What do we want out of life? Most people will, after thinking for a while, say that the most important is to find joy and happiness. Life is about enjoying yourself.
If we ask most people they will say that they are trying to create joy in there life, but often there are many problems that seem to stand in the way and create difficult situations that all the time needs to be handled for us to be able to enjoy life. Many times we think that happiness is something that we will gain when we manage to change our situation in some way. I will be happy when I get a new position when I go travel, and so on.
The truth is that happiness is much closer than you might think. The problem is that we think too much. We have expectations of what we need to be happy. In reality, we need almost nothing to be able to enjoy life fully. The secret is to identify the false beliefs that stand in between you and your happiness.
One common false belief is that you need more money to be happy. You might think that if you just have that little bit of extra money you would be able to do that thing that you want to do to be happy. Many times that bit of extra money never arrives, or when it arrives you feel the need to use it to invest in your day to day life. Or maybe you are so tired of work that you want to treat yourself a bit extra and you spend that money straight away. To buy some new clothes, a new television or something else.
If we look closer, we can try to explore what financial stability would give to us that will enable happiness. Take a minute to think of what you would get out of having a bit of extra money. Maybe it would give us relaxation and safety, knowing that we can manage any problem that comes. It will make it possible for us to have more free time to do what we like, and so on.
When we look at how things are for many people, we can see that to gain a better economy we usually work harder and that this in itself can create both stress and give you less free time. And usually, the family spending will adapt to the increase in income where everyone wants to feel that they are a part of the financial gain that you are creating.
The answer is to understand that the real underlying longing is that you need relaxation and free time to be happy. It has very little to do with money and even less with consuming. What is the way to get more relaxation and free time? One possibility is to work less, to do meditation every morning, to be aware of what you are consuming, and to find ways to spend less. And also how to find things that you enjoy doing that does not cost you a lot, or even have the potential to give you a small income. If you can ear your living doing what you want, then you do not need to make so much money, as you already are happy with what you are doing.
Another popular belief is that you need to buy new things to be happy. In today’s society, many want to be seen as successful by other people. To have the same kind of things so that we feel included and part of the culture. We want to feel rich and have a good status in society. On the other side, we can see that most people are not so happy and that the happiness that we see around us can be very shallow and might only be smiles on the surface. Your false belief is that if you do not have the same level of consumption as the people surrounding you, you will not have a good time as them or maybe not even be accepted by them.
The true underlying longing is that you want to have good friends that accept you as you are, to feel that you belong to something bigger and that you have support from a larger community.
If you act wisely you can make sure that you have what you need, and that you have nice clothes and working equipment without it costing you much. Most of the things that people buy these days are way out of their budget. People are buying fast new computers and cameras that are of professional quality only for the reason that they have a new interest in photography. A few years later they have still only started out and are now thinking about getting a new camera with new features and make another go at it.
As a computer expert and IT consultant, I also had to deal with this kind of question. I realized that for me to do my work I did not need the latest computer possible. It did not even help me in my work and as a matter of fact, I could make due well with buying the cheapest computer that was available in the stores. The idea that you will be happier or more effective if you buy expensive equipment is just not true. The equipment you buy today will be old within a few years and the equipment that was state of the art professional twenty years ago, you can get today almost for free. If you love taking photos then you can have all the fun you like using an old camera that you get for free. Just as people have been enjoying taking photos for decades, so can you enjoy it now without having the latest fashionable equipment.
The hype of consuming new equipment is not giving you more enjoyment but it is giving you less time and more stress. Why? You have to earn the money that you use to buy the equipment and that takes time. Money is time, and time is money. Is it better to have free time and no money than to have extra money but no free time? You can find a balance, and this you will get when you start thinking seriously about how you invest your time and money.
How to live a good life
Everyone wants to have a good life. A life where we are happy with what we are doing. To live a good life is all about our happiness. How do we become happy? Happiness comes to us when we have met our needs. When we have fulfilled our basic needs.
To meet our needs we are required to have a clear understanding of what our needs actually are. A big part of finding answers to these questions lies in investigating ourselves to see what it is that we need on a deep level.
To be successful we must take the time to look very deep and that takes some time. We also have to be able to accept that during the investigation of ourselves we will encounter the opposites, what we are not happy with. Only when we are able to hold space for the unmet, or negative feelings, we are able to pass through and find what unmet need lies behind those feeling. To do this we have to be strong and have courage.
To be happy is almost only about our mental state. When we feel and believe that we are on a good path then we become happy, and life becomes smooth and good. If we feel happy we get inspiration, good health, and energy. Happiness is not so much something that comes from having our physical needs met, but rather our mental needs. The mental and the physical are interconnected so to become happy you also have to make sure that you have the basics in the material world, but it is not there we will find the deeper needs that will bring you a good life.
It is a good practice to explore your longings. One way of doing this is to imagine that you have a genie in a bottle. You get an infinite amount of wishes. Allow yourself to freely imagine all the things that would like to own, do, see, and experience. Then look more closely at what you want and try to understand what the underlying needs are. Go deeper and deeper until you find the root needs. Root needs are always mental states. You can start out by imagining that you are surfing the waves on a beautiful ocean, and from there you look closer at what mental states your ale longing for. Excitement, awareness, beauty, warmth, relaxation, health. Continue like this and look at what it is you are longing for.
The next step is to look in your fantasy world and make it a bit more real. Imagine that you wake up one morning and look step by step what you are doing. Where are you? Who else is there? What are you eating? What are you working with or doing in the day? What we are looking for is to find your passion and your deeper purpose. If you dream about eating an infinite amount of ice cream you will soon understand that this will not be meeting your long term needs. What are your goals and aspirations? Maybe you find yourself in a very successful work as a business owner. How would that day look like? Maybe you want to see the world to visit cultures and see great places. What will that give you? Do you need to make that effort and use those resources to fulfill that need?
Often you will find that even in your dream world if you continue a long time, you will understand that the first amazement of doing different exclusive things might not meet your deeper needs. Needs that are about doing something that will contribute to other people’s happiness. The need to have good relationships and to create something positive.
When you continue doing this excessive, maybe over several days or weeks, you will start seeing the deeper things that you want out of life. You can then let go of all the superficial parts of your dream and boil it down to the basics and profound needs that you have, and how you really would like to live your days. What is your skill that you love expressing? What is the environment that you want to be in? What kind of people do you want to have close to you? Often you can find ways to get closer to these deep needs without too much effort. When you understand what they are.
On your way to realization
When you have an idea of what you want to do. What your passions and your dreams are you can start thinking about how to realize them. Often these are personal goals like creating a good and healthy body by working out and eating healthy, or finding inner peace by doing meditation and yoga. The start of your path begins within. When you understand that you can feel good already today by creating the right mindset and having the right priorities in your life.
