Ten secrets of Health and Happiness

2011 has been a difficult year for me; broken ribs, suspicious lumps, stress, heart problems, blood pressure issues and hospitalisation in three different countries, and thats just January. The low point was being stuck in a hospital in Mumbai not knowing if I'd ever leave, which incidentally gave rise to my favourite quote of the year so far; "you fly you die"

Most of the rest of this year has been spent finding my way back to good health. From hospital to herbalism and every quack idea in between I've tried them all. Having stripped away all the batshit craziest of these "remedies" here then is my top ten tips for health and happiness, in no particular order.

1. NOWNESS: Lets get this one out of the way first as it sounds a bit wanky. Now and what we're doing now, is all we truly have and yet so many of us use up now worrying about some other thing, some other time. Learning to be aware of now and more importantly enjoying it is a fundamental part of H&H.

2. MOVE: Your not going to find health or happiness sitting on your arse. With over 200 joints in the human body we were certainly not designed to spend our lives sitting on the sofa. Animals stop moving when they are ready to die; what are you waiting for?

3. EAT RIGHT: Treat your body like a dustbin, fill it full of garbage and guess what; it'll stink! Unprocessed, home-cooked and in sensible amounts is the only way to eat. Eat because your hungry, use 1 & 2 above to deal with all the other stuff.

4. REACH OUT: Doing things with and for others is a great way to incorporate all of the above but it also brings focus, direction and purpose. Love your friends and family, don't be afraid to invite new people into your life. Think of it as selfish altruism; the effort will be worth it.

5. SIMPLIFY: The more complicated your life is, the less likely you are to be happy or healthy. Simple foods, simple pleasures, simple honest relationships are a good place to start. All that stuff you've got; the latest this, the next that, how much of it do you really need and how stressful is getting/keeping it? Getting the right balance between 'need' and 'want' is fundamental, so is getting them in the right order. Need is always first.

6. HEAR YOURSELF: I'll tell ya what I want what I really really want, I want a, I want a, I want a.....stop listening to shit like this for a start. Usually we're so busy either doing stuff or avoiding doing stuff that we forget or don't know how to listen to ourselves, to what we need. Modern life has very little silence in it so make sure that you know how to turn the volume down, so you can hear yourself think; how else will you know what you need.

7. TURN YOURSELF ON: There are lots of things that we have to do; go to work, pay the bills, do the dishes, it's endless and if 'have to' is all you do you're heading in the wrong direction. H&H are not given they have to be earned. Nurture your interests, follow your dreams, become passionate about them, make time for them, don't ignore or suppress them. Make sure you spend more time on the things that make you happy than you do on the things that bring you down.

8. DO NO EVIL: We're here for a short time and we're all in the same boat; together. Don't fuck the planet up, don't fuck anyone's life up (including your own), take no pleasure or benefit from someone else's misfortune, try to be the best person you can be, avoid horrible people, be generous in all things and respect the rights of others, especially those who are different from yourself.

9. BE A STUDENT: Accepting that you don't know everything and that you never will opens up the possibility of learning from others. If something doesn't work, learn from it. "why does this always happen to me" is the mantra of fools. Be an active student of life by taking responsibility for what you do and how you do it.

10. LIGHTEN UP: Laughter born out of shear enjoyment is the fullest expression of happiness there is. Lighten up; laugh a little now and then, enjoy your life.