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A Holiday Gift of Health Victor-Aquista-Health-Collage.jpg

A Holiday Gift of Health

By Victor Acquista, MD

Author, “Pathways to Health: An Integral Guidebook”

Special to PRIME

For the past three years I have had the honor and the pleasure of contributing a monthly health column to PRIME. I am grateful to the staff at PRIME, especially Debbie Gardner, for giving me the opportunity to express my voice in the crowded arena of health advice. Most of all, I appreciate you, the readers of this column. I'm working full-time on a new book, which I hope to publish in the New Year, so for this column, my last regular installment, let me recommend a holiday gift you give to yourself and by extension to the people in your life you love and care about.

Appreciate the gift

If there is one thing I have learned as a health care practitioner, it is that life is precious. Health can at times be elusive and mysterious, but it is something available to all. Recognizing this is a gift you give to yourself. When we consider health in a narrow and fragmented way, we tend to focus on a particular ache or pain or ailment. We can easily determine that something is out of whack or out of balance and there is consequently some distress, some dis-ease which we conclude is disease. That’s when we might think of ourselves as unhealthy.

If, however, we step back from a single tree in the forest and take a broader view of health to consider the entire forest, we see a complex interplay between many different organisms and processes that are simultaneously active within the greater forest environment. 

Health should not be measured by a single or even an assortment of diagnoses. To suggest that anyone cannot enjoy health because they have arthritis or diabetes or some other chronic disease takes a narrow view of health and well-being. The psychological mental and emotional aspects of who we are, the spiritual aspects of who we are, and the physical aspects of who we are dynamically interplay between and among each other. And we, as individuals experiencing a unique interplay of these components, exist in a greater dynamic environment comprised of relationships and social supports, cultural beliefs, values and attitudes which shape and influence our health.

The sum of you

While many of my columns have discussed some particular aspect of health such as superfoods and probiotics, I have consistently asked you to consider health more broadly in a manner that considers the interplay of body, mind, spirit, and environment. Examining health from these different perspectives and exploring the inter and intra relationships between and among these components is the essence of an Integral approach to health. It is multiperspective and multirelational and simultaneously incorporates reductionistic and holistic truths.

During this holiday season and moving forward, take an inward journey to explore your health and well-being. Self-care is a wonderful tool for growth. I believe you can discover that health is not so elusive if you think in terms of balance. For those who struggle with physical ailments or mental problems or spiritual afflictions, I encourage you to consider these as areas of potential

 Victor Acquista MD is an international speaker, author, and teacher. For information on his writings, presentations, and workshops: http://victoracquista.com/