When you onset on a grand journey you need some help from your outside world. You need to have some material needs to be met, even if you are setting out to be a simple monk doing meditation all day. You need to create an environment where you can work in and find the support you need. There are many hindrances on your way, often these are old habits that find there way back into your life, making progress difficult. An important step is to look at your environment and see how you can change it to support you on your path.
One important factor is what people you have close to you. Many times we are in a surrounding where we are getting influenced by other peoples habits. If we want to break our old habits and reinstate new fresh ones it does not help to have other people around us offering you to join them in activities that are not going to help you. To find a living situation and a surrounding that can support you is therefore very important. If you want to be a solitary monk then you go to the mountains and find a cave. In your case, it might not be that extreme, but in a similar way, you need to look at what people you are surrounding you with and there influence on you. Find people who are already starting out on their own journey towards self-realization and get inspired.
You can get support by going to a place where other people are striving in a similar direction. You can go to a yoga studio or move to an area with similar people. Another help is to have a coach that you share your progress with and where you can have a regular time to explore your motivation and direction. The best thing is when you have friends that help you to keep motivated. You can coach each other and learn from each other´s progress.
Start out to change your life little at the time. There is no rush. If you are able to find the right direction and put in a little effort for a longer time then you will progress. Set up simple goals and start working towards them. If you want to much you often feel frustrated about your progress and that can lead to a lack of motivation. Instead, look at small things and make them happen. Choose a couple of things that you want to focus on and make that your practice. It can be to sit in meditation once a day, to exercise, or to change some habits that you have.
There are two important things that I make use of to keep me inspired. First I take regular time to look at what I am aiming towards. To set the source and stay on the right path. This can be done as a regular part of your day. For example, it is helpful to create a morning routine that gets you in the right mode. You can take some time every morning after waking up to find your longing. To give yourself attention and love and remember your practice that you have set out for yourself. Another thing is to celebrate your success. When you do your meditation practice as you set out to do, notice it, and celebrate it. For me, the celebration is about saying to myself that I did it. I did a good effort and I am happy about it. That brings me to a smile and I feel happy. It inspires me to continue and gives me an extra push.
On your way to change your life, you are going to hit some obstacles that make things harder. It can be things like a sickness that changes your possibilities to do your practice. When this happens we need to have a backup plan to get our path back on track as soon as possible. When we get out of our regular pattern it is easy to forget our practice altogether. That can open up for older and deeper patterns to prepare and take back some of the progress that we make. Therefore it is of utter importance to remember your practice. If you have been sick in bed for two weeks, not able to do your exercise it can feel a bit tough to get back out there, knowing that it will be harder again and that you have lost your momentum.
To lose our direction is a natural part of life. What we need to do is to see this and when we notice that we have lost our direction we take our time and go back to our deeper longing. Take some time to remember why you were doing the practice and what needs, longings, and passions that you are striving for. Then set out for a new start, create new goals, and make new commitments. Remember your practice and give yourself credit for putting yourself back on track again.
Sometimes you find yourself sabotaging your own practice. I have noticed that what I di a lot of progress for some time I tend to have a re-bounce and pick up some old habit again that I already got rid of. There is no time to punish ourselves for making the wrong choices. If we for example are quitting smoking and have gone for weeks without smoking, we might suddenly start smoking again and finish a package in a day without really noticing it. At times like these, you can be set back by frustration and it is easy to blame yourself for this negative turn of events. To blame ourselves is not going to help and us. We have to remember that negative old habits are going to come back over and over again. Just as you might get sick when you are low on energy, your subconscious mind will find a way to reach back into your life again when it can. We need to have a lot of patience with ourselves and understand that progress is not a straight road. We are spiraling slowly upwards, but setbacks are always going to follow your path. As long as we continue to strive forward, even seemingly large setbacks are in reality only temporary and have a less negative impact than you might believe.
To be a warrior is to have the courage and will power to continue. You notice that you have left your path and you remember your practice. Instead of feeling sorry about your lost battle, you celebrate that you noticed it and you put a stop to it. Start out fresh again and remember what you aspire for. The setback is only temporary. Even if you start smoking again for a day, that means nothing. You shake off that little bump on the road and set out with good courage and positive feeling.
Creating free time
To live a good life it is important to have the time to do what you want. If you are working long hours there might not be so much time left for your training. The first thing to do is to see how you can use the time you have efficient. When you are meditating it is all about what is happening in your mind. You can do your meditation almost all the time. You do not need to sit still in a meditation pose to be able to calm your mind. Find the times that you can use for your practice. When you are traveling to work when you have a lunch break, and even when you are going to the toilet.
Often we have many times where we could do our practice but instead, we are using the time to think about things that are going on in our surrounding and when we have larger chunks of free time we might use it to just turn on the tv, or take up our smartphone and your time is soon gone. We need to recognize all the situations where we can practice instead and take the opportunity to use that time wisely. If you do your meditation practice instead of thinking about solving some problem, you will notice that the problems solve themselves. You need to be focused to be efficient and you focus yourself by doing the practice.
It helps to create small routines to make your practice more clear and directed. To create a space where you can fully commit to your practice you can set up different times and circumstances where you dedicate yourself to your practice. In your room, you can create a nice space where you do your practice with a small altar. Every morning you can sit in that space, if only for a few moments. Then you can sit down again when you return from work. Find your rhythm.
You can also find other anchors to remind you of practice. Let say for example that as soon as you sit down in your car on your way to work, you start your meditation. And when you meditate you put all your focus on the practice, always returning to your breath. You do this full-heartedly and it does not stop until you have arrived at your destination. To have this clear dedication makes it a lot easier. If not, it is easy to start letting your attention slip away and suddenly you are daydreaming. For it to work you need to have a commitment and do it all the way. When you succeed, you can celebrate your achievement. This will make you feel good.
The next step in creating time is to see how you can stop doing things that you do not want to do. Start by looking at your work situation. How can you get work that you like doing? How can you get work where you have more possibilities to do your practice? How can you find a work that does not require so much time?
To live a dream life we need to change what we do so that it matches our dream. Sometimes we work to be able to do other things that are more in line with our dream. We want to find a balance between work and our higher ambition. Sometimes our work is part of our dream and then that is all fine. If it is not you can start to look at how you can work less to realize your dream outside of work. There might be a part-time job available that will give you more free time. Free time is very valuable. Free time enables us to choose what we want to do and so we can pursue our dream.
