Just plain lazy, aren't you? Do this nevertheless

The worse time to wake up in the morning is when you have this almost irresistible urge to doze off for another hour or two.
But discipline or just plain automation can put you in gear. How do those exercise freaks do it day after day, or night after night? It's not rocket science. First, you make a mental commitment to yourself. Second, you don't give it an afterthought and just go ahead and do it.
Like most of you mortals out there, I too suffer constantly and massively from many mornings of much lengthier sleep sessions. But life's always playing tricks on me so I have to wake up by 7.35am whether I like it or not on most mornings.
My routine is simple: rinse the mouth, wet the face with water to kickstart my inner engine. Then, I amble onto the hall and start my own personal system of exercise.
The system comprises a set of qigong movements, breathing techniques and a bit of SEAL body movements. All these may seem daunting to the unsuspecting but in actuality, it is over in about 45 minutes but I usually try to keep it down to 35.
Morning exercises have one drawback, sometimes you forget what you are doing. Your mind is asleep but your body is moving or swaying. It's all part of the reflex action conditioning.
I shut off all lights in the hall and let my body do the thinking. In the midst of the exercise, I slip into meditation mode. That means letting my mind slow down till nothing happens. In other words, I try my utmost to achieve nothingness.
If this sounds all a bit crazy, let me assure you that it is so because no normal person will give himself a kick in the butt to wake up after about six hours' sleep just to give his entire physical form a shock treatment.
I have doing this for years. What are the obvious benefits then? First, illness almost never surfaces - not even the common cold. Second, I allow my mind "to rest". This form of meditation helps to replenish the spiritual batteries of a person.
Don't convince yourself that you are an atheist. If you allow yourself the luxury of scepticism, let me tell you that without some form of communion with a higher level of conssciousness, every human being is just a shell.
I shall never be able to emphasise enough that deep breathing is one of the most essential techniques in achieving excellent health. Like all life-forms, we humans too need to breathe but most of us breathe wrongly.
We think if we just leave it to our bodies, the body will know how to take care of itself. Frankly, the body doesn't think, the body obeys, and you are the only person it will listen to!
Let the breath that you suck into your body in the morning drift through every pore in your system. "See" the air clearing and washing away all the tired spots and bits from your body.
The Zen masters had been doing this for centuries. What may seem to you as a very simple form of exercise, let me say that, if done right, deep breaths can clease or defeat all known forms of illness that can and will strike manking.
The proper method of breathing is to let the air come through your nostrils and channel/direct the air through your head, down your spine, pass through your navel and then up your alimentary canal and out through your open mouth.
This is the way of the qigong masters for centuries. When you are doing it right, the body begins to re-align itself in many mysterious ways. You begin to feel more energetic, you get less tired, you become more alert and you may even seem happier.
Laziness in performing exercises is really just a habit. To break that habit, you need to tell yourself that you might as well wake up and do it because when or if you fall seriously ill, you will be lying flat on bed, against your will!
People the world over are a bit strange. They all know that their bodies need to be exercise and they also know that if they neglect their bodies, there will come a time, not too distant in the future when the human parts will begin to deteriorate.
People in general are more into damage control. They will change their lifestyle after heart surgery or a stroke. If they don't experience those life-threatening moments, they won't feel motivated to do anything.
Life is really much shorter than we all dare to admit. There was one tai chi master who I know of, who said that doing tai chi is like "dancing in the wind". He said a practitioner should not give too much thought into what he's doing.
Instead, that person should just "go through the motions". Leave the mind out of it, and let your soul it.
At its highest level, exercising becomes the key to reach a realm that awakens every cell in your body. Those who have reached that level normally have no words to describe their experience.
The Indians call it "kundalini". It is really being just there. The idea is to sustain that moment and activate it with speed of a thought. Very, very few on earth can do that. It's like pushing the right buttons all the time, not missing a beat.
When or if you are able to do that, you literally conquer death. But seriously, you don't really want to live up to 150. It's not fun because everybody you know would have died by then.
One of the greatest purpose in this life, at this moment, is to make the most out of every second of every minute. That is your right and your privilege.
So tomorrow morning when you should be waking up at a certain hour but feel lazy and sleepy as usual, remember what I have said here. Frankly, you will have plenty of time to close your eyes when your time on earth is over.
Waking up and doing the right time is much more fun. Do it, time is running out not only for you but for everybody on earth. Having a life that spans 80 years may seem like a long time to you, but to those who understand the timelessness of life and the power of the moment, longevity is just a word.

One billion souls hankering for expressions

At last count, there are about one billion Internet surfers. Now, what do one billion do in the borderless realm that stretches from one end of the earth to the other?
We function in our own little cocoons, in our little study room, at the Starbucks outlet or in our indifferent spacious office environment. The nicest thing to come out of this wonder Internet phenomenon is the realisatioin that we are indeed not alone.
Suddenly, we secure the knowledge that everyway people crave basically the same things we do. We are not so strange after all. We all want continued good health. We want perpectual financial security. We desire the best things in life for our families and ourselves.
Some of us will achieve that. The rest of us will die trying. Pun intended. Good health is not a privilege but a right that must be earned. There are an exception few who come from good family stock and they do not succumb to diseases and viruses that easily as the next person.
The rest of us will have to take a major dose of common sense and not be reckless with our own lives. People live and die. There's nothing unusual about this. For every baby born unto this life, many more lives will have to be noted down in the death registry.
I have discussed this subject of good health with many friends and family members. All of us are in agreement that we want to remain healthy if at all possible up till the day we die.
But life on earth obeys certain dictates that have been laid down since time immemorial. The Law of Longevity states that for a man to have a relatively trouble-free life, he must look after his health. He must do so in the manner most sensible to him.
In other words, he has to build a strong temple for his spirit. His body must be strong just as a building has to be strong if it doesn't want to be blown down by a Category Four hurricane.
A man has to lead a healthy lifestyle. In other words, no excessive drinking, skip the smoking, don't make worry a major part of your career and eat sensibly for the rest of your natural life.
How many of us can do that? Not many, even though the advice seems simple enough. I was just talking to an office colleague about an hour ago. The subject was daily exercise. He admitted that exercising on a daily basis was essential for healthy living but he also quickly confessed that he was lazy.
I suggested a person should not indulge in worry too easily or excessively. Again, he admitted he's a worrier.
Certain things you can't avoid. For example, the race into which you were born. The body you are now in and possess. The country you were born in, and the family you have. These are beyond your free will.
The rest however you can do something about. In fact, you can do a lot about. Your health, for example. You can work your way to everlasting good health here on this planet.
If you succeed you can teach others to follow the same path. Whether or not, they take up your offer, is another story. The word is you are in a position to help others.
Helping others to live a good life is your duty. It will enhance your own life. That is one of the world's greatest secrets. And yet so few know about this. The problem is most of us are too preoccupied with ourselves.
We think the whole world evolves around us. Wrong! We make the world what it could be for us. We change things around us. We are the fate changers, if ever there is such a term.
You can blog till you are 120 years old and you still won't be able to reach where you want to go, unless you help the others to reach their own desired goals first.
Sounds strange, doesn't it? Don't believe me. Try it for yourself. Life is short. You can no longer tally and wait for the double rainbow to appear. You create your own rainbow. Anything is possible here on earth, as decreed by heaven.