Every cell in our body has only one main job – to keep us alive! Irrespective of other specialisations, every cell works in unison with the other cells, compensating for any lack, providing health, striving hard to keep the balance within the body. The survival drive is hard wired in each of us – in each of the 100 trillion odd cells that work together to make a human body. Charles Darwin suggested survival of the fittest, elaborating that fittest did not necessarily mean the strongest or fastest or even the most intelligent; but the one most responsive to change! Being able to adapt to ever changing living conditions to ensure survival is the greatest trait required to be alive. So what does being ‘fit’ actually mean in terms of survival in today’s world?
Primitive men needed to be fit in order to survive as hunters and food gatherers. With the invention of the plow and other agricultural development, man began to have a less active lifestyle. Industrialisation and now computerisation have only increased the potential for sedentary lifestyle. Delegation began with man using animals, then machines to complete difficult tasks, thus decreasing the amount of physical activity. From about 4000 to 250 BC the only demand for physical fitness in the Western world was for military purposes. However two cultures around the world – the Ancient Greeks and the Indians, always considered that working to be physically healthy was as important as developing the mind and soul. Yoga was developed in India as an exercise program conforming to Hindu belief with emphasis on spirituality and Gymnastics with music gained popularity in Ancient Greece from the idea that exercise is for the body and music is for the soul.
With the fall of the Roman empire (200 B.C) there was a decline in the interest on fitness even for military activity. Only during the Dark and the Middle Ages (900-1400), fitness experienced a revival with physical activity being viewed as a means for survival. With the new interest in the human body came the revival of the Greek and Indian ideal about the importance for fitness. A lot of famous people across the globe promoted the idea that good health contributes to intelligence. Physical education gained popularity as the main tool in spreading the value of fitness. In the 1950s, Jack LaLanne, a media fitness instructor, developed the first cable-pulley machine, the Smith machine – a safety system for doing squats and thus was born the concept of modern gym equipments.
Finding an alarming number of Americans unfit during the World War II, Dr. Thomas K.Cureton initiated the application of research to fitness emphasizing on cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, and flexibility . In the 1960s, Dr. Ken H. Cooper earned the title “The Father of the Modern Fitness Movement” with his philosophy to maintain good health through proper exercise, diet, and emotional balance for disease prevention. Fitness had come a full circle to when the Greeks and Indians believed that fitness is not merely for the body but a holistic approach to life for survival.
From a time when fitness was viewed as something for body builders, to ‘looking good’ for actors and models, exercising to achieve peek performance in sporting activities, even a short span when going to the gym was a mere fashion statement, today the fitness industry has arrived to understand that exercising is not merely for looking good on the outside but for feeling great on the inside as well! The very word ‘exercise’ which literally means ‘to exert energy’ has now evolved to imply ‘building energy’ for you can exert energy only when you have energy!
Paul Chek, founder of C.H.E.K institute and a Holistic Health practitioner began to propagate the principle ‘Train, don’t Drain’ rather than the more prevalent concept of ‘No pain, No gain’. The C.H.E.K approach has been to incorporate the scientific physiological knowledge of the western world with the ancient esoteric wisdom of holistic living from the eastern world and present a holistic approach that views humanity not as isolated entities but as an integrated whole striving to strike a balance between the internal and external environment of our body. The greatest contribution of the C.H.E.K approach is that it ‘coaches’ every individual to better understand his / her body by taking personal responsibility, rather than ‘treating’ them for standardized conditions as if they were a commodity!
Humanity has moved from the ‘classical’ approach to a ‘quantum’ approach. We no longer believe that the world is determined only by a set of rules that unfold irrespective of our choices; we now believe it is a participatory universe whereby our mere presence alters the way the universe unfolds. This opens the long standing debate of freewill versus determinism; in a more basic way the question between science and faith. Are we a product of specific rules as understood by science or are we a miraculous manifestation of a divine intervention? In my view the very question is wrongly phrased – it implies we need to choose between the two alternatives.
We are a product of a miraculous manifestation for why a drop of protoplasm chose to become a human body permitting me to experience life, will always remain a mystery. Why did that cell become my hair and why did this one end up as my skin? Why did the cells unfold to make a woman and not a man? Why does gravity have to be attractive? For each of the above questions, if the why was replaced by how I am sure our scientists can give elaborate answers. But the why of existence remains a mystery. Equally true is the principle that the world is not arbitrary and does actually operate on very stringent laws. A baby monkey will grow up into an adult monkey and can never become a man in its lifetime even if we can prove that we share 96% of his DNA. Even if I were Isaac Newton, I cannot get gravity to treat me any different from you. Everything operates in conformance with a specific pattern and trying to breaking that pattern has far reaching consequences, if at all possible. The question then isn’t choosing between faith or science but accepting, understanding and implementing both faith and science.
The human body is an immaculate system, perfect beyond all imagination. And yet, part of that system also works based on our interaction, understanding and implementation with the external environment. We certainly are not isolated entities but a part of a dynamic whole. That is why today science has redefined its understanding of homeostasis to homeodynamics. While homeostasis is based on principles of classical physics in terms of feedback cycles similar to the mechanism of a thermostat in an air conditioner regulating temperature, we now recognize that no single or ultimate homeostatic balance point exists in biological systems. They use a variety of mechanisms to regulate themselves. Hence homeodynamics, which takes into account the many modes of dynamic behavior exhibited by the ever changing interactions for living processes, now seems more probable. Beverly Rubik, Ph.D, writes “The principle of homeodynamics states that physiological and biochemical processes help maintain the internal systems of the body (e.g., blood pressure, temperature, pH, etc.) in dynamic equilibrium, despite continuous environmental challenges and internal fluctuations in the natural dynamics of life. However, the dynamical range of what is considered optimal health is not a unique balance point, but varies, depending upon the individuality of the organism – its unique biochemistry, history, and biological age.” In other words there is more than ample proof that we are not commodities that can be standardized to fit a universal protocol of being healthy. We are living creatures that respond creatively to all external stimuli dynamically rebalancing at every moment in order to survive. Our very survival is dependent on having an able body, stable mind and a noble soul.
When we look so different from each other on the outside, have a unique thumb impression, have a voice never before heard in this universe, choose to behave in ways we alone justify and process, how do we begin to create a fitness model that will be acceptable and useful to all? If survival of the fittest refers to ‘the one most adaptable to change’, if quantum physics reveals that we live in a participatory universe that unfolds in relation to your specific participation, if bio sciences have identified that several systems within the body work to create homeodynamic states of control balancing the internal and external environment, I think it also means no one outside of you will ever be able to feel your headache; no one can ever see through your eyes. Therefore it stand to reason, no one can take the responsibility for your health. No health care practitioner, doctor, surgeon, nutritionist, trainer, physiotherapist, chiropractor, healer… no individual but you can take the responsibility of your wellbeing. Every individual needs to ensure he lives an integrated life – understanding that his body, mind and soul are working in unison reflecting every interaction he has with the outside world. It is time to take personal responsibility for your wellbeing. The question is – are you willing?
Written by Gita Krishna Raj | Published in Food & Health in August 2012
