3551: Balance, the Key to Health and Success by Laure Carter on Mind-Body Connection

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[00:00:58] This is Optimal Health Daily. Balance, the key to health and success by Laura Carter of LauraCarter.com. And I'm Dr. Neal Malik. Hey there, welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or welcome for the first time if you're new here. This is the podcast where I act as your very own personal narrator and read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online. Now for a lot more blogs being narrated for you, check out Optimal Living Daily. You can search and find that podcast wherever you're listening to this.

[00:01:29] Alright, and with that, let's get right to today's article as we optimize your life. Balance, the key to health and success by Laura Carter of LauraCarter.com. We get to understand balance when we experience what it feels like to be out of balance. Last Sunday morning, I sat down in front of my computer to write my blog for my weekly newsletter. 30 minutes went by and nothing.

[00:01:58] I stepped away from my desk and prepared my breakfast and lunch and then sat back down in front of my computer. Still nothing. I felt like I had no more thoughts in my head. My brain went on strike. Monday was a repeat. I spent the whole day feeling anxious and depressed. What was going on with me? I had work to do. I felt like I was done. I was done thinking, talking, strategizing, creating.

[00:02:23] By Tuesday morning, I realized that I had to stop resisting what was happening and I made the decision to take the week off. If you don't stop, you'll be forced to stop. If you're an entrepreneur or a full-time parent, you know how huge that is. But it occurred to me that the last time I took a week off was last December when I was in bed with the flu. And then I reflected on my whole entrepreneurial life and noticed that though I took my yearly vacation to be with my family for two weeks,

[00:02:53] the only other times I took a break was when I got sick. Like my body literally had to stop me. With all my talk of balance and health, I still get caught in the idea that I have to be productive for my life to have meaning. Can you relate to that? Are you a victim of this fallacy? Well, guess what? We can only get so far out of balance until our bodies and our minds will rebel in the form of symptoms. The yin and yang dietetic model.

[00:03:20] When the pendulum swings to one end, it will inevitably swing to the other end. The sages of old understood that perfectly and devised philosophies that remind us of balance. Chinese philosophy talks of the balance between the yin and yang energies. When I was training as a holistic health counselor, I learned about the yin and yang dietetic model. Basically, when you eat too much of one type of food, like eggs, red meat, and cheese, you're going to crave the foods on the opposite side of the spectrum, like sugar, alcohol, and caffeine.

[00:03:50] Through our cravings, our physiology tries to create balance. Of course, the goal of the yin and yang dietetic model is to eat foods that are right in the middle of the spectrum, so we maintain balance at all times. Yoga and the integration of our active and receptive functions. In yoga philosophy, health and balance, the premise of spiritual awakening, happen when the subtle energies of Aida and Pingala are in perfect harmony.

[00:04:16] Renowned Australian psychologist, Dr. Swami Shankardev of BigShakti.com and my meditation and yoga psychology mentor writes, quote, Aida and Pingala point to two basic modes of function on which all our bodily and mental processes work. Each and every cell of our body, every organ, the brain, the mind, everything is polarized and interconnected at both the physical and subtle levels.

[00:04:42] And this allows us to think, speak, and act in a concerted, balanced, synchronous manner, every part working to help every other part. End quote. Aida and Pingala, the receptive and active modes. Quote, Modern psychology describes the two main modes of man's being as an active mode and a receptive mode. Yoga calls the active mode Pingala and the receptive mode Aida. Our active mode is designed to ensure survival

[00:05:09] and the receptive mode is designed to ensure rest and recuperation of energy and the endless struggle for life and existence. Though we may think of ourselves healthy, most of us spend our lives in unbalanced states. We tend to spend increasingly longer periods in active, left brain, sympathetic dominant mode as we grow out of our childhood. This is probably a major factor in the spiraling incidence of psychosomatic disease today, triggered by a state of chronic stress. End quote.

[00:05:38] For true and sustainable health, we have to have equal time of activity and daydreaming. As a business person, I know how challenging that can be. But think about it. If my body and brain break down as a result of my imbalance, who's going to take care of my business? So, I've decided to regularly schedule time off in my calendar. A day, a week, when I don't do anything business related. And yes, it's a bit scary, but I will remember something that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi used to say.

[00:06:07] Do less to accomplish more. Now, one last note on what I said earlier about spiritual awakening. Sustainable health and balance are achieved when these two modes, energies, flows, whatever you want to call them, active and receptive, can be made to function simultaneously. When that level of integration, which is what the word yoga literally means, happens, then we're able to live in the wholeness and fullness of our true spiritual nature.

[00:06:39] You just listened to the post titled, Balance, The Key to Health and Success, by Laura Carter of lauracarter.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. Thinking about refreshing the carpet in your home? Now's the time to do it. For a limited time at the Home Depot, get 10% off installed carpet projects on trusted brands like LifeProof, LifeProof with PetProof Technology, Home Decorators Collection, and Traffic Master. Plus, with installation starting at just 49 cents per square foot,

[00:07:06] upgrading your space is more affordable than ever at The Home Depot. Offer valid September 24th, 2026 through October 4th, 2026. Exclusions apply. For licenses, see homedepot.com slash license numbers. Pink Pantheress here. Coach and Spotify are teaming up to bring music and style together, and they want you to be part of it. Grab your friends and head to the Tabby Tour, hitting cities around the country with live performances from special artists, exclusive experiences, and personalized products.

[00:07:35] And discover custom playlists on Spotify, booked just for you based on who you are and how you listen. Live your story with Coach. Learn more at coach.com. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. Just the other day, I was having a phone conversation with my boss, and she said, when are you going to take a vacation? I've noticed I haven't received an email from you requesting any days off. And I said, oh, I don't know. I'll be planning something, maybe end of June, maybe August.

[00:08:05] And she basically had to tell me, look, you talk about balance in your stress management classes, and yet I don't know if you're following that. So she kind of, sort of gave me a lecture. She gave me the what for when it came to me taking time for myself. And you know what? She was right. And in fact, as I was reading some of Laura's words to you, I was remembering how I was feeling this way not too long ago. Lore started her article with talking about how her brain basically went on strike, how she would just sit there in front of her laptop and nothing was happening.

[00:08:35] Mentally, she described herself as just being done, done thinking, talking, strategizing, done creating. And I had that moment. And so as I was staring at my laptop, sure enough, I was able to create something. It was basically an email to my supervisor requesting a week off. All right, that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits. We will see you tonight. Yep.