To be able to work less you need to gain enough money. Time is money. To get more money the simplest way is to spend less. Usually spending less goes hand in hand with your self-realization. As you understand your needs on a deep level you understand that luxury is only the superficial part of your dream. What you want are spiritual development and mental peace. Much of the negative influences that we have are part of some form of over-consuming. If we go back to the example with the monk in the mountains we see that he is totally satisfied with life and at the same time he only eats a bowl of rice and some steamed vegetables. He basically has no costs at all.
For everything that we can take away from the life that is costing us money, we gain time and freedom. The consuming lifestyle is only leading us into a form of slavery. We do not need to become ascetic monks, but the monks set a good and real example of what is achievable. If you compare yourself to the monk it should be easy to see that there are many things that you can do to cut your costs. Most people can cut there cost by half without much trouble. The thing is to understand how we are used to the old ways and might need to look at things from a new angle.
Stop comparing yourself to the normal behavior of the people around yourself and look instead on how most of the people are living. That is the developing world. They are often living on a few dollars per day, and even if many live in situations that are harsh they can often enjoy life more then many modern people. If you make that comparison you can see that you probably already have many times more resources then them. Is should be easy to understand that we can cut our costs without trouble. We are caught in the illusion of relativities. We compare ourselves with people in similar or better situations. Like a prince growing up in a great palace but feeling poor and unlucky because our bigger brother has a larger diamond that you.
Find a place where you can live that does not cost so much money. The important thing is that you have a nice room where you can spend your time and do your practice. To have a beautiful and nice space is of great importance. But the space does not need to be large. If we have a big house with all kinds of rooms, that might be all well. But how often are we using these rooms? Focus on what you actually need. The same goes for all other stuff that we are so used to having. Large tv, computers, musical instruments, and more. Take the time to clean out all of this and keep the few things that you really use. A life with fewer things is much more pleasant to live. It makes it easier to have a clear mind.
Look at your habits. Are you going out to restaurants, bars, and spending your money on entertainment? You do not need to spend any money to have a good time. The city life is made so that you are supposed to spend money whatever you do. Everything costs money. We need to create our life away from this. The best way for me is to focus on what we really want and stay with that. Do not go to town with your friends but instead invite them to you or spend time outside in a park or forest. Bring a picnic and enjoy life without the extra cost.
To take a good look at what you eat is also an important key to a better and healthier life. Again you can see that the more expensive food is often even less healthy food. What you want is to eat fresh nice food that you prepare yourself. Learning how to cook is a natural part of becoming a healthy person. You do not need to buy exclusive health foods to be healthy, we just need basic good food. The focus is to buy as pure products as possible. We want to buy the real ingredients in the most natural form. We buy fresh vegetables, not frozen or canned. We buy beans, lentils, and oats without anything else added. You do not want to buy foods that are mixed together like muesli, sauces, cakes, and other half made things. You want to buy raw ingredients like rice, beans, cacao, raisin,s, and so on.
You also want to be aware of the prices of what you buy. If you buy the things that are in season you will find that the prices are natural low while some things need to be shipped across the world and thus become very expensive. Buy what is at good prices and make something nice from that. We need to be flexible and able to use what you have in the best way. You want to take your time to look at what you buy and make sure it is high quality, with little or no additives. To know what the products cost you need to look for the price per kilo. Compare the different products and buy what seems fair. If you can’t find a product for a good price then do not buy it. Often you can find that there are similar products that have very different costs. For example, you can often buy sunflower seeds for about 4 $ per kilo, while cashew nuts cost around 15 $ per kilo. We need to look for smart things to buy and we will have good health and money in the bank.
Many people have a fixed mindset. They want to have a special dish. They look up the recipe and find that they need to get some more groceries to make it. For this, they take the car and goes to town to get that extra food. In the store, they take what they need without looking at the price. They also end up taking a small bag of snacks just as a treat. Only this extra trip probably costs much more than what you would need to make a dish from what you already have at home. With a bit of magic and experimentation, it could very well also be more delicious.
Organic and Fairtrade Food
It is also good to consider how the product is affecting both you and the world. This can be a tricky thing. Some people want to be hardcore and not give their support to the negative workings of society, which is largely upheld by the exploitation of people and resources. I find that the middle way is the answer. We can not expect ourselves to be able to live on this earth without making a footprint on it. We are like princes born into the royal courts. We need to accept what is right now and use the resources that we get wisely. When we have the possibility to use less and find good sources for our resources we should do so, but in balance with our situation.
It is great if we can find food that is local, fairtrade, and organic. Sometimes a food that looks to be good on the outside, in reality, is not good for the planet at all. Organic foods from China or other faraway places can contain both contaminations from low-quality water and soils and pose problems with long transports. We should not be obsessed with having the purest food for our selves as that often means that people in poor countries are exploited.
I know people who spend more money on organic food supplements per month than I do on all my food for a year. Again it is the consumer mind that wants to create better health by buying it. Understand that even if you buy organic and fair trade, that does not mean that you are not making a footprint. By consuming less and locally is a sure way to live with minimal suffering for others.
Addictions
All the things that we do in our life are motivated by our inner longing to create happiness. The problem comes when we are taught ways to create the happiness that does not serve us in the long run. We might get short rushes and a glimpse of happiness from what we are doing, but many times the long term effects are negative for our progress. This is what is called to be addicted. We can see the same pattern in all the different things that we do. You do not need to be on heroin to have an addiction. We get addicted to anything that gives us a short rush.
It is said that the cause of suffering is our cravings. The suffering is for the most part not created from real pain and hardship, even though this kind of suffering will also accompany us throughout life. No, the largest part of our suffering comes from the resistance to the suffering that we have and the chase after something that will end it and make us feel good.
We can see addictions in many of our behaviors. Why we consume too much, why we eat too much, and how we are obsessive about other things in life. To get out of negative habits and create positive habits is the same, both for drug addictions and for other types of habits.
The first part of releasing a negative pattern is to be able to see it and acknowledge it with ease and calm. To be able to be in that space of knowing what your problem is without the need to run away. Most people know about there problems, but they do not want to think about it. That is because the negative pattern is there to mask some deeper suffering. When we try to escape that suffering we are just creating additional suffering.
To stay and be with your suffering is not a pleasant experience. We all will feel at times that it is just too much and maybe we will choose to use a drug or in other way get our attention away from that pain. This is also perfectly fine. You can not expect yourself to be able to take on the whole world at once. We need to create a space of allowance where we are ok just as we are. It is okay that we are drinking to release the tension. Create a space of allowance around the experience and just give your acceptance and your loving attention towards that. Stay with the knowing that you are drinking because you have a negative feeling. Allow that knowing to be there without judging yourself or trying to solve it. Almost everyone has these negative feelings and habits, and that is perfectly fine. When you are able to see that pattern without feeling bad about yourself you have come a good way towards releasing that pain.
