Air - Water - Sleep - Food
Working in the wellness field, I have patients that show up with all kinds of maladies. Often times people are seeking cures and support for issues and conditions that are in fact arising from, and can be significantly alleviated with more attention given to the most basic components of a healthy wellness routine.
All wellness reviews should first start with a review of these most basic components of wellness. Most people will errantly look past these forgetting they are in fact the foundation from which wellness blossoms.
- Air -- Without Air, one might live for a few minutes. But just because you are breathing doesn't mean you are breathing well, and if you aren't breathing well, the affects on your body are tremendous. The amount, volume and quality of the oxygen you breath has a tremendous affect on all aspects of cellular functions. Breathing diaphramitically in deep slow breaths makes a huge difference in the body's operations.
- Water -- Without water the body may last a few days. Water is the fluid that makes everything go. As soon as the cells start to dehydrate, all internal energy goes into panic mode trying to support everything that water typically supports. The volume of people seeking wellness support who are either under hydrating or over hydrating during meals, causing digestion issues with all kinds of downstream effects is well over 70% in my practice.
- Sleep -- Most people view sleep as a time to relax. Few respect sleep as the time in which the body does many janitorial functions related to all the work performed by 3 trillion cells the day prior. Recent studies have shown that less than 8 hours of sleep is not enough time to clean up from the prior days activities and that clean up does not catch up with one longer nights rest on the weekend. If you are one who thinks you get along well on 5-6 hours of sleep, but you are having health and wellness issues, gaining a better understanding of sleep and down time as it pertains to the bodily functions most ignore may be more relevant than you think.
- Food -- Many people believe food is the body's primary system for fuel. There are studies on a particular yogi that indicate he can go weeks without food with no significant affect on his energy level and no negative affects on his health. So what is food and what does it do? Hypocrites -- "Let food be thy medicine". Food offers a wonderful experience for the tongue and the senses, and for most people it undoubtedly is a critical part of their energetic system providing some level of fuel for the body, but the most overlooked aspect of food is it's role as a balancing system for the bodies fluctuating needs. One of our greatest problems in the 21st century has been the processing of foods and the loss in nutrient density due to factory farming. An estimated 60-70% of my patients have factory food related issues contributing to symptoms they are seeking to remedy.
All wellness reviews should first start with a review of these most basic components of wellness. Most people will errantly look past these forgetting they are in fact the foundation from which wellness blossoms.