As we journey in life, we are in a persistent search for holistic wellness and we approach it differently with tools such as exercising, therapy, reading self-help books, and finding inspiration & wisdom from mentors and healers of all sorts.
Still, we encounter hurdles that impede this yearning. Self-defeating attitudes, such as procrastination and self-sabotaging, betray our inner wisdom. Old patterns and limiting stories from our past interfere with our freedom to be fully engaged in our lives and move forward.
Through self-awareness of our perception, fears, triggers, patterns, and a secure connection with our overarching “whys” in life, we can persevere and grow.
But this determination to grow may not be enough for us to feel whole again.
The Solution?
Instead of a fragmented method of self-care, why don’t we utilize a unified theory and a personalized holistic approach that will bring good health, wholeness, and balance?
This is what I’ll be sharing with you, a method of integrating whole mind-body health into your self-care plans.
The 7 Pillars of Health
1. Sleep
Sleep is when our bodies rest and regenerate, our minds consolidate memories and bring us the gift of dreams from our unconscious. During deep sleep, our body releases accumulated stress and physical toxins, balances hormones, strengthens the immune system, and repairs or regenerates cells and tissues. But if we’re constantly sleep-deprived, we are more likely to have- a weakened immune system and chronic inflammation, which are associated with many diseases, including digestive disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, fibromyalgia, and various types of cancer.
2. Meditation
Meditation is a practice of focusing the mind on a particular object, an idea, or activity to train one’s attention and awareness, and achieve a holistically calm and stable state.
With the profound relaxation that meditation provides, fatigue and the accumulated stress that accelerates with our responsibilities in our personal and professional life dissolved. Countless scientific explorations, such as a study that delved into the use of meditation for the treatment of Fibromyalgia, can attest to the benefits of meditation.
3. Movement
Movement and regular exercise are the keys to good health and longevity. As medical and helping professionals, with our hectic schedule and overflowing responsibilities, we are prone to fatigue and at risk of having a disease especially if we lead an inactive lifestyle.
If I had to choose a single activity that does the most for both the body and mind, it would be yoga, which refers to the practice of asana (postures) and pranayama (conscious breathing) among other things.
Yoga improves our body-awareness, sharpens our focus, and builds strength, flexibility, and endurance. There is research showing the benefits of yoga for specific health conditions, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and depression.
It’s important to find physical activities that we’ll enjoy and do regularly. If the most we can do right now is walk around the block, we should do that and be surprised by how quickly we can increase our endurance and enthusiasm for moving, and breathing.
4. Healthy Emotions
Our bodies are deeply affected by our moods. Chemical messages tell every cell what to feel. When we feel fear or anxiety, our body responds with the fight-or-flight response, which raises our heart rate and increases the production of cortisol, adrenaline, and other hormones.
Working in a field where we are susceptible to chronic stress can lead to increased inflammation in the body and eventually, the development of chronic illnesses. On the other hand, when one cultivates healthy emotions, it can promote self-healing and self-regulation inside the body.
Healthy emotions include love, kindness, joy, compassion, equanimity, gratitude, and peace. There are countless ways to cultivate healthy emotions. We can start by making a list of the healthy emotions and enumerating two to three activities or experiences that expand that emotion. Then each day we can devote a little time to engage in these particular activities to expand one’s emotional well-being and happiness.
Laughter– Under healthy emotions, it is vital to note the importance of this physical reaction which is triggered by emotions and can be a powerful tool for wellness.
5. Grounding
Remember the last time you felt a surge of energy and well-being as you connect with the earth beneath your feet?
Contemporary studies are showing that this act of grounding or earthing not only makes us feels good and relaxed but also has great benefits to our health, this includes:
» Relieves stress
» Decreased inflammation
» Alleviation of muscles soreness
» Improved circulation and enhanced skin tissue repair
Grounding is a simple, enjoyable practice. All one needs to do is touch the earth as much as one can.
This ancient wisdom along with techniques for grounding our emotions can help us calm our nervous systems and expand feelings of safety and security.
6. Optimal Nutrition
Optimal nutrition can be unlocked by favoring a variety of fresh, whole foods (including plenty of vegetables, fruits, spices, and herbs)—while eliminating refined, processed foods, which are stripped of vital nutrients and contain a lot of sugar, artificial ingredients, and other harmful chemicals. Processed foods are a major source of chronic inflammation, which is an underlying cause of many serious diseases. On the other hand, whole, fresh foods decrease inflammation and provide valuable vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
To make sure that our food choices optimize our health, here are some guidelines in choosing our sources of nourishment:
» Opt for organic foods whenever possible.
» Eat fresh vegetables and fruits that are organically grown
» Eat only when hungry and enjoy reasonable portions.
Pay attention to how you feel when eating a particular food.
If you feel energetic and joyful, that’s a sign of decreasing inflammation. But if you feel dull, lethargic, restless, or irritated after eating, that’s a sign of increased inflammation.
7. Relationships
Our relationship is one of the most important aspects of health that we shouldn’t take for granted. We all need to feel connected with others and form positive, loving, and supportive relationships. And if those waver, we have to have the skills to manage conflicts productively and the resilience to tolerate ambivalence and uncertainty.
Social relationships are vital for they create support systems that can assist us. A recent study investigated the connections between social lives, marital satisfaction, and happiness, and they found out that those who spent more time with others reported greater levels of happiness.
The impact of surrounding ourselves with those who truly care for and love us should never be understated.
As the demands of life increase and stress mounts, our support system becomes our source of power and determination. Fostering and culminating our social connections take time and energy, but are worth it and will affect our lives tremendously.
Self-aware self-care is a way for you to balance activities and preserve longevity and fulfillment in both your personal & professional life.
By acknowledging and incorporating the 7 Pillars of Health and the daily practices of Ayurveda in our daily lives, we can reach our optimal state of health, happiness, and balance.
My life has been changed- and I continue to be inspired by the lessons of Ayurveda, along with the lessons from psychoanalysis and the many experiences and transformations of clients, students, and patients.
I aspire to share with YOU the wonders of these teachings and their capacity to organize unique personalized paths to healing for you.
It’s not in being perfect but in achieving balance in everything we do that we find the infinite possibilities for ideal health and lifestyle. And every day, I am inspired to share the wisdom of living the best life and of trusting one’s internal power from the clues we get from our mind and body. This wisdom can be accessed as we listen deeply to ourselves. We can do this alone through various practices and with our own trusted guides, teachers, therapists, or coaches. We need a multi-pronged approach to mind-body-spirit health for overall peace, wellness, fulfillment, and resilience.
When we live a healthy lifestyle, with self-confidence and self-awareness and utilize our inner wisdom and the collective wisdom of the universe or consciousness, then we can live a full, effective, confident life in holistic balance.