Once you have accepted that you do a negative thing and accept it you are ready for the next step. To be with that suffering without taking that drink. To just sit with the longing to drink without doing so. Give yourself love and healing. When you stay with this feeling you might get ideas of what it is that you need. What is it that you want to feel. At that point just continue to be with the positive feelings that you long for.
At this point you can look for other things that you can do that will create such positive feelings. That can be anything from taking a walk, sitting down for meditation, or playing music. You will find something that you can do with ease as soon as you feel that longing for a drink.
As with any other habit, you will get back into the old pattern at some weak point. Again remember the practice and restart it again. It is never too late. The earlier you see that negative pattern emerging the better, but it is never too late. Some people feel that to quit drinking they need to stay away from it at all costs and that going back to drinking, even one drink, is a one-way ticket back into abuse. I believe that you need to be able to handle setbacks without paying to much attention to them. Look at them, accept them, and then continue forward again.
There are many things that people are addicted to and often it is easy to say to yourself that you are not really addicted and that you can quit any time. Then I challenge you to look at the cost of time and money that this habit takes from your life. If you are paying a lot for your habit then it will sabotage your possibility to have a good economy and realize your dream. Even if you feel that is no problem for you, it actually is. Accept what is not helping you and start working on replacing it with another habit.
What is your practice?
I talk a lot about the practice. What is your practice? This should be clear to you at all times. What is it that you want to work on? In this context, the practice is for self-realization. There are basic practices that you can do to get general well being and balance your mind. Meditation on your breath for example. This will help you on all levels. I also have a practice that will change from time to time depending on what difficulties that emerge. It can be something that is extra important in your life at the time. I change this practice as I work with myself. It can for example be to feel self-love. The practice can then be to look at yourself and smile towards yourself. To be kind in your thoughts about yourself and take care of you. Then the practice can also be to take notice when you do not feel that you are good enough and stay with that feeling. Accepting that feeling and giving comport to your inner child.
My basic practice on the way of the warrior is to focus on the posture. To stand and sit with a straight back. To embody the strength and courage of a warrior king. When I do this practice I straighten my back and I remember the king. I become that king and I move around with grace. It helps me to develop those qualities and to act in a noble way. I start looking at my surroundings and I start creating order and beauty around myself. This kind of practice is of great importance. The practice is not just about sitting in meditation once a day and then continue with your ordinary life. The practice is your life.
Make sure that you know clearly what your practice is. Remind yourself in your morning ritual that you are doing a practice and why you are doing it. If someone wakes you up in the middle of the night and asks you – What is your practice? You should be able to answer without a doubt. When you know your practice well you are doing good progress on your path.
Happyness
There is a secret to happiness. Everyone can get it and it is freely available. The secret is that you can not get happiness at all. You can only give it and express it. By helping others and try to make other people’s lives better you create something wonderful. When you do this out of love for your fellow beings you start to radiate. You will radiate happiness. At this point, it does not matter so much if someone else is giving you thanks and returns your favors. What matters is that you express your love and it is from your genuine action toward helping others that your own happiness springs. Similarly, you enjoy yourself by appreciating your surrounding.
You can not get love or happiness from others. It is your own love towards someone else that you feel. Of course, you might like the feeling to be in a romantic relationship where you love each other. But it is not that you receive love from the other part that makes you feel good. The feeling that you feel is your own love flowing through your body.
If you sit all by your self in a cave meditating, you can also feel the same kind of love towards the whole universe and that can give you great joy. At the same time, we must acknowledge that having other people around us is a great support and to be accepted and loved by others makes it easier to love our selves and to be able to trust in the world so that we can open up to love others even more.
When I sit down for meditation or doing qigong I start with just enjoying myself. Feeling the good sensations around me and smiling towards myself. I give my love to myself and to all that is around me. Love is creating a positive spiral where you just feel more and more love. This leads to happiness that leads to all other good qualities like good health, more energy, and more love. Many times I just start laughing out of happiness when I see that it is so easy. Love creates love in an endless spiral and you only need to be there and do nothing more than to continue giving and receiving. It is true magic.
Healthy eating
There are many things that you can do to maintain good health. An important one is what you eat. Having good food is a great start on your path. When you are eating the wrong things you get slow in both your mind and your body. When you eat good food your body and mind are light and relaxed.
Mind over health
The most important thing when it comes to health is that your mindset is the most important thing. Even more important than what you actually are eating is what you feel about your food and your health. You want to feel that you are eating healthy food and that you are gaining strength and energy. There are many different ideas about what you should and should not eat. The important thing is that you choose one way of earing that you believe in and you will get the benefits.
I have the practice to bless my food before eating. I give my thanks to the world for providing the food. Then I imagine that I am sending healing energy to the food, making it full of health and good energies. In this way, you can even make food that is not so high quality much better for your body. I also put in a wish that the food will give me the strength to be able to help to liberate all beings from suffering and to do good for others. This practice prepares your body for eating and sets a good intention.
To eat with awareness is great for your health as it prepares your body for the food. To chew your food is important. Not only is it easier for your belly to break down the food that is already well crushed, but while the food is in your mouth it gets mixed with microorganisms and enzymes in your saliva that start breaking down the food for you. When the food ends up in your belly you do not need to work so much, and you do not get tired after eating.
By staying aware while eating you can also take the time to really feel how the different foods are affecting you. Some foods might create a feeling of heaviness or dizziness others might feel addictive. You can then find out what foods are good for you. There is no system of eating that works for everyone. We are so complicated that only you can understand what you need. This you can do if you practice eating with awareness. You will also notice that you do not need to eat as much when you eat the food slowly and with awareness. You notice that you are already full, and then you can choose to stop eating. If you feel that you are full but still want to eat more. Then you can take some time to find out what you really need instead of eating.
Foods to keep away from
When it comes to what to eat I start with what not to eat. If we can just skip the worst things then we are quite well. I will give you some examples of food that I avoid but remember that there are many different opinions on what foods are good and what foods are bad for you. Some foods are surely not good at all, so start to remove the worst and work your way slowly towards finding a diet that works well for you.
My recommendation is that you take your time and really try to feel how it feels in your body when you are eating different kinds of food. If you feel a craving towards a food, but it leaves you feeling tired or bad in any other way, you should take notice and stay away from that food.
Half fabric and processed foods
You will see that processed foods usually contain a lot of things that you do not really want. There are hundreds of chemicals in our foods and it is best to have as little of these as possible. When you look at the ingredients you can often see a long list of e-numbers, that more than likely are going to be bad for your health. To stay away from processed and canned foods also makes it much cheaper. The simplest way is to start by taking away all products that are half fabrics. That is sauces, canned food, muslie, any kind of food that is already mixed and packaged.
