It's 8:00 in the morning, you feel great, you enjoy some organic fruit and fresh fruit juice or mineral water, cleanse your body, meditate for positive energy, and head out the door to begin a positive day. As you walk out you feel quite healthy, energized, and alive. You begin your drive to work only to be slowed down by gridlock traffic, you get a bit upset, but you still have time, so you don't sweat it. Twenty minutes later you seemed to have only moved a few feet and now you're just pissed off, you're late and stuck in the midst of a sea of toxic fumes that are coming through your air vents. Now you have a slight headache. People all around you feel the same way you do, releasing all of their negativity in the air and it seems as though your mind is full of idle thinking and anxiety, you just want some peace to comply with your healthy morning ritual, and all of a sudden you do not feel so positive, your energy is lowering, and your liveliness is becoming irritable, but hey, you've got your health, right?

There are so many things being pushed to promote good health and emotional balance, such as: yoga, meditation, live foods, organic foods, vegetarianism, veganism, toxic free living, fruitarianism, exercise, holistic living, and so much more. It seems like everyday there is some new study on what will keep us happy and healthy and even more news on what they thought was healthy but no longer is. There are continuous trends within the health industries yet it seems as though they tend to leave out one of the most important factors in living a healthy life...our communities.

Many of us live in urban and overdeveloped cities that are in a constant hustle and bustle of trading money, ideas, toxins, and stress. The streets are filled with the noise of car horns, radios, sirens, and so on. The air is filled with toxic smoke and allergens, and many of the people who populate these cities are angry, high strung, sick, and stressed.

Our roads are paved using asphalt, which is nothing but petroleum, and can also be found in our roofs, siding, and other concrete structures. Being exposed to asphalt fumes alone can cause headaches, skin rashes, fatigue, reduced appetite, throat and eye irritation, cough, and skin and lung cancer. We drive along these paved streets and release the toxic fumes of asphalt and fuel, fumes that are released from our cars as the hot sun bakes it, also referred to as “Ground Level Ozone”. Cities have been known to announce what is called “Ozone Action Days”, when the temperature is very high, making the pollutants and fumes in the air extremely harmful. These warnings inform the general public to be extra careful on hot days because the air quality is so harmful, that it could affect those with asthma and cause other respiratory problems. The more cars there are, the higher you are at risk of developing these symptoms. We are living in these large cities, but no matter how healthy we eat, and live, when we step out of our front doors, there are so many things in which can cancel out all of our healthy energy in which we create inside our homes. Overpopulated areas are bound to cause you more trouble both physically and emotionally, than a smaller less populated town. So many diseases and negative energies are being passed along from hand to hand, germ to germ, handle to handle, door, to door and mind to mind. Overpopulated cities are especially full of emotional stress and anxiety. Sitting in traffic or riding the subway alone can raise your stress level, heartbeat, and blood pressure. We constantly hear sirens, car horns, construction work, and car stereos thumping atrociously, while major effects such as attacks, blackouts, high crime rates, money driven and negative energy, and community poverty are dancing all around us.

It is no secret that less populated or smaller towns are much more laid back and can be quite peaceful if in the right area. Limited sounds of emergency, low crime rates, a sense of safety. So many of us talk about living healthy and we bask in the traditions of our ancestors, yet, they did not have all of these toxic and creative distractions in which we are faced with today in our cities, especially the largely populated cities. Peace of mind is a necessity for proper health, and our choices in where we live is one of the most important factors to living a healthy life. Many people go on a nature walk, visit the mountains, or may even go camping to get some “peace of mind” to re-connect with themselves and nature, to gain overstanding; so why is it that we do not choose to live within clarity of oneness and nature on a regular basis. Why is it that we continue to set up our homes around industrial destruction instead of natural construction.

Tacoma, WA

Oklahoma City, OK

Miami, FL

Baltimore, MD

New York, NY

Atlanta, GA

Los, Angeles, CA

Las Vegas, NV

Washington, DC

Detroit, MI

Dallas, TX

Large cities offer convenience and jobs, and it is no doubt that there are more attractions, clubs, museums, markets, and activities, but what is it all worth if it adds more health issues and negativity, and to top it off, they are filled with lack of nature and clarity, which is a major element to abundant health. We should surround ourselves and our families and homes around nature as much as possible. You can find many small towns within 45 minutes to a couple of hours from the city. Living in a peaceful state on a daily basis and driving into a larger city when need be may do your health some good, especially if you are raising a family; for what good is culture and community without emotional and physical health, and peace to support it? I think it is time to create the culture of family, of nature, of clarity, of peace of mind, of de-stress. It is time for ourselves and our families to live within nature again.

So the next time you are planning to move to a new city, evaluate it's health and decide whether you want to live for convenience or for peace of mind!