Greetings Dear Readers,

Now here is a man, Barnando Lapallo, who, at 108 years old, carries wisdom. His health advice, (from his own daily habits as he walks his talk), is rather simple:

1. read spiritual books daily
2. eat a diet of mainly fresh vegetables and fruit
3. keep your colon clean (through eating a good clean food)
4. everything in moderation

OK now you see how simple it sounds. It’s not in some medical techno jargon that requires a translator. And you have evidence that it works. Barnando, at 108 years old, has lived in New York City for 90 of those years and has never so much as had a cold! And the same goes for his father! Pretty strong message don’t you think?

So here we are in the winter season for those of you in the northern hemisphere. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the winter season corresponds with the Water element. It is a time of calm stillness, spiritual retreat and internal energy conservation. As with every season in TCM, seasonal attunement advice is given on how to harmonize your body-mind with the season. This man’s advice captures the essence of what the Water element is really about. He didn’t just go on a vegetable juice cleanse for a week or take off on a weekend meditation retreat, he has gone the distance and incorporated simple but wise health habits into his daily life for years, decades, and it’s paying off, big time.

People with a strong Water element are naturally conservative, seeking to guard their resources and inner reserves. Watch the video and hear Barnando explain how his old colleages used to laugh at his vegetable-eating habits while he just carried on being Popeye. Now at 108 he’s still running while his poor colleages have passed on. If this was the Olympics, Water element people are the long-distance runners while Wood element people are the 50 meter sprinters. So the name of the game here in this season is going the distance, being the tortoise instead of the hare, taking your time to make sure you make it to the finish line, to fulfill your ultimate destiny and complete the mission you came into this life to finish.

The Water element in TCM also corresponds with wisdom and old age. The idea being that if you’ve lived long enough, you’ve acquired an amount of wisdom. Wisdom is not simply intellectual book knowledge, but knowledge coming from experience. Wisdom goes beyond the day-to-day details of our lives (although it can be found in there if we look for it and contemplate it). Wisdom and Water element people have something of a transcendental quality about them that sees the bigger picture, sees the patterns and puts the whole puzzle together. If you have any older people in your life I urge you to seek them out for their wisdom as they have many fascinating stories to share.

Are your health habits paying off? Love to hear your comments and questions.

Enjoy the winter season!