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Episode 2791:
Staying active and prioritizing self-care isn’t just a luxury; it’s essential for building a healthy foundation for a vibrant life. Donna Rockwell shares how a holistic approach to wellness from mindful contemplation to physical and emotional self-care can empower us to overcome self-sabotage and embrace our full potential.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.psychalive.org/staying-healthy-vivacious-self/
Quotes to ponder:
"Wellness is the most important undertaking of our lifetimes really, because without it, we have no foundation on which to build, in a creative way, our unique and particular life story."
"Since lifestyle has been found to be the single most important factor determining your pattern of general health, it is important that you be educated to ‘take charge’ of your daily life and to set healthy lifestyle goals."
"Perhaps the first step to wellness is learning how to be a little kinder, treating ourselves more tenderly, in the same way we would treat our own child."
Episode references:
National Institutes of Health (Wellness Resources): https://www.nih.gov
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[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily, Staying Healthy for Our Most Vivacious Self by Donna Rockwell with PsychAlive.org and I'm Dr. Neal Malik, your host.
[00:00:10] Hey there, welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or welcome for the first time if you're new here.
[00:00:15] This is the podcast where I act as your very own personal narrator and read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online.
[00:00:23] Alright, and with that, let's get right to our next article as we optimize your life.
[00:00:33] Staying Healthy for Our Most Vivacious Self by Donna Rockwell with PsychAlive.org
[00:00:40] If you don't use it, you'll lose it.
[00:00:42] That's what a physical trainer I met at a friend's 40th birthday party told me several years ago.
[00:00:48] Frankly, it scared me.
[00:00:49] Not being an exerciser by nature, I pictured myself before too long stooped and wrinkled beyond recognition like Mr. Magoo's parent.
[00:00:58] Staying Healthy, Strong, Toned and Fit, I decided was the way to go.
[00:01:04] That, along with nutritious eating, adequate sleeping, quiet contemplation and loving and being loved I eventually discovered is what is most needed to stay on the path of wellness.
[00:01:15] Wikipedia defines wellness as health, freedom from disease and in the context of population as well-being.
[00:01:23] Wellness has become the new trend in healthcare, though it is having trouble gaining a solid foothold in the current healthcare system.
[00:01:30] Prevention and preventative approaches are touted as the new healthcare mission statement, shifting the focus from disease and cure to preemptive healthfulness.
[00:01:40] As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
[00:01:44] That has never been truer than today with rising healthcare costs and mounting public debt that is breaking both people's backs and spirits.
[00:01:53] The website, definitionofwellness.com, states,
[00:01:57] Since lifestyle has been found to be the single most important factor determining your pattern of general health,
[00:02:04] it is important that you be educated to take charge of your daily life and to set healthy lifestyle goals.
[00:02:11] The secret is not in medical care, but consistent self-care.
[00:02:16] While traditional medicine concentrates on alleviating or curing disease,
[00:02:20] the wellness approach encourages you to take personal responsibility for your well-being.
[00:02:26] End quote.
[00:02:27] There are 10 areas that the website suggests be worked on to improve wellness,
[00:02:31] or in other words, to self-actualize into our optimal, most vivacious selves.
[00:02:36] Those areas worthy of self-appraisal and intervention are the following areas of wellness.
[00:02:43] Social, occupational, spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, environmental, financial, mental, and medical.
[00:02:55] An examination of this 10-fold wellness report card is a good way to assess areas in which life choices are working toward greater wellness,
[00:03:05] and those in which choices are a detriment.
[00:03:07] I wish I could report that in my own personal wellness journey,
[00:03:11] I've been able to tackle all 10 areas with equal gusto.
[00:03:15] I wish I could report that aerobic exercise has become second nature to me,
[00:03:19] and toned and fit, I'm ready for a modeling contest.
[00:03:23] But it didn't happen that way.
[00:03:25] To be honest, I'm still not very good at physical fitness.
[00:03:28] But I like to believe that the things I have learned to do,
[00:03:31] I have learned to do effectively,
[00:03:33] like eat well, get plenty of restful sleep,
[00:03:36] practice mindfulness, and love others and myself full-heartedly.
[00:03:41] Wellness is the most important undertaking of our lifetimes, really,
[00:03:45] because without it, we have no foundation on which to build in a creative way
[00:03:49] our unique and particular life story.
[00:03:51] In order to see one's choices clearly,
[00:03:54] and therefore base decisions on skillful analysis of all the options,
[00:03:58] it's extremely useful to retreat to a quiet, contemplative space.
[00:04:03] Prayerful, silent, still, indwelling in nature,
[00:04:07] or choosing to rest the mind in meditation
[00:04:09] in order to access the deepest part of ourselves,
[00:04:13] our inner resources of love, compassion, empathy, and joy.
