Six Holistic Ways to Increase Your Physical Well-Being
Lynda Monk
There are many dimensions of health and wellness including physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and occupational. Here are six ways to increase your physical well-being while also recognizing the interconnection of body, mind, heart and spirit:
1) Physical well-being is about more than your body weight - So often people equate physical well-being with how much they weigh. While having a healthy body weight is very important to overall health and vitality, physical well-being also embraces how you feel in your physical body. Does your physical body support you to achieve all that you aspire to in your life? Does it move easily? Is your body pain free? Does it feel flexible? Do you enjoy moving often? Try to think of your physical well-being beyond simply body weight into a question of overall vitality, energy, and comfort (free from aches and pains).
2) Appreciate and listen to the wisdom of your body - this vessel that carries your heart, your soul, it is worthy of thanking for all the ways it holds you up, carries you through daily life. Our bodies are constantly giving us information. It is common for individuals to ignore the information from their body unless they get quite ill or are in a lot of physical pain; in other words, many people start listening when the volume of the body's call for attention gets turned up high. How do you listen to the whispers of your body? Those quiet longings for care and attention - perhaps a craving for a brisk walk, a hike in nature, yoga stretches to work out areas of stiffness, a refreshing drink of water, a call for a simple pause, a deep replenishing breath?
3) Self-talk - what is your internal dialogue about/with your physical body? Is it a loving stream of affirming messages or a litany of observations about imperfections and wishes that some part of your body (some part of yourself) be different? Positive self-talk might sound something like this, "I really love my legs, they are long and lean and strong." Negative self-talk might sound something like this, "I hate my thighs, they are too fat." Self-talk has energy to it and it plays a role in shaping our reality. The body responds to loving, affirming and accepting messages. Allow your self-talk to support what you want in your physical body, versus being filled with messages of what you don't want.
4) Taking action - are there parts of your physical well-being that you would like to improve? Perhaps you want to exercise more or eat a more healthy diet, drink more water, pay more attention to your physical body through meditation or reflective journaling? Or maybe you want less of something? Maybe you want to shed a few pounds? Or you might long for a sense of support and community for your health and physical wellness goals? Most of us have something we want to improve upon when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle. What areas of change regarding your physical well-being are calling you at this time? How can you take action? What support might you need to define and reach your goals? 5) Consider body work as part of your overall physical health - there are many healing modalities and body-centered paths to health and wellness. Massage, Reiki, Healing Touch, Shiatsu, Hellerwork, Rolfing, Chiropractics, Physiotherapy, accupuncture, accupressure, and so forth. Each modality offers something different. Many employee benefit packages cover some of these health treatments. It can be fun finding your favourite one!
6) Relaxation matters - research shows that when we are more stressed our physical body responds in the following ways - increased blood pressure, holds onto body fat, metabolism slows down, muscle tension increases, sleep can get disrupted, concentration is more difficult, etc. Stress management is critical for maintaining or achieving physical health (it is also essential for our emotional and mental health as well). Cultivating time for relaxation, rest and replenishment help with reducing stress levels both psychologically and physiologically. What helps you relax? How often do you take a break, stop all the perpetual doing and simply be?
Over the next week, try paying attention to the many ways you care for your physical well-being. Allow yourself to really reflect on this important element of your overall health, wellness, and self-care. Celebrate the parts of your physical well-being that you are proud of, grateful for, also take note of opportunities for improvement. So much our health is in our control with the choices we make. What choices are you making? What choices would you like to make? Wellness is an ongoing decision. You can declare your health and well-being as a top priority over and over again.
About the Author
Lynda Monk, MSW, RSW, MSW educates and supports helping professionals, healers, and leaders to radically reduce stress, prevent burnout and create a well balanced life through the art of self-care. Lynda is the founder of Creative Wellness, an arts-based life and health coaching business that offers signature group coaching programs, replenishing retreats, training, speaking services, information products and holistic wellness resources. Lynda publishes a free bi-weekly Creative Wellness Tips & Tools Museletter offering you both inspiration and information for self-care in mind, body, heart and spirit in both life and work http://eepurl.com/exmc.
Lynda Monk may be contacted at http://www.creativewellnessworks.com.
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