Defining Health

I was getting my haircut yesterday at the local Supercuts, and the young lady performing this helpful service spent most of the time telling me about her life.

One thing she said that made me cringe was that she goes to a tanning booth so she can, “have healthy looking skin”.  Now let’s quickly review some information I received from this brief interaction with her.  She is 21 years old, clearly obese, and wanting that “healthy” look for her skin by going to a tanning booth.  She also told me that she babysits, and likes to give the kids lots of sugar, take them to the park to go crazy, so that they will crash afterwards.  What is wrong with this picture???

The World Health Organization has this definition “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” 

A good measure of health in my opinion is the ability of the body to adapt appropriately to a constantly changing internal and external environment.

So, ask yourself, would you rather be healthy in reality, or healthy in perception?  I have to admit I want to be healthy in reality and perception.  Now as far as the young hair stylist, I didn’t say anything to her.  Would you have said something in response to her?

Cleaning Your Body from the Inside

 
I recently decided to stop drinking coffee (at least for a little while) and give my body a break from the wonderful glorious substance that is coffee.  This comes on the heels of three of my friends doing a nearly month long cleanse, a yoga instructor, an acupuncturist, and a chiropractor (sounds like the start to a bad joke).  How important is it to cleanse our bodies of the toxic build up of day to day living?
 
Let’s think of health, and where it originates.  Our health begins with innate intelligence; we are designed and created with purpose and intention from two cells to a fully functioning human being in a matter of months.

Secondly, our health expresses itself from the inside - out, not the outside - in.  When an egg is cracked from the outside you have death, when an egg is cracked from the inside you have life.  When the expression of intelligence through your body is at 100%, your body has the best chance of performing at its optimal level and for natural healing to occur.
 
So, hopefully you are starting to see how important it is to cleanse and keep clean the inside of our bodies! 
 
The take home message is to be careful and aware of the things you are putting into and onto your body!  Am I ever going to drink a cup of sweet beautiful coffee again?  Heck yeah!  But, I am also striving to protect my good health by keeping my inside clean.

A Wise Investment

 
In a down economy, we all want to spend our money wisely.  In fact, smart spending is considered pretty cool these days.  Now, I want you to be in the know on an investment that has the potential to reap benefits of amazing proportions in your life!  I’m talking about benefits flowing into every area of your life, such as: more energy, fewer sick days at work, longer life, less fatigue, better sleep, improved relationships, more productivity, better mental focus, and more money!!!
 
Are you ready?  Want to know what the secret wise investment is?


It's your HEALTH!!  In fact, there is no price you can put on good health.  Your health is PRICELESS!  Nobody knows this better than someone whose health has been compromised.  Health is not merely the absence of disease or symptoms, but complete mental, physical and social well-being.
 
What do you gain with optimal health?  A high quality of life for starters, and even though it takes an investment to achieve optimal health (time, money, effort) the great thing is, the seeds you sow come back to you 10 fold.  If you are not already doing so, go make a wise investment in your health now, and make it a habit.

What’s up with the SUN?

 
Is the sun good for us or not?  The answer (in my opinion) is actually fairly simple, and should make good common sense.
 
Yes.
 
The sun helps with lots of natural processes in our bodies and brains.  Seasonal affective disorder is associated with lack of sun exposure, and you will likely sleep better at night when you get sun exposure during the day.  Your circadian rhythm benefits from proper sun light entering the eye balls (and into your brain) during the day, and then receiving proper lack of sun light at night time.  Do you need more proof?
 
Lots of people have heard “you get vitamin D from the sun” and instead will go for a supplement of vitamin D so they don’t have to spend time in those dangerous sun rays.
 
The vitamin D you get from the ultraviolet radiation from the sun works very well in your body.  The vitamin D you get from supplements does not work very well in your body, and actually bypasses natural mechanisms that would prevent overdoses of vitamin D generated internally from sunlight.  You can also get vitamin D from most vegetables.
 
