The Triad of Health
Who’s on first, what’s on second and I don’t know is on third…as the old comedy bit of Abbott and Costello goes. It seem that understanding health is just as confusing to most of us as that fictional baseball team was to Lou Costello. In the past 30 years, as a country, we have gotten less and less healthy, and more and more overweight and ill. Conditions such as diabetes, and heart disease strike people as if we had no idea how these and other chronic diseases occur. Maybe we need an introduction to the team required to maintain health, and ward off disease.
On “first base,” we have the physical or structural aspect of health. Posture, strength and flexibility are the obvious signs of this base, but the greatest impact to your health is on your brain and central nervous system. Abnormal posture such as rounded shoulders and forward head creates dangerous stress to the spinal cord and its communication up to the brain. Lack of movement and exercise starves the brain of stimulation, leading to degeneration of brain tissue, just like a muscle would wither away if never used. If your doctor is not evaluating your posture and flexibility, you are not being checked for potential problems on first base.
Chemical or nutritional health is on second base. Body chemistry is based on nutrition: Fats, proteins, carbohydrates, water, vitamins and minerals. If you have an imbalance or deficiency in any of these nutrients your body chemistry will alter. Most symptoms and conditions we treat with medications are really body chemistry imbalances; and instead of balancing the problem, we cover the symptom with a drug. A complete blood and urine analysis can uncover most of these imbalances, and a physician with an understanding of nutrition can show you how to correct any imbalances.
On third base is your mental and emotional health. The way you talk to yourself, your thoughts, how you deal with stress, and past emotional traumas determine your mental and emotional health. Automatic negative thoughts about yourself or your future are destructive to your health. “I’m stupid, I’m going to fail,” are all to common comments that we hear in our head, day after day, year after year. This can break your health down just as severely as a nutritional deficiency or forward head posture. Not dealing with stress and traumas create reactionary behavior that is harmful to yourself and others. The latest techniques for breaking these patterns do not involve months of talk it out therapy, or medicating yourself, but are functional neurological techniques that combine thinking of a situation, current or past, combined with a neurological stimulation, such as movement of eyes or limbs, pressure to specific areas of the body.
If you have a problem, or wish to maximize your health and function for a lifetime, it is time to start checking your bases. You will find the solution of every problem within these bases, and the key to optimal health in balancing ALL 3 bases.
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