The Foundation of Living a Wellness Lifestyle

Two key concepts are foundational to a wellness lifestyle. Cultivating and nourishing these concepts is essential because it gives freedom and flexibility to balance all aspects of life for the desired outcome. When you focus on your foundation, everything else falls into place. So what are you waiting for? Start building a wellness foundation today.

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Episode #005 | The Art of Self Preservation
Episode #012 | Th

Transcript

Sheri Davidson: 0:19

Friends a warm welcome to my cozy space. The Wellness inspired Podcast the place where you can find inspiration, motivation and empowerment in the pursuit of a wellness lifestyle. And I am so glad you're here. I'm your host, Sheri Davidson. And as always, I'm here with my co host, Ben. If you're new to the podcast, Finn is my terrier mix, rescue dog and very loyal companion. Finn and I both made it back from our adventures. Finn was at my parents running free and enjoying long summer days outside. And I just got back from the Faroe Islands. Last week, I was on a running adventure called the at John wild islands trial festival. And in the next episode, I will share stories of this magical place. And one of the most beautiful trial runs I have ever been on. The experience was transformational. I feel grounded, refreshed recharge, you know, I came back a better person. But until then, let's jump into this episode. I think you're really going to get a lot out of this one because I'm going to share the foundation of pursuing a wellness lifestyle. There are two key concepts that are imperative to cultivate and nourish, starting today and for the rest of your life. So if you're starting your wellness journey, or looking to go deeper, this episode is for you. If you get one thing out of this podcast, I hope you get this and commit to practicing it. Alright, let's begin. This is really big. So let's do this. The artists self preservation episode five, I talked about the importance of self preservation or self care. I suggest it's a way of life, a lifestyle you design to achieve your highest potential for wellbeing. self preservation is a skill you cultivate and master over time. No matter your current state of health, you can begin to appreciate yourself as a growing and changing person. You can change in healthy, positive ways to live a more vital fulfilling life. So if you want to know more about the art of self preservation, I encourage you to go back and listen to the episode. I'll put the link in the show notes so you can just click and go. In this episode, I want to dive in a little deeper and talk about two key concepts that are foundational to self preservation. It is the first step and what you need in order to support yourself and your wellness journey. The two key concepts are self responsibility, and love. And I want to start by asking some questions. Do you believe the responsibility for your health lies within you rather than others? Do you actively participate in your medical treatment? Or are you a passive recipient? Do you experience loving relationships with others? Do you forgive yourself for your imperfections? Or do you beat yourself up for not being perfect? Do you respond to life's challenges as opportunities? Or do you respond to life's challenges as problems? Do you listen to yourself, your heart and your body? Do you check in with your body and listen for any signals that needs attention? Do you believe you're unique? Do you participate in your community and contribute to worthy causes? And last? Do you believe you're the expert of your own life? There are no right or wrong answers here. The goal is to engage you and establish an awareness of your relationship with self responsibility and love. Before we take a deeper dive, I want to take a few steps back and define wellness to set the context. According to the global wellness Institute, wellness is the act of pursuit of activities choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of Holistic Health. Side note here it's worth mentioning that there is a much needed transformation happening with the term wellness. Wellness has been and is mostly associated with beauty products, supplements, boutique gyms, massages, spa experiences, and the latest diets and apps. And that's all Changing. Rena Raphael, a journalist and author of the gospel of wellness. I haven't read the book yet because it comes up this month September, but I'm super excited to read that. But she says wellness took off because it was treated like a fashion. And I think when you look at the wellness industry, you can definitely see how wellness is treated like fashion, grab a Vogue magazine, and see the current wellness trends for the month. And this is not a bad thing. I'm not against it, but some work needs to be done. wellness needs to be refined and redefined. As an acupuncturist and wellness coach, I am happy to announce the real wellness movement is moving in. And it goes deeper than fashion and trends. Although beauty products, supplements spa experiences and the latest and greatest diets, exercises and apps are part of it. Real wellness is much bigger. Wellness is a way of life. Wellness is a mindset. Wellness is a process. Wellness is every part of your life working together harmoniously for health and vitality in the beautiful messiness of life. I don't want to spend too much time here, but I did want to mention it. I will dedicate a full episode to the topic soon after I read the book The Gospel of wellness. I have it on the schedule for 2023. I'm a big supporter and believer in real wellness movement and I will do everything here in my practice to promote and grow it. Alright, let's jump back on track. Wellness is the act of pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of Holistic Health. The two key concepts, self responsibility and love are the foundation of pursuing activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health. When your foundation is strong, freedom and flexibility are natural states of being. And this allows you to balance all aspects of your life, all the good. All the contradictions, all the gray areas, illnesses, tragedies, failures, misfortunes, etc. I think you get the idea. freedom and flexibility helps you balance life to reach your desired outcome. And all the goodness and messiness life has to offer, you can still live a healthy and vital life. I want to give you an analogy and this is from the wellness workbook How to Achieve enduring health and vitality by John W. Travis, MD and Regina Sarah Ryan. I believe this book was the first book published on wellness in 1981. And again, if I'm not mistaken, John W. Travis is the grandfather of wellness because of this book. He has a bridge analogy in the book and