Wellness 

We have known the famous proverb “Health is Wealth” for ages. It has occupied the topmost importance in our lives in modern times. When we ask people about being healthy, the obvious reply is absence of disease. As a wellness activist, my view is that wellness is much more than just about the absence of disease. My belief is that it should include: -

1. Waking up daily with energy and enthusiasm

2. Feeling energetic throughout the day

3. Having joy and peace in our heart.

4. Disease free living

During the course of life, I came in contact with a group of people who were following certain concepts and practices which could help in achieving the above factors. They also had a vast knowledge of treating the chronic ailments with alternate methods of treatments. By my instincts, I joined their group and started learning these concepts. I also tried several of these concepts on myself and started receiving positive results for the chronic ailments I was living with.

 As the time passed by I felt much better as far as my health was concerned. Then I set my goal of starting this blog to disseminate my knowledge and experience to a large number of people who could benefit themselves if they follow them in daily life.

       Let me mention here that the matter presented here is not copied from any book or internet, though it may look similar to what is available in literature. The presentation may not look flashy, or it may seem boring detail at times, but if you read it and get some inside details of the subject, you will be willing to try it out. So let us get started.

       Experts have identified the four pillars of wellness, namely well-balanced diet, adequate rest, physical movement/ exercise and positive mental attitude. If you have a positive mental attitude towards life, you will certainly attach due importance to well-balanced diet, since diet covers 75% of the subject.

 1. Well Balanced Diet:

       If you talk to people about their nutritional intake, most people usually say that they take a good diet. But what I have found in my interactions, most people have little or no idea about the balanced diet. As stated by some experts:

 “The right kind of food is the most important single factor in the promotion of health; and the wrong kind of food is the most important single factor in the promotion of disease."

       The human body is built up of more than 100 trillion tiny cells, not visible with naked eyes. These cells perform every basic function of the body with the help of some chemical components called nutrients (available from foods that we eat). When these nutrients are in short supply, the cells cannot perform their functions, and it leads to weakened organs or lower resistance to disease or disease itself.

       These nutritional deficiencies occur on account of various factors, including processing and refining of foods, time lag between the harvesting and consumption of vegetables and fruits, chemicals used in flavoring, coloring and preserving foods and the chemical fertilizers, fungicides insecticides and sprays used for treating the soil.

       Most important of these nutrients include oxygen and water. The other essential nutrients are classified into five main groups, namely carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins. Most of these nutrients are vitally important and they work together in certain combinations 

       But there is a good news too. Research has also shown that diseases produced by combinations of deficiencies can be corrected when all the nutrients are supplied. A well-balanced and correct diet is thus of utmost importance for the maintenance of good health and the healing of diseases. Such a diet, obviously should be made up of foods, which in combination would supply all the essential nutrients.

2.              Adequate Rest/ Sleep : -

A minimum 6-8 hours of sound sleep is necessary for a human body. During the sleep not only different organs of the body get rest but they also perform other functions like cell repair and detoxification.

3.              Physical Activity/ Exercise: -

       It is very difficult to explain or convince anybody about the benefits of exercise, but it can be experienced. You feel happy and fresh inside when you exercise. The digestive system works better and you can feel more hungry. There can be several forms of exercise out of which you can choose according to your lifestyle. It could be gym, jogging, walking, Stretching, deep breathing, yoga etc.

       According to my experience, the best and most practical way is to combine these.

1.              30-60 minutes of walking either on tread mill or road.

2.              10 mins of stretching exercises

3.              10 mins of Yoga/ Pranayam/deep breathing

       4. Positive Mental attitude: -

       This is an accepted fact that every thought that we think or believe, has major impact on our life, as also on our health. It is very important to bear in our mind that we have a vision for our life that we have to accomplish. Keeping healthy is therefore not only important but it is a priority.

Some of the ways that we can think positive is by being in the company of like-minded people. This can be done either by spending time in certain forums or reading some such books or listening to audio CDs or podcasts even while traveling.

       Many years before when I was introduced to this concept, I thought in my mind that when I grow old, any problems arising out of health issues will have to be borne by my body. Any relative or friend can only provide with money or some other service, but no one would be able to share my pain or suffering. Hence, I decided to give topmost priority to my health. If you decide to explore it further, please fill up google form available in top of the page and then we shall start communicating. Well, each one of you can take your own decision.