Pursuance – To be healthy . . .

One can elect to be the personal envoy of their own health. There are many avenues through which to approach self-care. What is distracting us from embarking upon the search for self? Wellness and health are not to be found in the bottom of a well or up in a cloud. Sleeves must be rolled up as mining for improvement ensues: It is work, it takes effort, and it requires will. To be healthy is to find connection to the essential nature of existence. To age as a self-sufficient, functioning individual is a goal toward which all should ascribe. We can more easily help and assist others as we are more capable of helping ourselves,  

What is your drug of choice . . . for fitness that is? There are myriad activities from which one could choose. There is the ever available choice of running or one could opt to walk. There is resistance training. One can engage in sundry forms of martial arts: MMA, traditional, weapons. Yoga is popular. Dance is also an option. Hiking or rock climbing are good modalities. Swimming is great on many levels. It is apparent that there is an activity, for any area of interest, for nearly any degree of ability.   

Many people choose to do the minimum of activity when it comes to wellness. The activity of the average individual is approximately to hours per week. This ranges from none on one end to more than five on the opposite end. Only 23% of people in the U.S.A. engage in adequate amounts of healthy activity. This trend is disheartening. Engaging in the minimum of activity is a relatively easy endeavor. Electing to sit on the couch does feel good in the short term. However, one inhibits physiological processes that lend to longevity and wellness by regularly avoiding physical activity

The socialized view of wellness is presented as something desirable to have; yet the nuts and bolts of attaining it are often not shown in a positive light. We are oft distracted from exercising by the actual  consideration of exercising. There are the demands of work. There are familial responsibilities. Overcoming procrastination to begin a program is sometimes an obstacle, as is maintaining consistency in a chosen regimen. Many want to feel better and to look better. The goal can come to be viewed as unreachable because the process a associated with it being a barrier instead of a means, the means, to an end.

The desire to be fit is accompanied by presentations of easy fixes; of achieving better health without exercise. One can lose weight by drinking this or that solution. There are some drinks that will assist in losing weight, aid in increasing energy, and make one feel like new. However, the various adjuncts that will help one attain a healthier disposition and appearance will be a fleeting achievement. Exercise notwithstanding, there must be a lifestyle change. No gains achieved can be sustained without a lifestyle change. The body responds to physiologically beneficial and consistent practices. It is essential that the medications are used in conjunction with healthy eating, physical activity, and behavior modification, as medication usage without such changes are generally ineffective.

One needs to be aware of the choices made, regarding health and wellness, on a daily basis. We do not need to run marathons (unless we run marathons). We do not need to lift ginormous amounts of weight (unless we are body builders / strongmen). We do not need to super bendy flexible (unless we are contortionist / asana experts). In short, our everyday activities must provide sufficient levels of physical stimulation for continued functioning as a healthy individual. Walking more is not aerobic but will keep the heart active. Mild levels of resistance training will sustain muscle tone. Basic yoga or Pilates classes would provide flexibility. One could easily improvise on these basic bodily requirements with some imagination. The body does not need much, the body does need consistency.

Health and wellness are more than just being aesthetically appealing to others. They are cornerstones of one maintaining their viability. It applies not only to the younger years but to process of aging gracefully, as well. The current life expectancy for people in the U.S.A. is upward of 74 years. Common conditions in older age include hearing loss, cataracts and refractive errors, back and neck pain and osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, depression and dementia Some of these maladies would require medical intervention. Most of them can be circumvented, or at least managed, through lifestyle, exercise and nutrition. Of course, it is always the choices and actions of the individual that will make the difference.

To be of assistance to others and to society one must help themselves.  There are many options available for achieving and maintaining health and wellness. This leaves little room for choosing to do nothing in this regard. Doing just a little each day can provide . . . . . pardon . . . . a lifetime of benefit. This is not a necessarily easy undertaking, as is oft presented in society. Through choosing to consistently engage in healthy behaviors is key wellness and well-being. One can only help others when they are able to help themselves. .