Keep to buying foods that are as pure and original as possible. You can, for example, buy bags of oats, nuts, beans, lentils, seeds, and dried fruits. At the same time, we look at the prices. A small bag of mixed nuts and fruit are for sure many times more expensive per kilo than buying a big bag of one type of nut. It might also contain sugars and probably has more peanuts than anything else. Peanuts are in reality not nuts at all but beans, and not very easy to digest on top of that.
Sugar and wheat
You might have your favorite flavor cereal that you buy, and that you can´t make by your self. I say that you are better off without this kind of food. Most half fabrics also have added sugars. I keep away from all sugars, even honey. I do eat honey and molasses when I feel sick or have an extra need for fast energy. Sometimes I buy chocolate that is 75% or more but I avoid most products that contain sugar. We want to live simple lives. When we stop eating sugars, we start feeling lighter.
Another thing you want to avoid is white flour. That is cookies, sweet bread, and even regular white bread. The white flour can for many people be difficult to digest and is said to produce a sticky coating on your intestines that will both decrease how well you can absorb nutrients and also act as a home for parasites. Some say that the parasites themselves are manipulating your body to create cravings for both sugars and wheat. To step away from this kind of product can be a big step, but if we start slowly and work our way little by little towards a sugar and wheat free diet we also get rid of many parasites and the cravings.
Milk and cheese
There are also many who believe that milk is a problem for the body to digest and even more so the processed milk that we get today. It has been heated to high temperatures and the fat has been smashed into small pieces. Some say that natural fresh unpasteurized milk is great for tooth and bones, but the processed one is sure to create the opposite effect. The only milk products that I feel are safe are cheese from unpasteurized cow milk and ghee, which is clarified or boiled butter. You can also eat cheese made from milk from other animals than cows, which usually are easier to digest. Some use replacement products instead of milk, I try to stay away from those products as they are also processed, sweet, and expensive. Water and fruit juices are great natural replacements.
I do not have anything against people eating meat. I have had periods of both being a vegan as well as a meat-eater. For me, there is a subtle difference in my mind as the meat gives you a lot of animalistic energy.
The problem with meat is that it can be quite addictive and many people are eating excessive amounts of meat that will only be difficult to digest. If you want eggs and meat, use it as a smaller side dish, not the main meal. There are also ethical aspects of eating meat. To eat factory-produced meat of animals badly treated will naturally affect you in negative ways.
I have chosen to not eat meat most of my life as I do not want to create suffering in others. That goes in line with not harming any being, not even a mosquito. On the other hand, eating meat from free-grazing animals are actually helping nature and the soils to become balanced. The earth needs a lot more free animals to work the souls in a natural way.
Soy
Soy is another product that many people believe to be a problem for the body. It is difficult to digest as it contains anti-nutrients and also it contains something that is similar to female hormones and is said to be able to affect your sexual development. You can find soy in many kinds of half fabricate like veggie burgers or other vegetarian meat replacement. You will avoid them by not buying any half fabric or processed food.
To boil it down I can give you this recommendation. Stay away from all foods that are mixed and processed. Stay away from sugar and wheat flour. Find foods that are in season and has the lowest price per kilo. See if there is an organic alternative that is not shipped from to far away and that is affordable.
What to eat
Eat little, simple, and healthy food
Many people tend to eat too much. To some extent that might be a result of the fact that most of the food in the stores does not contain a lot of nutrition. People eat a lot of cookies, soft drinks, white bread, and sweets and still there is an inner longing for more, as they have not really got any nutrition. We do not need so much food at all. Focus on eating high-quality food and you will get what you need to sustain yourself.
You do not need to buy expensive food from the health shop to maintain good health. If you have good raw ingredients you will get all the things you need. There are many supplements that are great, and that can be of help for you, but make sure you do not start spending too much money on your food. Remember that money is time and it does not make sense to eat expensive vitamins and feel stressed at work at the same time. Better to not be stressed and only eat rice. Remember that how you feel is the most important. You can live well with very simple food with only a little hight quality nutrient-rich foods.
Eating the same kind of foods for a longer time makes it easier for your system to operate as it gets used to breaking down the food. We do not need to go through all different types of vegetables and foods. Some say its good with little of everything, but I believe that we should focus on some staples that we have as our base. Then we can try some new food for taste and extra nutrition once in a while.
I do make exceptions to all my rules when I feel like it. Sometimes I eat at a friend’s house or I am out doing something and just need a snack. But generally, I like to follow my diet. It feels good to follow something and keep a discipline, It gives you a sense of inner strength. When I eat a simple dish I feel strong. I feel like a warrior monk.
I stopped eating muslie altogether and just mixed rolled oats, a handful of raisins, and some sunflower seeds on my plate and filled up with cold water. To many that seemed strange and to simple. But I can tell you that I was loving it. The flavors just become stronger, and your taste buds grow when you go down on the sweets. Even better is to soak all of it overnight. You can also add more things to it as you please. It’s not that we need to live as ascetic monks. But to have a simple diet is a great way to get away from addictive foods, save money, and become healthy.
Buy big and save
Look for the biggest bags possible of grains, beans, dried fruits, and seeds to find better prices.
If you are looking for organic food there are many ways of getting this for a low cost. You can buy big bags of lentils, rice, and sunflower seeds. If you buy together with others you can order a 25-kilo bag straight from the supplier and you will have the best prices.
Intermediate fasting
I like to do intermediate fasting. I usually eat breakfast at 10 am, lunch at 2 pm and then a snack at 6 pm. Lunch is the main meal and where I get most of the energy. To limit yourself to eating for only a shorter time of the day gives your body time to rest. It takes energy to always process food in the belly. You also get a better appetite when you eat less and wait until you are hungry. To eat late before going to bed is not a good idea as your body should be at rest and not working away all night breaking down your food.
Fasting with only water for a full day is also a great practice that you can do once a week. Longer fasting also can help you get your body clensed. To do a 5-10 day water once in a while is both good for your health and your dicipline and general practice.
Raw food
To eat a lot of raw food is also a great idea. I try to eat a big salad with every meal. To eat half of the food raw is a great way to get your nutrition. I also start by eating the salad. The food that has not been heated still contains natural bacteria and microorganisms. These grow in your belly and muck like the enzymes in your saliva, which helps you to break down the food. By starting to eat raw food your belly starts to prepare itself for your food, and when you eat cooked food your belly is already in the right mode. I usually make a quite heavy salad with grated cabbage and sprouted lentils as a base. Use some salt, some extra virgin olive oil, and some natural vinegar to make it taste great.
Lightly cooked
Another way to keep a lot of the vitamins in your food is to cook them as little as possible. Many foods that you normally cook you can eat raw. I have experimented with just stir fry my food just a little bit, or steam cook them from a short time. I was surprised at how good it was after only a couple of minutes. I like it when the vegetables are crunchy, but I also like warm food. To just heat it for a few minutes you get the best of both worlds. Raw on the inside and cooked on the outside.
