Autumn is a prime time for a health checkup

PRIME – September 2014 By Victor Acquista, MD Director Pathways Integral Health & Wellness, LLC; Right off the bat let me say that I am not talking about going to the doctor or any other health care provider for some type of checkup visit. I am talking about a checkup you do on yourself. This would be more along the lines of an honest self-assessment or appraisal to get a sense about where you currently stand in relation to health and wellness. Having some underlying disease or diagnosis does not prevent you from enjoying good health. The sort of health I am referring to is represented in the four domains of our health – body, mind, spirit, and environment. Environment here is not the physical space we dwell in so much as the social and cultural aspects that shape the world we occupy. A health checkup is nothing more than a series of questions to reflect on and answer to help you get a better understanding of where you presently stand. Your answers are a kind of snapshot of your health. That snapshot can be used to help form the basis of a plan to work on areas of deficiency. So let’s get started: Where are you in the physical domain? Probably the simplest question to ask yourself is, “How do I feel most of the time?” Follow this with, “How is my energy level?” If you generally feel lousy, or tired and fatigued, that suggests that your physical health is compromised. Of course, it is a bit artificial to separate the body-mind as though they exist independently from one another. Surely mental and emotional issues can manifest as not feeling well physically. So if you are not generally feeling well, you might go on to ask questions about your mental and emotional state, but I am getting a little bit ahead of myself. Ask yourself if you are getting enough sleep. We live in a sleep deprived society. Most adults need about seven-to-eight hours of good sleep in order to feel well rested. Many of us rely on caffeine, which is a stimulant, to try and counteract the results of not getting sufficient rest. Take inventory of your diet and exercise habits. If you are not getting any regular exercise, or if your dietary habits are poor, that might explain why you are not feeling well. Questions about diet and exercise and about sleep pattern are all important things to ask if you answered, “not so good” to either of the questions in italics above. In addition to these queries, ask yourself if you are frequently experiencing pain. Pain is a physical manifestation of some underlying problem. Chronic pain can be physically draining. If you are regularly taking pain medications on your own, it’s probably a good idea to discuss this further with your health care provider and to develop a plan to minimize your pain and the effects it has on your physical health. Where are you in the mental/emotional domain? To explore this realm of health, ask yourself, “Where are my thoughts and emotions most of the time?” If you are frequently angry, anxious, sad, upset, worried, preoccupied about negative aspects of your life, that suggests your health is compromised. If you do not feel well and you are eating and sleeping well in addition to getting some regular exercise, chances are your problem is more in your mind and you need to honestly explore this domain. What is troubling you? What are the underlying details causing anger, worry, frustration, anxiety, sadness, etc.? If you cannot get to the bottom of things by asking these self-directed questions, it might be helpful to speak with a professional to help uncover the root cause or causes. If your ultimate goal is to enjoy good health, and if after honest self-appraisal you feel your mental and/or emotional health is compromised, you owe it to yourself to work on this aspect of your life in order to realize better health and well-being. Where are you in the spiritual domain? A checkup in this part of our lives is not complicated at all. Spirituality is not about religion; it’s not about belief or disbelief about God or a creator. It is about connection – connection to something greater than ourselves. It is about connection to that which is beyond space or time. So ask yourself, “How connected do I feel?” Holding a newborn infant, walking in the stillness and majesty of nature, being present at the time someone passes while you hold their hand and tell them that you love them – these are the sorts of experiences that give us that sense of connection to something grand and mysterious, something much bigger than ourselves. When people are disconnected, they often have a deep feeling of restlessness and of discontent with life. Perhaps this causes a feeling that life has no meaning and no purpose. If you find yourself feeling this way, your spiritual health may be suffering. And, you may be suffering as well. Where are you in the environment domain? While there are many questions you could ask in your health checkup questions about environment – questions about beliefs and values, etc. – I am going to strip this down to one single question. Ask yourself, “How are my relationships?” Do you have good and solid relationships with friends, family, co-workers? Where do you stand with respect to community? Are you involved in social groups and activities? All of these say something about the quality of your relationships and the quality of your health in this domain. We do not live in isolation; rather, we are in a relationship with the world around us. Are you happy and feeling good about where you stand in relationship to others? If the answer is, “Yes”, then this area of your health is probably in pretty good shape. In the same way that your annual checkup results in the doctor asking some important questions and perhaps poking and prodding a bit, do some poking and prodding of your own. If your answers to the questions above uncover areas of your health that need improvement, come up with a self-improvement plan that addresses the areas that are in need. It’s a good idea to ask yourself the five questions I have highlighted above every few months. In this way you can be empowered to better understand your own health and well being and to work on ways to improve your health and your level of wellness. You can also chart your progress as you move on your path to better health. Be healthy! Victor Victor Acquista MD is author of “Pathways To Health: An Integral Guidebook”. For more information on Dr. Acquista’s book, visit http://pathstohealth.info/