If you’re anything like me, a simpler life is an approach to be welcomed with opened arms. All things considered, with a little effort, a simplified life isn’t actually all that difficult to achieve. But with life, comes health. And health, as it happens, can majorly predict your path to life. Because health often influences the life you live, one of the major cornerstones to living is understanding what it means to simplify your health.
Before we begin, lets slightly reframe the reference to simplifying your health. Rather than haphazardly trying to simplify your health, take one step back and appreciate that in order to simplify your health you have to first simplify your approach to health. And all things considered, here is what simplifying your approach to health really means:
It Means Being Healthy Doesn’t Need To Be Complicated Or Difficult To Achieve
Most people, at one time or another, have a tendency to compare themselves to others. Health being a major endpoint of comparison, those who are more healthy compare their health to those who are less healthy. Those who struggle with health tend to compare themselves to those who are more healthy. As humans, it’s just what we do. In order to keep your approach to health simple, focusing on your own health goals and aspirations is all that really matters. As importantly, eliminating all the complex thoughts, plans and things that tend to side track us is the key to helping you keep your health simple. Just because your best friend is a rock star health nut who runs daily, eats ‘perfectly’ and looks like superwomen, doesn’t mean your approach has to be the same. For you, being happy, healthy and keeping things simple may mean getting a good night sleep, spending quality time with your family, and going for a trail walk once per week. What matters most when it comes to simplicity is to focus on and connect to what jives for you.
It Means There Are Simple Answers To All Of Your Health Needs
Whether you’re tired, have digestive issues, suffer from headaches or anything (and everything!) in between, when it comes down to it, finding answers to your health is simple. Ill health, disease or being unwell may seem complex, but refining what it is you want out of your health and where you want to go with it isn’t. Every aspect of your health can be studied and dissected with a fine tooth comb, but the most effective approach two fold: focusing attention and effort on the big picture and answering the question “how do my efforts in either supporting or creating obstacles to health jive and fit into my life”? Yes, it’s up to people like myself (an experienced naturopathic doctor) to identify and understand all the intricacies of your health (or illness), but it’s the big picture that matters just as much. Once that picture is clear, begin answering “yes” or “no” to how well your daily activities are either supporting or interrupting your health, and your path toward better health and simple answers to your questions will be found.
It Means Health Runs Parallel To The Way You Live Your Life
This is the most critical aspect to simplifying your approach to health. As alluded to above, if you can live your life and do what you want while simultaneously supporting and improving your health (often times without added effort), then you have attained consistency and excellence in both. If your individual goals and outcomes for health and life don’t align, the struggle to manage or improve either will rarely ever be a simple journey. Nobody expects perfection in life or health, but by working on consistency through and through, it’s only a matter of time until your health will support your life and your life will support continued health in turn.
Dr Jeremy Hayman, ND helps patients at Cornerstone Naturopathic Inc. feel better, live better, and achieve optimal wellness and health. Years of patient care coupled with dedication to personal life balance has helped Dr Jeremy employ the adage that “your approach to health should be simple”.