Food order
You should always try to eat the food in the right order. Fast digestible foods first. Fruits should be eaten separately before meals. Start the meal with raw food, and then cocked food. Never end with fruits and sweets. If you feel like eating sugar after a meal you probably ate too much. For your digestion, it is also good to not mix too many types of food at the same time. The stomach will try to digest the food by creating the right environment, some food needs different environments than others. If you mix these foods it will take more time to break down. Basically, it is best if you try to eat fat, proteins, and carbohydrates separately, or at least try to keep to one as the meal’s main focus. Vegetables go with everything and so you can use them with all types of food.
Soaking to improve digestion
Another important thing is to soak food. Many types of food need to be soaked in water overnight to be easily digested. All types of seeds, nuts, beans, and grains, that is all foods that can be planted, you need to soak. These foods contain natural anti nutritions and preservatives. The logic is that these foods need to be able to survive out in nature over the dry season, waiting for the first rain when they can grow. To do so they have acids inside the husk that keeps the nutrition inside and protects the seed from being broken down by nature and animals. If you eat them in this state your stomach needs to break through the acids in the husk to get to the nutrients. This can cause stomach problems, like what you feel if you eat too many beans. Your stomach can get full of gas. The anti nutrition has the work of trying to keep the nutrition in the seed wish also creates problems in your belly where these acids in some cases actually take nutrition from the stomach content and leave the system without being broken down, actually stealing the nutrition from your body.
When the seed is soaked a process is starting, The seed thinks that it is raining and it gets ready to start growing. The protective hull softens and the nutritions get available for growing. All the acids break down and you can eat it without a problem. You can now cook the beans or eat the raw soaked nuts and seeds.
Remember that it is in the husk that we find the protective acids. That means that integral seeds like integral rice for example need to be soaked before cooked. On the other hand white polished rice does not need this, as all the acids are already taken away in the polishing. If you need to eat rice without soaking you should go for white rice.
I know that white rice is not the most popular food in health circles. But I think of the Chinese and how they have eaten white rice for many, many years. The monks are said to survive on a bowl of rice and some weeds. Sure you do not need a lot of rice. It is a pure carb and only needed for your energy use and has no nutrients. You basically do not eat rice to get the nutrition, that you will get for other sources. If you do want to be healthy you can cut down on the rice, but it is very easy to digest and keeps your body relaxed. I always feel great eating white rice and personally think it is a great side dish.
The integral grains are much heavier and take a lot of energy to break down and need to be soaked for a long time. Sure you get more fibers that can be great, but it all depends on what you need. The nutrient level of integral grains is not much higher than white rice, again you do not eat rice to get nutrients.
Often you do not need many carbs at all. If you try to follow the recommendation of not mixing food types then you typically do not want carbs with food that has a lot of proteins. Instead, you can have a meal with mostly grains with or without vegetables, and then only use only minimal carbs with other dishes.
Sprouts and germination
The next step is to let the seeds germinate. Sprouted seeds are often much more healthy as the number of vitamins increases fast when they start growing. You can sprout many things and my favorites are green lentils and chick peace. Both are so easy that nothing can go wrong. Just put them in a glass jar, fill it up 1/5 with beans, and then 2/5 with water. Then let them soak them for 24 hours. After that, you rinse out the water and leave then another 24 hours without water. Then you can rinse them once a day and leave them without water. The green lentils take about 3 days to sprout and they keep growing for a few more days. They are great in salads and you can also stir fry them gently in a pan.
Fermentation
Then we come to another of my specialties, fermentation. I love fermented food. Fermentation is when you let natural bacteria break down the food. The result is a sour taste. You can ferment most vegetables. The important part is that you have some good bacteria to start with. White cabbage is known for having a good amount of lactic acid bacteria. That is what we need so if you have some cabbage you can use that as a base. When you only use cabbage it is called Sauerkraut, a German specialty. If you add more vegetables and spices you get kimchi, a Japanese specialty. The fermented food can store for a long time and this is why many old cultures were doing this a lot. The acid that is created makes the food protected from other bacteria that would otherwise make it go bad. The base for doing this is water, salt, and lactic acid. You put it in a jar and it will ferment. You can eat it after a few days or keep it for months with a tight lid.
When you let the bacteria break down the vegetables they also create more vitamins and the food is very easy to digest. The bacteria will even help your belly in the future and make sure you have the bacteria you need in your body. This is called pro-biotics, or good bacteria. Thus it is especially important to eat probiotics if you have taken antibiotics and your natural protective bacteria have been lost.
You can even ferment white flour and by doing so the bacteria breaks down much of the gluten and makes it much easier to digest. This is how you do sourdough bread. You can do that yourself or buy it is some stores. Be sure to check that it is 100% sourdough, many times the bread in the supermarket contains a small amount sourdough and the rest in normal jest, that you do not want.
Recipes
There are a few recipes that I want to share with you. In reality, they are not really recipes at all, but rather some basic principles that I use when cooking. I never use recipes and if I look in a cookbook. I only look for inspiration. To me cooking is about taking what you have, listening to your body for what it needs, and make it come true. When I cook I usually go for things that are fast, healthy, tasty, and cheap. This is the real fast food.
Curry
To make a good curry is bringing happiness to everyone and it is easy. The basic recipe for the curry is red lentils and potatoes. The red lentils are great as fast food as they are peeled and can be cooked in only 20 minutes. Together with the potatoes, they create a creamy base that you can’t resist.
Start out by boiling potatoes. I do not peel the potatoes but give them a good rinse with water and brush them off. You can cut them into small pieces if you want it to go faster. After about 10 minutes or so you add the red lentils. Continue to boil it until the lentils are like a smooth paste. It takes around 20 minutes, Some types of red lentils never really becomes a paste and in that case, stop boiling then after 30 minutes or so and continue with the next step. You can also blend the mix if you like it to be more creamy and mash the potatoes a bit. I like to keep some whole potato pieces.
Take out some fresh vegetables. You can use many types of vegetables but I recommend you to keep vegetables that do not have a too strong taste if you do not know exactly what you want. I like cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, carrot, and peppers. Cut them into pieces. It’s nice if you make a few different sizes from small to medium. That creates a nice texture.
Next, you bring out your spices. First the fresh ones like garlic, chilly, and ginger and cut them down nice and small. Then I look at the dry powdered spices and start with some of the basics. Coriander and curry powder. You can use quite a lot of the spices as they bring a lot of taste. A spoon-full of each. Then add a bit of salt and chili. You can also use turmeric powder, but be gentle with it as it is quite bitter and the curry power already contains a lot of it. There are many other spices you can add, but these basic will work wonders. If you have, you can also use coriander and cumin seeds and grind them to small pieces.
