by Sarah Dawkins
Healing is multi-faceted and encompasses the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of ourselves. Sadly, most western doctors haven’t yet had this realisation, and as a consequence, many people believe that healing is purely physical.
We often don’t take notice of our health until illness strikes. Then we tend to look at how to heal ourselves rather than why we became ill. This can be with the use of pharmaceutical medications, using more natural means, or a mixture of both.
As Benjamin Franklin stated “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure”, so looking after our bodies and health every day helps to stave off the likelihood of illness.
So, what can we do to help ourselves to stay healthy and support our healing?
We can start by evaluating our lives:
- How is our lifestyle supporting our health or feeding an illness?
- What toxins are in our household products, our beauty products, our environment? So many everyday products contain ingredients that have been shown to be harmful to health, yet how often do we look at the ingredients list of – scented candles? shampoo? moisturiser? toilet cleaner?
- How do we support our body to cleanse itself? Not just on a physical level, but mental, emotional, and spiritual? How often do we put up with toxic people around us, without taking ourselves away from them?
- What pharmaceutical medications do you take? How could some lifestyle changes heal the issue that the medications are for? Are you aware of the side effects of the medications? Do you know of any alternative and natural ways to support healing?
- How do you practice self-care? What do you do that brings you joy? How often do you do it?
- What is your relationship like with yourself? With others? We tend to treat others as we treat ourselves as we get to know them, and we let them treat us like we treat ourselves. How are your boundaries?
- What are your thoughts and beliefs around healing? About health? About illness? Are they really yours, or are they borrowed from your caregivers when you were young? Do they still support you now? Understand that it is OK to change a belief that no longer serves you in the world you live in today.
- Do you practice mindfulness? Being mindful helps to calm your mind and nervous system. Adding in gratitude helps you to see the good in your life now and appreciate how much there is. It also helps you to find more.
What can you do to prevent illness in the future? How can you improve your lifestyle to boost your health now, to protect you from future illness?
Here are some simple suggestions to help boost your health and maintain a healthy lifestyle to protect you from future illness:
- Stay hydrated, drink water. Our body is predominantly water, so we need to support it. Sadly, many people are suffering from chronic dehydration, leading to pain, heartburn, arthritis, colitis, raised cholesterol and some cancers. Water helps us to digest and detoxify as well as re-hydrate.
- Eat nutritious food. Choosing many different colours of fruit and vegetables which contain antioxidants helps your body heal as well as help you to retain a youthfulness and live longer.
- Eat more healthy fat, like olive, coconut and stop eating polyunsaturated fats. Saturated fats help your body to reduce or stop the damage from stress as well as pushes the calcium in your blood, into your bones, to make them stronger.
- Get outside more and connect with nature and the sunshine. The sunshine boosts your Vitamin D supplies, which supports your immune system. The fresh air blows the cobwebs away and greenspace or beaches create a sense of wellbeing.
- Move your body. Walking is an underestimated exercise which keeps your lungs and cardiovascular system healthy, cleanses your lymphatic system and helps to detoxify your body as well as can help to reduce any aches and pains.
- Do some slow, deep breathing exercises and focus on your breath. This helps to reconnect to your body and emotions, as well as oxygenate your tissues.
- Look after your gut with good pre- and pro-biotic foods. For us to absorb the nutrients from our food, we need a healthy gut.
- Get enough quality sleep because this is when your body does most of its healing. A lack of quality sleep contributes to health problems as well as obesity.
- Be your true authentic self and express it. Stop being who you are not, to please others. When we limit ourselves, we suppress our emotions which will eventually cause health issues. Free yourself through feeling what you need to feel and letting go. You were born unique, so stop hiding and start being.
- Meditate to quiet your mind and calm your body. A guerrilla meditation is great for busy people, from a few seconds to a few minutes, take the time to be fully present and let go.
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