Maintenance

The carefree attitudes of youth are appropriate to a young body which heals easily and has a vigorous metabolism. After 30, things begin to change. After 40, the obvious changes of aging are hard to ignore. After 50, major body systems have begun to change significantly and develop problems. 

Practice, as I define it, is the daily maintenance of healthy mind and body with a quest for increased awareness, responsibility and compassion. I am a mundane person. I understand that the simplest daily actions have the most profound effects on a life. Flossing teeth can make the difference between dentures and original teeth in old age. Eating properly every day prevents obesity, osteoporosis and many other diseases of old age. Yoga stretching for 15-20 minutes a day prevents loss of flexibility, assists proper breathing and maintains muscle memory, a handy recovery tool when disease does strike. 

Proper maintenance for health can begin right now in any life. Cleaning out the bad habits, the small unhealthy lapses, is a good first process. Cutting back on your time sitting at a computer, for instance. Not watching television before a certain hour in the evening. Eliminating unstructured eating, especially eating away from a table. Reading up on nutrition. Just a few simple examples.

Introducing one daily walk is a maintenance tool for anyone who can walk. Walking for at least 20 minutes a day without stopping to do things or and without eating along the way is a wonderful primer for other exercise. After a week of doing this, anyone new to walking will be impressed with its effects. 

I laugh when people ask me, "How do you get so many things done and have time to relax?" I have learned to appreciate the tasks of maintaining a healthy life as forms of relaxation. I have also learned to maintain my body and environment in small increments daily. For example, I wipe down my sink, cutting boards and kitchen counter after each use. I was trained to do this in restaurant kitchens. They are always clean. No need to devote longer time and more effort to scrub them down when they get badly soiled. This is a good metaphor for all forms of mind and body maintenance.