Now comes the trick. Heat a frying pan without oil on high heat. When the pan is hot you put all the spices in the pan. Dry roast them for about 30 seconds to one minute. You can smell the spices strongly when they are getting ready and you will see a dark smoke when the powder is getting roasted. At this point, you add oil to the mix and start stirring. You do not need a lot of oil but enough for the spices to get oily. Now continue to fry the spice mix for another 30 seconds or so. Now the spices are ready. To dry fry, the spices really open up the taste and make it full power. Remember to do this every time you want to have full flavor.
At this point, you take all your cut vegetables and put them into the pan. Stir them around and after a little time add some water. Usually, I really want the vegetables to be fresh and crunchy so I only leave them in the pan a short time, as little as a minute. In reality, you can eat all these vegetables raw and so basically you just want them to marinate in the spices for a bit to pick up the taste. Sometimes I even leave the veggies raw as they will be warm when mixing with the other food.
Now the vegetable mix is ready and you put it into the pot of lentils and potatoes and start stirring. At this time you can add fresh spices like coriander to the pot. You can also add some extra virgin olive oil. Now you take a bit on a spoon, cool it a and taste it. Then you can add a bit more salt and chilly as you please to make it just right. The food is now all ready to eat. You can also leave it for half an hour or so to really get the full flavor into the food. Make sure to serve it together with a big salad.
This is the basic recipe and from here there are infinite possibilities to create new combinations. You can use other types of lentils and beans or chickpeas. Remember that they need to be soaked and usually take a longer time to cook. You can use sweet potatoes and you can change the vegetables and experiment with all different types, as long as they can be eaten raw.
The spice mix can of course change as well and you can buy ready-made curry mixes from a well-sorted Indian store like tandoori, garam massala, and other mixes that you can rotate. I have a favorite variation where I put cinnamon stick and bay leaves in with the potatoes in the beginning, and you can also use cinnamon in its powder form with the other spices. That makes it all nice and sweet.
Wok
To make a nice wok is the best fast food ever. I use cabbage, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, sprouted lentils, and other vegetables. Cut your vegetables into small and medium-size pieces. Use fresh spices like garlic and ginger and chilly. You can also use chilly powder or black pepper. You can use other dry spices but you really do not need it as the wok is nice when it tastes fresh. Heat your pan hot and add all the ingredients with some oil. Let it fry for a short time and then add some water, vinegar, and Japanese soy souse. You can not use Chinese mushroom soy as it has a totally different character. Continue to fry the vegetables and you really just need a minute or two. Remember that all the vegetables you can eat raw and so you do not need to fry them for long. If some vegetables are a bit hard you can make sure you cut them into smaller pieces, like the carrots for example. But you want them to be nice and crunchy. You will be surprised how fast the vegetables get soft so I recommend you to start with as little cooking time as possible. Better undercooked than overcooked. It will keep the nutritions all in your food.
Some things that can make this dish more interesting is to throw in a handful of roasted peanuts and some coconut flakes with the vegetables. You can also go Thai and use the Thai soy sauce and some crushed cashew nuts. If you like, add an egg or two after a short time of frying the vegetables. Add some salt and its done.
To the wok, you can go for white rice or an integral grain that you have soaked before or you can make some noodles. You can choose to serve the wok separately or you mix the grains or noodles into the pan and stir it for a bit. Serve with a big salad.
Steamed Vegetables
Its good, it’s fresh, it’s fast and it’s easy. To steam your vegetables you just cut them in small pieces and put them in a sieve inside your pot. Put a decilitre or two of water in the pot and put it to a boil with a lid on top of the sieve. They are ready after a few minutes and just sprinkle some salt on top and serve. Some steamed vegetables together with some kimchi and some cooked grains can keep any monk meditating for hours and hours.
Oven-Baked Vegetables
Another recipe fit for a celebration is to oven bake vegetables. Here we go for root vegetables. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, radish, cabbage, carrots, and onion for example. Cutt it al in medium size pieces. You can try some slices of lemon with the peel. Some ingredients cook faster than others so adjust the sizes. Potatoes are slow so cut them smaller. The sweet potato is quite fast so make them a bit bigger and so on.
Prepare a spice mix with some oil with some garlic, ginger, and salt inside. Putt all the vegetables in an oven tray and sprinkle the spice mix in top of it and stir it around. Then you can put some dry spices like oregano and basil on top. Heat the oven to 125 degrees Celcius and in they go. Now cook until they are all nice and soft. It usually takes about 40-60 minutes.
This dish goes great together with a brown sauce and if you feel really in a celebration mode you can serve it with some black currant marmalade. There is also room for another dish to go with this one, like vegetable burgers or halloumi. Make sure to serve it with a nice big salad.
Brown Sauce
A brown sauce goes great with potatoes. Mashed potatoes, oven-baked potatoes, or fried potatoes. You can make one easily in a pan. Cut some onion or leek in small pieces, you can also use fresh mushrooms that taste great in the sauce.
Heat a pan and add the cut ingredients and some oil. Both online and mushroom takes some time before they are done and will become small and a bit dark in color. When done you can add some garlic or ginger if you like and other spices. Just imagen in your mind how the spices taste like and add as you feel like. Black pepper, red pepper, coriander goes well.
After a few minutes, you add a cup or two of water to the pan. Do not put the water to a boil but keep it hot. Now we are going to make it thick by mixing the water with some starch from corn, potatoes, or other sources. Read on the package on how to make it, but usually, you mix the starch flour with cold water in a cup. Then add the starch mix to the hot water little at the time until it is nice and thick. It takes some time of heating before it gets thick so take your time and find the right thickness. Now you want to add some chines mushroom soy sauce and some salt if needed. Enjoy with your favorite meal.
White Rice
To cook rice is the simplest thing, but if not done right you end up with something that is terrible. There are a few different ways of doing it but I stick to the way I am taught. The first thing is to get nice quality rice. There are many brands and flavors and I always go for the long grain kind like basmati but there are many other long-grain rice variations. You have to try a few different types and find your favorite. Do not go for any kind of parboiled rice.
Now we are going to use measurement. Rice is the only thing I ever measure. For every person, I use about one deciliter of rice. You can just use a cup or a mug to measure with, the important thing is that for every deciliter of rice you add one and a half deciliter of water. Do not read the instructions of the package as they do not know what they are doing.
Rinse the rice in the water a few times. Then add the rice and cold water to a put. Put it on the stove on full heat with a lid. Once it comes to a strong boil, put the heat down to the lower temperature and let it for about 20 minutes, or when the rice becomes dry and soft. Be sure never to stir the rice or add more water when it’s cooking. When it’s done you can stir it a bit and you are ready to serve the rice.
