If this book was a movie then you have just gone through the credits. Now let’s begin with some actual action. So now this brings us to the first component under the first pillar great health. We will be talking about sweat and stretch. Today we live in a world where we have so many options when it comes to taking care of our body and yet we often neglect to do the same. Besides our usual workouts we have other equally interesting options such as yoga, dance, martial arts, functional training and other simple things that we could do when left to our own devices such as jogging brisk walking climbing a hill or cycling.

In today’s age something as beautiful as walking is dismissed by most of us who are always in a hurry to get somewhere. Walking is just not a “pedestrian” activity. It is an exercise for the body and it is a philosophical Pursuit for the mind. There are things we see while we walk which we would not otherwise notice. Walking is an activity that accentuates our senses. We take in more with the eyes. Our nose becomes a centre of olfactory delight. Our ears become more receptive to the abundance of sounds around us. If we are morning Walkers we get to hear the bird song. We must all walk more, and walk without frills such as our smart phones. We must walk as our ancestors did. We must walk sure-footed and with a purpose, to our greatness.

A basic thing we need to understand here is we have to do each and every activity with mindfulness and passion. Even something as mundane as brushing our teeth or tying our shoelaces can be done with lot of energy and passion. We need to understand that everything we do is for the brain and the body. Every small activity that we undertake is is going to benefit our brain and our body in some way. For example while brushing we could stand in the martial arts pose. While tying our laces we can do it in a standing posture instead of sitting. This helps to activate the core.

When this man was knocking at the doors of film agents and managers, he was rebuffed.” come on! Do you want to be a leading man? Let’s start with your body, you are gigantic you are a monster. And, and then your accent, it gives me the chills listening to your German bullshit. Then you have done obnoxiously long name. Who would want to see a movie, when Schwartzenschnitzel is starring in it? No no, it won’t happen, it’s not gonna happen, forget about it.”

We have never heard of the agents after that but Arnold Schwarzenegger is a household name. The person who broke The Hero stereotype with his large musculature and rugged face, Arnold is truly our modern day Hercules. But Arnold did not get this great body on a platter. A 98 pound weakling, he had to take painstaking effort to get where he is today. All of us do not have to be like Arnold, but if we wish to be great we have to start with our body and there are two important approaches to a great body- sweat and stretch. Let’s look at them one by one.

Sweat it out-There are various ways by which you can sweat outdoors toxins out of your body, just flush them away with those beads of perspiration. Indulge in weight training, aerobics, resistance training, functional training, dance, and sports. Even daily activities like cleaning the house, cleaning the car, de-cluttering your house, playing with your kids, these all when done with the right intent can help transform your body into a leaner and fitter version of you and fill you to the rafters with an immense powerhouse of energy. Throughout the day we have to constantly remind ourselves that whatever we are doing is for our brain and body health. With such mindfulness in place even the most mundane tasks will yield great results. Always think big, ignore the naysayers, work your butts off, make it great in life and change the world. Start with your body. Ask yourself this question- if not us, who? If not now, when?

Nothing can drive this point home better than the scene in Karate Kid where Mr Miyagi makes Daniel wash his car. He then makes him wax it. He also mix Daniel catch flies with a pair of chopsticks. A chagrined Daniel cannot make heads or tails as to how this is important to his learning karate. He blurts “I’ve learned plenty! I’ve learned how to sand your decks maybe! How about wash your cars, paint your house, and paint your fence. I’ve learned plenty!” Miyagi deals with him with unruffled firmness. As the movie proceeds we come to know how Mr Miyagi’s training is not futile. Every action, every reflex learnt through the mundane tasks, help Daniel in the fight when he needs it most. A jubilant Daniel shouts at the end of the movie” Mr Miyagi we did it! We did it all right!” Readers give yourself 100% to this process of sweating towards greatness and I assure you-you will do all right!

Let us look at the health benefits of sweating-

• • Heavy metals detoxification
  • Promotes healthy skin
  • Protects the heart
  • Lowers stress hormones
  • Sexual drive booster
  • Defeats harmful microbes
  • Reduces Menopause pain
  • Decreases risk of Alzheimer’s
  • Helps body remove endocrine disruptions

I ask you how many of you can touch your feet with your hands without bending in the knees. How many of you can fold your hands behind your back in a “Namaste” posture. Things that came to us easily as kids we have forgotten, our muscles have forgotten. Most of us who are reading this book live a reasonably comfortable life which involves sitting in front of the computer for anything between 6 and 10 hours. It is important that we stay in touch with our muscles. Every few hours we must take a break and stretch ourselves, our Limbs, so that one day when we wake up we are not in for a surprise like a stiff neck or a pain in the lower back or worse. Such problems are more rampant and frequent then any time before, an indicator of our comfortable but indolent lifestyle. And by indolent I mean in the physical sense. We have the ancient wisdom of yoga and martial arts at our disposal. Martial arts like judo kung Fu karate and our very own Kalarippayattu. These exercises ensure that we stretch to the optimum. Interestingly stretching is also a metaphor. Just as we have to stretch our bodies we also need to stretch our minds to overcome our own mediocrity, complacency and limitations. Farshad Asl author of no excuses mind set, says,

“where there is no struggle there is no stretch, and therefore no growth. Easy does not change you and comfort won’t challenge you. Costing isn’t a strategy.”

