Health sometimes seems like this thing we only hear about when it is not well. 2020 certainly had a focus on it and changed so much of our day-to-day living. Even then though all the news centered on health was for protection and again it all seemed so negative. Could this be because we only think about it when it is causing us pain or inconvenience?
What I know about health is it is there every day. We may not notice it but we cannot do what we do every day without it. It is everything about us that make us possible. Our health is what fuels our day, helps us solve big and little problems that come up and what keeps us safe. Health is not just a state of being but it is our own energy. What I know about health is it cannot exist without nature.
The visual that comes to my mind when I think about health is seeing myself outside taking in a nice deep refreshing breath. I am somewhere scenic like the mountains feeling refreshed with the view around me. I can literally feel my body respond to this place by being less stressed. The problems that were bothering me out in the world seem so insignificant in that moment. I feel alive. I know there is a bigger purpose than what I’ve been caught up in lately. Nature rejuvenates me body and soul standing right there. What I know about healthy natural living is it is these types of moments that remind us what is important about living.
When I think about what I put my body and mind through every day I feel ashamed. So many days spent bent over a keyboard and on the phone working. Too many days feeling exhausted and not enough time to give myself what I really need. Hours spent going through motions of exercise trying to get it in and done to say I’m doing something good for myself but my heart isn’t in it. I’m just going through motions because it’s what my demands of my time. It is what is necessary to pay bills, buy groceries and survive. What I know about healthy natural living is it doesn’t feel or look like what I do most days.
Does that surprise you?
Here I am writing to you about the wonderful ways living more natural is good for you and yet I just admitted to not doing it right either most of the time. The truth of the matter is what I share with you is my own journey. It is my own recognition of shortcomings and how I am growing in this process too. What I know about healthy natural living is it first requires us to recognize what isn’t working in our life. It invites us to reconnect with mind, body and soul aligning with nature to live fully alive. Feeling that the first time is like taking that first deep breath on a mountain realizing what you’ve been missing all along. The challenge is how to create that feeling in every day life and not just when we go on vacation.
What I know about healthy natural living is its intention for feeling alive every day is sometimes in direct contrast to how most of us live every day. There is no promise of every day being a great day but there is hope we find the way to weather it while still honoring who we are and what we need to feel our best. It is the ability to do what is right for ourselves to feel health thrive in our being. That state where we feel like we can manage the stress in our day, give our body movement and fuel it with good foods. It is also where we allow ourselves time to heal, recover and rest when we need it.
I believe healthy natural living is when we honor our needs. We give time to ourselves to do what we need and need feel like doing so is a burden or guilty pleasure. Sometimes that looks like a break from meetings to eat lunch outside or take a walk. Other times it looks like weekend naps, play time with the kids and meal prepping. What I know about healthy natural living is it can be done in every day life most successfully when we hold tight to our own awareness there is more to life than working and paying bills. It is in the small moments that make us smile or want to act silly playing games. These things too imprint on our health and give us that alive feeling.
Healthy natural living is more than the physical appearance of our body. It is how we feel emotionally and spiritually too. It is the alignment of these elements making up who we are, how we see the world and where we fit into it. What I know about healthy natural living is it is constant work to not be caught up in the hamster wheel of stress, societal standards and other things that take away from feeling our best inside and out. It is keeping the perspective that this one life we get is ours to create what is right for ourselves so we can live it to the best as many days as possible.
What I know about healthy natural living is we too often save it up for when we get vacation time from our jobs. We think we will have time to work out later or will eat better on the weekend when we have time to prepare meals. There is always tomorrow. Yet sooner or later our health weakens and we become less energetic about today. We feel lost, disconnected and disenchanted with life. Things seem colorless and tasteless. In my own experience it is here in this gray area most of us live. We are just trying to get through the day or week hoping it ends rather than seeing every day as promising and bright.
Retraining our mind and body to enjoy each day can be challenging. This too is often misguided with expensive gym memberships and prepackaged healthy meal kits. The truth is healthy natural living is connecting with nature. It is going outside for a walk, tasting fresh foods, enjoying moments in our day. It is a journey of awakening ourselves to what it means to feel our best. This is deeper than how we look physically and more than just how we feel emotionally. It is those things together wrapped in an awareness of nature itself. That true happiness we feel when we know we are loved.
Healthy natural living is more than just applying an essential oil or diffusing it in our office. Rather it is letting that oil help us keep connected to ourselves. It is bringing nature into our day to remind and support us on the journey of feeling of our best. That aroma is meant to remind us of our need to connect with nature itself within our very being. What I know about healthy natural living is it does include the use of natural products that come directly from nature and become necessary for us to build our health emotionally, physically and spiritually. We become aware of what our body needs and how to support that with things that support us feeling our best self.
What I know about healthy natural living is it does center on love for ourselves, others and nature. It is the ultimate sensation of being part of something bigger that is beautiful and yet deeply personal. It is tapping into our own energy to share it with the world because we are overflowing with it! That beautiful smile we put on when we awake in the mornings and know today, a regular day where we will just go to work is going to be a great day! It is where we don’t have to put on a smile because it is polite but rather because we genuinely feel like smiling.
When we are healthy natural living it is seen in how we feel, move, eat, sleep and think. It consumes all of who we are even though we may do things other people still do like work, run errands, make meals for our family and more. It is how we feel when we do those things that is different. We feel different too. We have energy for all we need to do and still find that time to connect with what we need that day. It all balances and we feel happy in the living of each day. We feel alive. That my friend is what healthy natural living feels like.
What I know about healthy natural living is it is we must tap into it within our very hearts to open. It is work we commit to doing because we matter, our life matters, how we feel every day matters. It is the work of creating a life that makes us feel alive and happy and our best as many days as possible. It is not some far fetched version of ourselves but rather our true self we discover and bring out. We intentionally seek out those moments where we can take that nice refreshing deep breath and know we are alive.
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