[00:04:17] Since the world is busy and constant,
[00:04:20] internet fast, in fact,
[00:04:22] if we want to continually avoid confronting our roadblocks to wellness,
[00:04:25] it is an easy enough task.
[00:04:28] As pointed out on the National Institutes of Health website,
[00:04:31] maintaining wellness requires dedicated effort.
[00:04:34] The website was developed,
[00:04:36] quote,
[00:04:47] End quote.
[00:04:51] Wellness as a focus on you,
[00:04:53] prioritizing self-care,
[00:04:55] improving the ability to retreat from the world,
[00:04:57] and reconnect with the self.
[00:04:59] These are important life skills in order to cultivate our best selves,
[00:05:03] live our best lives,
[00:05:04] and be our most healthy.
[00:05:07] Various endeavors that the National Institutes of Health list as contributing to wellness include
[00:05:12] akido,
[00:05:14] badminton,
[00:05:15] theater,
[00:05:16] bicycling,
[00:05:16] photography,
[00:05:18] chamber singing,
[00:05:19] qigong,
[00:05:20] martial arts,
[00:05:21] line dancing,
[00:05:22] fencing,
[00:05:23] golf,
[00:05:24] running,
[00:05:25] hiking,
[00:05:26] pastimes that help nurture our souls,
[00:05:28] and hence,
[00:05:29] our long-term well-being.
[00:05:31] The ways to wellness are not that hard to figure out,
[00:05:34] yet,
[00:05:35] we can find it difficult to carry them through.
[00:05:37] We often resist nurturing ourselves,
[00:05:39] yet are quick to criticize and undermine,
[00:05:42] self-sabotage instead of self-inspire.
[00:05:45] Why do we treat ourselves more harshly than we would treat our own child?
[00:05:50] We need to become more gentle and learn how to use each day
[00:05:53] to begin again in our quest for optimal wellness.
[00:05:57] Perhaps the first step to wellness is learning how to be a little kinder,
[00:06:01] treating ourselves more tenderly,
[00:06:03] in the same way we would treat our own child.
[00:06:06] In the accepting space of this approach,
[00:06:08] our potential is unleashed,
[00:06:09] and we naturally reach toward our personal best.
[00:06:13] Eyeing the treadmill in my basement,
[00:06:15] I tie up my sneakers,
[00:06:16] stretch out my hamstrings,
[00:06:18] click on the TV,
[00:06:19] and step onto the moving walkway.
[00:06:21] On this brand new day,
[00:06:23] I begin again.
[00:06:28] You just listened to the post titled,
[00:06:30] Staying Healthy for Our Most Vivacious Self,
[00:06:33] by Donna Rockwell,
[00:06:34] with PsychAlive.org,
[00:06:36] and I'll be right back with my commentary.
[00:06:38] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.
[00:06:41] Today's author,
[00:06:42] Donna,
[00:06:42] helped us make sense of the difference between the words,
[00:06:45] health,
[00:06:45] and wellness.
[00:06:47] Health and wellness are used like they mean the same thing,
[00:06:50] but that's not actually quite right.
[00:06:51] Health is all about having complete physical,
[00:06:55] mental,
[00:06:55] and social well-being.
[00:06:57] But what happens if you don't have
[00:06:59] complete physical,
[00:07:01] mental,
[00:07:01] and social well-being?
[00:07:03] Like let's say,
[00:07:04] you don't have complete physical well-being,
[00:07:06] but believe you have complete mental,
[00:07:08] and social well-being.
[00:07:10] Or,
[00:07:10] what if you have complete physical well-being,
[00:07:13] but not complete mental,
[00:07:15] or social well-being?
[00:07:17] Technically then,
[00:07:18] according to this definition,
[00:07:19] you're not healthy.
[00:07:21] But wellness is different.
[00:07:23] Wellness is all about those things
[00:07:25] you do
[00:07:26] to try and achieve
[00:07:28] optimal physical,
[00:07:29] mental,
[00:07:29] and social well-being.
[00:07:31] It's the behaviors you do,
[00:07:33] the habits you adapt
[00:07:34] to achieve those things.
[00:07:35] It's basically the lifestyle habits we make
[00:07:38] to improve our health.
[00:07:40] So,
[00:07:41] even if we don't meet
[00:07:42] the exact definition of health,
[00:07:44] we can meet the exact definition
[00:07:47] of wellness.
[00:07:49] All right,
[00:07:49] that'll do it for another edition
[00:07:51] of Optimal Health Daily.
[00:07:52] I hope you're having a great weekend.
[00:07:54] Thank you so much for listening.
[00:07:56] And don't forget,
[00:07:56] I'll be back here again tomorrow.
[00:07:58] So,
[00:07:58] I'll see you there
[00:07:59] where your optimal life awaits.
[00:08:01] I'll see you there
[00:08:01] where your optimal life awaits.
[00:08:01] So,
[00:08:01] Thank you.