To Be Fit Is Your Natural Right

The god within you. Earlier, if somebody had asked us, "What does fitness mean to you?" we'd have answered, "An exercised, well-tuned body." Those were the days when we had just sniffed at the exhilarating potential of fitness and had begun to enjoy the tautness of a muscle and the actual feeling of physical well-being. Today, we'd add on a few more qualities.

"Fitness," we'd say, "is a well worked-out body, a feeling of total 'wellness, a mind free of agitation, a sense of being spiritually at peace and a pleasant, invigoratingly lively attitude towards life." To that: we'd further add, "Tuning totally into the natural forces within and without you." The key word here is natural. Every single human being is an athlete on the track of life. We are all Nature's children - each one endowed with his or her own beauty and specialness. We have within us a natural power waiting to be tapped.

Yes, tell yourself boldly and unashamedly, "I am Nature's child. I am a special individual" And know it to be true. It is true. For you are a citizen of a larger world residing in the eternal land of mystique and mantras. Within and without you there is a flood of golden sunshine.

Just beneath the surface is the security of an ancient shared culture, a common outlook, an Indian beat that throbs through your veins and keeps you moving. There are many gods - manifestations of every aspect of life - up there somewhere and the thought of an after-life that shimmers like a distant, but possible promised land. But know for a fact that the promised land is here and now too.

Those mantras course through you even as you read these words, washing you with a power. A power that is limitless, invisible, but tangible and real. A power that enables you to shape your present and your future. For, you have a God within you.

A dynamic life-force. Your breathing proves that you are connected to a huge generator which is inexhaustible. A humming, vibrant power that can never be turned off. There's a simple way to find out for yourself. Press your palm lightly against your ear for a few seconds, shutting out all external sounds.

Can you hear it? It is a continuous vibration, like a thrumming generator that is constantly on. The very essence of your life ­force that can be heard in the roaring voice of the sea or even in the vibration of the air-waves as an aeroplane flies overhead. It is the 'Om' in your life.

'Om' is Nature. Listen to Nature's sounds - for example, the twittering of sparrows. Now, compare it to the hammering of laborers working at a construction site. The sound of birds is eminently pleasing whereas the artificial pounding is an assault on the ear.

Or, if you call up an office, you would hear the rat-a-tat of a typewriter. Such unnatural noises do nothing for you. But, listen to the sigh of the oceans, the rustle of leaves, and analyse their effect on you.

They quieten your mind, fill you with a pleasant sensation, a peaceful feeling. Why? The answer is simple: you are a child of Nature and it is that natural element in you that responds positively to her various manifestations. Exercising too is an intrinsic part of our natural heritage. It is a valuable process built into us by Nature to keep us in our natural form - a fit and healthy form. The only threat to our life is from our lifestyle.

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