To be healthy and fit requires that one address specific, basic principles. These principles must become integrated into the lifestyle as natural habits. Each of these principles depend upon and support the other, like the four points of a tetrahedron. Health and (basic) fitness can be acquired and maintained through a four-step process. The steps are as follows: 1) Engaging Movement, 2) Adequate Sleep, 3) Proper Nutrition, 4) Stress Management. These four pillars of health must receive top priority when endeavoring to pursue better health. They are to be the base of your focus: all else when added to them, is beneficial surplus.
There is no gimmick to health. To be healthy is to live healthfully. Health and fitness require consistency, constancy, and commitment. The importance of of establishing a firm mental framework for fitness related endeavors cannot be overstated. The step by step process of maintaining health and wellness is one of incremental steadfastness. The ability to put forth the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly efforts for fitness and health will be reflected in the capacity to be ‘functional’ throughout a lifetime. The preceding guidelines serve to encapsulate the degree of regularity that is required for the health and wellness journey. on
The Mental / Spiritual / Physical condition of an individual is reflective their indulged habits. Looks typically provide clues about how one incorporates health and wellness into their life. Physical appearance is a most readily accessible visible metric. The mental quality is a reflection of how the individual is unwavering in committing normalizing health and wellness into (series of) regimented activity. There is also a spiritual component to health and wellness that gives charge to one connecting more deeply to the health and wellness path. One establishes a deeper connectedness with these various activities with the thought processes therein involved.
None of the principles are stand-alone operations. These pillars provide a framework by which one can methodically embark upon the wellness journey. Each pillar relies on the other pillars for the establishing of a firm wellness foundation. There is no panacea to achieving good health and functional wellness. The various advertisements that promise ‘instant results’ do not deliver as presentations would leave one to believe. Fitness fads start off big because many people are bored with the mundane, non-novelty of wellness. Wellness is a step-by-step process. The steps may appear to be the same but each step is different; each step contributes to the totality of the journey.
All people can acquire better health through following a consistent regimen. Regular, steady adherence to the principles will facilitate the development of beneficial habits. It is the habits to which one has become accustomed that give support the concept of doing this (one thing) or doing that (one thing) will get me to that fitness level. The specifics of wellness and fitness are different for each individual. The basics step for reaching that same goal of wellness and fitness are, without question, similar. If the individual can forgo the shortcut mentality and seriously adhere to attaining improved levels of fitness and wellness, progress will follow.
Movement is part of the terrestrial living experience. Movement, per se, does not have to ambulatory. Studies have shown that trees do not develop the appropriate limb strength unless they exposed to wind currents as they grow. The wind induced oscillations force the build up sufficient resilience to natural forces. So to, the terrestrial bodies, humans in this case. Movements that help to improve the strength, flexibility and endurance capacities of the individual. Movement is necessary for keeping the body fluid. The body becomes less capable of performing physical actions when physical actions are not being enacted. Basically, if one does not engaged themselves physically, the ability to do so will decrease as time passes.
Sleep is a luxury that many eschew in current society. The go-go-go mentality pervades the ideations of individuals. The requirement to ‘work’ for a living give rise to sacrificing personal time. In effect, rest and recovery is exchanged more pay, time away from loved ones, overlooking ‘true’ self-care. Self care, to include sleep, is of utmost importance for individual well being. Surveys show that 40 percent of adults in the U.S.A. get less than the seven hours of sleep recommended nightly minimum per the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the National Sleep Foundation. The body actually enacts repairs during periods of sleep. The more adequate rest that one attains, the better for the body, overall.
Stress is symptomatic of nervous system disruption. The worry of daily living, bills, time constraints, and strained (human) interactions are but examples of adverse nervous system triggers. These along with other situations can be very unsettling. Those individuals who cannot cope often have a crutch upon which they lean: i. e. alcohol, drugs, visual stimulation and what not. These things only act as temporary inhibitors and do not address the actual root cause of stress. Stress can take a toll on your physical and mental well-being. Using stress management techniques like mindfulness, meditation, exercise and relaxation can significantly reduce the effects of stress on your body. The ability to disconnect from things that bring disharmony to daily living will provide huge dividends for health and wellness
Nutrition provides the foundation for a healthy body. The components upon which the body is built derive from sustenance that is ingested by the individual. The following are the building blocks of nutrition, the macronutrients: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Proteins have the primary functions of cell repair, hormone production, and pH balance, along with others. Fats aid in hormonal production, nutrient transport, and inflammation reduction. Carbohydrates are the most readily metabolized source of energy for the human body ensuring our inner engines keep running. Minerals, vitamins and fiber are also key to maintaining the optimal state of the body.
A c is a key to resolving stress. commitment to doing these en todo is the most beneficial approach.
Solidifying these steps into base habits will support the addition of ‘extra’ activities. Enacting these steps as part of a regular regimen will imprint them into the psyche of the individual. As habits are made a regular part of the individual’s lifestyle. The pillars of proper nutrition, adequate sleep, engaging movement, and minimizing stress encompass the basics of wellness and fitness. The intensity of workouts or the degree to which one deepens their meditations (as part of de-stressing), of course, can branch out from the established basic foundation.
Ab-Sutra Wellness and Fitness 