If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that when we're unhealthy we become more unhealthy. But when we live a healthy lifestyle, our minds and body are strong, and we can conquer anything. And when we're strong, we can live an unstoppable and fulfilled life. We can live our dreams.
I am passionate about optimal physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and well-being. That's what we call holistic wellbeing. And when these aspects align and are in balance, we experience optimum health. I'll share my top ten tips for optimal health and well-being later. But first, I'm going to be your body's biggest cheerleader.
YOUR BODY IS AMAZING!
It's magical! It's genius! And it's a miracle!
Let's start with the miracle of life and the fact that your body grew itself. It knew where to put your heart and your legs. It knew it needed a brain and some hands. It created lungs to breathe in life-giving energy and senses to experience this amazing world.
And once it was done, it kept growing, rejuvenating, adapting and healing. As long as you give your body food and water, it just gets on with the job of maintaining itself and surviving.
THE MIRACLE OF SELF HEALING
You might want to skip this bit if you're a little bit queasy with the sight of blood. Last year my husband almost chopped the end of his thumb off with a power tool. I did warn you!
He knocked on the window and announced very calmly that I should take him to the hospital immediately. He was calm and coherent. It took 20 minutes before he started to feel the pain and go into shock. His body gave him 20 pain-free minutes to get to safety.
At the hospital, they stitched it back together. It was messy, and as the power tool went right through the bone and nail, he had pins too. Over the next few weeks and months, I watched with astonishment as his thumb healed and, eventually, grew a new nail where there was none in exactly the right place. How could that be?
YOUR BODY IS A HEALING MACHINE
I made sure he got enough sleep, a healthy diet, and supplements to help heal the bone, tissue and muscle. But the point is that his body healed itself. Since then, one of my mantras is; my body is a healing machine. Watching my husband's body heal itself and regrow a nail (in the right place) renewed my faith in the body and its ability to heal. I realized that the body has a wisdom of its own.
A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE SUPPORTS YOUR BODY
It really is amazing what the body is capable of given the right conditions. When you think of it, the body is in constant repair and rejuvenation mode. It clears out toxins from the system, fixes wounds, regenerates cells, fights pathogens, draws what it needs from the environment, creates new neural networks, destroys damaged cells and rebuilds muscles. The list is endless.
So I think it's sad we've lost faith in our body's natural ability to heal. Instead, we desperately look to outside sources to heal what's inside.
PHARMACEUTIC DEPENDENCE DOESN'T LEAD TO OPTIMUM HEALTH
With a pharmaceutical industry that promises health and protection, we've forgotten that we're healing machines. We have a culture of over-dependence on pharmaceutical drugs and interventions, and it's only gotten worse in the last few years.
I'll never forget the first time I saw inside an American bathroom cabinet, I could not believe how many little boxes of drugs there were, but I see that now in Europe too. We're so quick to turn to pharmaceuticals to relieve stress and ailments. We've even started to take pharmaceuticals before we get sick in the hopes of a lower risk of serious health conditions like cardiovascular disease and arthritis. But pharmaceutical dependence doesn't lead to optimum health.
BAD HEALTH WEAKENS OUR SYSTEM, GOOD HEALTH STRENGTHENS
If we really want to reduce our risk of serious diseases, we need to focus on a healthy lifestyle. And that fact became plainly obvious during the pandemic. People with underlying health conditions had an increased risk of severe Covid and suffered more.
We desperately looked to pharmaceuticals to solve the problem, but all pharmaceuticals come with other potentially negative effects. Sadly, there was little airplay given to the health benefits of a healthy lifestyle, regular exercise, healthy eating and a balanced diet, weight loss, gut health, or quality sleep.
TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR BODY, YOUR MIND, YOUR HEALTH
That's why you have to take charge of your body, your mind and your health. It's time to stop looking outside of ourselves for the answers and solutions to healing the in-balances within. It's time to take responsibility for giving our bodies the support they need and living a healthy lifestyle.
WHAT IS A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE?
When we think of a healthy lifestyle, we tend to focus narrowly on healthy eating, weight loss, quality sleep, mental health and ways to manage stress. The thing is, there's more to us than our physical and mental health.
We're social creatures living in social environments. And we're spiritual beings living in physical bodies. A healthy lifestyle is a holistic lifestyle. It incorporates all aspects of us. Not just the parts of us that are easy for science to measure and prescribe to.
So, in my top 10 tips for a healthy lifestyle, you'll find tips to help you have a more holistic healthier life that will improve your overall health, not just your physical health. Because if we're not in balance, we're not healthy and strong.
10 HEALTH TIPS FOR OPTIMAL HEALTH
- Give your body good fuel. Eating a healthy diet of fresh fruit and vegetables with good quality protein is essential to a healthy body. Stop eating processed packaged foods, especially ones that are full of ingredients you can't even read.
- Practice intermittent fasting. Fasting is probably one of the most powerful tools for optimum health.
- Swap out sodas for healthier alternatives. Good quality herbal teas and ice teas also contain nutrients. And drink lots of water.
- Exercise regularly and get active. Our sedentary lifestyle is a big culprit in our health. Our bodies were designed to move, so move!
- Healthy sleep patterns are another powerful tool. Sleep deprivation doesn't give your body what it needs to heal and regenerate. Get proper sleep for optimum health.
- Your overall health is determined by what we call biomarkers like weight and blood pressure. So, it's important to maintain a healthy weight and lose weight if you're overweight. There are tons of biomarkers, but this is a good start.
- Cold water swimming improves both your mood and your immune system.
- Excess stress hormones are toxic. Managing your stress helps to reduce high blood pressure, improve your mood and has a positive impact on your relationships.
- Find ways to empty your emotional bucket. We hold things like trauma, anger and resentment in the body. These negative emotions affect us physically, emotionally, spiritually and socially. Seeing a therapist, doing workshops, retreats, journaling, and exercising are all ways of offloading unwanted emotions.
- Build your networks. Social connection is a bigger predictor of longevity than weight, alcohol and smoking. Nourish and build your intimate, friends, family, and community relationships. Often, we forget about community relationships, but they are vital for good health and well-being.
- Do things that nourish you spiritually. Like being in nature, breathwork, meditation, creativity, women's circles, rituals, and retreats.
- Adopting a slow-living lifestyle will support you on a physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and interpersonal level helping you achieve optimum health.
Implementing a few things from this list will make a big difference to your health. But if you're feeling inspired and looking for more, I love Good Housekeeping's 100 best health tips.
Your body, your mind, your health. Take charge and know that you have the power to direct and maintain optimum health. You be the medicine that your body, mind and spirit need.
Written by Kirsti Formoso - Wellness Writer for Koraru
Kirsti Formoso is a wellness writer and researcher. She is passionate about holistic health and wellbeing. She has over 30 years of experiential knowledge in personal and spiritual development, and a Masters of Science in Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology. She is also a peer reviewer for two scientific journals specialising in Transpersonal Psychology. When she’s not writing she can be found working on her vegetable plot, hiking in the mountains and breathing in all the wonders nature has to offer.
