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What is health?
In our many years of practice, this has proved to be a
surprisingly misunderstood word. The classic definition of
health, courtesy of the World Health Organization, is
"optimal physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease and infirmity."
Webster's Dictionary says health is "Physical and mental
well-being: freedom from disease. … A condition of body or
mind. … Soundness or vitality."
Unfortunately, we find that most people understand the
definition but not the application.
Health is a process, not an event. It's the present effect,
a natural, harmonious by-product, of events, experiences and
lifestyles chosen in the past. In other words, it's our
history expressing itself in the present. Our level of
health is expressed moment to moment on a continuum (with
death at one end and excellent health at the other). Good
health is the balanced outcome of living in harmony with the
environment we are currently subject to. It has to do with
how we interpret and respond to that environment. Charles
Darwin said, "It is not the strongest nor the smartest of
the species that survives but the one most able to adapt to
change."
When we ask our clients to describe illness, they describe
characteristics of various symptoms, diseases, lack of
function, poor quality of life, disability and unhealthy
patterns. We observe that clients can describe what they
don't want (illness, pain, disease, disability), but when we
ask patients what health is, they are unable to come up with
much more than a "lack of pain and feeling good". We are
concerned with the immediate gratification of feeling good
no matter what the long term cost or worse, covering up
symptoms versus listening to what the symptom is telling us
about our life and our environment.
For us, health is the ability for the whole body to
correctly interpret the environment and choose from a wide
range of available choices the most appropriate response for
that moment. The expression of health may lend to the
presence of symptoms if we are harming the body or need to
change our direction in our lifestyle choices. For example,
if you are digging in the garden, and bent over in a
prolonged poor posture, wouldn't a healthy body give you
signals to change your position? What if you do not listen
to them? What if you cover up the symptoms? W hat might
occur? As another example, if you are sitting at your desk
with a slouched posture, what might a healthy body do to let
you know to change positions? What might it do if you needed
more air? Likely it would give you signals to move, do the
opposite postural stretch, sigh or yawn for greater
inspiration. In another instance have you noticed that when
you come up to a certain challenge (person, place, thing)
you may develop a headache or tension in your shoulders or
neck? What might that symptom be telling you about your
ability to adapt to the challenge? What might happen if you
ignore it?
As noted above, since the WHO defines health as much more
than the absence of disease and infirmity, we would like you
to consider your level of "soundness or vitality". As the
saying goes: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure." As the mind trains itself to our input and
programming, how can you move yourself in a positive
direction along the continuum of improved health?
Reflect on the questions posed below and fill in the
answers. Add characteristics of your own. Refine your
answers with ever finer detail. The greater your detail, the
greater your focus. Begin working away at pieces of your
list in small bites so as to not be overwhelmed. Visualize
them and take action steps daily to move yourself in the
direction of your priorities. You need to act as if you
were that healthy person by making the necessary lifestyle
changes now! Create the master plan of a healthy person and
begin living it. You may notice some health changes
immediately, while it may take years before you're fully
aware of other changes. No one else can do this for you, and
you owe it to yourself to re-create the beautiful you. Every
day, take the baby steps you know you need to take to begin
living as a healthy person. Challenges may arise to pull you
off course, but recognize them for what they are,
interruptions and lessons. |
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