How can you tell if you are truly well? Panning across the horizon of life, at what point in the frame can you see your optimal health? If your overall wellness is a bit fuzzy, the good news is that wellness is not just a snapshot of a moment in time, but a broad picture of many dimensions of health including how you eat, move, work, spend, and feel on a regular basis. View a healthy future closer to reality with small but regular measurable actions. Wellness is not an accident, so plan well to be well!
What are your goals and aspirations for your life? Grow your business? Retire in comfort? Drive your dreams into reality by writing them down in bright detail. Consult a Certified Financial Planner® to help you smartly leverage your finances, wealth, and assets to achieve those dreams that have financial value attached to them.
Move with a purpose. Movement is essential for physical health and social wellness, the outcomes of which are known to improve with like-minded people and positive reinforcement such as encouraging words and actions. Old sedentary habits die hard like new year’s resolutions vanishing in mere weeks.
Like winter birds you are more likely to reach your destination and stay on the health journey with the support of a flock. Lonely birds just don’t fare as well as those who stick together. Casual acquaintances may occasionally balk at accompanying you to the gym, but you can avoid the disappointment and hire a fitness trainer who will always be there for you, rain or shine. Professional fitness trainers make it their job to mind your schedule and keep you on track like no one else, and often are a part of a larger fitness network.
“Spending an hour with others who are focusing on health helps everyone stay on the path,” say Fitness Trainers Rob and Sara Willis. “Our clients want to be healthy and fit in the years to come, so they can enjoy their kids and grandkids, and have an active retirement.”
The right trainer will bust you out of winter isolation with a customized workout based on your needs and goals. They should assess you regularly and train and supervise your use of equipment to minimize injury and challenge you appropriately. High intensity but low impact activity is best to systematically build your strength, endurance and flexibility. And most importantly fitness is more rewarding when the members and trainers have a positive social network and an upbeat atmosphere where everyone looks like they are enjoying themselves and support each other during challenging workouts.
Emotional and Spiritual Wellness are two spokes of the wheel that significantly affect the strength and fortitude of overall wellness. Although it is important to acknowledge the spiritual aspect of wellness, it is not a decree on how to address this sacred part of life. Most people report feeling happier when they have a sense of connectedness and purpose, regardless of whether they consider themselves to be spiritual or pious.
The concept of spiritual integration found in the healing arts of yoga, chi gong, meditation, and reiki are based on restoring energetic balance through connection of the body and mind as a wholly integrated and spiritual being. This delicate balance of mind-body-spirit can be known through the practice of yoga and meditation with many beneficial effects on emotional and mental health. The energetic essence of spirit can be felt in the body as a deep sense of peace and calm which directly influences emotional balance and wellbeing, which for some can be felt in a community celebration of spirit while others feel it more strongly in a sanctuary of solitude.
Emotional wellness is the result of self-care, mindful relaxation, and stress reduction, all of which are components of a gentle supportive yoga practice adapted for individual needs. Research shows a consistent practice of yoga and other mindfulness techniques produce mood enhancing hormones and increase neurotransmitters such as serotonin and GABA. These naturally occurring brain chemicals combat anxiety and stabilize the nervous system, encouraging positive relationship with all other aspects of wellness.
Self care is the way to reduce stress and increase qi, the energy that moves us all. Self care is not just a buzz word, but a serious wellness matter. It is a string of daily acts of love and compassion towards yourself, repeated over time, that result in true health and wellness.
