Healthy Lifestyle Alternatives
By Tomas and Joan Heartfield, Ph.D
Are you feeling as good as you want to feel? Do you even know how good you can feel? When you see a really healthy child who gets up in the morning excited about life we have an idea what optimum health can look like. The truth is we don’t have to lose that zest for life as we get older. Abundant energy can be had throughout our lives if we become conscious of our choices as they occur. Do you have the knowledge and/or the tools for radiant physical health?
You can feel as good as you’d like to feel, far better probably than you can even imagine. Illness is no longer a mysterious thing that strikes some people but not others. Research has shown what creates illness, and what creates health. The good news is that having great health is truly and totally in our own hands and minds. We determine how healthy we are with our choices and therefore we determine how good we choose to feel!
Depending on your health now, what level of health you wish to achieve and how quickly you’d like to get to that point will determine what program we design with you. We know that you have to be involved in the process of choice. This is not something that is being done to you. It is being done by you. It’s really just a process of consciously accepting responsibility for your own health and energy levels.
Lifestyle and habits are the basis and bedrock for good health. Choosing clean, simple nutritious organic foods is foundational. This gives your body what it needs to fight the dis-ease in everyday life. Deleting from your diet non-nutritious foods, beverages and tobacco is a first step. Drinking plenty of pure water is the next step. The kind of water you drink will be discussed later.
Your attitude towards life and how you deal with stress is foundational. Stress produces acids in the body and is a major cause of disease. Those who have large helpings of stress in their life have a tendency towards stimulants which tax the immune functions and further add to the acidic effects of stress. B complex vitamins with extra zinc can lessen the effects. Protein and carbohydrate balances are also important. It affects digestion and emotions in very complex and specific ways.
Exercise you enjoy on a regular basis is foundational. You need some exercise that keeps you strong, some that keeps you flexible and some that is aerobic. Oxygen is tantamount for mamallian existence. We can get it in great quantities for free by simply exercising. Usually an hour a day is enough. If you want the extra energy to fight fatigue and depression this is a must. Our sedentary lifestyles destroy our vitality by reducing our oxygen intake.
In addition to these foundational pieces, there are advanced pharmaceutical’s that have pinpointed nutrients that can speed up the healing process by creating a climate in our bodies that is unfriendly to disease. We know specifically what our bodies need in various circumstances, and what will best support each stage of our trek toward health. The information is available to make the best possible choices for you as you are in your life at present. We have to start somewhere. Most people don’t change their habits until they are really sick, and then sometimes it is too late. Or it takes a long time to regain real health.
Regaining a level of health where you feel really good most of the time is not hard. A healthy lifestyle is one of the easiest and most fun ways to live, once you’re in it. What it takes to get to that place usually takes some reprogramming and the effort is really mostly at the beginning. We operate out of habit patterns. Old habit patterns have been practiced for a long time. Developing and practicing new habit patterns is where the work is. The rewards for taking this effort, fortunately, are felt pretty much right away. Within a month at the outside.
Sometimes it feels almost like there is something or someone in us that undermines our efforts to change bad habits. Building self-esteem and releasing unworthiness, shame and guilt creates more self-acceptance and self-love. This appreciation and love for who we are and what we have to offer supports our direction toward good health. When we feel bad inside, we tend to choose habits that hurt us. When we feel good about ourselves, we choose habits that make us healthy.
Better, good and excellent health starts with a decision to move in that direction. Like any new endeavour, the energy it takes to make the change comes mostly at the beginning. As you begin feeling better and better, you start to look forward to your walks, workouts, fresh meals, yoga, meditation….all the things that bring you a feeling of aliveness and joy. In no time, the experience itself has taken over, and you’re in the habit of health. And after all, health is our greatest wealth!
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