When I was a little girl one of my favourite things was to be sitting in the back seat of my father’s car at night time seeing my KA body as a band of blue energy all around my fingers and my hands. Through the window I’d gaze at the stars in the night sky.  In my wee dark world on the back seat I would enjoy the vastness of the sky and the twinkling stars and think no more of the intense blue energy around my body than I did of anything else.

Our KA bodies are exactly the same as our physical bodies, just slightly bigger. That is why I could see it around me. The KA body interpenetrates our physical body. The KA body is composed of our vital life force energy. When we are wee, we’ve got loads and loads and loads of life force energy. We’ve got a whole lifetime’s worth. Just spend some time around little ones who have learned to walk and run and see how much they MOVE.

The ancient Egyptians put a lot of effort into cultivating their KA bodies. Some of them got their KA body so strong it could survive a couple of thousand years after their physical body had stopped working.

A strong vital KA body is a tremendous support for your physical body and for manifesting your intentions. If it is really strong you can have a thought about doing something and find your body actually rousing itself out of a seat to get you on your feet. If you don’t know what is happening this can be disconcerting.

How do you get a strong KA body? You cultivate and support your life force energy. How do you support your life force energy?

MOST OF YOUR LIFE FORCE ENERGY COMES FROM THE FOOD YOU EAT

Taoist practises are really big on understanding, cultivating and supporting life force energy. For the Toaist life force energy is like the holy grail for a Christian.

Toaism recognises that the digestive system uses more energy than any other part or function of the body. And that most of our life force comes from the fuel we put into our body.

Taoists put a lot of effort into connecting with the energies of the natural world. They advise eating according to the seasons which means eating what is naturally available and being harvested at the time.

BE KIND TO YOUR BODY

Taoists believe it is very important to be kind to your body. If your body is complaining you need to both listen and ease up. Physical pain is a warning.  Do not ignore it.

When the weather is cold put warm food inside it – especially important in places which experience very cold weather in the winter time. You might be big on raw food which is easy if you live in Arizona or some place which is always hot or warm. It ain’t kind to your body if you live in a place where you need to wear clothes to keep you warm. Most of the folk writing and enthusing about raw food diets aint living on a cold wet island on the same latitude as Alaska and at the edge of the North Atlantic Ocean.

To be kind to your body do not eat food which is very hot in terms of temperature, and do not eat food which is straight out of the fridge and very cold. Bring very cold food up to room temperature. And allow very hot food time to cool so that it doesn’t scald your mouth.

The same goes for liquids. Avoid iced drinks and iced water. And avoid drinking tea which is really really hot. You aint doing your body any favours.

Also, best to avoid drinking when you are eating. Yep, that’s a big one huh. Keep drinking and eating separate.

REGULAR HABITS 

Be kind to your digestive system and avoid eating after 7 pm. You know how we meditate because it does our minds good to give them a decent break from thinking? Well, try and give your stomach a decent break from digesting food. Both these practises raise our vibration.

Avoid messing up your endocrine system with the habit of going to bed really late, as in 2 or 3 am. Do that often enough and you have basically totally messed with the hormones which regulate cellular and metabolic functions in your body. Try to get into bed and be asleep by 11 pm at the latest. Preferably by 10 pm. Making sure you get a good night’s sleep is a fundamental kindness to your body.

Sensible fasting, as in one day a week, is kind to your body. You can drink water. It is like a day of rest and helps you to live longer. Making a habit of starving several days in a row frightens your body.  It goes into survival mode and it never really gets out of it. It’s going to slow down and store food as much as possible in the hope that it avoids starving to death.

Moving your body and keeping all your joints strong and flexible is important. As is doing this outside in the natural world, breathing fresh air, and simply being open to, observing, listening, and feeling the sun and the wind and the rain and how we are moving through the seasons. Be connected with your body and through it connect with and appreciate the natural world.

Regular meals at regular times, regular exercise, and regular early bedtimes – all the sensible stuff we do for little children, keeps everybody happy and helps everybody to be healthy.

AVOID THESE FOODS

Avoid processed food, ready made meals, fried foods, microwaved food, genetically modified food (lab rats fed on a GM diet become sterile), non organic food, frozen food, and sugar. Sugar messes with your endocrine system. Big time.

EAT THESE FOODS

Fresh organic food.

Green vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, flax seeds, berries and other fruits, nuts, spices, whole grains, beans.

Drink plenty of water. If you use a water bottle try and get one which does not release tiny plastic particles in your drinking water.

Anne Ward © 2016