Archive for June, 2006
Healthy living, for long, has remained an abstract concept. When I was a kid, the concept of staying healthy was drummed into my head by all and sundry - dad, granny, physical education teacher (the equivalent of gym instructor). I am sure this is the experience of all of us - we knew we should live healthy, what came of living healthy, but we only had a very basic idea of the ‘how’ aspect.
This is in stark contrast to kids today. In a world of evolving technology, sensibilities, lifestyles, and mindsets, living healthy is no longer a concept. It is a mantra. You have girls barely in their teens working out. You have young boys enrolling for gym class in a bid to stay fit and look impressive. Middle-aged people throng the sidewalks in the early morning hours, some walking, some jogging, in their frantic efforts at joining the ’staying fit’ club. Narcissus is in. The lean and ‘beautiful people’ look is everywhere - from the advertisements on television to high school classrooms.
All this is good. It would be almost hypocritical, in a sense, to claim we care for others when we don’t really make the effort to care for ourselves. However, there is a limit to this. Being healthy is one thing. Being obsessed with staying healthy is another. And both are not the same.
There is, therefore, the need to strike a fine balance between the two. It is true that we can enjoy our lives much better when the basic framework, i.e. the body, is healthy and fit. However, it doesn’t make sense to direct all our energies to the act of keeping ourselves healthy and fit, and thereby not having the time to enjoy much else.
Balancing is the key, as it always is!
June 8th, 2006
Written By: daisy
My sister 32-year old Shivani, once a brilliant student of political science and a skilled exponent of Indian classical dance, started suffering from rheumatoid arthritis 12 years ago.
The first signs of the disease appeared while she was taking her final undergraduate examinations. She knew her dreams of pursuing higher studies would remain unrealized. She was selected in one of the top institutions to do her masters but she could not even get out of the car and walk up to see her name among the selected candidates on the notice board of the institution of her choice.
With all kinds treatments and physiotherapy notwithstanding her active arthritis just would not abate and it pained as if a “fully loaded truck was passing over me in slow motion”, she recalls.
She was left a cripple with severe deformities of the limbs at the joints, no cartilage left to cushion the movement, but contractures and thinning, ever wasting bones. All surgeons were of the same opinion - go for TKR, total knee replacement. But there was a lurking fear that artificial joints might not work on a frail frame she had, my internet research warned me.
That was till about a year back before Yoga happened to us. While I put my sister on the pranayama, the breathing exercises regime, I joined the classes to learn the system. I became a practitioner and a teacher of Yoga.
Shivania’s deteriorating condition was checked in about two months and she could feel the signs of recovery. Her limbs started loosening up at the joints. Painkillers were forgotten and steady progress became a reality.
Shivani still finds it little difficult to do physical exercises, hence she has slow progress. But a definite one at that.
Yoga has been transforming Shivana when nothing else would work.
June 6th, 2006
Written By: lalitgambhir
I’ve had a vision to create a website that is informative and interesting about a wide range of medical and health related subjects for quite a while now.
“FurtherHealth” seemed a great name as it sums up the aims of the site - to allow people to understand their conditions and to help them improve their health, fitness and well being.
FurtherHealth.com was born about a year ago, but time constraints meant that I only published one article and let the site remain dormant as I had to concentrate on my business.
Keen to realise the initial vision, I have found some talented writers who are passionate about healthcare, medical matters and well being and we are now ready to develop FurtherHealth.com into a helpful and informative resource.
I hope you find Further Health useful and informative and that you enjoy reading this blog!
June 5th, 2006
Written By: chris
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