I have always loved a good road trip. Heading somewhere fun, a friend in the passenger seat, deeper conversations, food stops and lots of music. Only recently, like in the last few months, have I found extra JOY in PODCASTS!
I have now subscribed to a few podcasts, across a range of subject matter, but today I was really thrilled – and totally engaged – by From the Heart from Rachel Brathen; yoga teacher extraordinaire, awesome mum, and author of the book Yoga Girl, and the huge worldwide Yoga Girl community .. ‘a lifestyle, movement and brand to heal and change the world’.
As I left home in the early hours, with little traffic, I plugged into Rachel’s podcast interview with someone that I have truly admired and followed forever .. Deepak Chopra.
Podcast: Deepak Chopra Wants You To Move, Sleep and Practice Gratitude
“Deepak Chopra! World-renowned author, speaker, and health guru, Deepak brings his wisdom and shares it with us in a beautiful episode on how to create a more balanced, peaceful and sustainable world. To him, it’s simple. We begin by creating more balanced, peaceful and sustainable lives for ourselves. Deepak shares his best advice and insights with emphasis on the importance of moving your body, sleeping well each night, and taking moments to reflect on what you are most grateful for”.
Some amazing takeaways that I would love to share with you:
*Deepak rated this day as a 10/10 – which he attributes to starting each and every day with Four Intentions:
1. Joyful energetic body
2. Love and compassion in the Heart
3. Reflective, Alert, Quiet Mind
4.
*As Deepak began exploring the nature of illness and healing, he had a major realization as a physician: that only 5% of genetic errors or mutations are 100% predictive of disease (any disease) .. meaning that 95% of disease is ‘lifestyle’ related.
*95% of illness is related to some disruption in homeostasis (self-regulation) which causes chronic low-grade inflammation in the body. And this type of type of low-grade inflammation is due to:
– lack of sleep
– stress
– poor mind-body coordination
– not enough movement
– inappropriate breathing
– poor nutrition
– unhealthy emotions – anxiety, depression, guilt, shame, hostility, anger
– or disruption of circadian rhythms (eg. ongoing jet lag)
Meaning that 95% of illness is under our control
*Lack of good sleep, ie. delta, has recently been found to be a predictor of Alzheimer’s. The most common cause of late-onset Alzheimer’s (after 65yo) is lack of sleep.
*Deepak’s Six Pillars of Health:
1. Sleep
2. Meditation and Stress Management
3. Movement, Yoga, and Pranayama
4. Emotions
5. Nutrition and Nourishment
6. Biological Rhythms and Grounding
*Yoga and pranayama offer us more than just regular movement/exercise as it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which influences the vagus nerve which is the most important healing nerve in the body as it causes self-regulation.
*Yoga, whichever school of yoga you participate in (when we practice the basic postures and sun salutations) we are stimulating every single organ in the body for self-regulation .. and there is NO drug or technology in the world that can do that!
*The world is insane! What do you call a world that has eco-destruction, extinction of species, climate change, mass epidemics due to all kinds of poverty, weaponization, nuclear weapons – and now risking our own World – the world we have created collectively. If you don’t think the world is insane – then you are insane too!
*Deepak has practiced yoga every day for ten years and as he gets older he finds himself even more ‘addicted’ to yoga. He also sleeps a minimum of 8 hours – monitoring with an App – and practices Yoga Nidra every day, before sleep
“Yoga Nidra .. to shut off the world and consciously settle into the infinite”
*Everyone should become the expert in their own illness. No doctor is as interested in you, as you are in yourself. You should know much more than your doctor. You should be, what doctor’s call a ‘difficult patient’ because all the research shows that ‘difficult patients’ do much better than compliant patients who just listen to the doctor.
*Most common factor for inflammation is
*We can reverse inflammation through dietary changes. It has been found that changing our diet can change our bacterial gene population within 6 weeks. Aim for a plant-based diet, and eat 7 colors of the rainbow every day.
Some great takeaways as I drove along the coast today. These points really resonated with me .. but definitely listen to the podcast (almost one hour) for all the goodness!
Check out Rachel’s podcast with Deepak Chopra
(and many other great guests) HERE
Do you have a favorite podcast?