Here is the big question, how much sun exposure is safe?  This is the real kicker, it’s different for everyone!  If you want a general rule to go by, avoid sun burns.  Sun burns are linked to bad things happening in your body, such as cancerous developments.  An unfortunate sun fact is that our society has been conditioned to believe we must use sun screen if we are spending time outside to avoid developing skin cancers.  The problem is sun screens have chemicals in them that are cancer causing.  Is that ironic or what?!
 
Here is the take home message, sun exposure is okay and healthy, don’t get burned, and if you insist on using sun screen, use a natural (no chemicals) brand.  Check out this article for some different natural sun screen brands; http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/natural-sunscreens-460608#fbIndex1

                                            Catalina Island spring '11 camping/biking trip

The Trauma of Sitting

 
Lets walk through a typical American day;
 
Wake up – get ready – Sit in car to work – Sit in chair at work for 8 hours – Sit in car to home – Sit on couch to watch TV – Go to bed (on side in a sitting position) – Wake up and repeat.
 
Here are two problems with sitting;
1 – when you are sitting, you are not moving
2 – when you are sitting, you are likely not using good posture
 
Now for part two, what is a trauma?  Most people think of trauma as a car accident, a fall, or a sports injury.  Trauma can happen quickly, or it can happen slowly over time.  Trauma that happens slowly over time can actually be worse for your health!  You can be lulled into thinking your problems (headaches, digestive problems, aches and pains, etc) are normal.  Did you know that problems with your health are not normal? 
 
Ok, back to the title, the trauma of sitting.  We are designed for movement.  EVERYTHING tends to work better when we are moving!  The brain, the digestive system, the cardiovascular system, the endocrine system, you name the system.
 
Go for a walk, a run, a hike, a swim, go to a yoga class, or a pilates class, and get moving!  Take your kids to the park (but don’t sit on the benches), play with them!  Don’t be lulled into thinking your problems are normal, be proactive and take charge of your health!!

                                                              Does this look like you?

The Best Childhood Immunizations

 
We have been taught in our society that to protect the immune systems of our children, we must vaccinate them and limit the amount of germs they are exposed to.  Is this really the best way to develop a healthy immune system?
 
We can all agree the immune system is vitally important for normal development of a child.  So, what are the best ways to develop a healthy immune system for our kids?
 
First of all, the nervous system controls and regulates immune system activity, so maintaining normal neurologic development is the first step to a healthy developing immune system.
 
Secondly, the safest way to confer immunity to a child is through what is called ‘Natural Immunity’ and “Acquired Immunity’.  Natural immunity means it comes from the child’s parents.  This process happens naturally, and is most obviously seen with breast feeding.  Acquired immunity is developed over the course of one’s life.  This is best seen when a child (or adult) suffers from, and beats a given illness.  Memory cells in the immune system learn the illness and remember how to beat it in the future.
 
That’s it!  This is normal immunity!!  I encourage you to THINK about this for your child and yourself as you make decisions on how to actually PROTECT your child’s immune system.  Any questions?

Structure = Function = Life

My 101 year old grandfather in law, George, lives on his own in his own house, still drives to church and the store, does woodworking in his garage, and is totally with it mentally.  There are many factors that go into how long someone lives, and even more factors that go into how well someone lives. 

One thing I have noticed and I believe has a profound effect on his overall amazing health, is his structure.  What the heck am I talking about?  Well, to put it simply, he has good posture.  He does certain things to take care of his spine, and he makes an intentional effort to use good posture when he is doing his normal life activities.

Keeping your head over your shoulders allows for many proper things to happen in your body, and I see a real life example of this every time I spend time with George.  He is an inspiration to me, and hopefully motivation to you.  Motivation to keep in mind the structure of your body as you live out each day.  

George has sound structure, he functions well, and he has something very precious ….. life!

                                              Does he look like a 101 year old to you?