For as long as I can remember I’ve had a keen interest in health. In High School my favourite subjects were Biology and PHPD (Physical Health & Personal Development). I loved learning about the body and its workings, and how this related back to ourhealth and well-being. At that time and well into my 20s and 30s I mostly related health to diet and exercise. I also understood that there was a mental and emotional side to health, but I was yet to discover true health from within and what that entailed.
As I’ve matured I can see how my understanding and grasp of what health is has evolved. For example, I remember in my early 20’s studying Physical Education at University and thinking I was so healthy. I exercised at least twice a day, at the gym in the mornings, and power walking in the evening with friends. I lived on diet coke, bananas and low-fat muffins. Yes, you can laugh, I actually thought I had it all going on back then!
Looking back now I can see how I was approaching my health from outside of me. I was constantly looking to health magazines or text books to tell me how to be healthy, and I was very much focused on my outer appearance to tell me if I was on the right track. Not to say that this was, or is, a bad thing, as I absolutely appreciate my level of dedication towards my health in the first place, but it wasn’t something I was approaching from within as I do now.
Enter Esoteric Women’s Health and Health from Within, and my understanding of true health started to change. Introducing the concept of really nurturing myself from the inside out by listening more to my body and my innermost feelings has transformed how I see myself, my health and well-being. I can feel that this is an ever-unfolding process that will continue to evolve, just as I came to see that the diet coke wasn’t it.
I have since learned that my own body is the greatest teacher I have, constantly communicating to me what is needed to support and nurture my own health. This includes not just diet and exercise but also the types of thoughts I entertain, how I express myself, what I allow and don’t allow in my life, and relationships. It encompasses so much more than what I had once realised; it is in every movement and choice I make.
For me Health from Within means actually listening to my body and my feelings and from there making choices that support my entire being.
What I’ve found with this is, that it’s not so much about the food I eat, or the exercise I do, though these things are important, but that it is more about the quality I am choosing to be in in those moments, as this has a far greater impact on my health and well-being.
An example of this would be in how I walk. I can easily go for a walk with the purpose of exercising my body, which is a super awesome start. But then if I just walk, turning thoughts around in my head, not really feeling my body and moving in response to that, then the quality I could have if I really connect to my body and move how it is asking me to move it, is lost. It’s like an empty exercise – literally. Walking now in a way where I’m really feeling every part and angle of my body and how I need to move it nourishes me to the core, and my body loves me for it, but equally, I enjoy the movement, because it’s my body moving me. That is an amazing feeling to experience each day.
In starting to approach my Health from Within I feel a joy and vitality in my body like never before, and I also feel more beautiful than ever, and this for me is what true health is all about.
Written by Anna McCormack, Australia