle promotes clarity of mind, it is about inner wellbeing vs outer image.
My experience has taught me, fighting nature is futile. Acceptance and understanding of aging, illness and death is fruitful.
Persuasive and aggressive marketing of a Healthy Lifestyle causes many people to bypass the simple technique of body awareness and instead, dive into pre-healing themselves before an actual disease occurs.
We have moved from a culture of simplicity to complexity. What was once a stroll in the park has become a vigorous army march.
Recently my daily stroll left me lying on the grass as a fast-paced walker ploughed into me. I was not injured and quickly got up. I am 58 years old. The person, who was much younger, was out of breath, sweating profusely and her temples pulsated as if a vein would pop any minute. How can this be enjoyable or healthy?
Before the saturation of electronics, exercise was part of our life as we moved through our day, not a designated time frame. Vitamins were taken as means of recuperation after an illness and not a prevention to illness. Eating healthy was common sense not an online course.
We are bombarded daily with advertisements on keeping healthy. This subtle programming into the human psyche has created fear around aging, illness, suffering and death. Natural processes of life.
Marketing and social media has stripped many people of their ability to “think for themselves.” Excessive and aggressive marketing hypnotizes you into an unreasonable expectation of yourself. According to yogic tradition any expectation creates an attachment to results. Attachments of any kind births suffering.
The immense push towards a Healthy Lifestyle sends a subconscious message of longevity. As far as I can tell, none of us can cheat, beat or avoid death. The guises we use, as an example, anti-aging vitamins, are a ruse that fools only you.
Longevity disguised as a Healthy Lifestyle is not working, instead, it seems to create an adverse effect on the human psyche. The way a Healthy Lifestyle is being marketed, makes us forget our mortality, death.
Consciously we know we will die some day. Subconsciously, if you are programmed into the culture of longevity, youth and image, the pressure to preserve the body becomes more intense and stressful. It has been proven stress causes cancer. If this is so, isn’t stressing over a Healthy Lifestyle, unhealthy?
What is longevity after all, isn't it preservation of the body? It certainly isn’t preservation of the mind. Mental health disabilities have become a pandemic.
Persuasive and aggressive marketing of a Healthy Lifestyle by way of ageless products coupled with pharmaceuticals and social media has created a multi-billion-dollar retail industry. It has systematically programmed the current generation to feel they will live forever. People are under mental pressure to have a perfect image, be healthy and keep looking young. Body image has undoubtedly contributed to many suicides and ongoing mental neurosis and psychosis. Instagram and Facebook have proven to be one of the biggest contributors to mental health disabilities.
I recently read an article about people pre-purchasing body organs for usage in later life when their own organs fail. Is this a Healthy Lifestyle or the pursuit of longevity? What is this telling us about our society?
Many parents are also influenced by longevity under the guise of a Healthy Lifestyle. The pressure to preserve youthful looks has created many dysfunctional relationships.
As an example, a parent who colours-out their grey hair will appear younger than a parent who is greyed. The perception of youth in the parent subconsciously causes the adult child to see physical strength in an otherwise aging body. The adult child is unaware of the aging parent, due to the parent concealing their age with products. The visual perception of youth in the parent creates challenging interactions that often leave many families fragmented. Simply, adult children are not seeing their parents aging.
If we believe we will be young forever and live forever, forgiveness and reconciliation will cease to exist. As a Mental Health Awareness teacher, I can say without a doubt, this is already happening.
When a Healthy Lifestyle becomes your mission, longevity will subconsciously seep into your mind followed by fear of illness and death. A healthy mind ceases to exist in the face of fear. An effortless life is a joyful life. An effortless death is compassionate.
A Healthy Lifestyle is individualized to the person. We are not a one-size fits all.
A Healthy Lifestyle is fulfilling, satisfying and balanced. A Healthy Lifestyle means less electronics and more community interaction. It requires body awareness and trust in one’s self. It is a Lifestyle which requires you to be especially cognizant of the influence of marketing and social media. It requires you to know when to walk away or simply slow down and stop. A Healthy Lifestyle promotes clarity of mind, it is about inner wellbeing vs outer image.
My experience has taught me, fighting nature is futile. Acceptance and understanding of aging, illness and death is fruitful.