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Who's Responsible For Your Health?
by Andrew Ramsay
http://www.evolvingperceptions.co.uk/

When is the last time you stopped to think about your
health and all the things in your life that your health
allows you to do? I know that you feel "OK" most of the
time, but everyone has days that aren't quite perfect. The
one skill that I would love to give to you is the ability
to listen to the messages that your body is giving you and
improve how you look at your own health. Have you ever
asked yourself what is important to you about your health?
What does health do for you? Does it allow you freedom, or
more time with your family or loved ones, or maybe you
just enjoy the energy you have when you are in a healthy
state. Health is a state that everyone can achieve and
maintain, and it doesn't consist of constant exercise and
dieting, health is about basic maintenance. Similar to a
car, your body requires certain fuels, lubricants and the
occasional check under the hood from someone who
understands how the systems run.

According to the World Health Organisation
(W.H.O.) "Health is a state of complete physical, mental
or social well-being and not merely the absence of dis-
ease." In my own words health could be labelled as "Being
responsible for a continuing evaluation of your own
holistic functioning." Health is not something that you
acquire; it is the process of being healthy.
Health starts in the place that most people don't think to
look for it, your brain. In 1949 Walter Rudolf Hess was
awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of
the mind-body connection, which proved that the mind
controls the body. More recently scientists discovered
neurotransmitter. This is a chemical substance that passes
the electrical impulses between nerve cells and is present
in every cell in the body which means that when you think
something every one of your 75 trillion cells think it
too.

The brain is absolutely essential in the functioning of
the body. Your brain performs two major types of function,
those within your conscious awareness and those out with
which I will refer to as functions of the unconscious.
Your unconscious mind is responsible 24 hours a day, 7
days a week for maintaining your heartbeat, breathing,
digestion, repairing damage to your body, growing your
hair and nails, controlling an enormous number of muscles
to coordinate every single movement, as well as regulating
your body's temperature, water content and sugar levels.
In addition to all of these it also has control of your
body's regeneration, including growing a complete new
skeleton each year, brand new soft tissue every 3 months,
a new liver every 6 weeks, 8m2 of new skin every 4 weeks,
and a new stomach lining every 5 days! In fact 98% of the
atoms in your body are replaced every year.

So how you can use this information to create a huge
improvement in your health? The first step is to sort out
your command centre, otherwise known as the brain. Take
the following steps to ensure mental wellbeing

1. Relax! ~ Stress and negative emotions (anger, sadness,
fear, guilt, hurt, and all of their derivatives) are toxic
to the body and like any other thoughts are transmitted
across the whole nervous system! Massage can be beneficial
but is only dealing with the symptoms, not the problem,
alternatives for clearing up stress and negative emotions
are Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Time Line
Therapy

2. Take a "time out" ~ First thing in the morning as soon
as you wake up sit on the edge of your bed and pick a spot
on the wall, just above eye level and focus on it. Then
become aware of everything in your peripheral vision while
still looking at the spot on the wall, this activates your
parasympathetic nervous system and will put you in a calm
and relaxed state. Do this for at least five minutes at
the start of every day and the whole day will seem much
easier and you will be more relaxed and efficient. You can
do it at any time, as often as you want, throughout the
day!

3. Clear out the junk - Make sure that you get rid of
anything in your life that you are tolerating or no longer
use. Follow the simple rule of "If it works, keep it; if
it doesn't, bin it"

Once you have sorted out your mind, you have to make sure
that the signals are getting through clearly, there is no
purpose in the boss sending out an office wide memo for
radical action if the only person who gets it is Joe the
tea boy! If you are going to achieve optimal health then
you must have good communication between the mind and the
body, this is called your spine. Similar to the massive
trans-Atlantic telephone cables running from the UK to the
United States your spine passes messages from the smaller
part that does all the thinking to the big part that does
all the work. It needs to be checked and repaired for the
messages to keep flowing back and forth. Here's how you
can do it

1. Chiropractic - Regular chiropractic care will keep your
communication lines in top condition. This will allow your
unconscious mind to maintain control of your organs and
cells to ensure they continue to function correctly.

2. Treat yourself - By pampering your body, you tell your
mind to keep looking after it. Try Aromatherapy, Reiki or
Shiatsu for relaxation. Try Deep Tissue Massage or Manual
Lymphatic Drainage to help your body get rid of toxins and
motivate repair.

3. Get the rear in gear - Regular exercise is the most
well known form of maintaining your health, so make sure
you do it safely and correctly. Enlist the help of a
trainer or a friend who is already in fairly good shape to
help you start your exercise regime properly. Exercise for
about 30 minutes every 3 or 4 days to begin with. Keep
logs of your progress so you can see how much improvement
you have made. Watch for signs of over exercising and
reduce the frequency of your exercise if they occur.
Common indicators are soreness in muscles, reduced
concentration, fatigue, lowered immunity. If you are over
training then take a day off and relax.

The bottom line is that your health is your
responsibility. There are plenty of people who can provide
assistance, and would be more than happy to, just as soon
as you decide to take control of your life. You are the
only person who can.

My final suggestion to you is that, right now, you decide
upon one thing, one massive action that you are going to
take to change your health for the better, now tell
someone what you are going to do and ask that they help
you stick to it.

This website is hosted by a consultant who is presently conducting Research Project on this subject.