Here are the foundational elements that were created that focuses on all the important levels of health and wellness. They can provide the fundamental steps to living a longer, happier and healthier life.
1. Physical Health: Your physical well-being requires that you be physically active not just once or twice a month but rather once or twice per week at minimum. Physical activity allows your body to create adequate blood supply to all areas of your body, including your brain. When we lack physical exercise it creates stagnation in the area of the brain that releases endorphins. This hormone allows us to be stress and pain free. Stress and pain are directly related to the release of endorphins. In fact, when there is an increase in stress and pain endorphins are released at lower levels in the brain. When two individuals stay active and do the same amount of exercise both of them would release endorphins differently. They’re also certain foods like chili and chocolate can help secrete more endorphins in the brain. However, if physical exercise is a challenge for you, you’re unable to either participate in or you rather not do on a frequent basis, there are other alternatives to releasing more endorphins in the body, such as acupuncture and massage. 2. Emotional Health: Your emotional health remains one of the most important aspects necessary to maintain overall wellness. Your emotional health allows you to see clearly through the world. It allows you to be level-headed around certain circumstances and events taking place each and every day. To function at an optimal level around your emotional health, it requires that you take a step back and look mindfully to create calculated decisions that can either be detrimental or rewarding in life. Suffering with mental conditions including anxiety and depression is quite common in the world therefore it’s up to each and every one of us to care for our emotional health inorder to take our health and wellness to the next level.3. Spiritual Health: When we think of spirituality many people believe it has to do with religion. However, it goes much deeper than this concept. Spiritual wellness can help you get through the toughest days in your life. It is important to be aware of who you are in this world because we are all uniquely created. What spiritual practice might be beneficial for one person may not be suitable for another.
It is important to look at what makes your values, beliefs and principles significant to you. By doing this introspective evaluation you’ll be able to determine what spiritual practices and guidance would be required to start your spiritual practice regularly. By doing this practice daily it allows you to transition into healthier physical and emotional habits in life.4. Cultural Health: We’re all connected in some way, shape or form in this world. Yet it is easy to feel isolated and alone on an island if we do not have community or togetherness. Relationships should be an essential part of our lives in today’s society. It is difficult to go through life without the proper support if you suffer from physical, emotional or even spiritual problems in general. It is critical to be aware of the different cultures around us. Surprisingly enough we can all create a sense of community where people of all walks of life can unite and support one another.
If we open our minds and our hearts to cultural awareness we can then see differently and realize that our support system does not only have to be centered turn around our family members, friends or co-workers. It can expand outside to individuals of different cultures and all walks of life.5. Social Health: Having adequate social health requires than you have the ability to form satisfying relationships with other people in your community. It requires that you’re able to adapt comfortably to different social situations while acting appropriately during these various settings.
Being socially healthy makes up of having relationships with friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors or other like minded people in your communities. It is about providing a certain amount of empathy, a sense of accountability, trust, encouragement and respectful personal boundaries that can provide you a certain level of sustainable health that you need for maintaining an active life.
6. Cognitive Health: In order to be cognitively healthy it requires that you feed your brain the essential fuel necessary for vital energy. As we age we begin to realize that our memory isn’t as sharp as we would like it to be. To have excellent concentration without memory fog it’s essential to add healthy fats to our diet. It is also important to add healthy leafy greens (or a plant-based diet) including cutting down on excessive amounts carbohydrates. Having the right amount of sleep each night can uplevel your cognitive health. For women this can be a challenge with hormonal imbalance as you age. So it’s critical that you’re able to have at least seven hours of sleep to reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s, memory problems, lack of concentration and other brain related conditions that can eventually affect your physical health.These six areas of health and wellness can be a foundation or guide to creating a more abundant life that you desire. Baby steps can be implemented which you can then gradually scale up if you desire.
Camille McClellan, MD, DNM, MBS Naturopathic practitioner McClellan Natural Health, Wellness & Nutrition Free Naturopathic/Homeopathic Consults Available