Why treat your body like you treat your car? A strange question indeed, but not one without relevance. To maintain a vehicles performance some attention and care is needed, as in having it regularly checked out, keeping the fluid levels balanced and letting the engine cool on hot summer days. The body is much the same. It is the vehicle that carries us through the day, from morning until night; even while we are sleeping it is there, driving us forward to another day? the only difference is that we can't trade our bodies in for the latest model. We are stuck with the one we are given, and only through proper maintenance and care can we keep on cruising down the highway of life.



There are many ways of keeping balance. Drinking enough water, getting enough rest, eating the right foods and exercising are some of the key components of a healthy body, and as any doctor will tell you, a healthy body equals a healthy mind. Here are some specific ways to keep your body well maintained:

Daily Awareness ? This takes some practice. Most of us are running around feverishly without any idea of how we really feel, and more importantly, not dealing with our malfunctions. If you lead a busy life, you need some serious downtime. If you feel tired, take naps or sleep for twelve hours to regenerate. If you are getting head aches on a regular basis, drink more water and take daily supplements to rebalance. If we don't check in on a daily basis with how we feel and heal the areas that need to be healed, we are heading for long term health issues.

Check Ups ? Most of us don't like going to the dentist or to see a doctor, but how many times have you heard, ?if you catch it on time there is a chance??. So go in for a regular check up, as you never know what ailment they may catch on time to cure.

Go on a Retreat ? Instead of planning a ?normal? vacation, where you drink and bask in the sun, try planning a retreat that brings you new found awareness, heals and rejuvenates. Maybe a yoga or meditation retreat?

Consider needing to take a long trip in an old jalopy of a car that hasn't been given enough fuel and has worn tires and poor brakes. Would you feel confident in that car getting you to where you needed without causing you stress by breaking down, or worse, crashing head on with a fully fueled and tuned up sports car? Probably not. Why then would you let yourself go on through the day without the proper amounts of vitamins, proteins, or fluids ? the gasoline of life? If you want to make it through the day with ease, you need to stock up on the necessary components of healthy living. Eat green foods, exercise as well as rest, and keep monitoring yourself, because the diligent car owner is the one who is able to drive his first and favorite long after all the others have been given to the junk yard.