If you could choose to enjoy better health,
would you be interested?
Do increased energy, greater enthusiasm, and an enhanced sense of well-being appeal to you?
How about a greater sense of joy?
The power is your power of choice.
According to the World Health Organization, Health is more than the absence of disease. Health is a state of optimal well-being.” Optimal well-being is a concept of health that goes beyond the curing of illness to one of achieving wellness. Achieving wellness requires balancing the various aspects of the whole person. There aspects are physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. This broader (w)holistic approach to health involves the integration of all these aspects and is an on-going process.
You power lies in the choices you make every day on your own behalf. If you react out of habit or fixed attitudes, you may not be using your choices wisely to create wellness in your life. To create wellness you must expand your focus beyond mere physical health, and:
- Strive to balance and integrate your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects
- Establish respectful, cooperative relationships with your family, friends, community and the environment
- Gather information and make informed wellness-oriented lifestyle choices
- Actively participate in your health decisions and healing process.
Each aspect of yourself must have its needs met, and work in harmony with the other aspects of yourself. Including your:
- Physical you (your body) your tangible structure and the five senses which enable you to touch, see, hear, smell, and taste the world around you
- Emotional you (your feelings) your range of emotions, from fear and anger to love and joy
- Mental You (your thoughts) your knowledge, attitudes and beliefs; Your analytical self
- Spiritual You (your spirit) your relationship with yourself, your creativity, your life purpose, and your relationship with a Higher Power.
All of these aspects work together to make you a whole person. What happens to one aspect, happens to all aspects. This relationship is known as the mind/body connection. All four parts must work in harmony to achieve wellness, each part needs your attention to perform at its best.
- The emotional you needs to give and receive forgiveness, love and compassion; needs to laugh and experience happiness; needs joyful relationships with yourself and others
- The mental you needs self supportive attitudes, positive thoughts and view points, and a positive self-image
- The spiritual you requires inner calmness. openness to your creativity, and trust in your inner knowing
This balance doesn't happen by chance, someone has to be in charge and that someone is always you.
Your behavior and the choices that you make in your life affect your health. You can choose to do more of what's good for you and the world around you, and to do less of what is harmful. You can choose to learn more about your health and the variety of options available to you, and you can choose how you react in a given situation.
In order to make wise choices, however you must know what changes you need to make. To help you to know what changes you need to make and to help you determine your current degree of wellness, take the following short quiz. Do not judge yourself by your answers, simply accept that tomorrow is a new day and that you can always make new choices that we take you to the wellness you desire.
- Do you wake up with enthusiasm for the day ahead?
- Do you have the high energy you need to do what you want?
- Do you laugh easily and often, especially at yourself?
- Do you confidently find solutions for the challenges in your life?
- Do you feel valued and appreciated?
- Do you appreciate others and let them know it?
- Do you have a circle of warm, caring friends?
- Do the choices you make every day get your what you want?
If you answered "no" to any of these questions, congratulations! You have identified areas in your life that you may want to change. This can be valuable information to discuss with your Certified Life Coach.
Adapted from Wellness from Within
American Holistic Health Association
