PRAYERS ARE SELDOM ANSWERED

<b>PRAYERS ARE SELDOM ANSWERED</b>
Your “prayers not answered” means your “expectations not fulfilled.” The TAO wisdom explains why: your attachments to careers, money, relationships, and success “make” but also “break” you by creating your flawed ego-self that demands your “expectations to be fulfilled.”

Monday, June 18, 2018

Tao Wisdom and Cholesterol


"Lowering Stress, Lowering Cholesterol
                 
Many cardiologists say stress is an under-recognized factor contributing to high cholesterol.

Mr. Edginton heeded the doctor’s advice. Now 69 years old, Mr. Edginton is down to one teaching job and some scaled-down responsibilities in professional organizations. His level of so-called bad cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein (LDL), has dropped to 62 milligrams per deciliter from 121 mg/dL in 2012. (The latest cholesterol-treatment guidelines, from 2013, no longer set specific targets; his doctor says 50 to 70 is reasonable for Mr. Edginton, who had two previous heart attacks.

Of all the factors contributing to high cholesterol, many cardiologists say one often goes unmentioned in advice for patients: stress. Yet chronic stress from a tough job, a strained relationship or other anxiety-producing situations can play a role—along with poor diet, smoking and lack of exercise—in causing lipid concentrations to rise, they say. Cholesterol deposited by LDL can accumulate in the arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis, which can reduce blood flow.

“Stress will make your cholesterol go up,” says Stephen Kopecky, a preventive cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who is treating Mr. Edginton. “Without a doubt, that has been under-recognized.”

Understanding the effect of stress on cholesterol is becoming more important as people’s lives increasingly are crammed with obligations, and digital technology makes switching off harder than ever, cardiologists say. Nearly 28 percent of U.S. adults age 20 and older either have high total cholesterol or are on cholesterol-lowering drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC defined high cholesterol as 240 mg/dL and above.

As millions of Americans tackle high cholesterol, experts say one of the most significant risk factors — stress — is often overlooked.

Christopher Edginton was taking medication and trying to improve his diet when his cholesterol shot up anyway four years ago.

His doctor suggested a new approach. 'He said you’ve got to get rid of some things you’re doing, some of the stresses in your life.'”"

Nothing could be further from the truth than what was reported in the CNN news above. Stress is an enemy of holistic living, which involves alignment of the body, the mind, and the soul.

Firstly, stress is the underlying cause of many human diseases and disorders. Apart from elevating cholesterol, stress restricts the flow of life energy within the whole body system; this life-giving energy flow is responsible for the transmission of oxygen and nutrients to different parts of the body to maintain its overall optimum health.

Secondly, stress is an attack on the mind, which is directly and indirectly connected with the body. Anxiety and depression often result from stress.

The imbalance of the body and the mind may create many health issues and problems that lead to the dependence on medications -- another enemy of holistic living.

Exercise and other natural therapies, such as meditation, may target the after-effects of stress; they, however, do not deal with the causes of stress. The stressors in everyday living come from the ego-self -- or, more specifically, from the attachments that create the ego-self. Let go of attachments to career money, and relationship, among other things in the material world. Letting go of the ego-self is the way to go -- the only way to get rid of stress.

Having said that, letting go is difficult, if not impossible, without Tao wisdom, the wisdom of Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China more than two thousands years ago.

No ego, no stressstress relief based on Tao wisdom.

Stephen Lau
Copyright©2018 by Stephen Lau

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