How to Achieve Health and Avoid Disease
The abundance of information about how to achieve health and avoid disease can be quite confusing. In our society, the healthcare trend is to treat illness when it happens instead of preventing it in the first place. In my opinion, we need to change this outdated perspective. Let’s put more focus on prevention and create an abundance of healthy habits.
As a certified Whole Health Educator™, I strive to make things simple to understand and share information from a whole-person perspective. In coaching school, I learned about the “Big Picture of Health® and disease” from the perspective of the following 5 Aspects of Whole Health: Physical, Emotional, Nutritional, Environmental, and Spiritual™©.
Therefore, once you have an understanding of these essential parts of health, it can be life-changing.
The lifestyle choices you make have a huge impact on the outcome of your health. Take the time to discern what type of prevention measures work for you. Make informed healthcare decisions. Let this information empower you to make better choices and help you take back control over your mind and body.
Realistically, we certainly cannot change everything that happens within our bodies. However, it is smart to prepare yourself with the tools to make a difference for the better. Make sense? Allow me to shed some light on the pieces of the health and disease puzzle.
The goal is to achieve health first instead of dealing with illness and disease later.
The 5 Pieces of the Health Puzzle
#1 – The Physical Piece
The physical component of our health is complex and not totally understood. This aspect consists of the brain, spinal cord, bodily systems, organs, muscles, bones, hormones, and neurotransmitters. All these pieces work tirelessly to help us function every minute of the day. They are all interdependent and need each other to work properly.
The central nervous system integrates our brain and spinal cord and controls every function in the body. In other words, if one part is not working correctly it will affect the rest of the body as well. Therefore, taking care of your physical body is necessary!
#2 – The Emotional/Mental Piece
Thoughts and emotions affect the physical body and are part of the Limbic system. This system analyzes all information taken in including conscious and subconscious thoughts.
For every thought we have and each emotion we feel, there is a physiological response within our body.
These internal and external messages are sent to the rest of the body via hormones and other chemical messengers. These neurotransmitters tell the body what to do. This concept explains the mind/body connection. This piece of the puzzle is quite fascinating and immensely powerful when you comprehend how your mindset affects your health.
#3 – The Nutritional Piece
This one is simple. Ever hear the phrase – you are what you eat? In other words, everything we consume has a direct effect on our health and may contribute to disease. This includes food, drinks, and other chemicals like over-the-counter medications, prescriptions, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and illegal drugs.
Be mindful when it comes to your nutrition and what you decide to ingest.
# 4- The Environmental Piece
This piece of the puzzle consists of our internal and external environment. The effects of smoke, noise, chemicals, exercise, weather, water, air pollution all have an impact on our health.
The other factor to consider is your home and work dynamics. Think about your home and work environment. Is it unorganized, stressful, negative, demanding? Any type of prolonged stress will affect the state of your health if left untreated and ignored.
Our internal environment is not set in stone and can be altered. Making healthier choices can diminish the chances of disease. Just because there is a disease in your family does not 100% mean you will have to struggle too.
#5 – The Spiritual Piece
Often overlooked, the spiritual aspect of health is extremely powerful in both the prevention and the healing process. This piece consists of an individual’s relationship with self, nature, and others. Our values and belief systems do have an impact on our health as well. What is your philosophy of life? A popular philosophy among many religions is the Golden Rule – treat others as you would want to be treated.
Feeling connected to a greater purpose, community and higher power goes a long way in life and gives a sense of belonging, comfort, security, and safety. Self-love is also very influential in terms of maintaining health and facilitates a greater sense of harmony.
The Influence of Stress on Our Health
Stress has the most profound influence on health. Stressors like lack of sleep, trauma, negative emotions, inadequate nutrition, surgery, lack of exercise, and chronic pain all contribute to the downfall of your health.
We have a choice in how we react to stress.
Short-term stress is easier to recover from. However, if you are stuck in that fight or flight response it will eventually break your body down. The result is fatigue, irritability, and disruption in sleep. This long-term stress also decreases the function of your bodily systems like digestion, reproduction, and immune and will lower your resistance to disease.
What You Can Do About Your Health
The takeaway is that EVERYTHING is connected! So, if one part of your body or mind is suffering, you can be sure something else is being affected. This can be a disaster if allowed to become out of control. Therefore, self-care and stress management is essential and needs to be part of everyone’s wellness plan.
Be an active participant. You have some control over what happens to you. Above all, take care of yourself because you deserve to live a long life filled with health and happiness!
xoxo
Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.
