This article is about how to get healthy without working out. It’s a funny thing for a Real Fit Mama like myself to say – I know. The truth is all around us, if we look, that health is determined by more than what we eat for breakfast and how far we run. A recent series of articles from U, the UCLA Health magazine, goes into the underlying causes of obesity, (read – heart disease & diabetes) with sociological and scientific research from the global medical community. Do you know what was found?
First, let me say – this isn’t a gimmick or a light-hearted funny post. It’s a post that comes from searching my soul about why I write these articles and my books in the first place (expect more of these to come – I’ve been digging deep). More and more readers are coming to this site, a blessing I am so grateful for, and by no means the endpoint of why I choose this profession. I write, blog, and post as a means to give to as many of you as possible the healthy insights, knowledge, and advice I have from 10 years of clinical acupuncture practice, as well as decades of continual education and ongoing study in body, mind, and soul.
With more of you listening, I have felt a great importance to go to that quiet place within, to commune with the universe, and to ask, what am I here to give? Workout routines? Healthy recipes? Holistic health advice? Yes, all of these inspire and empower. I am happy to give them. And there’s more…
Greater than any single actions we can do (and actions are important!), the beliefs that we carry about ourselves determine our health. In my post-graduate Chinese medical seminars it continually boils down to this. We know stress is the number one killer. People often ask me what Chinese medicine says about stress. What I find is that stress occurs in the mind and soul part of body, mind, & soul medicine, and that un-addressed, stress becomes sickness in the body. When we experience stress we immediately create a physical reaction – physical tension, heart rate increase, shallow breathing. Over time this deprives our organs of the oxygen and blood flow they need. Over time this also affects our metabolic system and endocrine output. Over time, this becomes auto-immune disease, heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and a host of other concerns that are plaguing both this country and the world.
Last April, I saw the Dalai Lama speak. He said it is our feelings that make us sick. When we hold on, when we hide, when we stuff them. It sounds like an easy fix, right? I don’t want to scare you by saying this: I have found it can be quite complex (and beautiful) to really explore and allow the full array of human emotion. Expression is messy, and it is uncommon. Our true emotional health makes us stand out, radiate, and to never quite fit inside of the boxes of life.
The greater medical community is now finding something deeper. It is not only stress that is making us sick; it is where stress comes from. Where is that?Medical researchers in Stockholm, Sweden are uncovering that more than genetics, our beliefs determine our health. Whether we believe in ourselves, have high self-esteem, and underlying self-worth is the number one determinate. This is very good news! Self-limiting beliefs are treatable. Below are 5 powerful suggestions for un-doing stress.
How to Get Healthy Without Working Out:
1. Take items OFF your to-do list.
Take items OFF your to-do list. The key to slowing down and de-stressing in any one given moment is to be present. The to-do list has us BOUND to the past and the future. It’s ok to have a to-do list (I always have one somewhere). Keep it simple, cross stuff off, acknowledge yourself for the things you do. Don’t let your health be another litany of tasks on the to-do list at the bottom of your purse or somewhere buried in your smartphone.
2. Laugh every day.
Laugh often. Laugh every day. Life is urgent, and we are not guarenteed tomorrow. We all know someone who has passed before their time. Seek out joy and laughter. Be committed to it. Be like a hunter on the trail of fun and light! Even when it’s unreasonable, especially when it’s outrageous, be about joy, just a little bit – even if it’s just a little bit – every day!
3. Do work on yourself. YOU are your greatest investment.
Do work on yourself. YOU are your greatest investment. Not because you need it, because our society does, our world does, and as a dear brilliant, wildly successful friend of mine puts it, because you DESERVE it. Take a workshop, read books, open up – look under the surface deeply at what beliefs you have and where they come from. It isn’t always comfortable, and it is always worth it. Bodies heal, relationships mend and thrive, and big, long-forgotten dreams get dusted-off and become possible. I love workshops because I love being in a room with and connected people from all walks of life everywhere who are healing, mending, and diving into their dreams too.
4. Look in the mirror and tell yourself the loving things you say to your best friends, kids, and husbands & wives.
Look in the mirror and tell yourself the things you say to your best friends, kids, husbands & wives, loved ones, role models – tell yourself you are powerful, beautiful, incredible, amazing. Tell you I love you – even if you don’t believe it at first. And listen to yourself. Self-loathing is everywhere. Be the voice of love for yourself. Start with that – even if it feels strange, even if you laugh a little. Make yourself blush. Acknowledge yourself for all you do, and for all you have done. I promise you, you are amazing.
5. Your health is a reflection of your relationship with yourself. Have that be a 10 out of 10.
Be willing to listen to yourself. Your health is a reflection of your relationship with yourself. Are you and your body at a 10 out of 10? Do you check in? Listen? Do things for your body that it is craving? Do you give it your love, respect, and acts of kindness as you would to your children, your spouse? Your body holds the wisdom of the universe in it – our bodies are constantly telling us what they need. As we listen, peel away layers, ask ourselves where this is coming from, and be present with ourselves, health becomes something very deep, very lasting, and very personal that goes far beyond simply our latest workout and our last meal.
Thank you for reading. What do you think about all of this? I would love to hear from you and hear what you’d like more of! Send me an email at katherine flemingrfm@ gmail.com (no spaces in my email address, just avoiding the web-bots).
