Health. That one word carries so much value to us all. After all, the health of your body and of your mind have the power to make for a bad day, a good day or a great day. When you think about the impact that your health can have on your quality of life, it is obvious to many of us that our health is of the greatest importance. Perhaps even more so now in the current climate, this message is one that is being reflected in many ways. How is your health and wellbeing right now? What effect is your health having on your quality of life and happiness right now?
If you are looking to improve the quality of your health, whether it be physical, mental, emotional or even spiritual, a question that is worth asking yourself when it comes to how well you manage your health is this: When it comes to taking care of your health, would you say that you are proactive or reactive?
Are you proactive? Do you seek out ways to better improve your energy levels, be kinder to your body and mind, develop better strength, fitness and immunity? Do you check in on your health and wellbeing through testing and check ups from time to time, to gain an insight into your health parameters that you can’t readily gain through your own reflection? Do you seek out opportunities to learn more about yourself and your body? Do you seek out knowledge that helps you understand what makes you do what you do?
Or are you more reactive? Do you take action when you have pain or an illness? Do you make changes to your nutrition when you jump on the scales or your clothes get a bit tight? Do you go to bed early only when you’re tired and start stretching more if you get an injury. Do you start factoring in downtime only when you’re exhausted and do a little soul searching after or during times of trauma.
So which do you feel you are? There is no right or wrong or good or bad with how you approach your health…in fact you may be a blend of the two, and that’s great too.
It is worth noting that if you are more proactive, the motivation you have to take care of yourself comes more so from a pleasure point of view which asks the question “how much better can I be?” or “how well can I stay?”. Due to your proactive approach, you generally find that you feel well, you have good energy and you feel ‘on top of things’ when it comes to your health and wellbeing. Like with all things, too much of a good thing can cause us challenges sometimes, and a proactive approach can sometimes be taken too far. This can result in feelings of stress or anxiety, born from a sense that you’re never doing enough, always searching for the next best thing or for some, the sometimes overwhelming number of rules and conditions they place on their nutrition and health based activities to maintain their health and wellbeing. Especially in new or social environments these expectations of healthy behaviour can sometimes be difficult to always maintain and can then lead to social isolation and experiences of depressive states.
If you are reactive, you may live in a state of ‘bliss‘ feeling as everything is good or at least ok, until it isn’t and it is the pain, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually that then triggers your decision to take action. Because your trigger for action is the painful experience, unfortunately you need to go through experiences of pain to manage your health with your current strategy.
As you have just learned, there are both pro’s and con’s to both proactive and reaction strategies towards your health. The most important question to ask yourself now is: Which approach(s) do you take? Is that approach working for you? Are you getting the results you want?
If the answer is “Yes!” carry on, keep doing what you’re doing. However if you find that you are regularly getting sick, uncomfortable in your clothes, tired or exhausted and feel like you yo-yo from doing something about it to letting it all go…until it happens again and you’re fed up with this approach, then perhaps adapt some of your thinking from a reactive to a more proactive approach to your health and wellbeing.
If you’re finding that your health regime has become too overwhelming, all consuming, you’re scared to ‘step outside the lines’ and it’s stopping you from having a little fun, then perhaps a more relaxed approach to your health could beneficial. A 80/20 approach might be a better way of applying your principles…80% of the time you’re sticking to your principles and then other 20% there is some flexibility and this offers you the opportunity to try something new, socialise a little easier and create a greater sense of flow within yourself.
And if you’re interested in a retreat that covers all of the above (and much more!!) then check out The VitalityFit Retreat. The opportunity to be immersed in a environment that is dedicated to your health and wellbeing, that gives you the time to breathe and connect at a deeper level, that offers inspiring and nourishing food to energise your body, provides the kind of exercise that raises your energy levels, that gives you new awareness of yourself and your behaviour is the experience of The VitalityFit Retreat for those who like to be proactive wth their health and wellbeing.
Equally, if you tend to take a more reactive approach, the opportunity to stop and recharge your batteries is offered through the retreat experience, along with clean, nourishing food to ‘detox‘ your body, exercise to help kick start a habit of physical activity and to help you reshape and strengthen your body and mindset workshops that will offer you tools and strategies to better manage your health and wellbeing on your return home.
If either of these experiences sound like what you need to gain a better quality of health for yourself and/or your loved one, then go ahead and check out the retreat dates we have scheduled for early in 2022. Booking early is essential which means that a proactive approach is necessary to be a part of this amazing experience ;-P. I look forward to seeing you there!
Until then, be kind to yourself and others
