After spending years not being at peace with my body, I was done feeling the discomfort that came with not being good to myself, from the inside out. As I started to learn more about the body through my trainings and experiences, I found out the following:
1. When your body speaks listen.
Whether I am teaching this in yoga or on a one-on-one with my clients that I health-coach, I am a firm-believer in listening to your body. Like Iyanla Vanzant says, ‘Pain is an acronym for pay attention inward now!’ We spend so much time running away from pain that we don’t take the time to listen to what the pain says until it is too late. If your neck hurts, it could mean that you are straining it. If you have a headache, it could mean that you are dehydrated. If you have stomach pain, it could mean that you are eating too many acidic foods. Don’t cover up your pain, learn listen to it and heal what it is asking you to.
2. Do your own research, too!
There is a lot of information about health out there. Especially with the new wave of holistic care out there, you need to double or triple check facts before you believe them. As a health coach, people come up to me with a lot of crazy claims like, ‘Juicing cures cancer’ or ‘Eating meat causes cancer’. While there is evidence to support these claims, there is evidence to also debunk this. As with any other industry, health claims can be funded by corporations and can lead to false information being put out there to fund a product. That is why it is important for you to do your research and not trust anything you read on Google or see in a documentary.
3. Everything in moderation.
In The West, we have a tendency to take everything to the extreme. A lot of people that I have treated have been afraid to eat certain foods because they are afraid of being fat or being perceived as unhealthy. Truthfully, life is about balance. If you deprive yourself of certain things, it is most likely that you will end up bingeing on what you have been depriving yourself of, which can lead to a plethora of negative emotions that follow. Be realistic with yourself and set aside a day or two where you can eat that chocolate cake you have been craving, drink that wine you want to drink or eat that cheeseburger you have been salivating over. Life is not about punishment or deprivation, it is about acceptance and moderation.
4. Be happy and stress free
According to The Harvard Gazette, happiness plays a key in your health. ‘The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health’, says Robert Waldinger, a professor of Harvard Medical School. In addition, in Ayurveda (ancient medicinal system rooted in India) , there is a direct correlation between stress and disease. With many Ayurvedic practitioners claiming that stress is the number cause of disease. To relieve stress and stay happy, I recommend meditation, not overloading or overworking yourself and letting go of situations and people that are not worth getting involved in.
*For a health-coaching consultation, e-mail halitst@icloud.com