Vitality

What is your idea of vitality? It can look different for many of us.  Some may want to run marathons; some climb Mount Everest; some may want to enjoy a relaxing yoga session; others a fun game of tennis; and some may feel great walking around the mall. Whatever your picture of vitality or wellness, – one thing is certain – it involves more than diet and exercise.

While diet and exercise are critical to wellness, there’s a bigger picture. Time and time again, we see exercise fanatics drop dead suddenly. Remember Jim Fix, the marathon runner? We seem shocked when we see someone who we feel has an impeccable diet getting a devastating disease.  What’s up with that? What’s up is that our entire being – Body, Mind & Soul contributes to our level of overall Vitality.

Experts have shown that even our DNA (the study of Epigenetics) can be dramatically affected by the lifestyle choices we make, our thoughts, our environment, our emotions, and the self-loving thing we do to heal ourselves. We have so much more control than we imagine.

If you are experiencing great Vitality now – fabulous; if you are searching to improve it- great! Either way, these simple tips below can support you in creating a healing space for your entire being.

Detoxing

There is much to say about detoxing- books, CDs, workshops, etc. all focusing on detoxing the body. It’s a huge industry. Yet just as important, and perhaps growing at even a more alarming rate, is the body of scientific knowledge about the power of detoxing our minds of negative thoughts and our soul of painful emotions of the past. It takes incredible courage, however, the healing that occurs is profound!

Most I know that have taken on detoxing (their entire being) are now living extraordinary lives of vitality. Doing one without the other will have an impact indeed, yet leave you with less than what you deserve to have in this life – the freedom to be your best self.

Nourishing 

Once we detoxify the junk, we certainly need to give ourselves nourishment. I love to garden and read great gardening magazines. Every year there’s a picture of two beautiful planters side by side – one looks amazing, and the other one puny. What’s the difference? Nourishment. The one that looks amazing has gotten plenty of sun, water, and fertilizer, the other one given just enough to survive. How about you? Are you giving your body, mind, and spirit things that are nourishing?

How are your thoughts? How are the feelings in your heart? Are you bitter with resentment? Or are you one who would keep a gratitude journal? Either way, you will have an impact on your vitality. There’s a great phrase out there in the world of nutrition today – perhaps you’ve heard it “Overfed, yet undernourished”.  Do a little assessment and see if you can nourish yourself a bit more.

Your Choice

Wherever you are today in the quest for vitality, keep in mind that it is a journey. It’s all about course correction, not perfection!!  You can choose at any given day to detoxify your negative thoughts, hurt feelings, or crummy diet and replace it with things that will nourish you. It’s your choice. If you blow it (we’ve all done that!) then the good news is, we can course-correct and detoxify again. In fact, I recommend regular detox programs in all three realms (more on this later). If you are not happy with your level of vitality – look around you, start envisioning it, calling forth a team of providers that can partner with you to support you to a higher level.

Here’s to Creating the Vitality You Crave!