Level The Playing Field

By Vijayan Pillai

"Level the Playing Field" is a highly recommended read for health enthusiasts. Book covers practices that bring physical and psychological health. There is a wide belief, rightly so, that the physical health to a large extent depends on the psychological health of a person and vice versa.

Book contains important health-related topics such as diet, yoga, strength training, cardio, etc. There are in all, six chapters in the book; each chapter discuss the essentials in a specific area. Chapter one is on 'Diet' and it discusses best practices on eating, nutrition and fasting among others. The chapter on 'Yoga' shows the impact of different physical postures on your internal organs and how they help you in developing emotional balance, physical health, and a higher sense of awareness.

The chapter on 'Cardio' will explain how you can keep your spirits up while helping proper circulation and heart health. The chapter on 'Strength Training' is not only about looking good but also about increasing your confidence, self-esteem, and metabolism. The chapter on 'Know Yourself' does a peek into the psychology of astrology. Astrology can give enormous insight into the psychological and physiological aspect of a person which is largely ignored as astrology became synonymous with predictions. Attempt here is to make you look inward and thereby, helps you learn a bit more about yourself and also the all-important personal to universal connection.

The chapter on 'Prevention' teaches you how to be pro-active against some common health issues that people face.

Book is a must-read for those people who lack physical and emotional drive. Also, the book is highly beneficial to people, who are recovering from physical or mental traumas. About 120 pages long, book is concise and easy to read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098302627

Book preview

Level The Playing Field

Copyright © 2020 by Vijayan Pillai.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations em- bodied in critical articles or reviews.

Cover design : BookBaby

Sketches : Ruhini Nisansala

Proof Reading : Paige Lawson

ISBN : 978-1-09830-261-0 (softcover)

ISBN : 978-1-0983-0262-7 (ebook)

First Edition : Jan 2020

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Diet

Yoga

Eye Exercises

Cardio

Strength Training

Know Yourself

Prevention

Index

Recommended Reading/Listening

Acknowledgments

I dedicate this book to a brave and most sacrificing woman, my late mother Saraswathi Amma for bringing us eight kids up as a single mom.

I thank Arnav my son for helping me focus on important things in life.

Foreword

As we hustle to complete the soul mission and desires of life, it is apparent that we will be competing or even locking horns with others knowingly or unknowingly. How much we struggle for it depends on how desperate each person needs it, to what extent they need it, how equipped they are to get it and the means they chose to attain them. They’re going to be hit given and taken even among people who are close and that has an impact on your psychological and physical health. This becomes worse for people who grew up without parents, without proper parental supervisions and those who grew up in abused environments or in ones that lacked the necessities of life.

When confronted by problems in life humans adopt a freeze, flee or fight mechanism. Arriving at one of these survival techniques that suits the occasion and turning it in your favor needs one to cultivate a higher level of consciousness and awareness backed by sound physical and emotional strength. Nature has never been kind to the one who lacked these essentials in life.

It has been said that in life you can be revengeful like a scorpion and take the low side or move on and fly and take the high road like an eagle. This book is a humble attempt to help you take the high road; perhaps even to be a healer and a source of strength to your family, friends, society and to the larger world.

Let us not entirely lease our emotional wellbeing to family members, health to doctors, study to teachers, security to cops, career to bosses and hopes to politicians. Improve our selves so we complement the structures societies built and not at the mercy of them or a burden to them.

As you embark on this journey, I leave with you with one of my all-time favorite quotes.

Either exist as you are or be as you look….

Introduction

Before you follow the practices in this book, please consult with your doctor or a qualified physician if you suffer from any medical conditions.

The chapter on diet is about healthy eating.

The chapter on yoga shows how the physical postures works on your internal organs thereby help you develop emotional balance, physical health and a higher sense of awareness.

The chapter on cardio will explain how you can keep your spirits up while helping circulation and heart health. No fitness program is complete without it.

The chapter on strength training is not only about looking good but also about increasing your confidence, self-esteem and metabolism.

The chapter on know yourself attempts to make you look inward and thereby helps you learn a bit more about yourself. Topic may seem an odd one out there but in fact it is not. Attempt here is to drive home the fact that, your body, health, your experiences, people in your life, people you meet along the course of your life journey etc. all brought about by a personal to universal connection. Learning about that connection should bring some awareness, humility and gratitude.

The chapter on prevention teaches you how to be pro-active against some common health issues people face.

If you cannot read or follow everything in this book, here is the cheat sheet…

Walk at least 30 minutes on most days.

Fast 12-24 hours or more hours once or twice a month, preferably 11th day after the full moon and new moon. Refer to the section on fasting for more info.

Drink plenty of pure water.

If you are someone who suffers from one or more of these; Emotional issues, addiction of any kind (alcohol/sex/drugs), anger, lack of self-confidence, self-esteem issues, traumatic or abusive past either you or your ancestors suffered, please practice the following as well.

Intermediate yoga poses that must include inversions.

Savasana (at least 10 minutes).

Diet

Food is medicine. The majority of diseases can be prevented to a certain extent by following a healthy diet along with moderate exercise. A healthy diet should include colored vegetables and fruits, green leaves, nuts, whole grains and pulses. If you are a non-vegetarian, include naturally raised fish and meat. The following sections explain how diet and dieting can help your physical wellbeing.

Best Practices

Chew your food thoroughly. This influences how nutrients in food is later absorbed. For carbo hydrates (rice, bread etc.) digestion starts in the mouth when they mix with saliva.

Eat the regular three-four meals a day. Do not split them to six or more small portions. It takes about six hours for a meal to completely digest. Increasing the frequency of food intake and periodic snacks puts more burden on your digestive system. The digestive system needs rest and the benefits are physical as well as psychological.