Asking Questions and Seeking Answers to Live Longer

ASKING QUESTIONS AND SEEKING ANSWERS TO LIVE LONGER

If you wish to live longer or to a ripe old age, you must ask yourself many questions about life; after all, living is about asking questions and seeking answers to the questions asked. Livingfor life in this contemporary world may never be easy because it requires wisdom, which is essentially finding answers to the questions asked about life and living, and then applying those answers to everyday living in the material world.

Have you ever wondered: there has to be much more to life than this—the kind of life that you are living right now?

If you have, then maybe you should, first and foremost, ask yourself questions about why you want to live longer. Your reasons could be some of the following:

You desire to live a better life than the one that you are currently living.

You want to see your children or grandchildren grow up and mature into adults.

You have your life passions, some of which are already accomplished, while others are being pursued but remaining unfulfilled.

You are experiencing some core values, which are not just your life goals but rather your beliefs in humanity that have to be lived in order to fully experience the meaning of existence as well as the innate happiness in humanity.

You still like to enjoy some of the mundane pleasures of life and living that have satisfied your five senses.

You love to maintain good relationships and true friendships with those who are close and dear to you.

You may be fighting some life challenges or health issues—just like Alex Trebek, the 77-year-old TV celebrity famous for hosting NBC's “Jeopardy”, who openly declared in 2019 that he had to live longer in order to fight his pancreatic cancer because of his still-standing three-year contract with NBC. 

Asking the question “Why you want to live longer?” may initiate many other why questions specifically related to you, to others close to you, and to the world around you. Living is all about asking the many why and how questions in your everyday life and living.

In the Bible, Jesus said: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find . . .” (Matthew 7:7) In real life, we must always ask ourselves many thought-provoking questions at all times. Asking questions is self-introspection, which is a process of self-intuition and self-reflection, without which there is no self-awareness and therefore no personal growth and development. A static life is never a life well lived and worth living. Therefore, asking questions is self-empowering wisdom—a tool necessary for living longer.

The truth is that the kind of questions you ask determines the kind of life you are going to live. Your questions often trigger a set of mental answers, which may lead to actions or inactions, based on the choices you make from the answers you have obtained. Remember, your life is always the sum of all the choices you have made in the process. No matter what, life is a journey of self-discovery, a continuous process of asking questions and seeking self-enlightening answers from them. It should be noted that the answer to every question you ask may change over time, because life is forever changing, and changes are often transformative. The more questions you ask, the clearer your mind will become, and the more ready you will be to receive the answers.

Although asking questions is a self-learning process, do not seek absolute answers from the questions asked; more importantly, do not seek answers that might not be given to you. The most important thing in questions-and-answers is to experience everything, not just to pursue the knowledge. As a matter of fact, knowledge can help, but it can also hinder. When you only follow what you know, and forget what you feel, you can easily be led down the wrong path. Extensive knowledge and logical reasoning may not necessarily compound true wisdom.

The bottom line: live every question you are going to ask yourself, and live in its presence. Be patient toward all those questions that you cannot find answers immediately. True enlightenment may dawn on you one day when you find yourself asking no more questions because you already have all the answers; that is the ultimate awakening.

Enjoy the process of self-reflecting all the questions you are going to ask yourself; without this self-reflection, you may exist for other people, and not for yourself. Now is the time to start asking questions, and putting yourself on the right path to intuiting the TAO of living longer.      

THE TAO OF LIVING LONGER

YOU JUST DON’T DIE!

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Good Vision and Breathing

Vision deteriorates with age, especially if you are wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses.

How well you see is dependent on the amount of light passing through the lens in front of your eyeball that focuses the image on the retina at the back of the eyeball, and thus instrumental in sending the visual information to your brain. The human eyeball is held by ciliary muscles in the eye. When the ciliary muscles are weak, the eyeball becomes slightly distorted or out of shape, and thus affecting the focal image on the retina. This is how vision deteriorates, and this is why wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses does not improve vision because these vision aids precondition the focus of the eye.

To improve vision, strengthen your eye muscles through constant eye relaxation. To remember doing this regularly, you must be mindful of it. Eye relaxation begins with the body, and not just the eyes. If your body does not relax, neither can your eyes relax. So relax your body through mindfulness. Relaxing your eye muscles means you do not “stare” or fixate” at an object, and you must constantly shift your vision focus from close proximity to distance. In addition, you must also constantly blink your eyes in order to relax them. To remember doing all these requires mindfulness.

