|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Many of you have thought about your communication style, leadership style, management style, and life style. But have you ever thought about your health style? What is a health style you may ask? The term, coined by my friend, Greg Richardson, means the need for all people to identify their individual paths to better health.
What would it take for you to focus on your health? Would it take a catastrophic illness in a family member or close friend? Would subtle symptoms like back pain or high blood pressure be enough to have you focus inward and determine what in you life is not promoting good health? How about heart disease? Or would you need to be stopped in your tracks with a serious illness. Health is a state of ease or balance in mind, body, and spirit. The new frontier of health-care is available to all, and the biggest part of it is awareness and personal commitment. Most American’s believe that this country has the most advanced and effective medical system in the world. It does for acute injuries, but our medicine and lifestyle sets us up for many chronic diseases. To improve health awareness and increase consciousness is to be on the path to better health and well being. Understanding stress is a first step to doing that. Stress is any reaction to a physical, mental, or emotional stimulus that upsets the body’s natural balance. It is the body’s reaction to the demands of life, and in itself is neither good nor bad. Since stress is unavoidable, it is the individual’s ability to cope with stress that makes it positive or negative. Stress comes from three basic sources -- the situation, the mind, and the body. Situational stressors include the air we breathe, the sounds we hear, and the people in our lives. These stressors include relationships and financial situations. Stress from the mind comes from thoughts and emotions. Stressful thinking patterns are filled with shoulds, oughts, must, have tos, owes, and deserves. When a person is ill or poorly nourished the body is the source of stress. All three sources of stress can be experienced in the workplace. In its present state, the workplace is more and more stressful as work becomes more complex and organizations downsize. You need to know ways to reduce stress while at work in order to maintain good health. So where do you start if you want to change your health-style? Plato gave us a clue when he remarked that, “The biggest mistake physicians make is attempting to cure the body without curing the mind. The mind and the body are one.” I might add that the mind, body, and spirit are one. What we do for one aspect of our being will produce an effect on the other aspects. Viewing ourselves as a “holy temple” is a great starting place. We need to fuel ourselves with silence and self-nurturing in order to begin to know what our individual needs are. Unless we take time to go inside ourselves we can not know what it is that nurtures and what abrades. First, regular practice of some form of conscious breathing, meditation, yoga, mindfulness, repetitive prayer, progressive muscle relaxation, or imagery is essential to everyone’s health style. From this self-awareness is born, not to mention the calming effect that has a direct benefit to your health. Next, there are many avenues to explore. Openness to what comes your way can reduce stress because when life is viewed from a position of learning about yourself, it can be an adventure rather than something to control or fear. Everyone needs exercise and nourishing foods, but the types may vary based on individual body chemistry. Determining what works for you can be like reading a great mystery novel. Life is a journey and at the end we move on to another journey. Many sources give us hints as to what will be beneficial. Body structure, energy structure, and blood type have been suggested as deciding factors. We need to be less sedentary, to move more, even in gentle ways like ti chi. We need to cook our food less, to eat more raw vegetable. We need to demand our grocery store provide more organic produce to avoid ingesting the pesticide used in modern farming, which produces stress in the body. From there we need to become more aware of the sounds and smells around us that have a big affect on us and may be totally outside our consciousness. Introducing and exploring music and aromas can be an enjoyable and eye opening experience. Ancient healing practices included specific music and aromas to heal disease. Most of us don’t see the benefit of setting up our environment to enhance our experience of well being. We just show up and experience whatever is happening around without any awareness of its effect on us. Household appliances can have big effect on our sense of well being and our ability to sleep. So fix those noisy refrigerators or at least block them off from your sleep and work area. Be creative. The idea is to start a sense of awareness regarding the world around you. Make changes that meet your needs. Become conscious of what feels good and what impedes your sense of well being. This is the starting point for developing your own health style. I wish you each great success and enjoyment on your journey to better health and the development of your sense of what works for you. |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
