Health And Wellness

Five areas of Health

PHYSICAL HEALTH

The host of our mind and spirit is the body; our castle that must not to be taken for granted. Unfortunately, like airplanes, it takes effort to keep our bodies 'flight worthy.' If we don't, we run the risk of the wear and tear of life itself exhausting it and wearing it out. Imagine waking up one day and finding your mind functioning well and your body not being able to move and even needing a complete overhaul. Healthy eating and daily exercise are the antidotes to body wear and tear. Again, like any high performing machine the fuel you provide it, and the maintenance you lavish on it, determine its longevity and state of functioning. A healthy pain-free body adds to life's enjoyment, alertness and energy...and who would not want that.

So, this is your call to action, to protect your health and wellness by embarking on enjoyable exercise activities and healthy nutritious food. By so doing indications are that  you will delay the onset of disease and disability. If the latter have already struck, determine to counteract or reverse the condition. Your body has amazing resilience if you harness your personal healing power and align your mind, your actions and your food intake to optimize your health.

My research into nutrition clearly indicates that our foods, even when carefully selected, no longer contain the nutrients our bodies require for optimum health. Nutrient depletion, of our once wholesome foods, together with over processing, have taken their toll and the only way to counteract this is through effective supplementation. However, even in this regard vigilance is mandatory since the ingredients in most products we find on the shelves are either not bio-available, in the right balance or, worse, only exist on the label. Check me out on this.

Come-on, if I can attempt and climb the seven summits at my age, please allow me to inspire you to demand greater health and wellness for yourself. All you need to know is, if you are like most, you can take more control and do something rewarding and positive about it starting now. Don't delay, take up my challenge today….it’s about your health and enjoyment of life.

EMOTIONAL/MENTAL HEALTH

People with good emotional health are clearly in control of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors at all times. They feel good about themselves and enjoy healthy relationships with people. They are also able to keep problems in perspective, not allowing any one problem to take control of their emotions, or even worse - their lives.

Important to remember is that people with good emotional health sometimes have emotional problems. Stress and problems with family issues, work or school can sometimes trigger an emotional issue or make it worse. However, people with good emotional health have learned ways to cope with stress and the problems life may present.

Something that I have learned over the years is that our past experiences, including how we were raised as children, have a deep emotional impact on our lives. Growing up with a healthy dose of self-esteem is paramount to emotional health. Past traumas have a tendency to haunt us at the most inopportune times. Our over reactions, to seemingly minor issues, are a good indicator of our past interfering with our equanimity in the present. Unfortunately, these past experiences tend to color our perceptions and perspectives, and in extremely reactive situations, distort and contort them, often beyond recognition. High stress levels and broken relationships, the potential result.

We all talk to ourselves on an on going basis (aloud or simply in thought). Our internal conversations, if not monitored, especially when triggered by events we find upsetting, can further exacerbate the situation. Maturity and learning teaches us three things:

1.        Feelings should never be pushed down and/or controlled… our actions are a different matter. We do wish to control them for the good of all. Instead, feelings need to be honored and fully experienced by children and adults alike. Ideally we will allow and encourage these feelings to link back to the trauma of origin. Once fully experienced, long lasting relief and healing become a possibility.

2.        Cognitive restructuring, where we monitor our internal communications, or self-talk, rationally examine and alter them to reflect a greater degree of reality also works….especially in the short term. Appropriate affirmations can also be effective in this healing.

3.        Research has indicated that many of our problems have a physical cause, such as a chemical imbalance in the brain. The age old question, “Is the cause of this chemical imbalance past trauma that has contorted our cells to the point of ‘bad’ endorphin release, or were we genetically predisposed to this?” My personal experience correlates with the former.

SPIRITUAL HEALTH

Spiritual health is when there is a good sense of self as being part of something greater than the self, and a good sense of self as being an individual, without needing to be connected to anything or anybody. Sounds like a bit of a paradox, but good spiritual health is about being OK wherever one is, with whomever one is with. Or not. Spiritual health is a general sense of well-being and being in the flow of life. Spiritual health is a posture of strength, poise and grace. Speaking from the vantage point of a woman, it's a Mona Lisa smile. You know something that no one else knows, but everyone knows that you know something they don't know. Being spiritually health is bout knowing that everything is always alright no matter what is happening.

Spiritual health is important because it allows one to live and move and have their being in ease and grace, beauty, love and abundance. The body is carried tall and proud which aligns all the organs and systems for perfect health. Relationships are powerful and creative because there is no 'need' for the other. The body and mind vibrate in tune with Universal laws and good of all kinds is naturally attracted. Spiritual health creates peace, power and purpose. Spiritual health makes it possible to withstand, overcome and grow through adverse situations. Spiritual health is a great wrinkle eraser. Spiritual health expresses as true beauty!
 