Mindfulness is conscious awareness, which often begins with mindful breathing. Mindfulness is total awareness of what is going on inside the mind. Mindfulness occurs only when the mind is quiet and relaxed. Mindfulness is moment-to-moment awareness that requires training; it does not happen naturally. Begin with your mindful breath; that is, consciously aware of your breathing in and your breathing out. Breathing has become so natural to us that we are totally unaware of it, and mindful breath is deliberately bringing back awareness to your inhalation and exhalation. 

The human breath is most important because without it we die in minutes. But most of us take it for granted because we are not mindful of it. If we have mindful breathing, we breathe right—that is, breathing with the diaphragm (the muscle between the lungs and the tummy)—and we breathe completely—that is, the air fills up the upper lungs, not just the lower lungs, and the breathing out is slightly longer than the breathing in. Mindful breathing is full awareness of how we breathe in and breathe out. You don’t have to have mindful breathing throughout the day, but you need to cultivate mindfulness of your breath every now and then in order to enhance your mindfulness. Mindful breathing enables correct breathing that opens the many doors to relaxation, clear thinking, and self-healing.

With mindfulness, you will not forget to blink your eyes regularly to relax them; you will remember to shift your focus (that is, blinking before you shift your focus from a near object to a distant object), instead of staring; you will be more aware of your vision health.

Read my book Vision Self-Healing Self-Help to learn some eye exercises to improve your vision.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Good Posture Good Vision

Vision health has much to do with your physical health. As such, vision is inter-connected with body posture. Therefore, to improve eyesight, you must also improve posture.

The explanation is that vision health is holistic health, which means it includes the health of the body, the mind, and the spirit. Eyesight is an integral part of vision. Your eyesight determines how you see the world at large; your perception is your reality. Therefore, your perception becomes the raw materials of your life experiences, which will directly or indirectly affect your physical, mental, and emotional wellness. By the same token, your physical, mental, and emotional health will have a bearing on your vision health, and hence your eyesight.

According to Dr. William Bates (1860 - 1931), the founder of natural vision improvement, poor vision is the result of eyestrain, due to mental and physical stress on the eye, and hence the distortion of the eye shape, causing nearsightedness and farsightedness. Dr. William Bates strongly believed that eye relaxation holds the key to improving vision.

But eye relaxation begins with the mind first, not the eye. The mind must be completely relaxed before it can relax the body—and then the eye, which is only one of the organs of the body.

Improve posture to relax the body and the mind, and hence the eye. After all, posture health is overall health: it affects your whole being in many different ways.

Improve posture to improve your breathing. Incorrect breathing results in compromised lung functioning, leading to inadequate oxygen intake by all body organs and tissues, and hence a host of health issues, including vision health. Improve posture to optimize breathing for vision health.

Improve posture to avoid debilitating body pain, such as neck pain, leg pain, and even headaches. In addition, an arched back exerts undue pressure on the joints and nerves, causing joint pain and rheumatism. Due to poor body posture, all the muscle groups supporting the crooked spine may become stretched and strained, causing wear and tear, resulting in lower back pain. Chronic body pain often interferes with natural sleep, which is a major factor in relaxation of the body and the mind, in particular, the eye. Therefore, it is important to improve posture for eye relaxation to improve eyesight.

To successfully improve posture, you must develop an acute awareness for good posture at all times.

Good posture does not mean "jamming your shoulders back, tucking in your tummy, and standing stiff"; this posture does not align your body, nor is it practicable in that you can maintain that position over an extended period. Good posture means that in any standing position, you body posture should be as follows:

Your head is directly above your shoulders.

Your chin is tucked in.

Your ear, shoulder, and hip are in a straight line from a side view.

Your upper back is straight, not slouched.

Your shoulders, relaxed and straight, are flat against your back.

Your pelvis is in a neutral position.

Your knees are unlocked.

Be mindful not just of your standing posture, but also your sitting and sleeping posture—they all play a pivotal part in eye relaxation, which holds the key to improving eyesight.

Stephen Lau

Copyright ©Stephen Lau

Liver and Vision

The liver is called “liver” because it is a reflection of how well you have lived—essentially, your lifestyle. The liver is your main body organ responsible for distributing and maintaining your body’s “fuel” supply. This has a direct and indirect impact on your vision health. 

The liver plays a pivotal part in your vision health.

For centuries, Chinese doctors have used the eye conditions to diagnose different diseases: aching, bloodshot, bulging, itching, watery, and yellowish eyes reflect internal disharmony or disorder, in particular, that in the liver. Therefore, the liver health is also vision health.

