Oh great, another new term… what do I need to change now?
If this is your reaction, relax. I’m not asking you to change one more thing. I’m asking you to change everything. LOL
Lifestyle wellness is a term I love. I embraced it after reading “Lifestyle Medicine Handbook- an introduction to the power of healthy habits” from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. We all need a bit of light reading, right? The premise is that in addition to the medical solutions we are most familiar with, there are also another sort of “medicine,” the medicine of living in a way that encourages your body to heal and become its best.
Your body is an amazing healer. Cells can replicate themselves to replace damaged or unhealthy cells. When a bone breaks, your body immediately begins producing new cells to heal the damage. A cut in your skin signals blood to clot and stop the bleeding. Our immune system deals with unwelcome guests like viruses, bacteria, and toxins. Our bodies are in a constant state of removing damage and producing new, healthy tissue. This damage is sometimes due to accident or injury, and sometimes is self-inflicted.
By self-inflicted, I’m referring to things we do to our bodies, minds and environment that the body must overcome to remain whole and healthy. I’m very interested in viewing our life as a wellness bath and I want my life to bathe my body in things that help it stay strong, building its energy to heal the unexpected interlopers.
For your body to work as its master healer self, it needs energy. Here’s where your choices begin- how to build and conserve energy your body can access so it has maximum power to keep you well and happy.
Let’s say our bodies build energy through quality of food intake, rest, breathing and your mental state of mind. Our body expends energy in several ways:
thru basic life maintaining work- breathing, circulation, nutrient processing, cell production, digestion, absorption of foodstuffs and in physical activity. Our body and mind also expend energy when we allow ourselves to rest in fight, flight or freeze mode, rather than seeking to restore relaxation mode.
To take it a step further, our bodies expend more energy trying to figure out how to digest and use processed foods, preservatives, artificial flavors, colors and other chemicals than it does when it is enjoying basic healthy foods with no additives. Drop a paper bag in your garden and it gets broken down and incorporated into the soil. Drop a plastic bag and it’s there for as long as you will be and it’s blocking the earthworms and the plants’ lives. Same with junk we put in our body. Nature makes food that works for our body. Generally, industrial produced food contains stuff that your body has no idea what to do with.
Same principle applies with chemicals used on and around the body. Wonder why that bathroom cleaner makes you cough and makes your eyes water? Not because “it’s strong and good at doing its job.” Those responses are your body saying, “Help, this crap is poison.”
In the US, it is acceptable to sell products containing many toxic chemicals that are banned in the European Union and many other countries. When these chemicals are present on and around your body, breathing them in, your body has to manage the damage. The chemicals can’t be used so when we’re lucky, they’re filtered out and excreted but that’s more work for the body. In other cases, the toxins get stored in fat, in the liver… who knows where it all tucked for “safe keeping.”
On day one, your body can manage these toxins but it is expending extra energy to do so. After 20 years and more of exposure… think about the energy wasted, the toxins you have on board and how that all could be affecting your body’s power to remain healthy and strong, resilient and resistant. Perhaps making some changes to assist your body are in order?
If our body is a healer, when why is the first thing we do is take a pill or see a doctor rather than take restorative action? I think because that is how we are trained. We see a physician as a wiser resource. However, you are actually the expert on your unique body. Lifestyle medicine isn’t saying don’t see your physician. It is seeking to help you understand that imbalances in your life- body, mind and spirit- come long before disease sets in. Live in a more balanced way and your body’s natural healing abilities have time and strength to work.
In this series of blogs, I starting with this overview, then will follow with a variety of topics. My goal is to explain how simple changes in your way of life that you might not have considered, are really important to thriving in our changing world. You’ll think some are so easy, “how can they make a difference?” Others, well… others can be tough. I’m not asking you to change everything. I’m just imparting some new knowledge so you might choose to change a bit or a lot.
So, welcome to the ride… some will be interested, some will not. I get it. But I’ve gotten this old and am still mostly functional by doing a lot of what I’ll talk about. And I’m still making changes today. I have power when it comes to my health and wellness. I want you to feel that power too.
Sending light and love to us all.
❤️