21st Century Wellness
If your day started with your alarm going off and you dragging yourself out of bed feeling and you’ve been feeling like this for a while, listen up because we’re talking about 21st Century Wellness.
What exactly is this concept of “wellness” anyway that seems to be thrown around more than my backside in a spinning class? Well, excuse the pun, but wellness is not the body, fitness or even the relaxation obsession that seems to be sweeping the globe. Wellbeing does not come from external events, people or situations. It comes from you and from creating a life where you feel well. It is an integrated concept of body, mind, heart and sprit.Think about it how could you be well if you obsessed about how much food you ate? How could you be well if you felt sad all the time? How could you be well if your thoughts were constantly driven by feelings of not being good enough? Even if you went to gym every day and ate the right foods, you would not feel well about your life in general, right?
Although wellness will, specifically, mean different things to different people, it generally means a feeling of wellbeing in all aspects of your life. It includes having a sense of purpose, a capacity to cope, a high self esteem, the ability to make decisions, a good relationship with one’s body and a general feeling of contentment. It doesn’t mean that you’re perfect or that everything goes right all the time.
So before you slink back in guilt considering that you shouted at the kids this morning, took a double helping of chocolate cake yesterday after skipping gym and called your best friend to tell her how much your mother drives you crazy, don’t.
Wellness is ALSO;
· The ability to feel your emotions – all your emotions, not just the nice ones
· The ability to establish boundaries
· The ability to allow yourself to make mistakes
· The ability to accept ALL of you – even the parts of ourselves you may not like that much.
All sounds fabulous but how exactly do we get to feeling well in body, mind, heart and spirit? Many people I’ve spoken to, think they automatically have to lose weight or find a new job or be nicer to their children. These solutions are not sustainable because they are not real. Anyway it begins within. Try rather to;
· Acknowledge your feelings. Maybe the kids did make you angry, if you try to suppress it, the feeling will only magnify. Doesn’t mean you have to take it out on them but you can allow yourself to feel the anger. Keep a journal, it helps and also allows you to spot trends.
· Do something that you love every day. You don’t have to change jobs or even countries. Just do one thing that you love. For me, it’s the half hour before bed where I get to read.
· Move your body. That’s right, just move it. You don’t have to go to gym, find something you enjoy; house work, dancing, walking with friends or even making love to your spouse will get those ‘happy chemicals’ otherwise known as endorphins flowing.
· Eat food that gives you energy. I’m not saying don’t eat chocolate, goodness knows I don’t think I’d last a week without it but add it as an extra to nutritious foods rather than substitute it.
· Try to see the bigger picture. Sometimes we get so caught up in the details of life that we forget about the bigger picture. Let go of trying to be perfect and enjoy each moment that presents itself to you.
· Do things and spend time with people who keep you inspired. Think about when you last walked away from an activity or a person feeling great – awesome wasn’t it?
· Spend a little time in silence every day. Each of us intuitively knows the path to our own sense of wellness. It’s just that sometimes we are unable to access it because we spend too much time out, in front of the TV, listening to the radio or talking to others. Silence and preferably some form of meditation is the gateway to unlocking your own path to wellness.
· AND MOST IMPORTANTLY forget about being perfect.
Lisa is a holistic wellness coach and founder of Life Inc. She assists individuals in achieving sense of empowerment and wellness is all aspects of their lives. In partnership with MediSpace, Life Inc, runs the LiveWell™ program to enable organisations to proactively manage their own wellness.
With a love of forests and stillness, she regularly runs retreats in the forested paradise of Magoebaskloof. She is the author of “Learning to Love Lisa” and apart from her love of writing, she loves mountain biking, chocolate, her best friend Viv and her cat Samwise.
For more information log onto www.lifeinc.co.za
