Healing and Wellness

Man, so many people are getting sick these days. Seems like every day, somebody is worried about their health, dealing with serious illness, or trying to figure out what's wrong. My sister has a lot friends that have heard her story, my mother's story, my story, and are trying to cope with health issues a plenty.

So, in each case, the symptoms are different, the problems have different names, the doctors give different advice, prescribe different medication, and the only constant is that nothing is ever cured. But, that is the world we live in, and the people that we've become. We don't worry about our short-term choices, and how they may effect our long term health. We don't worry about our health, unless it's compromised at this very moment. We are very reactionary, and hence we want instant cures, a magic pill, or a simple and easy cure. We care more about our symptoms that fixing the root cause, and industry has followed suit.

I overheard a commercial for flu medication, and couldn't help but carefully listen to the words. "Treat your flu symptoms with ..." "Feel better by dealing with your symptoms with ..." It's all about the symptoms, isn't it? And not the root cause.

So, what is the root cause? I don't pretend to know. But, I can put my opinion out there for you to consider. I think it's fairly simple.

1.) Stress
2.) Poor Diet
3.) Lack of Exercise

If you are stressed out, have a bad diet, and don't exercise, then you're more apt to be ill, have problems, take medicine or drugs to try and deal with the symptoms of your problems. You may not have problems with all three, just one or two, and that may be enough to cause major problems.

Think about it. Stress affects your immune system, and takes away so much attention and time from taking care of yourself. We deal with stress by eating poorly, not exercising, and becoming more stressed. So many disease and health problems (diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, etc.) are diet related. You eat poorly, and your health metrics suffer, it's that simple. And lack of exercise weakens you, closes your body, tightens your joints, makes you lethargic, and doesn't enable you to take care of your stress and poor diet. Aren't they all inter-related somehow?

So what should I do? Well, quite simply, deal with the issues as best you can, and be conscious about them, and your choices in your life to improve them. You're not going to be perfect, nobody is, but you can heal yourself dramatically if you try. And stick to it, don't try for a week, then give up. Try it for 6 weeks, see what happens, and if you see improvement, do it for another 6 weeks. Be as discipline or as flexible as you wish, there's no absolute method or recipe, do what you want, but be conscious, and keep trying.

Here's what I do:

For stress, I do yoga and meditate. I love yoga. It's the greatest gift you can give to yourself, to practice yoga regularly. The stretching and exercise is just a small aspect, but the peace and calm it gives you, by learning how your breath works, gives you a method to find relaxation, and reduce stress. Try it, take a class, don't worry about the weirdness, just see what it does for you. And again, do it for 6 weeks with a few teachers, and then decide, not just 1 time with 1 teacher. Or just rent a yoga DVD and try it yourself. I hope you'll find that yoga, as simple as it is, to simply breathe and relax, is a cheap and simple method to reduce stress, much better than a magic pill.

For diet, I'm a vegan, so it's pretty much already done there. Becoming a vegan is the greatest decision I've ever made for my health. I love being a vegan. For you, that might be extreme, and I totally understand that. If anything, research and find out what type of diet do professionals and medical folks recommend to cure your illness. What types of food should you avoid? I think it'll be a common theme, eat more fruits and vegetables, whole foods, unprocessed, plant-based, and less dairy and animal products. It seems universal, but you can do research and make that decision on your own.

For exercise, I go to gym 3-5 times a week, and train for marathons and half-marathons once a year (usually training lasts for 3-4 months, then I take a lot of time off away from running). I love to do gentle cardio, light weight lifting, lots of core work, and lots of stretching. I don't like to do high-impact, plyometric, or heavy lifting type of work, not at my age. My body does much better with easier stuff, I feel fresher, more open and more flexible. But, again, listen to your body, and make your conscious choices here as well.

Now, I know what you're going to say. You're extreme, how do find the time? I know, I get that a lot. I'm not extreme, I'm a regular guy, a family man, and I have a lot of responsibilities with work and my family. You can make the time, you don't need to make any excuses. And in the end, it's totally worth it. Spend some time now, while the time is 'cheap' so you can live a healthy and full life, and not worry about being sick, being ill, being less than optimal later on. You don't have to be like most older people, who walk with pain, and carry a bag full of medicine. You have a conscious choice to take care of yourself just by dealing with stress, diet, and exercise.