Episode 10: The Three P's of Holistic Wellness with Dr. James Rimmer

In this episode, NCHPAD Director Dr. James Rimmer explores the concept of holistic wellness and how adopting a mindset centered on perspective, performance, and production can transform our approach to health and life. Throughout his career, Dr. Rimmer has championed a comprehensive view of wellness, emphasizing the physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. His "three P's" framework encourages individuals to reimagine their health journey and play an active role in shaping inclusive, thriving communities. 

A full episode transcript is available in the episode details or on our website!

Get notified about new episodes by subscribing on your favorite streaming apps, or follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn to stay updated with new episode announcements. 

To learn more about NCHPAD or would like to access our free resources, programs and partnership opportunities, email us at nchpad@uab.edu, call us at 866-866-8896, or check out our website at nchpad.org.

Transcript

Host  00:04

This is Wellness, Health and Everything Else: a NCHPAD Podcast.

Welcome to Wellness, Health and Everything Else: a NCHPAD Podcast. NCHPAD is the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability – the nation’s premier center dedicated to promoting the health and wellness of everyone. In each episode, we explore topics at the intersection of health, wellness and mobility limitations. If you have an idea for a topic, would like to learn more about a topic or are interested in our free resources, programs and partnership opportunities, email us at nchpad@uab.edu, give us a call at 866-866-8896 or check out our website at nchpad.org.

Music Interlude

Host 00:51

In this episode, we talk with NCHPAD Director Dr. James Rimmer about holistic wellness and having a mindset focused on perspective, performance and production in life. Through his career, Dr. Rimmer has worked to promote holistic wellness for everyone, with a focus on physical, emotional and spiritual health. Using what he calls the three P’s – perspective, performance and production – he helps empower individuals to reframe their health journey and actively contribute to their communities by building a wellness culture where everyone can thrive, regardless of ability. To get the episode started, we wanted to know what holistic wellness means and why you should look at all the domains in one piece.

Dr. Rimmer 01:19

Holistic wellness came from a Greek term holos (H, O, L, O S), which really refers to the wholeness, or what we refer to in the literature as lifestyle medicine. And the reason why holistic health is so important, or holistic wellness, is because every domain of wellness that you can use to improve your health has some interactive effect with other domains of health. So, the critical piece here is that improving one form of health through some sort of wellness activity also has an impact on other areas of health or wellness. And so, if we use the example of a car, the car has different parts. You know, it has a chassis, it has an engine, it has tires. You know, each of those parts has some relevance to the car's optimal performance. And when we talk about wellness, it's the same thing. To optimally perform, we have to make sure each element of our car, which is our body, mind and spirit, is working optimally.

Host 02:25

We asked, what if I feel like I'm focused on one aspect of my wellness and if wellness is an all-or-nothing approach?

Dr. Rimmer 02:33

Well, not actually. You know, many people have several areas of wellness where they are doing quite well, for example. You know, most of the research shows that we need seven to eight hours a night of sleep, restful sleep, uninterrupted sleep. Many people get that. Some people are exercising regularly, 30-40 minutes a day, reaching the national guideline of 150 minutes a week. So if there are areas of wellness that people feel comfortable (they're excelling or meeting the minimal performance requirements), then there's no necessity to work on those specific areas, and then they can really look at or begin to focus on what areas of wellness they need to improve.

Host 03:17

Here's Dr Rimmer providing some real-life examples of balancing wellness.

Dr. Rimmer 03:21

When you think of wellness, there are areas that many people often forget about. One of them in particular is the whole understanding of our purpose in life. Why are we here? What is our role in life, and how can we fulfill certain obligations to be members of our society, to be better family members and also think about the essence of spiritual practice? What does that mean? So purpose is one of the most important areas of wellness, because it sort of begins to lay the foundation as to why we should take care of our bodies, mind and spirit, and how we do that really emphasizes the need to put these wellness domains together. So, for example, you know, I regularly exercise, but I exercise often at a local area called Red Mountain, which is a beautiful landscape of mountains and greenery. While I'm exercising, I am exercising outdoors, in a beautiful space which enhances my mental well-being. And at times I'm listening to certain tapes or I'm listening to music. So I'm using the domain of arts and leisure to also gain, you know, this richness in the quality of that 30-minute experience. So when we put things together like exercise, arts and leisure, outdoor time in nature, you may all have compounded effects in improving our health and wellness. So it doesn't necessarily mean we need to do exercise separately from other areas of wellness. And in some respects, it's even more economical to think about combining these areas so that we could maximize the quality of the wellness experience we're having.

Host 05:09

Dr Rimmer told us why perspective is so important. 

Dr. Rimmer 05:13

When I look at perspective in the area of wellness, I see that there are many, many people in our society who view the area of health or wellness as an all-or-nothing effect. And as we know, you know, all of us at some point in our lives, you know, will not be well. We could have an emergency event, some sort of traumatic event. We could end up with a chronic condition or a form of cancer. So we're all going to experience some impact on our lives that's going to take a negative turn. 