I want to I want to share that with you so I'm going to read it. Wellness is like a bridge supported by two peers. Each peer is crucial to the bridges integrity. Just as the two principles of self responsibility and love are fundamental to the process of wellness. In each case, the peer support a connection between two distal points, allowing for movement back and forth. This freedom to move between different places or attitudes, rather than a rigid attachment to any particular one is the hallmark of wellness, self responsibility and love establish a life context in which freedom and flexibility are naturally occurring states of being. They are the primary expressions of life energy, self responsibility and love together form the foundation of wellness and encourage the free flow of all other types of energy. If either principle peer is weakened, living harmoniously or traversing the bridge becomes more difficult when both are strong energy dances back and forth. And crossing is easy. I really like the bridge analogy because it gives a great visual, you really get the idea of how foundational these two concepts are in your pursuit of wellness. At first glance, a bridge looks static and inflexible. visually make sense to be sturdy enough to cross right we want it to look strong. But in reality, this is not true. A bridge is engineered and constructed to move, sway and adjust to the environment. These adjustments are constantly working harmoniously together to allow for a safe crossing. You see life is dynamic. Health is dynamic. Wellness is dynamic and balance is dynamic. It's always changing. So here's a quote from Charles Darwin. It is not the strongest of the species that survives nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive To change. So the important thing to take away here is when you cultivate self responsibility and love, it creates the freedom and flexibility you need to balance your life to achieve the wellness lifestyle you desire. And if you want a more tangible experience, here's another example. If you're somewhere you can experiment, try it. So the goal is to balance on one foot. And notice what's happening when you're balancing. You're not in a static state. You are constantly making micro movements to adjust to the rest of your body and the environment for the desired outcome. standing on one foot. The mention of a desired outcome brings up another side note, it is essential to be clear about your personal vision and desired outcome. If you are interested in learning more, you can check out episode 12 The power of personal vision. Like I said earlier, life can be simple and beautiful, as well as complex and messy. Your personal health vision will give you direction and guidance so you can make the adjustments you need to stay on track. Okay, we're about to wrap it up here. But before I go, I want to leave you with the meaning of self responsibility and love. Again, this is from the work of John W. Travis, MD and Regina Sarah Ryan. self responsibility means developing awareness of your own process and patterns that's physical, emotional, and spiritual. Discovering your real needs and finding ways to meet them directly. Realizing that you are unique, and an expert about yourself, making choices and Living Courageously in the midst of uncertainty, creating the life you want, rather than just reacting to whatever comes along. Asking simply and directly for what you need and want from others. expressing yourself both your ideas and feelings in ways that effectively communicate to other people who you are and what you know. Respecting your body through nutrition, exercise and personal safety, creating and nourishing close relationships with others. And last one, engaging in projects that are meaningful to you, being supportive of others and respecting the environment. So that was self responsibility. So let's move on to love. Love means honoring your uniqueness and enjoying all the uniqueness and others, listening to your heart and treasuring your inner wisdom. Responding to life's challenges as opportunities for growth rather than problems. Caring for all aspects of yourself, body, mind, emotion, spirit, and sharing your caring with others. Kind of like that rhyme there sharing your caring. Love also means exercising compassion for your weaknesses, and forgiving yourself and others. Experiencing yourself as your own best friend, and remaining faithful to yourself, especially in rough times. Realizing your connectedness with all things and acting in a way congruent with that awareness. Love is being truthful with yourself and others. And last love is celebrating the irrepressible process of life. What do you think it gives most of us a lot to think about and process. Unfortunately, our culture does not support this way of life. But I guarantee you if you spend the time to understand what these concepts mean to you, and how to cultivate more self responsibility and love in your life. You will see significant progress and change in yourself and the world around you. I'll admit it takes work, a lot of work. It is a lifelong commitment. But I promise it is well worth the effort. Are you ready to commit? Okay, what did you all think I really enjoyed sharing this information with you. I hope you got a lot out of it and you're able to start applying it to your life right away. And as always, if you have any comments, questions or suggestions, I would love to hear from you. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast and share with your family and friends. You can also give me a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. It helps others find me as well. To get updates on new episodes and wellness inspiration in your inbox. Please join the wellness inspired Community, go to the wellness inspired podcast.com. To sign up, I'll put the link to the website in the show notes and you can just click and sign up. Also there is a Facebook community at the Wellness inspired and you can follow me on Instagram at wellness underscore inspired. If you're in the Houston area or just visiting and interested in our services, acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping Zen, shiatsu or dry needling therapy, contact us. You can find out more on our website at element five oh m.com. That's element number five oh m.com. And again, I'll put the link in the show notes. If you're interested in health and wellness coaching, we can connect on Zoom or in the clinic reach out to us and we'll get you on the schedule. And again, as always, I would love to hear your feedback. I am dedicated to bringing you great content that is inspiring and informative with an artsy fun, edgy spin. Thank you so much for listening. We'll meet here again next time. And remember, never stop exploring, learning loving and being you bye