What is required for restoring health?
Optimum health is a birth right of everyone. In fact, everyone would agree, striving for good physical and mental health is a worthy goal in life. Think about it, anything that we want to achieve in life for ourselves and others becomes pretty hard to do without good health. As intelligent human beings, most of us are quite aware of what is good and what's not for our health and well being. Even though we all want good physical health i.e. ideal weight, no pain or discomfort, why is that than we continue to make choices (be it diet or lifestyle related) that results in harming our health and wellbeing?
Even though we long for good physical health, being able to achieve it actually depends on the state of one's mind. It is said that "A strong mind is able to carry a weak body, but a weak mind cannot carry a strong body for long". Some of the factors that can help in successfully restoring one's health include:
Sense of responsibility for one's own health
100% commitment to achieving health goals come what may
Proper planning / preparation
Take help from those who have done this before (e.g. health coaching)
Get a health plan and stick with it till health goals are achieved
Persistent effort especially when situations get difficult
develop resilience and strength to say NO to temptations and cravings
Be in the company of those who are supportive and health conscious
Staying away from places, people and activities that negatively effects health
In short, we need to create an environment where health can actually establish roots. We are all capable of achieving the best possible health that we deserve. However, what's good and what's not (especially when we have health issues) is not always very clear. When one is sick or unwell, we need guidance and support. This is where a health conscious friend or a qualified health coach can be of tremendous help. A good health coach instills hope and is a source of constant encouragement/support especially when one is seemingly going through the darkest hour (in terms of lack of health).
Our body and mind is always striving towards equilibrium (healthy state) which is the natural state of our being. It is the wrongful food choices and lifestyle habits that pushes us into an unhealthy physical and mental state. Health happens naturally when the health promoting environment for it is established. Personally, I have seen high-nutrition diet and smart lifestyle choices make serious improvements in many of my clients health within just 12 weeks.
Our body is endowed with tremendous self healing abilities. When we cut ourselves or break a bone, its the intelligence present in the body that takes action to heals itself. Even when fed unhealthy foods on regular basis, the body does its very best to keep the (balance) for as long as it possibly can. It can take a lot of abuse in the form of wrong foods and lifestyle habits before it finally breaks down. Unfortunately due to so much misinformation about diet, many people who think they are eating relatively healthy are actually way off the mark.
The good news is that, even at the worst of times, when there is no obvious hope for recovery, if one decides (with 100% commitment) to follow a cleansing, nutritarian diet and adopt lifestyle habits, the body is able to get better from many types of ailments. The sooner one makes the required changes, the higher the chances of successful recovery.
Unfortunately, 80% commitment does not lead to 80% success rate. The best results that I have seen in my clients have came from those who had been 100% committed to restoring their health. The role of the health coach is to provide guidance and support but the responsibility of actually following the guidance and taking required action lies with my clients. As part of my holistic health coaching, I strive hard to teach my clients what causes disease, how to avoid getting disease and how to recover from it (to the extent the body is able to given the damage that has been done).
Conclusion:
Striving for a high degree of physical and mental health must take precedence over almost everything else happening in one's life. One cannot be of much use to anyone including kids, spouse, parents, service projects etc., if the optimum health is not present. We spend so much money on many things but when it comes to restoring our own physical and mental health, we unfortunately find ourselves thinking if its worth spending money. There is an old saying "Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time". What it means in term of health is that, if one has treated their body in less than optimum way (either intentionally or intentionally), one must be willing to pay a price for it to get it back in shape. This could mean spending money on eating the best quality foods and staying away from foods which might be tasty but bad for the health. It also mean taking guidance (when needed) from the best resource available. Looking for the short cuts and quick fixes always bring one back to the start line.
Lastly, we need to realize, even though money is important, it always comes and goes and so are the invitations to weddings/events/functions etc. Our first and foremost priority should be our health and wellbeing. I have seen it many times, once the health starts falling, it goes downwards pretty fast. One must avoid falling prey to the thinking, oh I don't have any symptoms yet, or I can tolerate the pain, discomfort and will make a change later when I have more time. Take it from me, once you loose your health, its a long journey back.
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