The Importance of the Liver

According to Chinese medicine, the eyes are “the windows” of your internal health, especially that of your liver:

Constant redness in the white of the eyes (dysfunctional circulatory and respiratory system)

Yellowish skin under the eyes (overactive liver and gallbladder)

Water-containing bags under the lower eyelids (congested digestive and excretory systems)

Lack of luster (congested liver)

The Liver Functions

The liver plays a pivotal part in your vision health. The liver serves several important functions in your body that may directly or indirectly affect your vision health:

Carbohydrate metabolism

The liver turns glucose (blood sugar) into glycogen (energy) for storage in your liver. Your glycogen controls the amount of glucose released into your bloodstream, thereby maintaining your blood sugar level. A healthy blood sugar levels prevents the development of diabetes, which impairs vision.

Fat metabolism

If you are obese, you have a much higher risk of losing your eyesight, according to the Royal National Institute for the Blind. Too much body fat is one of the causes of diabetes; too much fat may cause oxidative damage to the eye in macular degeneration.

The liver is a fat-burning organ: it not only burns fat but also pumps excess fat out of your body system. Accordingly, your liver controls your body weight. Too much fat in the abdominal area may impair your fat metabolism, turning your liver into a “fatty liver” which then becomes a fat-storing organ. A “fatty liver” is an obstacle to any attempt at weight loss, which begins at the liver.

The liver detoxifies your body by filtering out excessive waste and toxins in your body through the bile into the gut. For example, it deactivates alcohol, hormones, and medicinal drugs for better assimilation.

Alcohol and certain pharmaceutical drugs have been implicated in vision loss. Always eat a high-fiber diet to facilitate elimination in order to prevent these toxic waste products from re-circulating back to your liver! In addition, chronic constipation may damage your liver, and thus your eyes.

Storage for nutrients

The liver stores glycogen, vitamins A and D, the B complex vitamins, iron and copper.

Apart from the brain, the liver is the most important body organ that affects your vision.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Physical Vision Clarity

Helen Keller once said: "It's a terrible thing to see and have no vision." 

Vision clarity involves the physical, the emotional, the mental, and the spiritual. Vision clarity holds the key to the holistic wellness of an individual. Many of us have eyes, but do not really "see" because we have no vision clarity. Seeing is the most important of the human's five senses. But many of us don't take care of our physical vision; as a result, the emotional, the mental , and spiritual aspects of vision are also adversely affected.

How do you take care of your physical vision? 

Vision health begins with the physical vision; that is, you must take care of your eyes by exercising them and supplying them with nutrients, just as you would take care of your body..

Take care of your breathing

Breathing right supplies oxygen to your eyes and your brain, as well as other body organs and tissues. Do not hold you breath when you concentrate Always aim for complete breath, which is diaphragm breathing.

Consciously change your breathing pattern. Use your diaphragm (the diaphragm muscle separating your chest from your abdomen) to breathe, instead of your chest. If you place one hand on your breastbone, feeling that it is raised, with the other hand above your waist, feeling the diaphragm muscle moving up and down, then you are practicing diaphragm breathing correctly  If you breathe correctly, you will feel much more relaxed, and hence benefits your eyes.

Correct bad physical vision habits

If you do not blink frequently enough, you will not be able to see well. It is just that simple. Blinking has many vision benefits: it overcomes the harmful habit of staring; it relaxes the eye; it cleanses and massages the eye; it improves nearsightedness.

Learn how to blink, not squint. The former relaxes the eye, while the latter stresses the eye because it uses undue force to close and open the eye.

Always remember to blink several times before you look at something in close vision and in distant vision. Good habit forming is important.

Relax through awareness and body posture

You are living in a world that encourages speed and compulsive thinking. As a result, stress is everyday phenomenon. Awareness is the key to de-stressing yourself. Be aware of you neck, shoulder, and back muscles. Concentrate your mind on your breathing, while paying attention to the sensations of these muscles. Consciousness of your body posture also plays a pivotal role in your body relaxation.

Smile and smile 

Smile is contagious. Learn to smile and smile more often no matter what happens. Soon enough, smile may become second nature to you. It may even open the door to emotional health and spiritual growth.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Aging and Vision

Human vision is more than just seeing. The human eye is more than a mechanical tool for vision; it is hardwired into your brain, and therefore is an extension of your brain, which affects your perception and vision of the outside world, as well as reflects what and how you think. As such, it is the most important human organ, and is your greatest asset in your golden years.

Unfortunately, as you get into your golden years (that is, age 65 and beyond)), you will have noticed the deterioration of your vision. As a matter of fact, vision loss begins as early as in the 30s, and its deterioration accelerates in the 40s and 50s. By now, in your golden years, you may have considerable vision loss that affects the quality of your everyday life. Getting older has taken its toll on your body in many ways and your eyesight deterioration is just one of them.

