For self-development one needs to strengthen one’s mental faculty as well as physical vigor, that is, to own a good health. Taking some simple steps, we can easily do that. There are five quantum pillars of good health. Using these five pillars, we can make our life cadenced with a new rhythm of healthiness with ease.

Breathing:

Breathing is the main rhythm of life. This breathing controls the rest of the rhythms of the body. A properly taken deep breath harmonizes each body cell with the rhythm of nature. We can breathe properly by inflating the chest fully. To make it a habit, breathe slowly 19 times in 5 phases a day. In this type of breathing, breathe in through the nose, chest will be inflated and breathe out through the mouth. At first, take in air slowly through the nose inflating the chest. When the chest is fully inflated, breathe out through the mouth slowly. After you breathe out, count ‘one’ silently. Breathe in and out again in the same way and count ‘two’. Likewise, count up to nineteen to complete the task. If you practice breathing properly in 5 phases a day, your body-cells will get enough oxygen. You will remain fresh and fine; will be able to work constantly for a longer period of time. You will not be tired and fatigued easily.

Food habit:

Just after breathing, the second important thing is your food habit. Always have simple and easily digestible food. Keep away from excessive spicy and junk food. Three things are very important while choosing your food. Firstly, what will you eat? Secondly, how much will you eat? And thirdly, when will you eat?

What will you eat? Eat everything. Eat any food that your religion and your taste allow. The idea that for self-development and meditation, one has to be a vegetarian is totally wrong. The idea that one can remain lean and thin eating vegetables only is also wrong. The cow lives on grass. That is, they eat vegetables. Yet they become fat and fleshy. Again the tiger eats meat - that means they eat protein. Yet they are slim and thin. There are numerous jokes about eating vegetables. A gentleman was known as vegetarian. One day a guest joined a feast in his house and surprisingly saw that beef was being served. Beef was served not only to the guest but the host was also taking it. The guest asked him in a surprising tone, ‘You are a vegetarian, why are you eating beef?’ The host replied ‘Beef is a processed vegetable. Look, the cow eats nothing but vegetables. So beef can be called a processed vegetable.’ This kind of explanation really makes us laugh.

You should not eat protein in the name of vegetables. Fish and meat are protein; so have them as protein. But that should always be taken in a limited amount. There should be some vegetables in the daily diet. Cabbage, basil, spinach, drumstick and vegetables with dietary fiber contents should be in adequate amount in the menu. Eat all types of pulses.

One should always eat sufficient seasonal fruits. The fruits found in any season act as antibiotic for the diseases mostly spread in that particular season. Eat fruits a lot, especially those that are native to South Asian countries, such as, mango, jackfruit, banana, guava, hog-plum, amla, pomelo, acid fruit, and pineapple e.t.c. Pineapple is available in the market before the flu or influenza attacks people. If sufficient pineapple is taken at that time, the flu does not get the chance to attack. For this reason, it is said that the medicine for seasonal disease lies in the seasonal fruits. Those who are prone to catch cold should eat half of a medium sized pomelo daily before the winter comes. In this way they can get rid of cold very easily.

The conscious people of the present world now prefer natural food. In the western countries, the health conscious people are now very much eager to take organic natural food instead of tinned, processed and refined food. The specialist doctors and nutritionists have observed that the processed food causes many diseases including cancer. So eat crude flour instead of refined flour. Eat brown sugar instead of sugar. Drink raw tea, not milk tea. Avoid tinned food completely. Eat fresh fruit instead of fruit juice. Keep totally away from powder milk. Deduct the so-called nutritious food such as Horlicks, Ovaltin totally and eat egg, milk and banana every day. Avoid sweets especially the colored ones, because the color that is used in sweets may cause cancer.

Do not drink the so-called soft drinks because they create addiction. These soft drinks are the cause of diabetes and kidney and urinary diseases. Kidney Specialist Brigadier Dr. Siraj Jinnat, in a seminar on The World Diabetes Day, in 1994, expressed his clear opinion about the harmful effects of the soft drinks. Soft drinks may appear to be very dangerous to your kidney and bladder. So always drink green-coconut water instead of soft drinks. There are 19 minerals in the coconut water that are very much good for health.

How much will you eat? Have a controlled diet always. If you take more food, you will be more vulnerable to diseases. In this case, we can follow an advice of Prophet Muhammad (SM). He told us to fill one-third of our stomach with food, one-third with water and let the rest of the stomach vacant. After a long research it has been proved that if one takes food in this way, s/he can get rid of stomach disease and keep his /her weight under control.

 When will you eat? Dr. Paul Rouen, a famous dietitian of the present world, observed in his 30 years of long research that taking in heavy and rich food in the evening is an ideal way to face sudden death by heart attack. So always keep away from taking rich food in the evening. For good health and weight control, his advice is – “Have heavy breakfast in the morning, eat sufficiently in the afternoon and take very light in the evening”.

Physical Exercise:

After food, there comes the necessity of physical Exercise. Yoga and quantum exercise is the best exercise among all other exercises. Walking is also a good exercise. It is necessary to walk 25/30 minutes every day. While walking, walk at a speed of 4 miles per hour.

Digestion:

It is necessary to digest what you eat. What is the use of taking food if they are not digested? It is not really their physical problem, people who suffer from indigestion. In most cases it is psychological. Because the acid that is produced in the stomach can dissolve even a piece of iron. This acid is so strong that the outer-covering of the stomach is being changed regularly with a five days interval so that the stomach itself is not digested by the acid. So say before you eat: “Whatever I eat, I will eat with good taste and whatever I eat, will be digested properly.” Only then you will have a good digestion.   

Assimilation:

The organic wastes must always be removed from the body. This is an important step towards sound health. So those who are suffering from constipation must eat sufficient amount of vegetables and food high in fiber content. This way you can also stay away from colon cancer. And drink sufficient water. Always take bath in normal cold water. Never bathe in warm water. A specialist doctor Dr. Kakkar has proved in his nineteen years long research that bathing in warm water weakens your resistance against disease and bathing in cold water strengthens the resistance power in our body. We should bathe in cold water even in the winter. If the water is too cold, a little hot water can be mixed with it in order to reduce the coldness. Yet we have to be careful that the temperature of the water must be less than our body temperature.

Follow these five rules for a sound health. You will have an active, vigorous life.