You’ve arrived at the conclusion that it’s time to stop taking your health for granted. You’re ready to start paying attention to how to maintain your health, or even improve it. You’re bright. You’re resourceful. And you’ve saved all sorts of articles and tidbits from social media and other great online resources like Selene River Press.
It’s about time! (Err, I mean, good for you, ya’ whippersnapper.) Your fellow self-healthers welcome you to the cause.
Just so you don’t get bogged down in that stack of articles and tidbits, here are five things you need to know about being a self-healther.
#1. Listen to Your Gut
Literally. What’s going on in your gut all day long plays a ginormous role in how you think and feel. Understanding the importance of balancing the good and bad bacteria in your gut flora is quite possibly the key to achieving an A+ grade on your health status.
A healthy gut supports a killer immune system. (Get it? It kills any nastys trying to take things over.) And did you know there’s a gut-brain connection as well? Yup. Good gut bacteria can keep your brain clear and your moods even.
#2. You Don’t Have to Do It All at Once
It’s important to start with small changes you know you can sustain. Pay attention to the amount of water you drink every day. Or go for a walk in your neighborhood after dinner every night. Whatever sounds doable for you is the perfect place to start.
As you feel more energized and start seeing results, you’ll be inspired to take the next logical step. And as you reap the rewards of each new step, you’ll be motivated to take the next one. Eventually you’ll look back and realize that making these simple, beneficial changes wasn’t quite the big deal you made it out to be.
#3. It’s Empowering
As you see the successes you’re making with your baby steps to health, you’ll be reminded that life is all about the choices you make. When you realize that you have complete control over every little aspect of your health, you’ll be empowered to keep making smart choices.
You’ll build up your list of credible self-health resources and know that a little research can work wonders for any question or concern that pops in your head. You’ll seek out practitioners who share your philosophy about health so you can work in conjunction with each other to achieve your goals. As you learn what your health means to you, you’ll become empowered to take control of it.
#4. It’s Easier to Manage Health Than Disease
In generations past, chronic disease wasn’t so prevalent as it is today. Back then, bodies worked more efficiently and health came easily. But today we’ve strayed from a traditional diet to more convenient processed foods. No wonder that our bodies are forced to deal with foreign substances, and unfortunately, they don’t always get it right.
Malfunction of one or more systems sets in, and suddenly our lives depend on spending money to deal with it—not to mention our time and energy. Health Is Simple, Disease Is Complicated by James Forleo, DC, explains it all.
#5. Healing Takes Time
If you’re exploring self-health because of some nagging health issues—big or small—turning things around won’t happen overnight. After all, those nagging issues didn’t just show up one day, did they?!
Your journey will be like no one else’s. Even if other people dealing with the same condition share the methods they used to get their health back on track, your body will likely respond differently. Seek out inspiration and solace from those folks, but always listen to what your own body is telling you.
Now that you know these things about self-health, it’s time to get started. What’s your first step?
Image from iStock/Ildo Frazao.
Paula Widish, author of Trophia: Simple Steps to Everyday Self-Health, is a freelance writer and self-healther. She loves nothing more than sharing tidbits of information she discovers with others. (Actually, she loves her family more than that—and probably bacon too.) Paula has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Public Relations and is a Certified Professional Life Coach through International Coach Academy.
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