What is HEALTH?

HEALTH is….?

In the past I aligned the word ‘HEALTH’ to keeping fit and eating well, very much associated to the physical aspect of life. This was my perception based on the knowledge I attained during my upbringing, school, my research and university. I did everything I could to stay healthy. I would exercise daily and make sure I fueled my body with nutritious foods for optimum health.

Over the last 5 years, with my expanded knowledge as a Life Coach and doing my own self-discovery and personal development, I now relate the word health to many things, including aspects of the mind, body and soul.

MIND – Mental health 

Mental health is a topic that is becoming more and more the focus. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported over 2 in 5 (44%, or 8.6 million) Australians aged 16-85 are estimated to have experienced a mental disorder at some time in their life. I know as a Life Coach, there has been a huge rise in enquires with people not feeling mentally well. This is a topic that needs to be normalised and the right support, education and encouragement out there to offer safe spaces for people to be heard, seen and understood.

Being mentally balanced, that is, having a routine that supports your mental well-being is vital to staying healthy. One thing that can help boost your mental health is getting to know your belief system and your inner self-talk. Is it supporting your health or keeping you in a pattern of self-sabotage or procrastination? I often find with my coaching clients that negative thought patterns lead to uncomfortable feelings and behaviours that are not aligned with a healthy lifestyle. Your thoughts can make you sick! Our feelings and actions are the outcome of our thoughts. When we can feed our mind with positive, resourceful thoughts we are more likely to feel better and have behaviours that support healthy living.

BODY – Physical Health

Sometimes we forget we have a body, living in our minds, trying to process life and work everything out. Our beautiful bodies do so much for us. It is vital that we look after them. We only get one! This includes eating nutritious foods that support our physical and mental health. The Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates quoted nearly 2500 years ago that “All disease begins in the gut”. It is a topic I have been researching and obsessing about for over a decade. There are many studies out there that confirm this suggestion by Hippocrates. I am certainly a big believer that ‘food is medicine’. Be conscious of what you are putting in your mouth. Is it supporting your health?

SOUL – Energetic Health 

Our soul lies deep within our body. It is our essence. It is where our wisdom resides. It is our place of love and acceptance. We either come from a place of fight or flight which is ego or from love which is our soul. Too often our ego runs the show, this is a very stressful way of being and over time stress can lead to chronic health problems.

Accessing your soul can keep you in a state of presence, peace and harmony, a very healthy place to be. What lights up your soul? What soothes your soul? Get to know what is good for your soul and ways to access it. For me I love going to the beach or being in nature and doing meditation.

All of these aspects are interrelated. When we look after our physical body it keeps our mind and soul healthy. When we fuel our mind with positive thoughts it directly impacts our body, flooding it with positive vibes which in turn shifts our energy at the soul level. Soul soothing activities enable a clear mind, and help us physically get in touch with our bodies for a connected and conscious way of being. For optimum health we want to be implementing routines for all areas to be in harmony with our mind, body and soul.

In what ways are you nurturing you mind, body and soul for optimum health?