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Falling Through the Cracks
What to do when doctors find nothing 'wrong' with you, but you don’t feel as well as you used to…
If you’re over 40, busy and stressed, you’ve probably noticed that as each year passes you don’t feel as healthy and strong as you once did. And if you’ve gone to your physician for answers you’ve probably also discovered that there’s very little that modern medicine can offer. You might have been told that it’s just a sign of getting older.
In fact, there is a wide gap between feeling perfectly healthy and having a problem that can be identified by a lab test. See if any of these symptoms apply to you:
- You don’t have as much energy as you used to.
- You feel stressed or overloaded much of the time.
- Your mental focus and memory aren’t as sharp as before.
- Sometimes you get moody or reactive.
- You aren’t sleeping as long or as deeply.
- You have general aches and pains or stiffness.
- It takes you longer to recover from a cold or flu.
- You’re more susceptible to seasonal allergies.
- You have a harder time losing weight.
When you start noticing these kinds of symptoms, you’ve entered what I call the “Wellness Gap.” This gap between health and disease is a gray area in modern medicine because they don’t have effective ways to deal with it. Without making some fundamental adjustments in your approach it is difficult to keep your symptoms from getting worse.
If you find yourself in the Wellness Gap, it’s time to think about your situation in a different way. You will need approaches that work with your body rather than against it. This means taking charge of your health and life at a deeper level. It requires a shift away from curing disease and towards achieving wellness.
The ways to do this are surprisingly simple. This may be why, in the complexity of modern life, we tend to miss them. For example:
- Breathing – At the risk of stating the obvious, if you don’t breathe, you don’t live. There is, however, a finer distinction between simply breathing and breathing deeply and well. Deep abdominal breathing triggers what Dr. Herbert Benson terms, “The Relaxation Response.” Your blood pressure normalizes, your anxiety levels go down and your body produces healing and restorative hormones.
- Nutrition – The food you eat and the air you breathe form the basis of your body’s inner structure and efficient functioning. Simply put, when it comes to food, the phrase ‘garbage in, garbage out’ applies.
- Exercise – Another common phrase is ‘use it or lose it.’ Without physical activity, your body stops functioning at optimal levels. Research shows that not only your body benefits from exercise, so does your mental and emotional wellbeing.
- Relationships – One source of great support—or huge stress—is our relationships. It pays enormous dividends in the long run to work out relationship problems if possible or move on to better relationships if the problems can’t be resolved.
- Work – When you do work you love and that makes a difference in the world, it also makes a big difference in your quality of life. If you aren’t already in this position, think about how you can begin to make this shift.
- Mental Activity and Beliefs – Your thoughts and beliefs have a profound effect on your health and sense of wellness. Notice what you are thinking when you feel great and also when you don’t. Work to change those less-than-great thoughts for better ones.
As simple as all of this sounds, some people get
overwhelmed if they think about making too many
changes at once. It is best if you take one area of
your life and focus on making improvements one at a
time. This will give you the maximum chance for
success.
If you'd like more information, you can reach us at (775) 827-6901 or you may email by
clicking here.
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