Olga (23 page)

When you are aware that your posture is bad, automatically adjust into a more upright energetic position. Good posture is developed through the constant awareness of how you stand, walk, and sleep. When walking or standing hold your head tall, head over your shoulders, shoulders over your hips and hips pushing forward. Look ahead, not down. Swing your arms.
Smile!

Approach the problems in your life not with fear but with a healthy sense of curiosity. If you are experiencing an illness do not consider it a punishment. Your body may simply be trying to get your attention. Look for ways to heal. If you are under a doctor’s care, put aside your doubts. Be 100% proactive about the treatment. If you have major doubts about your care and treatment, it may interfere with your ability to get well. I believe in yoga. Why are we doing yoga? Yoga means union of mind, body, and
spirit.

After an illness, you can help your body recover through the medium of your mind using techniques like meditation, guided visualization, and yoga. Yoga is a gentle, compassionate modality that works with the limits of your body. Yoga poses force blood out of vital organs allowing fresh blood to take its place. This not only cleanses our organs but also provides more nutrients to make our organs stronger and more resistant to disease. Keep the abdominals drawn in and engaged to support the lower back. Yoga poses lengthen your hip flexors, restore the range of motion in your spine, and stimulate your digestive
system.

You and I have such valuable resources available to help us get well and stay well with the help of the
The
OK Way to a Healthy, Happy Life
. Peace happens when tension leaves your
body.

Test your limits and surpass them to achieve goals you never thought possible. It’s the little sparkle that lights up your eyes and dances in your smile that makes you gorgeously unique. Greet the day with laughter and enjoy who you are. These are the real beauty and health secrets that never go out of
style.

As our age changes, so too does our body. On staying fit, healthy eating must become a lifetime commitment. For pain reduction, improved immunity, strong bones, good balance, and a healthy, sound mind, eat 4-5 small healthy meals a day. I enjoy eating many kinds of nutritious food, only in moderation, and I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner or while watching
Jeopardy
. Red wine is the better alcohol and a good tool against stress that helps us relax. I enjoy a good scotch, now and then, for medicinal purpose
only.

Daily supplements of vitamins and minerals as well as glucosamine sulfate for your joints, can fill in for any nutrients that may be missing in your diet. Good food and exercise are your first line of defense and can replace medication. Luckily, more of us are practicing complementary and alternative health care and eliminating prescription drugs. Use common sense and help your body to heal and to take care of
itself.

One often finds a lot of tension in the face from frowning or squinting because of eye strain. Raise your eyebrows and open your eyes as wide as possible. At the same time, open your mouth to stretch the muscles around the nose and chin and stick out your tongue. Hold this stretch for 10-15 seconds. Getting the tension out of the muscles in your face will make you
smile.

While doing the facial exercises demonstrated in chapter seven, remember to massage the upper gums as you move on the top lip to the ear and the bottom gums moving from the ear to the bottom lip. Gums recede a lot as you age, so keep your gums healthy and strong. As for teeth, flossing daily is one way to stop decay before it
starts.

I’d like to share some of my other secrets: when you are brushing your teeth, brush your tongue and along your gums and lips. I dip my toothpaste in a combination of equal parts baking soda and salt for that extra oomph. Rinse well, especially in the morning, so that your mouth will feel squeaky clean and ready to enjoy a good
breakfast.

To attack nail fungus I’ve tried numerous remedies: tea tree oil, balm salve, bleach, vinegar, honey, and lemon zest, with which I was not happy. My latest attempt is applying toothpaste with ginger. I want to believe it is under arrest and not spreading. Open toe shoes don’t add to my fashion
sense.

I am addicted to Sudoku puzzles. Not that I am so good at it, but I try to solve 2 or 3 that I find in
The Vancouver Sun
and
The Province
newspapers. Since retiring from the Hospital and Homebound teaching, I have been delivering 6 to 7 little booklets of puzzles and games to the children at the Vancouver Children`s Hospital. I compile the booklets from the daily morning comic
section.

One of the best vitamins is Vitamin F, which stands for friends, an essential vitamin important for our well-being. Why do we have friends who are all so different in character? How can you get along with all of them? Each one can bring out a different part in us. With one you can be polite. With another friend you can pray. With another you can laugh and joke. You can sit down and discuss serious matters with another. Your friends are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When completed they form the treasure box, a treasure box of friends. Research shows that people in strong social circles have less risk of depression and terminal strokes. Friends are good for your health. Value your friends and keep in touch with
them.

Laugh. A little humour makes life richer and healthier. Research has shown that while engaging in games and sports, it is important to be happy and have fun. Fun contributes to many mental and physical benefits. Endorphins (the body’s feel-good chemicals) are released and boost the immune system. Laughter and fun increase creativity, reduce pain and speed healing. Keep an emergency laughter kit that contains funny videotapes, jokes, cartoons, and photographs. Put it with your First Aid supplies and keep it well
stocked.

Greet each day with laughter and enjoy who you are. This truly is the best secret that never goes out of style. According to a recent study, happier people make more money. So smiling and laughing is good for your health, your well-being, and your
wallet.

Reflect on the nature of beauty as you age. Embrace it and look fabulous. Isn’t it wonderful that wrinkles don’t hurt! Massaging your face, head and body will rejuvenate the elasticity in your skin and also improve the colour and texture of your hair. Massaging my hair and head has improved the colour of my hair, and my hair is not getting any whiter or
grayer.