Your vision loss is indicated by your difficulty in focusing when you look at near of distant objects (nearsightedness or farsightedness) or your predisposition to focusing more slowly and less accurately (presbyopia). These debilitating eye conditions are caused by the hardening of the eyes’ lenses; resulting in inflexibility of eye muscles and hence difficulty in focusing.

Presbyopia makes it increasingly difficulty for you to read or do close-up work, while nearsightedness or farsightedness requires you to wear bifocals or different pairs of eyeglasses.

By now, in your golden years, is there anything you can do to retard your vision loss?

 Absolutely! It is never too late to do something to stop your aging process. Using medications, eye drops, prescription lenses, and even surgeries may not have long-term side effects on your overall vision health. There are other natural ways to promote natural healing of your eyes at any age.

In your golden years, take extra care of your vision health and eyesight issues to reduce the risk of eyesight deterioration or even blindness further down the road. Check your health, especially your eye health, on a regular basis. This may play a pivotal role in your vision self-healing. Prevention is always better than a cure. Make sure that you have eye tests done at least once a year and if you start to notice a steady decline in your ability to focus or see clearly.

To correct your vision problems, your eye doctors and opticians may be too ready to prescribe corrective lenses or even talk you into the possibility of having surgery to fix any vision problem. Remember, natural healing holds the key to reversal of any disorder, including your problematic eye conditions.

You can use of eye exercises to help you correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and presbyopia. Eye exercises are easy and simple to do and you can even do them in the comfort of your own home. A few eye exercises each day can really help you improve your vision significantly. But you must be consistent and persistent in pursuing your eye exercise regimen-- just like any type of physical exercise to have any benefit, you must be diligent; healing your vision loss is not an overnight endeavor.

Most vision problems, whether nearsightedness, farsightedness, or presbyopia, have to do with eye stress and strain affecting the shape of the eyes, and hence their capability to focus images correctly on the retina. But the eyes cannot be relaxed if the body and mind are not. Therefore, it is important to have a holistic approach to vision improvement. Self-healing is always holistic. 

Read my book publication Your Golden Years and Santa Claus, a 252-page book on how to live well in your golden years, including how to overcome your vision loss as well as other health issues and challenges encountered as you continue to age.

Stephen Lau

Copyright ©Stephen Lau

Are You Visually Impaired?

The visually impaired and the blind who are unable to work are able to receive Social Security Disability benefits. There are two different benefit programs that are offered to the visually impaired and those who do not qualify for one are generally able to qualify for the other, and some people are even able to qualify for both programs.

The first program is called Social Security Disability Insurance or SSDI and this is based on the work history of the individual. In order to qualify for this program, the individual had to have earned a certain amount of what are referred to as work credits. The SSA will then figure up the amount of benefits the individual is eligible to receive based on those work credits.

The other program is called Social Security Income or SSI. This program is not based on work credits, but there are particular financial requirements that the individual must meet in order to qualify for this program. This program is a great option for those who do not have enough work credits to qualify for SSDI.

However, if you or someone you know is visually impaired and does not qualify for Social Security Disability benefits, it may be possible for them to work somewhere that will accommodate their disability. Thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are employment options for disabled people that will allow them to be self-sufficient and live as independently as possible.

Unfortunately, there are many forms of visual impairments that cannot be improved or reversed. However, there are many that can be improved and even prevented altogether by taking steps that will boost your eye health and vision and even ward off certain vision problems.

Whether or not you know that you could suffer from visual impairments in the future, you should do everything you can to ensure your eyes will stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible. There are many ways you can do this:

Eat eye healthy foods – Fruit, vegetables, lean meats, and fish are not only good foods to eat for your overall health, but they are also excellent for strengthening your eyesight.

Do eye exercises – to improve certain vision problems such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatisms, and even a combination of those eye problems. They are easy to do and only take a few minutes of each day to do in order to begin to have a positive effect on your eyesight.

Get regular eye exams – This is an important step to take. Having your eyes examined on a regular basis – every two years in most cases – is essential for making sure that there are no issues with your eyes or your vision, and if there are issues, they can be detected early on so they can be treated right away before any major damage or other issues arise.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Believe iin Eye Exercises

Believe in Eye Exercises

Albert Einstein once said: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle."

Life is a miracle; even your breath is a miracle in itself. To live your life as if everything is a miracle, you need to believe it in the first place.

In life, everything has to do with your belief. If you believe you can do it, you will do it and can do it. Belief comes from your mind. Descartes, the famous French philosopher, rightly said: "I think, therefore I am." That is to say, everything is in your mind, and your mind comes from your thoughts that give you the reality. Therefore, if you think you can, you can; if you think you cannot, then you cannot. It's just that simple. 

