Achieving your own wellness
Pursuing healthy habits in all areas of one’s life including mental, physical, social, financial, spiritual, environmental, and occupational — and keeping these interconnected areas in balance — is one definition of wellness. It is more than the absence of illness or disease; it is a life of thriving rather than simply surviving. Anybody interested in more of that?
Stop and reflect
Have you ever spent time considering how you live; the decisions you make, the consequences, and if they might need some occasional leveling up? If like most Americans your answer is “no,” I’ll invite you right now to consider this question before reading any further. Why? Because mostly we live out unconscious patterns and habits, learned and honed from our early years and continued into adulthood, even if they are no longer ideal or helpful.
Without awareness and consideration
How do we know if our habits are working or not working? We acquire consequences in life for all our behaviors, including our habits. For example, if I’m speeding through the house trying to get out the door running late, I might stub my toe. If I’m down a rabbit hole of too much working and forget to pay a bill, I’ll get a late fee.
Now here’s the fascinating part: many times we prefer and un/consciously lay blame to the door frame, or the utility company’s late policy rather than considering our own behaviors. We don’t stop to contemplate if this behavioral pattern is working. Living in our world filled with so much judgment and guilt leaves many of us confused or unwilling to honestly consider our own behaviors: It is easier to blame others. The problem with this method is that we never can actually effect change. Why? Because we can't change other people, only ourselves!
To further complicate this problem in misunderstanding wellness, a single human is comprised of multiple systems that communicate with each other mostly outside the realm of our own knowledge. Some of our physical systems are endocrine (hormones), skeletal, respiratory, muscular, cellular and nervous. We also have the more subtle systems, those not able to be seen, including energetic, thought, psychic, sensory, etheric and spiritual.
And if this isn’t already overwhelming with so many factors, let’s not forget other people, and our environment. Surely, everyone has had the experience of not eating or being dehydrated and trying to make decisions – only to fall into mind fog and stupor so thick we wonder what alien has taken over our brain. Fortunately, once our nutritional needs are balanced, we can again think clearly. This is an example of physical systems influencing our mental functions, often defying our awareness of the true cause.
If you’re still with me and gotten through the muck of “what is a human,” congratulations for sticking with the read; all these details help to appreciate the magnitude and challenge facing anyone wanting to get out of illness and into wellness. It’s not as simple as any one thing we’ve been told or read about somewhere – anywhere. These as stand-alone suggestions (for example) are not solutions: eat paleo, do strength training, walk every day, meditate, drink 64 ounces of water, take supplements, read 20 books a year, use “I” messages with your partner. The list is endless and seems to be filling a lot of social media feeds right now.
What works is a unique approach to considering your own systems (which also change over time, just to throw in another zinger) with the help of people who understand how these systems work independently and together. Wellness is about good health, all health: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, relational … you deserve to be in supreme health in all these areas of your life. No amount of “willing” yourself into it (which usually looks like being harsh and critical with yourself) or trying the latest social media idea will lead you to wellness.
There is another way
I founded the St Louis Wellness Center some years ago after being ill, injured, not finding answers, getting fed up and discouraged. I knew there had to be another way to treat the entirety of a human, not just as carved-up pieces going to different specialists who seem to have only the knowledge of their own concentration. As I learned more about our systems working synergistically, in compliment of one another, I knew St. Louis needed a centralized place for people to visit for this type of care.
So, if you’ve “tried it all,” and don’t have the health and wellness results you want. Or things keep “happening to you,” and you’re confused about this, please visit our website www.StLouisWellnessCenter.com to read a bit about each person working here. You may want to contact them directly or send us an email if you need help navigating the myriad choices.
I know it seems like a lot, an enormous project we could say: One demanding time, attention, money, sacrifices. Is it any wonder most people don’t choose this path of wellness, preferring to live it out, and not open Pandora’s box? I’m here with an invitation that you can do this, you can have more, your life can be more fulfilling, balanced – you can experience wellness in your entire human being!
You are a miracle of life and require a multi-faceted (and gentle) approach.
Dr. Gwin Stewart founded the St. Louis Wellness Center in 2007. You can write her at DrGwin@hotmail.com. Read more about her here.