If you have old rice you can stir fry it with some vegetables when you heat it. You do not want to make to much rice as it does not stay fresh for long.
Cabbage Salad
As I have been writing a few times, raw food is great for you. I go for half of the food raw and then it is important to have a big salad. To just have some salad leaves and tomato is not going to meet your needs. That’s why I go for a heavy salad with a lot of vegetables.
Cut a big piece of a white cabbage head and great it by hand on a cutting board and put it into a bowl. Continue grating other vegetables like carrot, red cabbage, zucchini, and add that to the bowl. Then if you want you can go for other vegetables like green leaves, peppers, and some tomatoes on the top.
To finish it I make a dressing straight into the bowl. Since some virgin olive oil, some salt, and some vinegar. It’s great to use raw vinegar that you can make yourself or buy from the health shop. Then it contains healthy bacteria. Then when I can I add nutritional yeast to it. You can also add some roasted seeds to the top when you want it to be even more exclusive.
Roasted Seeds
o roast seeds in a pan I a great touch to a salad, and it can add flavor and energy to most types of food. I usually go for sunflower seeds as they are easy to get for a good price. I always get them without the husks.
Heat a pan and put a few handfuls of sunflower seeds in the pan. Fry the seeds without oil until the seeds start to get a bit brown on the outside. In the end, you add some salt and just a drop of oil to make the salt stick. Another alternative is to take the pan off the heat and add some soy sauce and stir well. If the pan is too hot it will burn the soy, so wait a little bit.
You can also do this with seeds that you have soaked overnight. To roast, the soaked seeds will take a longer time and the result will be different, but both are really nice. Try it.
Fermented Vegetables
If you have a lot of vegetables it is great to ferment them and put then into jars. They become very tasty and the nutrition levels increase as well.
The trick is to get the natural bacteria from the white cabbage to start growing. The white cabbage contains a lot of Lacto acids and this is the bacterias that we need. Cutt or grate the white cabbage into small pieces. Find a container and a wooden club or similar to crush the cabbage so that the juice starts to come out. If you are using only white cabbage you can get so much juice out of the cabbage in this way that you do not need to add any water. You just put the crushed cabbage into a glass jar and add some salt to the mix. The water level should cover all the cabbage. If not, you either need to work the cabbage more or you add some extra water. Its good to pour boiling water on the jar end the lid to make sure they are clean before you use them.
If you want to make kimchi you just add other vegetables to the mix. Cutt your vegetables into small pieces. Go for vegetables that are crunchy as vegetables that are soft and contain a lot of water becomes much and does not work well in fermentations. Cabbage, carrots, and beetroots work well. Add this to the cabbage and add some saltwater to make sure it is covering the vegetables.
To both the cabbage and the kimchi you can add spices. Garlic, ginger, and chili work well. You can test different mixes and find your favorite.
After you are done the jars need to stand in room temperature for a few days to start ferment. They will become sourer for every day that passes. When they are perfect you can put the jars in a cold place to keep them for a long time.
Exercising your body
To do regular training is good for many things. I do yoga and qigong to make my body energized and flexible. It creates a good feeling and helps me keep healthy. Then there are many different things that you can do to keep your body strong. You find what you like. I make sure that I do not push my limits to hard. You need to keep the training soft and give it time to rest. If you push too hard you will get fewer results as you will harm yourself and not have the time to build muscles.
Most of the training I do is quite soft and meditative. When it comes to strength training I have minimal practice. Sometimes just before eating, I do as many pushups or situps that I can. It takes only a few minutes but it activates the muscles and gives you signals to strengthen them. You can get great results like this without doing much hard training. To visualize that you are getting strong and healthy is also a standard part of my practice and can give great benefits just by itself.
Healthcare
The body heals itself self and you often need no more than some care and good thoughts. To trust your body is of great importance. Listen to it and feel what it needs. You can heal many problems with only a positive mindset and trust in your body’s natural resources. When you are feeling bad, start by eating less. I like to make a potion of garlic, black pepper, chilly, honey, and ginger. This boosts your immune system. Molasses is also great and makes sure you are drinking a lot. Warm water in itself does wonders. If you do not get better soon you can often get help from alternative practitioners. There are many different forms of help to get many are good.
The best way to not get sick is to stay healthy and have good habits. You can for example do different fasting and make regular inner cleansings. To cleanse your body a few times a year feels great. You can do one-day fasting. One week fasting. Drink the only juice for a week. There are many variants, just find something that appeals to you. If you follow the recommendations in this writing about how to live a good life you should already get into quite good health.
Some times you need to go to a doctor. Personally, I stay away from hospitals as long as possible. At the same time, I do not go extreme, there are times when you need to take some strong medication. You will recover from taking some antibiotics if you have a bad infection. You can try to take care of it yourself first and use alternative treatments but go to a doctor if you need it. If you are too stubborn you might end up with much worse problems.
When you go to a hospital be sure to stay alert. Many of the drugs that you get in a hospital are not very good for you. They can be life-saving at times, but often they also have a high amount of chemicals that are difficult to handle for the body. I am really going to a doctor since I have little faith in their practice. Today the drug industry is making a lot of money selling medicins and they are not concerned with your health so much as to maximize profit.
For smaller things, you can often take care of it yourself. There are many healing plants and you can get creams, oils, and tinctures of many great plants. If I get a wound, even a bigger one, I start by disinfecting it. You can use many different things for this. Alcohol, iodine, oxidized water, or essential oil. After the wound is clean you want to add some good bacterial. Just as when you want to take probiotics if you have taken antibiotics, you want to make sure your wound has good bacteria.
If you leave the wound after disinfecting it, then it will be a clean area that aggressive bacteria would like to get on to as soon as it is possible. You want to add good bacteria and you can for example find a plant with lactic acid, just like the white cabbage, and put it on your wound. There are many plants that contain it.
The last thing that I do if I have a wound that I want to heal fast is to make a cover with urine. Urine contains vitamins and proteins that are exactly what is needed to create new tissue. It is also already prepared for your body and is in the right size to go straight through your skin and become accessible for the cells to use. The urine makes it heal so fast that it is amazing. You also will notice that it does not leave a scar when you use urine. Perfect if you get a wound in a visible place. Urine does normally not contain any poisons and is free from bacteria. Urine has other medical benefits and can be used for skin problems, burns, and other things. Just put it on before going to bed and clean it again in the morning. If you have a big wound you might be tempted to go to a doctor to sew it together. I have learned that many times you can use tape instead. I use black sticky electrical tape for most wounds. It works really well. It also makes sure you do not get big scars from the stitches.