Evolution To WellBeing

23 Oct 2014

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Health is a state of complete optimum physical, mental, and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. World Health Organisation

None of the following steps below should be new to you!! We are all blessed with the technology in the modern world to educate ourselves enough to know what we 'should' be doing to be the healthiest we possibly can be, but ARE YOU GETTING ALL THE STEPS RIGHT, most of the time?

Dr Erin Hawken shares her take on how best to look after ourselves. 

1. Nutrition

The process of healing, generation and re-generation is done using the food that we eat. If we eat good quality, fresh food our body can build healthy new cells, if we eat packaged, refined food our body cannot. Try to eat foods that have been recently living themselves like fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, eggs, chicken, fish, and a small amount of red meat like lamb. Steer away from foods that come wrapped in plastic, or come in a box, bottle or can. Fresh is best! Limiting inflammatory foods like sugar, white flour (White bread, pasta etc), and dairy will also help.

Drinking water is one of the simplest and most important things you can do to improve your health. 80% of your body is water and every cell, tissue and organ needs water to function and heal properly. We need to aim for between 2-3L of water a day. Water can be drunk from the tap, bottle, or as herbal tea. Black tea and coffee do not count as water as they contain compounds that leach water from our bodies.

2. Exercise and Activity

Your body is designed to move! Make sure you do not sit for longer than 30-45 mins at a time. Try setting an alarm on your computer to remind you to get up. Walk around. Get a glass of water or piece of fruit. Roll your shoulders forward and back. Repeat this regularly throughout your day. 5 minutes every hour adds up to 40 minutes in the workday!

Daily exercise is also an important part of healing and health. You need to aim for 30 minutes of sustained exercise a day. As long as your heart rate is elevated, you are slightly puffed, and you have a pink flush to the face, you are benefitting. Try to vary the exercise you do and include a combination of cardio, resistance, and flexibility work.

3. Rest + Relaxation

Most people require 6-8 hours sleep a night. This is when your body heals and regenerates and so rest and sleep is very important. It is also important to make sure your spine is supported when you are sleeping with a good quality pillow and mattress. Your pillow should be no older than 2 years, and it should support the curves of your neck. Most mattresses need to be replaced every 6-10 years, depending on their quality. Side-sleeping and back-sleeping positions are good for supporting your spine. NEVER sleep on your stomach – it places excessive stress on the neck and the lower back and will slow down your spinal healing. It is important to ‘wind-down’ before bed so don’t eat or drink too late in the evening (especially coffee or alcohol), and avoid watching television or using the computer just before you go to bed.

Stress will always find, and impact upon, the weak areas in our body. It is important to manage our stress by making sure our life is balanced with things we enjoy doing, and things we find relaxing. That may be a walk at the beach or in the woods, taking the family bowling, reading a book, or baking your favourite dish. Make sure you fit in one of these things every week. Important:  bingeing on your favourite junk food and lying around on the couch watching television will actually place more stress on your body. Choose an activity that helps your health and healing – rather than one that hinders it.

4. Healthy positive attitude

The Placebo Effect studies have confirmed that our thinking can have a huge impact on our bodies healing ability. You are in control of how quickly your body heals itself! Make sure you are taking time for a daily gratitude practice and being mindful and present in your daily routine and activities. Approach your health in a positive way and remember that your body is constantly healing and regenerating and so it has endless possibilities to change.

5. Healthy Functioning Nervous System

Your nervous system controls every cell, tissue and organ in your body. A healthy nervous system is an essential component for health and wellness. The stressors in our modern lives often create interference to our nervous system by affecting our spinal alignment and function. This interference stops our body from being able to adapt, repair and regenerate. So no matter how well you eat, exercise and think, if you have nerve interference, then your body cannot be at it’s healthiest.

People often don’t understand just how important the function of their spine and nervous system interference is, or if they do, they think it can be corrected through massage, exercise or other means. If you are already taking care of points 1-4 but are still not reaching your health potential or having ongoing injuries, it may be important to have your spine and nervous system checked. Chiropractor’s are specifically trained to detect and improve areas of spinal dysfunction and to assist in optimising your nervous system function, naturally!

Your nerves control every cell, muscle, organ and body function so when your nervous system is functioning free of interference your body can function, co-ordinate, and heal, generate and re-generate at it’s best. 

This article was written by Dr. Erin Hawken. Dr. Hawken is a Chiropractor and practices at Chirosports in Coogee, NSW.