My dentist suggested that I massage my gums daily in order to prevent most of the dental problems. How true, I thought!
My mother even at the age of 96 had most of her teeth in good condition. Then how is that most of the people at present have artificial bridges in their mouth?
The answers to these questions are simple and obvious. Earlier people used tooth powder and brushed their teeth with a forefinger, which naturally massaged their gums and enhanced the blood flow to the teeth, hence preventing tooth decay or gum bleeding. With the toothbrush, the gums are deprived of the most needed massage.
The natural way to prevention is better than cure!
I work as an NLP professional and see many people for their stress, relationship issues, or any mental health-related issues. I sometimes wonder with so many different mental health problems today is there a way we could revisit our old ways to prevent some of them!
Modern life has made us lose our natural preventive actions, with effect people are suffering from various types of mental health-related issues.
So how can we revisit our old ways of living?
Let me begin by sharing some of the ways I grew up with
1. We all ate together as a family and during this time we shared about our day and had fun laughing at jokes shared.
2. We slept for a good 8 hours. This is an action I always considered important.
3. We had to do all the household chores and never depended on external domestic help.
4. Play was an integral part of growing up.
5. We had to say family prayers in the morning and in the evening
6. Having guests at home or visiting relatives was exciting and looked forward to. That was the time singsong sessions were held.
7. When sad or hurt we always shared our feelings with someone.
8. Helping someone was considered a virtue.
9. Any celebration in any neighborhood was an opportunity to go and involve in any work like decorations, food etc.
10. Sharing clothes, books, food with siblings or cousins was not only encouraged but insisted upon.
We grew up with all these, our energies were not blocked and were utilized hence there was no scope for loneliness, stress, or depressions.
Gratitude and respect to elders was the value and sharing and caring came naturally.
Food and sleep were of paramount importance
So with so much action, mental health was on track.
Are today's children missing all these?
As my dentist says as long as we massage our gums our teeth will be healthy, the same way as our mind gets enough massage in the form of activities then our mind will be healthy.
Can we, therefore, focus on prevention than laborious and painful cure?
We have a choice.