Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Better Shape This New Year: A Holistic Approach

Copyright (c) 2011 Jim Terroirier

In many ways, health is habitual, and is even an entire lifestyle. Our daily choices and circumstances will, inevitably, have an impact on our health. This is common sense. In an ideal world, we would all be able to have the right and amount of food and exercise to maintain healthy, long-lived bodies.

Of course, health is not just about diet, exercise, and other physical factors. It is also emotional, psychological, and even spiritual. Furthermore, it is simplistic to draw a hard line between physical and non-physical components of well-being, as both affect each other. A normally cheerful, compassionate, bright person may become depressed and angry over time if he/she is constantly experiencing physical ailments. Conversely, a physically healthy person with good eating and exercise habits may become more ill if he/she is always stressed, depressed, and/or emotionally abused.

Unsurprisingly, lifestyle and habits are also important for the non-physical (or metaphysical) aspects of health. Do you often get stressed or worried over trivial things, or dream up nightmare scenarios that do not materialize, or even turn out to be extremely implausible in hindsight? Find methods of stress or anxiety management that work well for you. Some options include yoga, sports, reading, artistic expression, journal writing, and walking. Truly, stress relief need not be complicated, expensive, or time-consuming. For example, some researchers found that a few minutes of daily journal writing can have significant influence on a person's well-being. A short break for a healthy habit like this one can do great things for your mental and emotional health, and even unlock your creative juices.

Healthy habits are not just about what you do, but also what you avoid. For example, modern life is full of shallow distractions that pile up to eat into our time or energy. Do you find yourself watching a lot of TV you don't really like, or numbly surfing the Net, not finding anything that really adds to your joy or knowledge? It may be time to put a damper on such habits. You can find more time for more important things, or even for some valuable rest and sleep.

Are certain situations or relationships in your life constantly getting you down? Well, they may also be having a negative impact on your physical health. Try to re-examine these factors and see if you can change them—or eliminate them, if necessary. Also, try to avoid ineffective or counter-productive coping mechanisms. An extreme example of such a mechanism would be the taking of hard drugs. More common, but still potentially harmful habits include over-consumption/over-spending, picking fights, mistreating subordinates, etc. These habits may make you feel better or more relaxed for a while, but they usually lead to consequences that will give you more reasons to be stressed out, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle.

Instead of turning this negative energy or frustration inward towards destructive habits, turn it outwards in a positive way. Many psychologists believe that people wish to feel that they have improved the world, even in some small way. (Of course, there are those who will not be satisfied unless their contribution is quite big, which is not necessarily a bad thing.) Indeed, this insight is quite an old one, and does not need medial language for its articulation. The great German writer Wolfgang von Goethe, for example, wove it into his long poem Faust, about a genius who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for power and pleasure. After having tasted all sorts of temptations, Faust reaches old age wanting to make a contribution to society. His final project is to reclaim large swathes of land from the sea, not just for his own use but that of his countrymen and women, as well.

Faust's story may seem very grand and unrelatable. However, what it means for us is that giving back to society is often an integral part obtaining real happiness and satisfaction in life. Also, even if we have done some regrettable things in the past in the pursuit of happiness, we can still turn our lives around. Learn a new skill, or join an organization. If something in your workplace, community, etc. upsets you, join or start peaceful, coordinated means of fixing the problem.


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To improve one's health it is imperative to improve ones lifestyle by eating, exercising and avoiding bad habits like smoking and drinking alcohol. In addition one could also try anti aging HGH supplements like Genf20 Plus with Acai berry and Resveratrol. For more on how to improve your health and lifestyle with Genf20 Plus go to http://www.hghhelp.info/genf20plus.php


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