What is pro-active health?

​Health is defined as “a state of optimal physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity” (Dorland’s Medical Dictionary)

Pro-active is defined as “serving to prepare for, intervene in or control an expected occurrence or situation, especially a negative or difficult one; anticipatory” (www.dictionary.com)

​In opening a discussion about pro-active health, I like reviewing accepted definitions of these terms because they bring some key issues to the conversation.

1. How often do people strive to be free of symptoms of disease and then equate that with health?
2. How do we move past a limiting symptom focused definition that society has accepted, and strive towards higher optimum standards or goals for health, and if we set these standards
   • How do we measure them?
   • What is involved in achieving them?
3. If we don’t take this course of action, is it reasonable to “anticipate” a “negative” long term decline in our state of health?

Unfortunately, as society advances, our lives take us further and further from the natural world and deeper and deeper into a world filled with chemicals, stress, noise pollution, air pollution, electromagnetic radiation, nuclear radiation, poor and sustained postures, and so on. The list of challenges to our health these days seems endless and without a pro-active approach to minimise this exposure, yes, our health will surely see a negative net result.

As our health begins to decline, symptoms may start to arise: headaches, back aches, colds, skin lesions, gut issues, depression, anxiety, insomnia, reduced energy and motivation for life, circulatory issues, which over time may progress further into fully diagnosed disease processes.

In our society, the treatment or management of symptoms is encouraged. We take paracetamol for fevers, aches and pains, cold-n-flu tablets for viruses and beta-blocks for high blood pressure. However, how often does paracetamol fix the underlying cause of our headache in the first place? Headaches are often a result of dehydration or poor biomechanics in the neck. Does paracetamol rebalance our hydration levels or adjust the dysfunctional joints in our neck? Or does it put further toxic loads on our already overworked livers?

To fully eliminate symptoms and move past this tumultuous standard of health, we must also see health as something greater. As a place where we strive towards peak performance of our body, both physically, mentally and emotionally.

To achieve this, we must set in motion new patterns of behaviour and lifestyle choices that mostly move away from the toxicities of modern life and towards a more natural way of living.
To achieve this we must consider:

1. Increasing our exposure to fresh air, sunshine and nature
2. Decrease our exposure to harmful chemicals in our foods, clothes, cosmetics, cleaning products, environment, etc.
3. Ensuring our nutritional status in vitamins and minerals as well as good gut health microorganisms are not left depleted after years of neglect.
4. Improving our physical health through both increased activity levels and the removal of accumulated issues/lesions in our musculo-skeletal system by reviewing our shoes, chairs, bags, beds, desks, driving positions and consulting health professionals such as chiropractors, masseuses and podiatrists.
5. Managing the stress in our life through the regular practices of meditation and gratitude journals, exercise, saying ‘No’, talking about our problems and taking ‘time-out’.
6. Practicing good sleep hygiene by getting 8 hours at the same time every night, not being exposed to blue light from TV, LED lights, fluro lights, tablets, computers and mobile phones, sleeping in a cool dark quiet room, not eating or exercising right before bed and getting exercise and sunlight exposure during the day.

Taking a pro-active approach to health is a step off the conveyer belt towards symptoms and disease, that society has put you on.

For some, this may be a long journey requiring many changes along the way. But remember, it only takes one step at a time.

At Catalyst Health and Wellness, we wish you all the best on your pro-active journey towards optimal health and wellbeing and are happy to provide you with support, tools and motivation to help you achieve your goals.

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by Dr ​Kristie Lane