And so many people in our society who may not practice wellness, and sometimes that's in the disability community, where they feel if they can't be what they were prior to their disability, or they can't excel at the equivalent level of someone their age or sex, then they just feel that it's not worth doing. And what we know is that every modicum of wellness that you perform or you engage in is critical to moving you onto a goal-setting behavior that you can build upon. So we're not looking at this as an all-or-nothing approach. And many, many people in our society have to understand that slight and very small changes that may look insignificant to them can have an enormous impact on some area of their health.

Host 06:39

We asked what Dr. Rimmer means by performance when it comes to wellness.

Dr. Rimmer 06:45

Once you have a good perspective that we're all basically here for a short period of time on this earth, I like to say we're all on our last voyage; this is it. Some of us are in the gutter, but we're also looking at the stars. So even when your life takes a serious downturn, and that has happened, you know, in many, many people's lives, you have to understand that performance is the key element here, right? That each and every one of us, every day, must perform. We must get up, get dressed, go to work, or if we're not working, we must go to some area where we can volunteer, or we can be with other people. So that's part of the whole performance. 

And once you have a better perspective that your life can improve no matter what your disability or functional limitation is – you have a purpose-driven life, in some respects, maybe even a greater purpose than the general population – then you're excited about getting up every morning and participating. So, what is the performance side of this? It's the participation side with you saying, okay, enough is enough. I'm going to stop drinking heavily, heavily sweetened beverages, which we know is quite detrimental to one's health, and I'm going to switch to sparkling water, or I'm going to use a derivative of sugar, like stevia, in order to compensate for the sweetness that someone may be addicted to and is not ready to completely eliminate anything that has any sweetness to it. So, we've got to continually remember that the performance side of this is individually based, not group based. But what do I want to do as an individual to make my health a little bit better each day of my life?

Host 08:30

Here's Dr. Rimmer explaining production in wellness and life.

Dr. Rimmer 08:34

So, once you have the base of what this perspective is, what is this short-term nature in our life, and what is my purpose for being here? Then you can start to think about how to improve your performance, and once you improve your performance, everyone needs that reinforcement at the end of the performance, and that typically is the production. So, when you begin to eat better, or you exercise more, or you start to gain a better sense of mindfulness or spiritual practice, there are many, many systems that are in our bodies that can improve. 

So, for example, the nervous system is the mind, right? And if we eat well and reduce particularly high levels or high concentrations of carbohydrates and in particular sugars, our mind improves better, and it has a lesser likelihood of reaching a level of what we refer to as dementia or even Alzheimer's. So, there's literature now to show that the more sweetened foods and sweetened beverages we consume, the greater the risk we have of dementia and Alzheimer's, and that's something that typically scares people. Losing cognitive function is something that many people fear as they grow older. So, we have to learn that as we change these behaviors, whether large or small, there's a performance that has to take place. We can't just talk about it, right? We have to act and set examples for ourselves. And then once we do that, the production is that we've got better systems. We've got a better cardiovascular system. We've got a better nervous system. We've got a better muscular system. We've got a better skeletal system. In all of these systems, as they start to function optimally and improve. And this is someone who could end up acquiring paralysis due to a spinal cord injury, or someone who's lost function on one side of the body due to stroke. It doesn't make a difference. All of those other systems and the systems that have been affected by the disability can be approved. That's where we refer to as production. And at the end of each year, an individual should go back and look at how much production — how did I achieve the type of production that I was hoping to [achieve] at the beginning of the year?

Host 10:49

Here's how perspective, performance and production all tie into each other.

Dr. Rimmer 10:53

So, if you go back and look at the three P's, which, again, we refer to as perspective, performance and production, basically, wellness is a very simple process, and the first level of the understanding of what I need to do to be well is perspective. And perspective simply means whether I have a disability, or I don't have a disability, I have to put my life in perspective that I'm one of many, and what happens to me actually impacts myself, my family, my community and the rest of the world. So, the perspective is we're here together, and everything that I do is for the greater good. 

And it's an old saying that many people have heard, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," but the other part of perspective is to make sure that you don't end up wallowing in your sorrows. Many people want to live with a very high level of attention to themselves, and that's really missing the point. We're not here to bring attention to ourselves. We could certainly set examples, and we could be role models. But it's not to gain the attention of other people. We really want to be a reflection on others and to demonstrate that we can be well, and therefore other people can be well. 

So, the first step in perspective is it's not about me, it's about the other. And once you start to flip the script, and you start to really express outflow —outflow by being nice to other people, outflow by demonstrating that you could eat well, outflow by being resilient when you have injuries or you end up with a new secondary health condition that you kind of work your way through it. Maybe you're down, and you need to stop doing a certain type of health behavior, but you get back up. Those are the key elements of perspective. And that performance has to be 24/7. You cannot think of this as "Okay, today I'm going to exercise, and then the rest of the week, I don't have to consider the other parts of my wellness." It's all done interactively, and there's always going to be highs and lows, and that's the performance. 

