Fatigue is the number one health complaint in our country today. For the individual who wants to overcome fatigue and regain energy, the first step is to admit that they need to learn more about where Vitality comes from, how it works, how it is lost and especially, how to regain it.
Vitally has been better understood by traditional health specialists in some of the older cultures. In India it is called prana; in China it is called qi (chi); in Japan it’s ki; in Hebrew it’s called ruach; in new testament Greek it’s pneuma. In the West we used to call it vim, or vigor. Recently we call it bio-magnetic energy or vital energy. It is the subtle, basic energy that animates all the body’s functions. Perhaps it is best described as the breath of life breathed into every human being.
Most atoms (ions) carry a positive or negative charge. Most cells in the body carry a positive or negative charge. Every organ has its own quality and quantity of bio-magnetic energy. Vital energy is also organized into main pathways that circulate though the body. Key points along those pathways are manipulated by acupuncture and acupressure. In a practical sense, our Vitality is the energy we feel physically, how we feel emotionally, and our mental focus.
Our Vitality is also our emotions. What we habitually think and feel about ourselves, our Creator, other people, and our lives, can make us tired or energetic. Negative emotional habits interfere with our body’s usage of oxygen, nutrients and hormones and cause our blood to hold on to cellular wastes, which causes fatigue and systemic toxemia. Positive emotion (natural Vitality) promotes improvements in our blood quality.
Our emotions and our physical energy
are not only closely related
– they are the same thing!
Example: Several years ago I was cutting firewood out at the woodpile. I was in a worried mood. I was dwelling on some weighty problems I was faced with, and I was getting tired from cutting the firewood. Just as I decided to put down my ax and go into the house and rest, the phone rang.
The phone call was from a friend who had very exciting, positive news about a serious problem he had overcome. I was very happy for him. After the call I continued to think about my friend’s exciting good news. I went back out to the woodpile and cut wood for hours with no fatigue at all. I felt great!
What had changed? Where did all that energy come from? Instead of brooding about negative things in my life, I had thought about someone other than myself, and I had dwelt on positive things.
“A cheerful heart gives health to the bones.”
We all occasionally have experiences like mine at the woodpile. If we are in the habit of dwelling on the negative, it can lead to chronic tiredness and other chronic symptoms. Why not purposely practice dwelling on positive, worthwhile, healthy things the same way we would practice healthy physical exercise to make our bodies stronger? We would be a lot healthier emotionally and physically if we did.
Everything the body does burns up energy.
The body needs energy for basic physiologic activities – digestion, thinking, breathing, heartbeat, etc. The body also needs to clean up cellular waste products and toxins, and that takes energy. Then it needs energy for all our daily activities – work, play, study, etc.
When Vitality is chronically depleted, we lack energy for daily activities. Even worse, our body doesn’t have the energy it needs for it’s own upkeep. It gets behind in feeding, cleaning, repairing and protecting itself, so the body starts to break down, and symptoms must be produced eventually.
In many of the older cultures it has been understood for centuries that the lack of Vitality is at the core of all chronic symptoms. The very first thing that goes wrong is a drop of natural Vitality. Then the body’s processes start to subfunction… then illness follows. Modern people tend to think, “I’m sick, so I’m tired”. Really, a drop in natural vitality always precedes illness.
To preserve our health we must be more aware of the Vitality our body needs. Instead of thinking only about our immediate needs – enough energy to get our work done and get through the day – we need to provide an abundant supply so the body has enough energy to run itself and make repairs.
Our vitality is how we feel
both physically and emotionally.