Well Being: Are you Well?

How is your health?  Are you well?  Are you in good health?

Do you have energy? Do you feel well when you wake up in the morning?  Do you feel like your mind is sharp?

How do we measure our health, anyway, if we’re not actually sick.

If you don’t feel well, you’re NOT FINE.

          (even if your labs are “normal”)

Sometimes we feel “off” a little bit, for years.  It creeps up on us and we hardly notice it…until we do.

We’re not sick (possibly).  But we just seem to be getting worn down.  Oh, well…AGE, right?  Let’s think about that.

Our bodies were made to be healthy; to want to move; to come up with new ideas for our lives; to “feel like” mastering something new; to feel like Caring; to have energy.

Our bodies were not made to be sick, tired, slow moving, slow thinking, and not wanting to improve our lives in new ways.  And we weren’t made to hibernate ourselves away from other people.  We feel so much better when we associate with others.  And other people need YOU, too!

I heard an Ag person on a podcast this morning, talking about regenerative agriculture, and all the wonderful benefits of it.  And he said, “Do you know what the hardest thing to change is?”  Answer: “The thinking of the human mind.”  I understand that quote.

We’ve been taught a lot of things through the years that do us harm today.  One thing I was taught was that doctors make us well.  The truth is, Nature wants to make us well.  If we look to nature, we learn a lot.

I’m not being critical of doctors, believe me.  We need them.  They are a blessing to our civilization.  And they can fix us when we break, and they can give us medicine to make our symptoms go away…but they do not usually look into the cause of our problem, so if their medicine makes the symptoms go away…and if we don’t work on the cause, the problem will continue to show up in some way.  It will either come back again, or show up in a different way.  Our bodies are trying to talk to us.

And in this world we’re living in today, Health and Wellness doesn’t just fall from the sky.  So then…What do we do??

When we have symptoms, our bodies want us to pay attention—they need something; they want care.

And we can’t get healthy from just “one way of eating”, or from reading a book, or from following a specific lifestyle prescription.  Each of our bodies are different, and have their own unique needs.  You are the one with the key to what your body needs.

Sometimes our health is like a riddle.  Think of things that could possibly be improved, and start with making one change.  Try something, tweak it, change it up a little, or try something totally different, over a period of time.  It can be a struggle, failing, learning the hard way, getting stuck then trying something else.  Sometimes it takes integrating different ways of living—what works for our specific bodies, and our specific life.

If this process sounds like a lot, just know that in addition to possibly overcoming your issue without insulting your body with chemicals, you will get to know your body better. 

We have to take responsibility for our health…for our wellness.  Our health is not the doctor’s responsibility.  Unless the doctor has been specifically trained in health, it’s almost impossible to find a traditional doctor who knows how to “make us healthy”.

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We need medicine at times. 

But do you realize,

1.     the way we sleep (or don’t) affects our bodies?  It also affects our brain.  New research is linking lack of quality sleep to dementia and Alzheimer’s…but that’s not the only way it affects us.  Our muscles don’t have time to rest and get ready for another busy day.  Our intestines don’t have time to digest our food properly…causing us (even if what we eat is very healthy) to lack the nourishment from our food.  And medicine can’t fix that.

Do you realize that

2.     the amount of stress we’re under can severely attack our bodies?  Estimates are that over 90% of doctors’ visits  have their origin in stress.  There is “a saying”, Stress will kill you.  Well, yes.  Yes it surely can.  A little painful bit at a time.  There are ways to reduce our stress naturally, that work better than any pill. And without the side effects of the drugs.  And in today’s rush, we think too much, want too much, and we seem to have forgotten the joy of “just being”.

Do you realize that

3.     Food can actually take the place of Medicine? When I had my health problems, and had been going to various doctors for 4-5 years for help… when I finally got the clue that it might be autoimmune related, and I researched and found a Functional Medicine Doctor who specialized in autoimmune conditions (traditional doctors had been telling me there “was no cure”), they were able to totally make my symptoms go away… after I changed the way I ate!  No medicine had helped me at all during those years.  Good food can make soooo much difference in our health.

Do you realize that

4.     our bodies were meant to move?  Well, they are! And it is now scientifically proven that if we keep our bodies strong, and move them a lot every day, we will live healthier, longer lives?  It’s true.  And it will give us energy!  Not later on, but right now.  And the more regularly we keep our body moving, the better it will feel.  And not just our body, but our mind too!  It works.  It works better than any pill.

I coach about the 5 Pillars of Health: Sleep, Stress, Nutrition, Movement and Relationships.  It takes them all.  One won’t do it.  One will definitely HELP!  Then when you improve another Pillar, you’ll feel much better.  And as you add improvement in the other areas, you will be amazed at your life! 

If you’re wanting to make this change, I’d suggest you pick one of the pillars to work on.  Set your mind to do it.  Just one.  Make a plan of exactly what you will do toward that, and how often. 

Then, think of how your life will be after you make that change.  Think how your life will be because you’ve made that change.  Where you can go, or how you can go, or who you can go with…whatever changes these accomplishments will cause.  Think of how that will be.

And work toward that.

Next, think of obstacles that would possibly (or probably) come up, and think and plan how you will overcome the obstacles.  Know ahead of time that you can overcome it.  Because you can.

So:

1.     Pick a Pillar of your life/health you want to change

2.     Set your mind to make the change

3.     Make a plan of how you will make the changes in your habits

4.     Think of how your life will look after you’ve made the change

5.     Think of the obstacles that will come up (as many as you can)

6.     Plan how you will overcome each obstacle ahead of time (others will probably come up, but this exercise will help you immensely)

7.     Victory in making the change in your first Pillar!

8.     Pick your second Pillar to work on.

After you’ve accomplished that goal, you will see, you can do this.  Your body wants to be well, have energy, think new and creative thoughts, and be able to be calm and at peace.  Productive, yet peaceful.  What a concept!  You can do this.

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It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and not even know it.  But you will eventually know because your body will let you know.

We can not create better well-being in ourselves, our families or our community, if we stay the same!  Every new level of well-being requires a new level of change.  So if you want to create more life in your life, it will mean getting comfortable with making changes in your lifestyle.

Let’s make a change.  Do what that Ag person said was the hardest thing to do: change the way we think.

Believe me, it’s a BETTER WAY.

We can prove it, together, if you’d like.  Let me know if you need some help.  Sharon@WhereIsYourCalm.com. I can help you move from comfortable to uncomfortable with ease.  It’s a journey.  A life journey.

There’s a whole new life out there…and it’s for real!

Thank you for reading.  Let’s enjoy living here.

Sharon