December is a good month to evaluate where you are at, in terms of your health. A Christmas break allows you a little time to reflect on the four levels of your health and how they feel: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels of your health. Take a health inventory. These four levels offer a more comprehensive evaluation.
In North American culture, the most emphasis is generally put on the physical state of health so I will start there. Your energy ( scale of 1 to 10 on average) and how much productivity you can offer in terms of a contribution are one example of your physical side of health. Where does your energy lie on average and how much physical stamina do you have? How is your energy for your working life? Do you engage in regular cardiovascular exercise? How often and for how long? Do you work on strength? What do you do to build your strength up? Some people like to lift weights, others like to do yoga or pilates to build strength. Are you balanced in terms of your cardio vs strength? What feels right to you?
Evaluate your sleep- do you sleep well and for how long in hours? How often do you wake? What wakes you up? Do you wake well rested or do you have to hit snooze five times? If you could sleep in on weekends, how long would you sleep for? Do you have more energy after exercise or less?
How is your digestive health? How often do you have a bowel movement (now it is getting more personal!) You can make your health inventory as detailed or as minimal as you want. Take some time to think about it. Write a few notes down. A detailed health inventory at the end of the year will then assist you to create health goals on all these levels of healing when the new year begins.
How is your immune system? Did you get sick more or less than last year? Did you get colds or flus? Did you have to take antibiotics?
What area of your physical health needs the most attention? What does your intuition say? You can go through each area of your body and ask yourself how is this area feeling? Are you getting any aches or pains anywhere? Go through every area of you body and check in with it- how does this area feel? How is it functioning?
How well do you take care of your physical health, in terms, of nutrition? Do you eat mainly a whole foods diet or do you eat on the run and rely on processed foods? Do you take time to lovingly prepare nutritious food for yourself or your family? Are you aware of the foods that are most compatible for you and your health needs? Have you been tested for food allergies?
Diet is the foundation of health. Eating a whole foods diet requires more time than most people want to admit but is a must if you are looking to improve your physical health. It is good to start there as most people do not eat a perfect diet and could stand to improve on their diet.
An appointment with a naturopathic doctor goes into a detailed health inventory of your health. I am just touching on a few questions to ask yourself about your physical health at the end of the year to keep your dialogue alive about your physical health. To make an appointment with me, please call Parallel Wellness at 4032321283…I will touch on the other levels of your health inventory in another post…