On a mental and emotional level there are many practices that can be beneficial. Meditation again plays a role here, with calming the mind and getting rid of anxiety. Massage plays a big role in also promoting a deep sense of relaxation and in getting rid of stored up stress and old emotions.

Walking in a peaceful place like the beach or in the forest allows the mind time to digest the many thoughts that overwhelm it during normal day to day activities. Listening to peaceful music and having peaceful colors around will also help.

As mentioned earlier, flower essences can play a big role in helping bring people back to balance on an emotional and mental level. In Ayurveda, eating food more of a sattvic (goodness) nature will help calm the mind. Sattvic foods are vegetarian and are fresh and preferably organically grown.

Ayurveda recommends avoiding strongly stimulating herbs such as garlic, onions, and chilies, except in cases of disease such as a cold or flu, where these herbs are very useful. Otherwise, overuse will cause too much raja (passion) in the mind.

For mental and emotional health, it’s also important to know one’s limits and not push our minds and bodies too hard for too long. Proper rest is important as is not overworking or neglecting one’s family relationships.

From a physical health point of view, exercise, stretching, nutrition and massage are the basis of good physical health. Obviously, other activities like not smoking, taking drugs or alcohol, etc. and not having too toxic an environment are also very important as well.

Exercise in general stimulates blood and lymph flow that keeps the circulation going. A person should combine strength building exercises with flexibility exercises. One of the best and most ancient forms of exercise is yoga. Yoga involves stretching and opening up the body as well as stimulating blood and nerve supply throughout the body. Yoga benefits a person’s health on a physical, mental and emotional level and can be adapted to suit all ages and levels of fitness. Chi Kung is an ancient Chinese practice similar to Yoga that is also very good for health. As a side note, the literal translation of “yoga” means “to link up with God”.

Nutrition is one of the most important factors involved in the overall health of the body. Nutrition is a vast subject and filled with many conflicting philosophies. However, in most ancient and current opinion, the basis of a good diet is a vegan diet of whole, unprocessed foods that are organically grown.

The specifics of what diet is best for you may be best approached by learning your Ayurvedic constitution and then making your diet support your constitution. So, what foods may be helpful for one person may actually aggravate another person. This is why some people may diet for a long time but have no success.

Lastly, getting a massage on a regular basis is one of the other best things a person can do to stay healthy or to increase their level of health. Deep tissue massage and/or acupressure are some of the best forms of massage that get in and unblock the blockages in the flow of chi in the body as well as get deep seated muscle tension out of the body.

Aloha and namaste.