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A Winning Resolution—Health for Life By Laurie Buchanan, PhD, HHP, CHT, RMT You’ve heard the old adage; “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” It’s true! This year make a commitment to carve out “me” time—a proactive step toward personal health and well-being; a holistic approach that encompasses the whole person—body, mind, and spirit. To ignore any aspect of your essence is to deprive yourself of health. The holistic approach emphasizes cooperation with the body’s innate ability to heal itself. As humans, we are multi-dimensional in nature. We operate from physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions simultaneously. For true health to occur, we must learn how all these dimensions interact and affect our overall health. Healing comes from within. But healing can be initiated from an outside source. In The Monthly Aspectarian you will find contact information for a variety of practitioners who approach health from a holistic point of view. One of their roles is to help discover the root cause of health concerns and to assist the body back to its natural state of homeostasis—the ideal balance between all major parts of our being. Their approach to wellbeing incorporates the use of natural, complementary and alternative modalities to assist you in achieving your personal health goals. Health and healthcare are the matters of most vital concern to most people. Not surprising, the health of our families and our communities affects virtually every aspect of our life—personal, social, and economic included. Good health all of one’s life and the availability of healthcare that is safe, reliable, and affordable is an aspiration that cuts across all economic, political, ideological, race, age, and gender demographics. It is often said that the United States has the best healthcare in the world, and there is much of which we can be proud. We have millions of people who have devoted their professional lives to the care of others. We have thousands of facilities and a persistent spirit of improvement in the private sector and in our colleges and universities that continually bring us new ways to help and heal. As we have progressed as a nation, we have found ways to ensure that millions of people have access to medical care through the workplace or government sponsored programs. As a bighearted people, we have established charities and innumerable organizations dedicated to health and healthcare causes in support of the ill and injured. And for much of our history, the nature of America in the eyes of the rest of the world has been that of a people of unlimited strength and fortitude. But as we look to the future, we see a dimmer picture. Our nation faces overwhelming challenges in health and healthcare. As a people we are living longer, but the health of individuals—regardless of age—is not improving and is, by some measures, deteriorating. Obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses are draining the health and productivity of our communities. Today, tens of millions of people who live in the United States have no health insurance from any source. Those who do have insurance find the cost climbing beyond their means and the cost of the care itself is rising at an unsustainable rate, straining government, business, and family budgets to the breaking point. What can we do? It starts with proactive self-health; with taking personal responsibility and preventive measures so that we do not find ourselves in need of preventable medical intervention. The most basic foundation of a healthy lifestyle is sticking your stake in the ground and determining your intent to ingest things that are for your highest and best good. In other words, things that are positive, uplifting, constructive, and healing. It is important to note that ingestion is not only the intake of foods and beverages that we put in our mouth to fuel our bodies. It includes what we put in our eyes (what we watch on television, what we read, etc.), and it includes what we put in our ears (what we listen to on the radio, gossip in school or the workplace, etc.). A decision for a self-health lifestyle is not short-term. It does not have an end date like a diet. Rather, it is a life long commitment. In addition to what we ingest, some of the other the basics include a consistent exercise routine that encompasses the whole person such as tai chi, qi gong, or yoga; ample sleep; plenty of fresh water; breathwork; time that is set aside daily for the specific purpose of going inward—meditation/prayer; treatments on a regular basis from a holistic health practitioner for the purpose of preventing illness and maintaining good health. Last year when I turned fifty, several of my clients asked me, “What is the most important thing that you’ve learned to date?” I took some time away to reflect on that question and the one thing that kept bubbling to the surface is this—whatever you are not changing, you are choosing. Are you carrying around extra pounds? Are you continuously running late? Are you in a job that you can’t stand? Do you fail to keep your promises? Do you bite your fingernails? Are you staying in an unhealthy relationship? Do you tell falsehoods? Are your spending habits out of control? Are you still smoking? Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing. Newton’s Law of Motion says, “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The same can be said for choices. For every choice there is a consequence—be it positive or negative—there is always a consequence. We are all agents of change. As individuals we have the opportunity to choose health as a way of life. And that choice begins with our own personal action steps. No one else can do it for us. Polls and studies indicate the public’s anger with the health system, the rising costs, and fear of loss of coverage if they are fortunate enough to have it. They know that the delivery of care is fragmented, the potential for error is high, and that caregivers are frustrated. We live in a nation that is facing a changing economic, physical, and social environment. The movement for health reform is not new, but the solutions are economically and politically difficult. On a national level, progress is slow. The last major healthcare debate was over fifteen years ago. The choices that we make in the near-term will set a course for America’s health and healthcare that will take us deep into this century. On a personal level, our vision and intent must be clear—change is before us. We must take positive action steps in self-health. It’s the New Year—a clean slate. Now is the time to make a winning resolution: health for life.
© 2008 Laurie Buchanan. Laurie Buchanan, PhD, HHP, CHT, RMT is a Holistic Health Practitioner with a PhD in Holistic Therapies. She is the owner of HolEssence—Certified Holistic Therapies in Crystal Lake, IL where she specializes in Energy Medicine. She is board certified with the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. For more information about Laurie’s wellness center, please visit www.HolEssence.com.
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