You will neither need to be lifted nor botoxed. A mind-lift is better than a face-lift. Your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, and your habits become your character. Think positively.
Always.

Learn to take control of your health. Love your aging body. It’s never too late to achieve optimum health. Good flexibility in your body is crucial to preventing injuries. Therefore, discipline yourself with determination, perseverance, endurance, and honesty—no
cheating!

Practice body awareness. At the age of 95, I am aware of my body; I neither ignore it nor resent it. Don’t look at your body as a stranger, but adopt a friendly approach toward it. Love your body. Think on this: if you don’t know where you are in time and space in this vast universe, how does your immune system know where or how far to go to protect
you?

Go to what makes you happy. I love travelling, bowling, athletic competition, fun, and camaraderie. I truly enjoy aquafit plus classes 3 times a week—aerobics in the water at the local swimming pool. Jacuzzi and hot massage feels wonderful. I sit on the edge of the Jacuzzi and put the soles of my feet against the jets for a foot massage. I do reflexology on my hands and feet. Massaging different parts of the foot can stimulate and treat the whole body. Study the reflexology charts included in this book to learn the location of energy channels that connect to the various organs and tissues, and follow my well-developed
program.

Self-reflexology on feet and hands done well at home, at your leisure, is in many ways more economical and convenient than having it done in a clinic. I don’t encourage people to use reflexology instead of western medicine, but rather as an alternative preventive means to maintain good health, or as a last resort when nothing else works. Reflexology has its limits. It cannot cure cancer or a broken hip. It sends energy to the organs and other parts in the body. I endorse it. Eventually it becomes easier and more convenient to do.
Persist.

There are a number of other complementary therapies that you may find useful and want to try. Craniosacral therapy is based on the concept that the bones in the skull are constantly moving, causing the head to expand and contract about 10 times per minute. Manipulating the skull moves the cerebrospinal fluid around the spine and down the sacrum. This in turn manipulates the membranes supporting the brain, resulting in a realignment of the bones so that they resume their natural position and function, enabling the cerebral-spinal fluid to circulate freely. Craniosacral therapy is effective in relieving migraines, tinnitus, dyslexia, eye strain, depression, and chronic pain. This therapy may also help children with brain injuries, slow development, and
hyperactivity.

Healing touch is an energy-based therapeutic approach to restore harmony and balance in the body’s energy system in order to help the person self-heal. It is a gentle laying on of
hands.

Therapeutic touch involves the transfer of life energy through touch, or by holding hands over the affected part of the body. Scientific studies of this form of therapy show that it increases the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells, lowers high temperatures, and reduces restlessness. It has been found particularly effective in treating circulatory lymphatic, musculo-skeletal, and some mental disorders, while alleviating stress in the central nervous
system.

Reiki or “universal life-energy” is an ancient oriental energy transfer therapy. Through touch and gentle brushing of the auric field, natural energy flow is restored, which enables us to heal at the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual
levels.

I came across an interesting article that I wish to share with you. Why should we learn the correct procedures to administer CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to someone who may require it? Too often we take our hearts for granted. As a mechanical pump, the heart is very reliable and, on average, beats 70 times per minute, which is more than 100,000 times per day. During the average lifetime, the heart beats nearly three billion times and pumps almost five litres of blood per minute, which is over 150 million litres in an average lifetime. The heart pumps blood over 90,000 kilometres of blood vessels. In a fraction of a second, this can change when a person suffers a heart attack or goes into cardiac arrest. Learn how to perform CPR and you may save someone’s
life.

The simplest procedures can bring the greatest results. After shopping, or before a competition, I elevate my feet 45° angle for at least 30 minutes. I even doze off, which tells me that my body needed rejuvenation. If I do this while watching
Jeopardy
, I often miss out on the
winners.

I believe I have been blessed with high energy and good genes. As someone said, genes may load the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger. The only time in my life when I experienced some anxiety and needed recuperation was after three changes to my body: the birth of my two daughters, a hysterectomy, and a tooth extraction. These instances were relatively mild compared to what others have suffered; yet, it would have been easy for me to slip into ill health if I did not work hard at staying
fit.

Sometimes in the middle of the night when nature calls, and you must get up to go to the bathroom, if you find you still can’t fall back to sleep, don’t curse your insomnia. Take advantage of this time to do the routine stretching exercises in bed as I have described in this book. Your house will be quiet; the phone won’t ring. Rather than get upset that you can’t fall back to sleep, make use of this precious time. My stretching exercises performed for 90 minutes three times a week have sustained me for years, and I know that they will sustain you
too.

Concentrate on each stretch as you count reps without any interruptions. Remember to hold each stretch for 30 seconds. Start your facial and head massage while simultaneously holding a belt to stretch your legs. As I mentioned above, facial and body muscle exercises have even improved my hair colour. Deep breathing and elevating your feet at 45 degrees for ½ hour are equally
important.

Manipulate the muscles in your arms, shoulders, torso, and legs with your thumbs and palms ending in the solar plexus (the pit of the stomach). Incorporate the use of sponge balls. Stretch out your whole body. Oxygenate your body by deep breathing (in through the nose, count 1-4 rest and out through the mouth count 5-10) ten times minimum. Your body will be exhilarated. When was the last time you felt your own back? Massage your whole body. Love your
body.