Friday, August 31, 2012

Do your mind, body and spirit a favor!

Recently, I've decided that I need to revamp my overall health regimen. Every so often I have these "healthy habits jumpstarts" in which I really strive to stick to some health goals daily for at lest a week. I often falter, so before long, my enthusiasm for the personal health challenge basically dwindles.

But, this time around, I'm going to really try to make these healthy habits stick! Maybe things are different now that I have a better perspective on life and how I fit into it now that I have embraced the inevitable quarter-life crisis rather than dreading it. I don't know. But, something's different. Also, if I really want these healthy habits to stick, I've got to do them for longer than a week, right? 21 days, I believe is the standard for developing a habit. Furthermore, accountability always helps, so that's where you guys come in. In 21 days, I'll check back in, and report my progress thus far.

Now, the point of this post isn't simply to report that for the next 21 days I'll be consistently drinking the daily recommended amount of water, sleeping for the ideal amount of hours, and resuming my yoga practices every other day. I want to urge you all to do the same. Not the same exact goals, of course. But, something that you can resolve to take on for the next 21 days that will help you to feel more connected to yourself.

One of my favorite phrases is "getting back to center". For the life of me, I can't remember where I first heard it, and even worst I can't remember to whom the credit is due. Nevertheless, I love this phrase. I interpret it to mean that in life, you have to maintain this elusive balance among the various areas of your life. It's always easier for me to divide these areas based on the concept of wellness. Overall wellness is defined as the absence of disease (or, let's say defect) in one's physical health, emotional health, social health, occupational health and spiritual health (Thompson & Manore, 2012).

To simplify that even further, I often condense those areas of health into one of three categories: mind, body and spirit. Your physical health, including physical exercise and the good we consume contributes to keeping balance in the body. Your emotional, social and even partially your occupational health relate to keeping balance in your mind. And, lastly, your occupational (especially when you strive to pursue your calling as a career) and spiritual health directly affect the balance of your spirit. It's like trying to keep all three scales more or less level the majority of the time.

So, we are constantly trying to find this magical balance among these three areas. I'm starting to believe that the trick isn't to actually achieve the balance, but to always be leaning towards it. We're not going to be perfect. But, we can strive to do our personal best for ourselves.

So, what are some things you can do to jumpstart a healthy habit today? For all you undergrads and recently post-grads, are you searching for a career that will truly fit you congenially? Doesn't hurt to try. Anyone can stand to cut down on the sodas? Take more naps! Why? Because you deserve more rest. Others deserve you to have more rest. If people got more sleep, maybe our society would have more patience with one another, and less irritability. Hmm...maybe not. Just a thought.

The bottom line is this: do something to help you lean towards more balance, your mind body and spirit will thank you! It's basically a win-win situation, if you give improvement a try, you certainly will appreciate your efforts!

2 comments:

  1. I love this post for countless reasons. It screams "JASMIN!" in every word you have typed and it has left me with lots of wisdom and thinking, which happens every time I have a conversation or quick chat with you. Finding overall wellness is something I have worked on for the past few years and it's important to include all of the aspects to it. Occupational wellness and spiritual wellness are my two focuses, as you know I am sort of a health freak with eating the clean foods to begin with. Finding that balance in figuring out what exactly my job will be to make me the happiest is now the first on my list. I have to admit it though, including some everyday healthy ideas will surely benefit me. Being an early riser has its perks, but sometimes sleeping in is just what my body needs. Although seeing that sunrise and enjoying that morning oatmeal and coffee is the closest thing to an addiction in my life, my body might be screaming for that extra two hours of sleep that my day has allowed me. Also, kicking the caffeine wouldn't be the worst idea. Being all jacked up on mountain dew and iced coffee might be the culprit in my crashing episodes and not sleeping in! Thanks for the wise words and new ideas in being healthy. I will now be beginning my own balancing act!

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  2. Thanks for sharing your wonderful insight Andrea! I just know your balancing act has already begun by aligning your personal healthy habits with your career and for that you inspire me :-) Good luck with balancing the early rising and sleeping in!

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