Do I need more exercise? Do I really need to loose weight? There are so many conflicting ideas and ideals it's hard to know what it's really all about
For all of us how we feel is important, whether in our bodies or in our minds and being healthful is an aspiration we often reflect on. Sometimes it can be tough in a busy life to focus on and achieve these goals, or to spend the time understanding what works for you. So what's it all about? And how do we find the right balance?
What does it mean to be healthful? According to Mirriam Webster, “healthful” is an adjective that describes something that is, “beneficial to health of body or mind.
Many of us use the term “healthy” to describe these things that are good for our bodies or mind. So often I've asked myself over the years what things make the body and mind “healthful”? Here is what I have learned.
We only really begin to understand what it means to be health when we discovered the five key elements of health. Not just nutrition, not just exercise, five elements.
These five elements of wellness include your nutrition, sleep, stress management/ relaxation, movement and your relationships/social interactions. In order to be healthful we need to focus on and work with all of these areas to gain balance. To make things easier, let's break these five into three pillars (and hence our name: MIND BODY HEALTHFUL).
The health of your MIND is so important to achieve a healthful state. As you may already be aware most lifestyle diseases, like Heart Disease, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and many more are affected by both mental and physical factors or stressors. If you make changes to how you manage your stress and are making sure that you get proper sleep each night, those things will help you improve your health and head toward your best self.
Are you happy and present in mind and spirit, or are you constantly thinking about what you have to do next and unable to stop and enjoy the little moments? This type of stress contributes to those same diseases, but also to your overall health and wellness. Shifting your mindset and making time for yourself allows you to keep your mind in a healthful state.
Those very same lifestyle diseases can also be managed by changes we make to how we treat and take care of the BODY. If you make sure you get movement into your schedule just a couple times a week, stay hydrated and eat a nutrient dense and colourful diet, you’ll notice not only your disease symptoms change, but you’ll probably have far better social interactions and more energy overall. Many of the practices for a healthful BODY also overlap with the mind and create social opportunities and community. The mind and body are intricately interconnected and your aim is to keep all the pieces of this connection in balance and optimised, so that you are your best self living a HEALTHFUL life.
My own experience is unique to me and so is yours. You can't put each person into the same program and expect the same outcome. Each of us is uniquely individual. The part of our work that brings us so much joy is looking at each client as an individual with their own goals and challenges to achieving their goals. It's why we support you with resources on multiple ways of managing stress, mind or body and help you see the overlap between the two. A HEALTHFUL life looks different for everyone. We focus in on all five areas of #MIND and #BODY so that in the end you look, feel and act #HEALTHFUL.
We tailor our 12 week health and wellness programme with the resources and learning to your specific needs and help you develop the skills to make the lasting changes you desire.
What does being HEALTHFUL look like for you?