With World Health Day on the 7th of April, I thought it would be great to talk about ‘What Is Health?’.

Many of us don’t even think about our health, until something goes wrong. But before disease occurs, the human body is extremely intelligent and will try to prevent the onset of disease by letting you know with a series of symptoms something isn’t right.

We have the choice to listen and take action or ignore the signs and see what happens.

A person’s health consists of their entire body; often you hear about mental health, physical health, digestive health and so on. Essentially we want our entire body to be of optimal health. We have all heard prevention is better than the cure; which really highlights the challenges associated with having poor health. Ideally, if each of us could eat and live in a way that encourages optimal health that would be great, but I hear you say, “easier said than done”.

So what can we do to keep ourselves as healthy as possible?

• Eat healthy food 80% of the time.
• Drink 2-3 litres of filtered water.
• Exercise at least 3 times per week.
• Meditate daily, even if it’s just for 10 mins.
• Choose relationships/ friendships that feed the soul and are mutually beneficial.
• Limit time with people that are toxic.
• Have a small group of people who you undeniably trust to vent challenges in your life. A sounding board is a great way to express your emotions and help you process any challenges you may be going through.
• Have a great selection of positive self help books to keep you inspired and motivated in life. Set goals around your passions and spend time with like minded people.

So if you do all this, does this mean you will never be sick? Unfortunately, No. Life is meant to have obstacles; without them we will never learn a single thing. Adversity builds resilience, shows you who you can truly lean on and encourages you to re-assess your choices to make changes that need to be made. These personal development building blocks are true gems in your life. Failure is wonderful. You can actually see someone change before your eyes when they realise the invaluable lesson they learn in a moment of undeniable pain. That moment they go from pain to glory is truly a magical moment and as a health practitioner I often see this in my clinic. I personally feel so blessed when this happens in front of me, as I gain deeper insight into the true relevance of adversity.

The most important insight I’ve learnt through having health issues was to trust and respect my body is always trying to communicate with me and is always in a state of rejuvenation.

So when your health is anything but optimal, look into what changes you can make to your diet and lifestyle and do them. Life is better when you’re healthy, don’t put anything or anyone above your own state of health.

What does health mean to you? I’d love to hear your stories. Share them with us below or feel free to email them to me at info@salubre.com.au.

If you are currently challenged with health issues, feel free to share your obstacles. As we know a problem shared, is a problem halved. Irene.