Three Pillars of Health Without these three things it is very difficult to remain healthy.
Rest & Sleep
Modern Research supports what the Ancients new for a millennium; Sleep is important not only for the restoration of the body in curing disease but it is crucial in preventing illness. Sleep is divided into separate stages and waking at a particular time can give you a clue to what area of your life is suffering. Is it physical lone or is it related to relationships or due to stresses and pressures we feel from life.
Many disease including depression, anxiety, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, headaches, constipation and other problems have their beginnings in our lack of deep sleep. It is my belief that the answer to Alzheimer’s disease and other metal illnesses can be found in chronic poor sleep.
Getting a good nights sleep has been shown to improve memory and concentration in students by as much as 20%. Contrary to what some people claim most people requires 7-9 hours of sleep each day. My experience has show me that it is not the length of sleep so much as the quality and timing of rest that is important.If you are not waking refreshed you need to look at why. Getting people back to a good sleep pattern is an important part of my practice and it is not like taking sleeping pills. It requires looking at a persons entire life, their stresses and worries along with sleeping practices and current health state. Sleep is most compromised when we are stressed and hold negative mental states with self talk that is fretful and not helpful. I use a combination of Herbal Medicine, Health Coaching, Acupuncture and Exercise prescription to get people back on track.
Nutrition & Diet
Food should be fuel for our body and brain however since it has been one of the first associations we make with being alive after breathing it can often become enmeshed into our relationships, living habits and as a way of distracting ourselves from reality . We have heard of the new term “HANGRY” when we are hungry and it has an emotional affect on us. Well our involvement with food is a very complex one. Weight gain is just not about the calories in and the exercise to burn them off, it is often our whole relationship with food. Many of the most successful health outcomes in my clinic have had the side effect of the client losing or gaining weight to a healthy level. Irregular food intake results in a slower metabolism and a tendency to binge, snack and stress eat.
Learning to have a healthy regular association with eating is a cornerstone to good health. From a background in personal training and health and qualifications in Eastern Dietary therapy and Chinese Medicine, along with my lifelong pursuit of healthy eating and my strays from the path I feel well experienced to support you finding a healthy diet for you.I have been under and overweight and pleased to say I am back to my ideal weight in my mid 50’s that I was when I was 18 years old. I know what it is to eat well and to crave junk and I know what it is like to teach your body to crave and enjoy healthy foods. I can accompany you on a journey to find your healthy weight and a healthy relationship with food.
Movement & Exercise
If you want to be unhealthy either move too little or move too much. It is often the moving too little that shows up first with health problems including weight gain. Rest assured though, overuse any joint and you will have problems long term.
Exercise is often used to assist with emotional stress and finding a healthy style and relationship with movement is also critical to avoid over training. This is also true of those who avoid exercise due to lethargy or pain. Without movement joints soon become full of arthritis and generalized feelings of fatigue and pain increase.
My interest in alternatives to the standard athletics and exercises of the time started in 1976 when I was introduced to Yoga and now I regularly teach the eastern traditions of Yoga, Tai Chi and Qi Gong to clients as a way of moving throughout their lives that does not require high levels of fitness. An enormous amount of evidence has come out over the past five years showing that regular exercise is as good as an antidepressant for moderate depression and that it helps calm anxiety. It also improves memory, concentration, helps maintain cognitive function into older age and improves self esteem in addition to everything it does for your cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
Your brain loves exercise even more than your body. Ensure you move daily and do something that is challenging for your regular. You never stand still with fitness, either you are getting fitter or you are going backward.
Equanimity & Wu Wei
In order to develop the three Pillars we may need some spiritual guidance. Sometimes we can get this from living in close relationship with the earth or from having enlightened parents or elders around us. If this is not the case we need to be in touch with someone who has been on the path for a while and is in harmony with the Dao.
Equanimity: Look for further posts coming about Equanimity. This is not a fake smile and carry on position, rather it is coming to a place of Equanimity where we allow things to be and dare not act to disturb the natural harmony.
Knowing when to act involves what the Chinese called Wu Wei. Search this site for coming articles on this subject. Wu Wei can be described as; doing nothing, but leaving nothing undone.
Stephen is available for sessions on any of these topics and can also deliver Keynote or Public Speeches to your company or charity.