Dear well-wishers, please accept my special greetings for total fitness day. Today marks the completion of 30 years of Quantum. I wish you all a very happy Quantum Year 31. 

I express my deep gratitude to our Creator for the last 30 years of our journey. 

I am also remembering with deep gratitude the contribution of hundreds of thousands of workers, volunteers, and well-wishers of Quantum. 

Thanks to the selfless silent workers, volunteers, and well-wishers whose time, effort, and money have made it possible to make meditation a part of modern everyday life. Quantum Method is synonymous with a total fitness program. For the last 30 years, Quantum has been teaching about not only fitness but total fitness. 

What most people understand by total fitness is an attempt to mold the body into a certain shape which is a futile process. It is more like climbing a greased pole. Every time you climb a little higher, you fall back. 

 

Why is total fitness important? 

Because a person who is mentally disturbed, lives an isolated lonely life and suffers from a spiritual void cannot be healthy even physically. 

Hence we always mentioned all four - physical, mental, social, and spiritual fitness which together combine into total fitness. 

We can explain it with another example. Think of a chair. It has four legs. If one leg is broken, then will you be able to sit on it properly? Never? 

You will constantly fear losing your balance and toppling over. So to sit properly, you need the chair to balance your weight on all four legs equally. 

Our life is just like the four legs of a chair. Hence we need total fitness. 

 

Gaining total fitness is not hard 

Gaining total fitness is neither difficult nor expensive. All it takes is some simple everyday practice and living a well-balanced life. 

To never exceed limits in any matter, whether good or bad. To avoid what is harmful, for oneself and for others. To work with joy and work for the well-being of oneself and others. To do every single work in the best possible manner. 

Ask yourself first - why do I need total fitness? 

When you want to attain something, if you have the answer clear in front of your mind, that is why you want it, then it becomes easier for you to attain it. 

An easier way to answer it could be that we want total fitness to receive everything that life has to offer. We want to give everything that we are capable of giving to this life. We want to do every work we do in the best possible manner. We want to make the best use of our potential. And say our last goodbye to this world with a smile on our faces and a heart full of memories and passion fulfilled. 

 

Dear well-wisher, if your answer is also the same then you too have a reason to stay alive. You have found your life goal. You know why you want to live. Hence you are capable of thinking about total fitness. 

 

How to become totally fit? 

1. Start with your thoughts 

The fact that you are thinking about total fitness proves you are very much capable of becoming totally fit. So now start imagining yourself to be totally fit. Accept in your mind that you can become totally fit. Think this way as often as you can. 

Say to yourself hundred times a day - Live long, happy, strong, and stay Young. 

Feel that your physical, mental, social, and spiritual fitness is increasing every day. 

2. Transform your positive thoughts into beliefs 

See yourself in your mind’s eye the way you want to see yourself in the real world. 

See yourself gaining mental, physical, and spiritual fitness the way you wish to. If you want to see yourself as a well-mannered good-hearted human being, then see it in your mind’s eye. Keep thinking of yourself to be this way. As you keep thinking like that, they will soon transform into your beliefs. 

 

Four questions to determine if you are totally fit

1. Can you turn around in the face of adversity? 

If you can think positively and believe in yourself, this will enhance your mental strength. 

Your ability to turn around in the face of adversity reveals your state of mental fitness. 

 

1. How many punches can you take? 

Many assume that showing off muscle strength reveals one’s physical fitness. How many punches you can give is not the measure of your physical fitness. Rather it is how many punches you can take without wavering that reveals your real physical strength, that is how physically fit you are. 

 

1. Does your presence bring joy to others? 

If the people around you become uncomfortable or anxious or intimidated, then you cannot be called socially fit. 

Your social fitness is how people feel around you. Do people enjoy your presence? How much do they long for you? This is the barometer of your social fitness state. 

 

1. Are you known for your bad temper? 

You may say prayers and perform all the religious rituals all you want, but if you are known for your bad temper, if you are rude to others, and often scold the people working under you, then you are spiritually unfit. 

But if you worship One God, if you are polite and humble with others, if you can feel the pain of the underprivileged, if you are known in your community as a well-mannered soft spoken person, if the injustices and exploitation in society make you feel pain, if you extend your helping hand to the sufferers, if you donate to charity, then it shows that you are gaining spiritual strength. 

Total fitness is the expression of one’s physical, mental, social, and spiritual strength. Such a person becomes the epitome of a long healthy, peaceful, active, and successful life. Yes, total fitness can also increase one’s lifespan. 

 

You too can attain a long life like Baba Sivananda! 

Dear well-wisher, we had the privilege to meet this rare soul in 2007. He heard about me from a Quantum graduate and became interested to see me. He was 111 years old then. 

He climbed the stairs at our Shantinagar office like a youngster, full of life! Such a simple, amiable person with a very sharp memory. His joy, curiosity, and vibrant talk impressed us all. He visited us at the Shantinagar office a few more times afterward. 

Today Baba Shivananda is 126 years old. It is a matter of pride for us that he was born in the Habiganj district in Bangladesh. Currently, he is living in Banarasi, India. He is living a very sound, healthy simple life. 

 

His teachings for his followers are very simple - believe in One God, live a simple life, love everybody and serve creations. 

If you can attain spiritual fitness through worshiping one God and serving others, then you too will attain a fulfilling life like Baba Shivananda. 

 

How to practice 

Now let’s come to the practical steps. 

Start with breathing practice! Pranayama! 

It is very easy. Keep your back straight and breathe in slowly. As you inhale, your chest will expand. Then breathe out slowly. 

When you inhale, feel that the infinite life energy from nature is entering your body. As you exhale, feel that all the toxins are leaving your body. 

Breathe this way 20 times. Practice it five to seven times daily. 

Learn how to do the Bongashon pose (Asian squat) from our website. 

Practice saying this autosuggestion hundred times a day - Live long. Happy strong. Grow young. 

For mental fitness, make your thoughts positive. 

Always give this autosuggestion to yourself - I am a believer. I have a brave heart. I can and I will. I will build my own life and do my work in the best possible manner. 

 

For social fitness, greet everyone you meet regardless of whether you know them or not. 

Greet them saying May Peace be on you (Assalamu alaikum). 

 

For spiritual fitness, strengthen your faith in One God. 

Donate to charity as per your capability. 

 

It is our heartfelt prayer that this Quantum 31st year be the year of total fitness for you and your family. 

May you all be happy and healthy in life, and blessed in every step. 

 

Lord bless. 

May peace be on all of you. 

 

[Translated from Gurujee’s speech given on 1st January 2023]