My point is: if you believe that eye exercises can improve your vision, then they can. Your eyes are just like the rest of your body organs that deteriorate with misuse or lack of use. If you seldom walk, you will end up in a wheel chair sooner than later. If you don't exercise your eyes, your vision will deteriorate with age faster and sooner. If you don't let your eyes rest -- in particular, if you spend hours and hours in front of the computer screen or your i-pad, you will develop eyestrain that ultimately damages your vision.

In reality, do eye exercises work? Yes, definitely! But you may not see the immediate result -- just like lack of physical exercise may not let you see the result instantly. It's like the fable of the frog in a heated pot: the frog would not notice the heat being turned up until it is too late. Believe me, all eye exercise not only improve your vision but also prevent your vision from deteriorating due to age. Believe in eye exercises as if everything is a miracle.

My book: As IfEverything Is A Miracle provides guidelines on how to rethink the mind, renew the body, and reconnect the soul so that you may believe as if everything is a miracle.

The body perceives all sensations and experiences in the physical world. The mind interprets and registers them in the subconscious mind, which controls the conscious mind in its daily life choices and decisions, resulting in actions, non-actions, and reactions of the body in the physical world. The soul feeds the mind with spirituality that provides connection and interconnection with others through empathy and compassion, gratitude and generosity, as well as love and forgiveness. The body, the mind, and the soul—all play a pivotal role in wisdom in contemporary living. The essence of this wisdom is their “alignment” with one another for balance and harmony in the being of an individual.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

How I Overcame My Vision Problems

Many years ago, I was afflicted with myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the skeletal (voluntary) muscles of the body. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness, which affects my vision.

One of the main causes of myasthenia gravis is stress. I did not know how to relax myself.

According to the diagnosis, I had developed ocular symptoms: ptosis (drooping of eyelids) and diplopia (double vision) in my myasthenia gravis. Both of my eyelids drooped, as if my eyes were tired, and I could not open my eyes wide enough to see properly.

At first, I was prescribed pyridostigmine (mestinon) as the usual first-line treatment for my immune disorder.

After several months, my conditions did not improve. I was given another prescription, prednisone, a synthetic hormone commonly referred to as a “steroid,” for my myasthenia gravis. Prednisone acts as a long-term immunosuppressant to control the production of antibodies. Essentially, it serves to stabilize my so-called “overactive” immune system.

The adverse side effects of prednisone for my myasthenia gravis included decreased resistance to infection, indigestion, hypertension, weight gain, swelling of the face, thinning of skin, predisposition to osteoporosis, and potential development of cataracts and glaucoma. The long list was not only depressing but also frightening. I was worried that I would have to take my medications for the rest of my life, not just for my myasthenia gravis but also for the many side effects related to the drugs, such as bone loss, weight gain, and high blood pressure, among others.

After almost two years on prednisone, my neurologist, seeing there was little improvement in my myasthenia gravis, switched me to azathioprine, a drug supposedly with fewer side effects. However, that medication did not seem to have any positive effect on my symptoms, let alone my double vision. Naturally, I became frustrated.

Now, when I look back at the whole episode, I would think that my illness might have been a blessing in disguise. Everything happens in one’s life with a divine purpose. In many ways, I was grateful that I had the illness—which has changed my life forever and for the better. I began to learn how to take care of my health, and I knew I had to do it on my own.

I made a decision to change drastically my diet, accompanied by a regular fast,  in an attempt to discontinue all my medications ultimately. The initial results were encouraging. Instead of gaining weight, I had lost more than fifteen pounds; instead of jacking up my blood pressure, I had made it plummet. I had won my initial battle against all the adverse side effects of medications for my myasthenia gravis. I knew that I had to do more—much more than that. My rude awakening finally came: there was no miracle cure for my myasthenia gravis; only my wholesome wellness would bring about recovery and natural self-healing.

Slowly and gradually, I discontinued all my medications. Finally, I did it! Now, I am 100 percent drug free!

To eliminate double vision, the doctor recommended wearing an eye-patch over my weaker eye. But I did not entertain the idea of wearing an eye-patch—looking like a pirate of the Caribbean Sea. Besides, wearing an eye-patch would not solve my problem of double vision. There is a Chinese saying: “Cut your toes to avoid the worms.” I thought that was precisely what the doctor recommended: getting around the problem instead of solving it. I also recalled that early on, when my muscles were weak and I asked him for recommended remedy, he told me not to use those weak muscles. I disagreed with the doctor; instead, I exercised my weaker muscles until they became much stronger.

That was how I began my journey of self-healing.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau