I desperately want to live my life in a way that I do not need to be faced with a crisis before I make the necessary changes to live better, happier, and healthier. Low and behold, I am human. I am a human with a natural affinity to learn the hard way. So, like you, I may often need a crisis before I am willing to put the time, effort, and energy into making necessary changes.

 

Right now we are collectively experiencing a crisis. We’re facing some unique challenges at the moment and tension is high. Stress and fear, historically speaking, has not served anyone well in times of crisis. While we navigate the current crisis, let us utilize this as opportunity. While our “health care” system could desperately use a good looking at, we as individuals need to really evaluate what “health care” really means. Most of the time what we’re really discussing is “sick care”. What if we reclaimed our power and really took the time to evaluate what health care really is?

 

The fundamental purpose of health care is to enhance quality of life by enhancing health. For most health means being free of injury or disease. The literal tagline of my business is “redefining healthy”. I speak to a lot of people and watch them hold back an eye-roll (or openly roll their eyes) when I use the term “holistic'“. If you would like to reclaim your power and really take the time to evaluate what health care is, you’ll need to do a little digging into how we are defining this broad terms.

 

‘Health” should be defined as physical, mental, and social wellbeing; encompassing all of the resources for living a full life. Health is not only the absence of illness or pain, but the ability to recover and bounce back. While genetics are a factor; environment, relationships, and education are equal (if not more powerful) factors. When speaking of health that is what holistic means. Beyond the philosophy that all things are interconnected, the word holistic in regards to health is characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.

 

If you can accept that your health refers to your physical, mental, and social wellbeing as well as your ability to recover and bounce back from disease and injury - if you can accept that you are utilizing doctors and medication as sick care - what then would you consider to be your personal health care system?

 

For me, health care is:

 

• Rest & Sleep

• Hydration

• Movement

• Quiet/Peace

• Connection/Community

• Food

• Nature/Fresh Air/The OG Vitamin D (sunshine)

• Cleanliness (my hands, my body, my space)

• Fun

 

I have an entire health care system in place that I practice its components with intention daily. I prioritize sleep and rest. I prioritize hydration by carrying around a giant bottle of water like my own little security blanket. I prioritize movement whether it’s through traditional modes like swimming, biking, and yoga or playing with my son, dancing, or literally just mindfully moving my physical body. I prioritize quiet and peace by practicing meditation, intentionally quieting my environment, and saying no to things that will leave me little to no time to do that. I prioritize connection and community by reaching out to others, showing up for classes and friends, and especially during this time where so many are socially distancing in the physical sense I take the opportunity to utilize things like social media to genuinely connect with others.

 

I use my food as health care. Instead of focusing on what you believe you shouldn’t eat - focus on what you want to eat more of to promote a healthy immune system.

 

Nature, fresh air, and sunshine - these things exist even when the sky is grey and raining. If you don’t like the run and cold you could still pause when going from the house to the car to take even three conscious active breaths and this alone could change the trajectory of your day. While we all should have been washing our hands (and bodies) with regularity and vigor we should also be cleaning and decluttering our physical spaces. I prioritize fun by simply having fun even when it might not make sense to be having fun. I’ll put on fun music and dance around while putting away my laundry; while it may add a couple minutes on to the task it also means I’ll do it more often and have more vitality to get other things done a little quicker.

 

During this time of crisis let’s release the stress and fear that will not serve us, and certainly won’t make us well. Utilize this crisis as an opportunity to make the necessary changes to redefine healthy; to reclaim your power and start your own health care system that you are able to implement into your everyday life. Create a health care system that is going to support your physical, mental, and social wellbeing so that you are able to recover and bounce back when you are hit with illness or injury.

 

Here’s to redefining healthy,

 

Melissa