In my last blog titled Now That The Dust Has Settled I said that I was going to spend the next several months providing information on the three key areas to increase your longevity. They were exercise, proper nutrition and keeping your nervous system free of interference. It occurred to me that I put the cart before the horse. We must first discuss the role of genetics v.s. lifestyle and the healthcare hierarchy as they pertain to a Longevity Wellness Lifestyle. After that you must understand what goes into creating a Longevity Wellness Lifestyle.
Our health and therefore our longevity are based 25% on genetics and 75% on Lifestyle. Research Article Some genes lead to disease but for most people a healthy lifestyle can greatly reduce inherited risk. The sooner the better. But even in your late 60's and 70's it makes a difference. Staying healthy is mostly due to the choices we make. Risks can be lowered when you change your lifestyle by exercising, eating well, reducing stress, receiving regular chiropractic care, among others.
This is best done by establishing a common sense approach to the 3 areas of your health care hierarchy, Self-Care, Healthcare and Crisis Care.
Self-Care is what you must do for yourself to keep your mind, body, and spirit healthy and functioning at your highest level, which nobody else can do for you. It's the choices you make everyday. If taking care of yourself hasn't been your norm it's going to take some time to create new habits one good choice at a time. One good choice leads to another and before you know it you have created your Longevity Wellness Lifestyle. Some examples of Self Care are yoga, strength training , sports, gardening, running, aerobics, meditating, attending seminars, listening to music or audio books, taking vacations, swimming, sailing, spiritual retreats, spas, reading and Pilates, to name a few.
Health Care is what you need to keep your mind, body, and spirit healthy and functioning at your highest level that you can't do for yourself and utilizes the skills of a trained health care professional. It is necessary to keep your body balanced, aligned, stress free, and better able to resist the challenges of your environment. For example you cannot massage yourself, but massage is important to keep your muscles and your lymphatic system healthy and to eliminate the accumulation of stress from your body. You cannot adjust your own spine, but wellness chiropractic care is important to keep your spine and nervous system healthy throughout your lifetime. Health care is about health and wellness. and keeping your body functioning at a high level. Disease is not normal and our bodies are designed to be healthy. Disease is not normal and you shouldn't think of it that way. Having to treat a disease is obviously something we want to avoid, and in many cases we can. Excellent health care, combined with great self-care, keeps your entire body functioning at its optimum level. While we all brush and floss our teeth, we still see our dentist at least once or twice a year for a thorough examination. Dentists have been the first health care professional to promote self-care, healthcare and crisis care as the proper way to handle dental care. Most people understand taking care of their teeth and seeing the dentist for routine care to avoid the crisis. But if a crisis does occur then there are dental procedures to handle it. Chiropractors began better educating patients of the hierarchy as well. Routine check ups with a chiropractor can find subluxations/misalignments in their early stages to prevent further problems. Crisis chiropractic care handles severe neck and back problems. Unfortunately medicine has been predominantly focused on crisis care. They do a great job at crisis care but have room to grow as far as self-care and actual health care. A valuable thing medicine does is early detection. If something is detected you are in a crisis. Don't confuse early detection with prevention. But if it is found early you have a better chance of a good outcome. Early Detection Schedule for Health Women Men's-Health-Checklist .Other examples of health care professionals you should consider having on your team are primary care doctors, optometrists, life coaches, therapists, dentists, counselors, personal trainers and nutritionists among others. It is essential to build a Longevity Wellness Health Care Team to have a longer, healthier life.
Some Self Care you can learn on your own. Some will require some initial education and training from a Health Care Professional. Health Care requires a trained professional to perform the service.
Crisis Care is to recover from an injury or illness that requires the support of a crisis care or health care specialist. At some time or another we will all have a crisis. Being prepared will help our bodies recover as quickly as possible. So the fitter and healthier you are overall when a crisis hits you will be better able to recover and recover more quickly with less complications. If you have your health care team in place you will be ahead of the game when a crisis does occur.
Action Plan For a Longevity Wellness Lifestyle
1. Decide which self-care strategies are the most appealing to you and begin to make them a part of your lifestyle, one day at a time, on choice at a time. By choosing something you enjoy doing, or an environment that you like, you will be more likely to follow through. Remember change takes time. Make one good choice, then another and another.
2. Stop thinking about it! Choose the first area that strikes your fancy! Go for a walk. Join a gym. Set an appointment with a personal trainer. Look around for a yoga class that starts in an hour, get in your car and drive there and pay for one class. It's that simple!
3. Become informed. Gather information by reading and talking to a doctor, chiropractor, personal trainer, visit websites,
4. Build your ideal self-care, health care, and crisis care team. You probably have some or many in place already. If not ask friends and family who they're using. Ask your health care team who they recommend for other areas you have need for.
5. Make it fun! Enjoy the journey! Getting out of the house and being active feels good. You'll meet new people. You'll be able to enjoy more of what life has to offer when you're physically fit and able to move and participate in life. Your mental state will improve.
We've been given this one body, this one life, strengthen it, build it, nurture it and it will serve us well........