Even daily life presents you with a lot of opportunities to stretch. Getting that jar off the top shelf, which might require you to stand tip toe and stretch your hand as far as possible to get hold of the jar. Put your clothes out to dry on a washing line which is slightly higher up. Bending down to lift objects. Pluck that farthest flower on the tree branch. Even while working, every few minutes, stretch your hands and legs. Even in the most crunched of places never forget stretching, like in the cramped seat on a flight. Make space for yourself to stretch your digits, your Limbs. Make sure that you rotate and knead your neck, once in a while. You will realize stretching helps to release toxins and you will see that you are creating immense energy to be tapped for fruitful and great work.

Below are some of the health benefits of stretching-

• • Increased circulation
  • Greater flexibility
  • Better balance
  • Lower stress levels
  • Reduced injury risk
  • Reduced pain
  • More energy
  • Increased mobility
  • Improved posture
  • Increased exercise performance

I am a connoisseur of western classical music and I remember having read this somewhere. The great violinist Yehudi Menuhin had once come to India. He was renowned worldwide for his great skill with the violin. He is known to have played with the Beatles as well as having a jugalbandi (a musical duel) with the Sitar Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. There was a chance meeting between Yehudi Menuhin and the Great yogacharya B K S Iyengar.  Yoga maestro observed Menuhin playing the violin and such beautiful plaintive notes were flowing. He waited for Yehudi Menuhin to finish his practice. They got introduced. Yehudi Menuhin then asked him “what do you do?” To which he responded

“I see that you have acquired great skill and expertise with the violin, the music seems to flow so effortlessly.

You ask me what I do. Well, through years of practice, I have metamorphosed my body into a musical instrument through which life flows effortlessly and I can teach you the art should you allow me to.” The rest is history. Yoga maestro and Yehudi Menuhin were friends for the rest of their lives till the death of the great violin Maestro.

Truly our bodies have to become like a musical instrument that is tuned to the greatest life can offer. We must create great energy and we should also make ourselves supple and elastic for the energy to flow with full force. We need to stretch our limbs for a healthy body and a healthy mind. We need to expand our horizons. As the inspirational writer Israelmore Ayivor says

“If you really want to eat, keep climbing. The fruits are on the top of the tree. Stretch your hands and keep stretching them. Success is on the top, keep going.”

Dance like everyone is clapping. We have to make a celebration of dance. Dance is synonymous with energy and energy is synonymous to dance. “O how wonderful! How like the thought! How like the mind it is!” Helen Keller exclaimed when she experienced dance for the first time. Helen Keller was 72 when she first visited the dance studio. Deaf and blind from birth, she could not see the dance, but she could focus on the dancers’ feet and say in which direction they were moving. Helen innocently ask the choreographer” what is jumping I do not understand” to which the choreographer called upon a member from her troupe and asked Helen to put her hands on his waist. As the dancer jumped Helen’s hands rose and fell. Her expression changed from curiosity to one of joy. Her fingers began to move slightly as if fluttering. For the first time in her life she had experienced dance. You all who are reading this book are more fortunate. You can see the dance, you can hear and revel in the feet tapping music. What’s stopping you from dancing towards greatness?

The Great Armenian Mystique Gurdjieff once said- “what you cannot discover in your own body you will not discover in any place of the world.” He further said about dance” between the Precision and beauty of the movements opens the word of clarity, love, inner strength, creativity, and great action.”

Latest cutting edge Research in Psychology says that dancing improve brain function on a variety of levels. It blends cerebral and cognitive thought processes with muscle memory and “proprioception” held in the cerebellum. Every person can maximize his or her brain function by incorporating some type of dance at least once a week in their routines.

Let us look at some of the health benefits of dancing-

• • Aids good posture
  • Alleviates back pain
  • Help indigestion
  • Aids breathing
  • Improves muscle tone
  • Increases resting metabolic rate
  • Improves balance
  • Enhances flexibility
  • Improves creativity
  • When we dance about brains release neurotransmitters known as endorphins. Endorphins keep us euphoric all the time.

If you have read the Hunger Games or seen the movie, you will remember the feisty Katniss Everdeen, who took on the empire for the happiness of her district. Apart from great performances and grandiose cinematography, the movie also drives home the fact that hunger Games where introduced as a way of eliminating wars. There is a Theory that this could have actually happened in the ancient times. Sports were started and encouraged as an alternative to war. Like war sports demanded aggression and ambition, however unlike war there was no blood shade and Carnage. Sports were here to stay. From the days of ancient Greece to now, sports are an integral part of our individual as well as social life. Each one of us should adopt and practice at least one sport, one physical sport that will help us to have great bodies and subsequently great minds. Sports are a metaphor to channelize our energy, use it, unleash it, and become great sportsmen.

Let’s look at some of the benefits of sports-

• • Better sleep
  • Strong heart
  • New connections
  • Improved lung function
  • Increased confidence
  • Reduced stress
  • Improved mental health
  • Leadership qualities
  • Stronger relationships
  • Healthy development of children
  • Release of neurotransmitters called endorphins

The Olympic Games have a slogan in Latin “Citius Altius Fortius” (faster, higher, and stronger). Crusaders on the path of greatness, let us strive to run faster, climb higher and become stronger.