Spiritual health is only measured by people who lack it. However, it is easily recognized because there is an atmosphere of peace and joy. The Dali Lama is a great example of this. Spiritual health is partly visible, but it is more often a 'felt' measurement. Being around someone with good spiritual health simply feels good. In the presence of one who is spiritually healthy, troubles and worries do not seem so big. The recipients of this energy, or peace can sometimes be transformed. They begin to resonate with the frequency of this spiritual health. They relax and become grounded. Spiritual health, whether radiating out or being taken in just simply feels good!
 
There are several paths to the realization of spiritual health. But no matter how it is arrived at it comes from a decision that something is missing: Often a feeling of emptiness that needs to be filled. Sometimes there is a financial, physical, or other crisis that forces one to reach out to something that is bigger, or greater, that never changes, that can be unconditionally trusted. It's a great desire to be connected; to be at peace. The phrase, "When the student is ready the teacher appears," is a fairly good way to explain the 'how'. There is always a question. Out of the question comes the path.

The attainment of spiritual health is about staying on the path until such a time that the question has been filled. I put it that way because the question is the container. And, I suppose, it depends on how badly one wants to achieve it. The bigger the question and the more vast the emptiness is, the more resolve there is. Spiritual attunement or well-being doesn't happen in one moment. Spiritual health is arrived at little-by-little. Like a little child that falls down again and again when learning to walk. Even on his feet the child wobbles a bit. Finally she finds her balance and the walking is steady and strong. And a new way of living is arrived at.

Linda Bardes, Plymouth, MN June 13, 2005  

FINANCIAL HEALTH

Financial freedom is what most of us seek. We want to be free to make decisions about spending money without being concerned about how to pay for our choices; without living from pay-check to pay-check; without sleepless nights about how to keep the bill collector from our door. Financial freedom is closely link to enhanced lifestyles, stress reduction and an overall sense of wellbeing.

There are many ways to become wealthy, yet statistics show that only about 2% of our populace attains this freedom. The simplest way is to spot a trend, like Baby Boom spending habits, and then capitalizing on those opportunity. We all know that the Boomers have driven our economy since the ’40s through the following cycles: baby food and diapers, primary schools, fast food, real estate, and superstores. They are only 28.5% of our population and still account for 51% of the spending in our economy. So, where next will they be parting with their money?

All predictions point toward wellness; not remedial health, instead preventative health. “Millions of people, spending billions of dollars to further their wellness represent a new and growing economic sector…today this sector spends $70 billion on vitamins and food supplements. Most people don’t even know such products exist, and as more learn about wellness, the sector is exploding. This represents an extraordinary economic opportunity. By the year 2010 it will have become the next trillion-dollar industry. The most effective way of teaching people the new method (of educating people on wellness products) is one-on-one, word-of-mouth communication. That is why we are seeing so many Fortune 500 companies jumping into the direct selling arena, and Wall Street investors such as Warren Buffet entering the business”….Paul Zane Pilzer, world renowned economist, multimillionaire entrepreneur, college professor and author (The Next Millionaires).

Is Pilzer right and will this business be driven by one-on-one, word-of-mouth marketing? Can “ordinary” people capitalize on this trend or does it take highly specialized knowledge and loads of money? An emphatic “yes” to the former, and a “no” to the latter two. Experience over the last 20 years has proven that age, sex, education level and color do not differentiate between the successful and the unsuccessful. The key achievement determinants are the desire to help others and an entrepreneurial spirit. One of the new emerging industries, that has created more millionaires in the last decade than any other, is Network Marketing. Modify this to Consumer Direct Marketing and we see true winners emerging. The critical success elements are: the highest quality products, ethical business practices, a fair and lucrative compensation plan and a synergistic business approach. Robert Kiyosaki (“Business School”, second edition) asserts, “A network marketing business is the new and revolutionary way to achieve wealth.”

So, all indications are that we have two major trends coinciding:

♦   Our baby boomers are no longer comfortable with the status quo. They are actively seeking ways to feel better, look better and enjoy life more. Clearly, they are fueling an exploding wellness industry.

♦   The second trend is a shift in how business is being done. Small business’ presently represent more than 50% of our economic production, a sector growing rapidly. What makes this so attractive is that risk capital requirements are generally very low and the associated lifestyle improvements very high. Working from home, punching ones own ‘time clock’ and working in ones PJ’s, if one so chooses, all carry their own appeal (or – many find highly appealing).