Is Health A Choice?

Health is a term that is constantly referenced in modern society. It’s most basic definition is the state of being free from illness or injury, according to Merriam Webster, but it has become a very flexible adjective for describing a multiplicity of things: we can talk about healthy people, healthy animals, healthy relationships, governments that function in a healthy way etc. So what does health really mean? Going a step further, what does it mean to be a healthy person?

The World Health Organization, the UN’s special agency on health, defines health as being a ‘state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. If you think about it, this is a pretty loaded statement, and it goes far beyond simply being free from physical ailments. According to the WHO, being healthy means achieving a kind of harmony with all of the major factors in our lives: the social, physical, environmental, and psychological/spiritual. So how do we achieve the kind of health that the WHO promotes?

First, it is crucial to acknowledge that the WHO’s definition of health in some ways mirrors Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs. You can only be as healthy as the environment around; if you are a Somalian refugee that has been affected by terrible famine, your primary health concern is meeting your physiological needs for survival, not worrying about whether you have the right fad diet, clothing brands, or if you are happy in your career. Those kinds of worries are luxuries. Plain and simple: Environmental/physiological health is the basis of achieving social and psychological/spiritual health. In this light, many of us living in the developed world seem to have lost our way-we take our physical health and environmental resources for granted, and instead of searching for healthy balance in our lives, we indulge in overeating and vices like cigarette smoking and drugs. So how do we get back on track and keep our health and wellness holistic and integrated? The answer is easy in theory and hard in practice: we make a choice to be healthy.

A lifestyle that keeps you physically, socially, and psychologically/spiritually healthy is about making the choice to be healthy and then building the habits that support that choice. Contrary to popular belief, we are in control of our feelings, desires, thoughts, and habits. If you want to be socially healthy, choose to surround yourself with loving, stable, and caring people. If you want to be physically healthy, do your best to stay active, eat right, and get enough sleep. If you want to be psychologically or spiritually healthy, take the time to learn your strengths and weaknesses as a person and work to bring your mind into a positive, loving, and happy place-however that manifests for you, whether through meditating, prayer, or a long walk in nature.

Health is difficult to define yet at the same time we all know what it means, because we can all sense when things are unhealthy. You may not have the power to control everything in your life-you can’t control whether or not you will get cancer, you can’t control whether or not you will be born into a dysfunctional family. But you do have the power to control how you will react to adversity and how you will pursue a healthy lifestyle built on healthy habits, and that is the key-we don’t have to achieve perfection, but we can continuously pursue balance and happiness.

About the Author

Maureen Hamilton is an Integrated Neuro-Linguistic Programming Master Practitioner, Hypnotherapist and a Demartini Method Facilitator. Maureen has previously worked in many areas of health in Australia as well as overseas. Her health background includes training in general and midwifery nursing, mental health and children’s behavioural issues (including the effects of emotional trauma especially in children). Maureen is very much involved in promoting and assisting people to obtain optimal health and is absolutely committed to helping people to stop smoking and/or lose weight naturally using Hypnosis and NLP.
If you would like to find out more, visit http://masteryourlifepower.com/ and and talk to Maureen about your requirements.

The Benefits of Sunlight Without the Worries

Infrared heat therapy is a method which is gaining notice in the areas of pain relief, increasing blood circulation, and in boosting the general healing activity of the body.

This form of treatment is light-based heat, which penetrates deeply into the tissues of the body. To better understand the concept, consider sunshine. This is light that can penetrate the skin and delivers a warm sensation to the person enjoying it. The harnessed light used for these therapies do not cause the associated damage that raises sun exposure cautions.

This approach is ideal for individuals suffering with cardiac issues, which limits the ability to stress the heart in order to improve circulation. Circulation is imperative to all of the processes within the body. With the proper application of far infrared therapy (FIT) the cardiovascular system becomes healthier without the risks of exercise; the immune system becomes more efficient; and the ability of the body to heal is increased.

The added benefits include younger skin appearance and weight reduction. The light is able to reach deep tissue, which encourages collagen formation as well as reduces cellulite deposits. These two features help a person to maintain a healthy weight without the hassle of exercise. Skin is also known to decrease in the appearance of many of the fine lines and wrinkles; it also produces smoother texture and better tone.

There are forms of this type of healing that have been used for centuries in China, Japan and India. The results have been touted by those who have experienced this treatment.

Some of the areas where people have found mild to complete relief include:
• Respiratory infections
• Obesity
• Certain cancers
• Hypertension
• Circulation disorders
• Inflammatory joint problems, such as arthritis and gout
• Acute or chronic injuries, like tendonitis or mastitis
• Pain related conditions, such as fibromyalgia
• Paralysis
• Sciatica
• Abnormal nerve functions
• Blood toxicity issues
• Wrinkles, lines, sagging skin, large pores, acne
• Menstrual issues
• Headaches
• Infections from bacteria, fungus, virus, and parasites
• Raynaud’s disease

Infrared heat therapy is offering hope to individuals that previously were unable to gain results with the standard medical approaches. The body is mainly composed of water. The light waves that are used resonate these molecules, forcing a hyperactivity which, in turn, creates a higher level of total body functioning. To receive the benefits of this method of healing, a person is not restricted to seeing a health professional. There is now personal equipment that can be utilized at local health and fitness centers under the direction of a coach or instructor.

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information about infrared sauna detoxification renton, please visit http://www.hotyogaexperience.com/

What’s Great About Krill Oil?

In our quest for finding supplements that give us nutrients that we don’t find in our usual diets, we’ve been exploring avenues that would have been unthinkable even a few years back. Algae has been used for centuries in certain cultures, but now it is being used globally.

Fish oil has been known for generations, and there will be almost no one who has not had cod liver oil when we were small. This is because not all of us can have fish as part of our diets, and cod liver oil was the only supplement that could ensure that we did not fall deficient.

Now, we’ve progressed so that we are trying to find if there is something that is even better than fish oil. And for a few generations now, there’s been something called krill oil in the market that is supposed to be even better than fish oil.

Krill are the small crustations that are the bottom of the food chain for the entire ocean. It’s been calculated that pound for pound, the amount of krill in the ocean is twice that of humans on the planet. And the wondrous thing about them is that they are so nutritious that they form the direct food for sea creatures that are little more than their size to giant whales that eat nothing else.

And no it’s been found that krill oil is 4 times more effective than fish oil. The reason for this is simple. Both krill and fish oil have essential amino acids, but in krill, the amino acids are of a type that is the same as that found in humans. This means that it is not only absorbed faster, much more is also absorbed.

And no more fish taste when you burp.

The only problem is that they are more expensive than fish oil. This is because the harvesting of krill is very rigorously monitored because of its importance to the oceans food chain. The supply is therefore pretty much constant, while the demand has been growing over the years. Consequently an increase in the price.

Finding a good brand is very important because a number of companies actually mix fish oil with the krill to increase the volume and make more profits. One of the few brands that actually sell you pure krill oil is Schiff. Their Mega Red Krill oil brand is one of the most expensive in the market, but it is also the purest form of krill oil that you can get anywhere in the market.

Check out Mega Red Krill Oil reviews for more information on them.