Your personal health consists of more than a health history or biometric screening. It is the overall wellness of your body, mind, and spirit. The World Health Organization defines wellness as “…a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Auditing each area of your wellness is the first step in taking charge of your health and making conscious decisions to be healthy.
Physical health
Your physical health goes beyond the sum of all your ailments. Even someone who bravely fights a chronic disease may be more physically fit than a “healthy” person who sits at a desk for 10 hours a day. For instance, how much exercise do you actually get every day? You may be exercising more than you realize, because we don’t often take into consideration chores like housework, gardening, and even playing with our children.
What kinds of foods do you eat? A simple food diary, or diary app on your phone, can provide some real insight into your actual eating habits. You may find that, yes, you really do reach for a salty snack such as potato chips halfway through the day. Replacing this snack with a healthier option can be one way to change your eating patterns. Giving yourself a “gold star” every time you reach for an apple or a leafy green salad can further your motivation towards eating healthier.
Detoxing your body can be a great first step in not only balancing your physical health, but your other areas of health as well. Mother’s Juice has offers three, six, nine, or twelve-day juice cleanse programs that jump-start your body with nutrients and help re-set unhealthy eating patterns. You’ll find that you not only feel better, but have more clarity and creativity of mind.
Emotional health
Your feelings are tied deeply to your overall health, and the fast-paced world of work, school, or childcare can make your forget how important it is to take stock of your emotional well-being. Good emotional health is about being in touch with your deeper feelings, accepting those feelings, and choosing how to respond to your feelings in a confident and productive way. Take some time to analyze the parts of your life that seem emotionally out of balance, and brainstorm strategies to align those areas with your overall health.
Be honest with yourself. If you have a significant other in your life (this can be a family member, a friend, or a spouse) with whom you are having a conflict, reflect on how you can employ gratitude and optimism to bring about change in the relationship. Focus on times in your day when you can practice being mindful. Set aside 5 minutes a day to meditate. Taking a general inventory of your emotions can help you pinpoint the areas of your life that need attention, and recognition is the first step to building a toolkit of inner resources that help you learn and grow.
Intellectual health
We come into the world as little scientists, testing our bodies against gravity and balance as we begin to walk, touching and feeling and tasting anything we can get our little hands on in order to know the world and how it works: how sand falls through a sieve; how water splashes into waves. That wonder at the world, so all-encompassing in childhood, can too easily leave us when “adulting” takes over. If you feel your curiosity about life has waned, make a list of creative activities that might engage your mind.
Some questions you might ask yourself are: When was the last time I read a book? If I could pick up a hobby, what would it be? What if I could take a class in anything I wanted, what would I study? If I could go anywhere in the world, where would I go?
Keeping an active, curious, and open mind helps you garner personal resources that assimilate other realms of wellness, thus leading you to a more balanced life.
Environmental health
Conservation and sustainability aren’t just buzzwords for the environmental movement. Our personal environment has a profound effect on our wellness. Living in harmony with our environment invites community-building, stress reduction, and more balanced lifestyle. At Mother’s Juice, we take environmental health very seriously, using only ingredients sourced locally, and grown in a natural, sustainable way. Think about the ways that you, too, can change your daily habits in order to create a better and more livable environment. This lends greatly to your personal health.
Social health
We are all social beings. Having healthy relationships is a cornerstone of a healthy life. Your social health is not only about having friends, but also actively building genuine connections with those around you. Reflect upon the relationships in your life, and how they support or detract from your life. Do you have relationships that value communication and trust? Do you feel that your relationships build your self-esteem? How do you handle relationships that fall into conflict? Make a list of ideas for ideas for improving relationships, or building new ones. Invest in your local community, and join local social organizations. Having good social wellness enhances our emotional resilience, which in turn lowers our stress levels.
Overall personal health
Performing a personal health audit need not be a time-consuming process. Take just a few minutes every day to jot down an area of your life you’d like to give more attention to on that particular day. Keep a notebook, or journal, that will show your progress over time. You’ll find that the end goal is not so much the finish line, but the journey – towards a healthier community, body, mind, and soul.
