New Year, New Definition of Health

What does it mean to be healthy? 

In my experience in my practice, a lot of people are under the misconception that health means you feel amazing all the time. 

There is a lot of consumerism in health and wellness that has lead us to believe that there is some sort of magical treatment, supplement, or lifestyle change that will ‘fix’ us and make us healthy forevermore. 

As we come into the new year, I wanted to start to redefine health in a way that relies less on unattainable perfectionism and encompasses more of the human experience. 

Healthy people have bad days

Healthy people have days where they don’t feel great, and it doesn’t necessarily point to something that needs to be ‘fixed’ 

You don’t need to feel amazing all the time to be healthy.

Our bodies go through cycles and seasons, and sometimes we just feel crappy and that’s okay. 

If you have something that lingers, or you’re experiencing a problem for longer than a few days, it’s definitely a good idea to check in with your healthcare provider but remember that sometimes we just don’t feel good, but we are still in excellent health. 

Getting sick is normal, and a part of being healthy

Being healthy also doesn’t mean you never get sick. Healthy people can get sick too, and it is part of developing natural immunity and actually making yourself stronger in the long run. 

Getting sick is an opportunity to evaluate your choices, give your body the reset it needs, and continue on your health journey.

Healthy people sometimes make ‘unhealthy’ choices

Being healthy doesn’t mean you’re never going to eat another cookie ever again, or you’re never going to skip a day at the gym. We think that to be healthy we need to eat perfectly, exercise every day, always get enough sleep, and never miss a meditation. 

We often keep ourselves from truly enjoying our lives and our good health by setting unrealistic expectations for ourselves and guilting ourselves when we can’t meet them. 

There are times for discipline, and there are times for uninhibited joy and indulgence. 

Finding that balance is what healthy living is about. 

Health is a continuous journey

We are never ‘done’ being healthy. 

It is an ongoing journey, and what we need to be in our best health changes often. 

Good health is about being in tune with our body and its needs. Some days you might need more sleep than others, some days you may need to eat more, others you may need to fast. 

We need to stop approaching health like it’s some kind of formula, like when we achieve it we will feel amazing forever. We are a lot more complex than that. 

Being healthy is something we need to show up for every moment of every day, and before that overwhelms you, I encourage you to find the freedom and the opportunity in that. 

What it means is that every single moment you have the opportunity to make a choice that leads to better health and wellness. 

Health is a gift

If we get caught in a spiral of perfectionism, we can forget to actually enjoy the gift of the health we have. 

 Often it’s not until something happens to disrupt our inner balance that we realize how precious it is. 

 There isn’t always something to improve, sometimes we just need to stop and be grateful for what is.