So, some days are going to be really great, and other days, you know, you're going to end up grabbing the Coca Cola or the sweetened beverages, or you're going to eat a big, big bag of potato chips because you're not feeling well, or you're stressed out about something. You're going to gain four or five, six pounds that week, and you're going to feel miserable, and then you're going to just give up, right? And that's what most people do, and you can’t, and you can never, ever give up, because the day after you gain six pounds is the new baseline, and you just start from scratch. 

And if you remember one thing in this podcast, think of the game of Chutes and Ladders. Chutes and Ladders is basically a little game. It's one of the first games that really young toddlers learn, and as they spin the dial and move up, you know, through the game, sometimes they get a ladder, and they go faster towards the end of the game. And of course, whoever gets to the last block is the winner. And sometimes they get a chute, you know, they hit a chute, and they go back seven or eight or nine spaces, but they never give up, right? You just don't quit the game when you get a chute, and you don't quit the game when you get a ladder until you get to the finish line. Our finish line is when we take our last breath, which means that every single day, whether you end up out with a diagnosis of obstructive lung disease or you have a spinal cord injury or myasthenia gravis, there is tremendous, tremendous room for improvement, physically, mentally and spiritually. 

So, performance follows that perspective. Now I've got to do it, you know, talk is cheap. I got to get up every morning. I've got to go for a walk. Or I've got to get up every morning and do my exercises, my movement to music exercises to a video I have, or I have to get up and think positively. I feel like a grump this morning, [so] I'm going to tell my wife I'm not happy, or I'm going to criticize someone in my family. Forget it. All that stuff has to go by the wayside. Because when you talk about a car, which is your body, your mind and your spirit, you can't screw up by telling someone something negative because you feel bad that morning. 

You know, everybody wants to live in their own drama. That's why they do it. They want to keep their mind on drama, and drama keeps their mind out of this other aspect that causes them a high level of anxiety. So, we've got to get away from all that. We've got to stop using substances like alcohol and tobacco and get back to [thinking] this is the way the game is played, and we're all going to fall sometimes; that's what we mean by chutes and ladders, and sometimes we're going to get big wins, and that's great, because those are the ladders versus the chutes. But at the end of it all, there's going to be a production, right? You're going to go to the doctor. He's going to look at your blood pressure, he's going to look at your cholesterol and he's going to ask you questions [like] do you have any level of depression? Are you on certain medications for anxiety? All of these are things millions and millions of people are going through. And in fact, they're sitting on the box of gold, thinking that the doctor has the box of gold, but they actually do. So, you start with perspective, you move into performance and then you must produce, and you will produce if you follow these principles.

Host 16:03

Finally, here's Dr. Rimmer reflecting on why holistic wellness is so important, and how NCHPAD's work reflects these wellness domains.

Dr. Rimmer 16:11

The importance of holistic wellness is to ground yourself in the understanding that there's no one out there who is a better instructor than yourself. And so, if you use the example of spiritual practice, let's take that for example. You know you have to make an effort, right? If you want to become more spiritual, or you want to become part of a faith, you can't just talk about it. You have to do something. You have to get up every Sunday morning or every Saturday, and you have to go somewhere in order to practice your spirituality with other people [and] become part of a community. 

So, everything that we talk about in wellness is really driven by the individual. There's no doctor out there in the world who can do what you need to do as an individual to improve your health and to protect it. The more important thing, and this applies to everyone, but in particular people with disabilities, is, how do you protect your health? Because if you do have some level or some system that's been compromised, like you have in multiple sclerosis, it could be plaque on the spinal cord or in the brain, we have to learn how to adapt and compensate, you know, for some of those issues that impact your health. 

So, it's very, very important to understand that when we look at holistic wellness, we're really talking about the individual because that's all that matters here. Yes, the doctors can help if you have a diagnosis or you need some kind of medication in order to treat a condition. That's important as well. But the most important element of this is the individual having the sense that they can improve and that they will improve and that there'll be an outcome associated with their participation in this very important behavior.

Host 18:01

Thanks for listening to Wellness, Health and Everything Else. For a full episode transcript, visit our website and find the episode in the podcasts and videos section. You can also find helpful links mentioned in the episode in the episode description on streaming platforms and the episode page on our website.

If you would like to learn more about this topic and other aspects of holistic wellness, visit our website and click the NCHPAD Connect button at the top of the screen to learn more about the NCHPAD MENTOR program and other related resources. 

If you have questions about NCHPAD’s free resources, programs and partnership opportunities, email us at nchpad@uab.edu, call us at 866-866-8896 or check out our website at nchpad.org.