Coronavirus COVID-19: Learn the Most Important Lesson for the Future

The coronavirus pandemic managed to highlight two crises in parallel: a health crisis and an economic crisis. Please note that I am not suggesting that the pandemic caused these crises. Health was already in crisis and so was the economy. The pandemic only served to expose the shit that was already in existence. As they say, you never know who is swimming naked until the tide goes out.

Now, let us start with the health crisis. The virus has demonstrated its deadly effect predominantly on already sick people. And what are these people sick of? As it turns out, most of the COVID-19's victims are people with various cardiovascular conditions and diabetes, both of which are already among the leading death causes in the world. Importantly, modern medicine has subsumed cardio-vascular conditions and diabetes under the so-called metabolic syndrome which, in a nutshell, is caused by excessive consumption of junk food. Yes, that's right! Metabolic syndrome (i.e. high blood pressure, high blood sugar, hyperinsulinemia, excess abdominal fat, high triglycerides and low levels of "good" cholesterol) is mostly caused by junk food and can be reversed with lifestyle changes only (no medication needed in 99% of the cases). Hence, the rule consumes less is imperative to apply when it comes to increasing health and preventing not only a disease but also death (in fact, especially death, and especially death from COVID-19). Importantly, if you give up junk food you are actually killing many birds with one stone: Firstly, you reverse metabolic syndrome thus improving your cardio-vascular markers and sugar metabolism (among many other health markers such as mental clarity, energy levels, sleep, mood, etc.). Secondly, you will naturally start to consume less food in general. Here is how it works: junk food is designed to make you addicted and to want more (of everything), so by not consuming junk food you can regulate your appetite, kick off your addiction habits, increase your satiety and start eating less overall calories. (Incidentally, reducing caloric intake is a leading factor in longevity). Last but not least, you will end up saving money from dropping your food bill (not to mention the savings on toilet paper!), which brings me to the next point - the economic crisis.

So assume you have committed to not eating junk food and you now have surplus cash. (Remember: not eating junk means you are not constantly hungry and/or addicted to food which in turn means you need far less real food to feel satiated). Now, what do you do with this surplus cash? Use it to buy more stuff, go more often to restaurants, or travel more? Not at all! You apply the same rule to your finances as you did to your eating habits: consume less! And save more! Just imagine if we had applied that rule before the pandemic, diligently and consistently! Imagine if you had one to two years' worth of expenses stashed away for rainy days. Imagine if businesses were in that position. Imagine if governments were in that position. Would we be experiencing an economic crisis today? Of course not! And how do we make sure we don't experience it again in the future? Quite simple - consume less. We need to learn to live below our means and to save more. If we don't learn that, we haven't learned anything from COVID-19. If we don't learn to consume less (of everything), there is another crisis around the corner waiting to teach us the same thing again.

Incidentally, do you think it is random luck that the USA is being hit the hardest by the pandemic? Unlikely! As "luck" has it, the USA happens to be home to the largest number of fat people with the biggest debts. Talk about overconsuming and paying the price for it.

Finally, I would like to address a notorious argument that the Planet cannot accommodate so many of us and is forcing a population cull through the pandemic. I strongly believe that the planet could accommodate all of us. If only we altered our consumption habits…

Vyara Bridgeman is an Advanced Certified BodyTalk practitioner who works with patients from all over the world suffering a variety of physical, mental and emotional conditions. To find out more about Vyara's BodyTalk practice, what her clients say about her, and how she can help you achieve a balanced body-mind