What Does Good Health Mean To You?
“Good health to me, is the freedom to be my ideal self”
I was one of the lucky youths that had a slim body without putting in any effort. This meant I never had to think about my health. Oh sure, I had signs that my health was slipping with skin infections, fatigue, cold-sores and hormonal depression, but I simply drowned those signs with booze, partying, poor sleep habits, poor diet, and toxic relationships. I had NO idea how to listen to my inner intuition and make good decisions. All I knew how to do was to feel a bad feeling and quickly bury it with any high I could find.
My health signals became less easy to ignore when I developed Erythema Multiforme (EM) at 18 - a rash that is the reaction of the cold-sore virus which covers the whole body (even my gums). I suppressed this too by occasionally taking medication which seemed to keep it at bay. I kept suppressing and burying for years until one day I woke up and I was unemployed, had no friends and had the most backward sleeping pattern you could imagine. I felt completely broken.
I tried to seek help. I was passed from doctor to specialist like a box of skittles. At 22, I was taking tablets for sleep, a stomach ulcer, irritable bladder, contraception, acne, EM, weight loss, an iron deficiency plus an array of multivitamins. I had a freaken pill box with all of the days of the weeks on it. It was FINALLY at this point I began to think of my health and ask myself the question "what is good health to me?" I knew good health wasn't taking a fist full of medication every morning. I wanted to feel good and have control over my moods and body. I wanted the freedom to be my ideal self.
My health journey has been a long and interesting one. While it is still ongoing and has tested me in all sorts of ways, I wouldn't change my health experiences for the world. These are the things that have improved my health the most and have helped me define what good health is to me.
SLEEP
Good health to me means good sleep. It means easily waking up when I want and feeling ready to take on the day. It means not waking up in the middle of the night for hours and it means falling asleep easily. I have done everything to improve my sleep from online sleep courses to vitamins to sleeping pills. But I have found the greatest things that improve my sleep are - wearing an eye mask to bed, sleeping with earplugs in, making my room as dark as possible and seeing a sleep specialist. My sleep specialist has provided me with orange glasses to wear at night and an energy light to sit with in the morning. Practising sleep hygiene and sleep restriction has also helped. With these tools, I am slowly bringing my sleeping pattern backward and soon I will reach my goal of becoming a morning person (instead of the charming zombie that currently arises each morning).
HEAL THE PAST AND FORGIVE
Guilt will make you ill. Believe me, I used to be filled to the brim with it. Yes, the past still comes up for me but now I can smile and let it go. The greatest things that have helped me do this are - writing in my journal, writing forgiveness letters, hypnotherapy, meditation, seeing a Psychologist and tapping (emotional freedom technique). Just by the way - you DO deserve to let the past go and be happy. You have my permission, now give yourself permission too.
LEARN
I have bought every program and read every self-improvement book that you could possibly imagine, and I am still learning every day. My thirst for knowledge about health has not stopped since I was taking all those tablets back at 22, and it will probably never stop. I have completed my Bachelor of Behavioural studies (Psychology), I have taken a nutrition unit at University just because, and I even studied at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition to become a Health Coach. Good health to me is being open to learning and having a good thirst for it.
FOOD
Binge KFC session in front of the TV anyone? That was me not that long ago. The fuller the food made me the better. Good health to me now is the ability to eat mindfully and can have one slice of cake or one glass of wine. To be able to satisfy my cravings with some nourishing home cooking instead of fast food. Looking at what I was eating when I was feeling my worst was an eye opener, and I am always searching for new recipes and new ways to eat to further improve my health.
SELF-CARE
My morning routine used to consist of waking up 15 minutes before work and frantically putting my make up on in the car while speeding to my 9-5. Now my mornings are all for ME. I practice yoga, take a bath, meditate, write in my journal, write a gratitude list, go for a walk and play with my kittens. It wasn't easy at first to give myself permission to do this (remember my old friend guilt) but now I realise good health is putting myself first and doing whatever is necessary to feel calm, so I am able to best help the world.
I would love to hear your health journey in the comments below. What does good health mean to you? Let’s start a loving discussion below.
S xo
