What is Health? I mean really? What does it mean to be healthy? What is the definition of Health?
I think a standard, summarized definition of “good health” is probably something like: the absence of disease and sickness in the body and mind of a person.
I think the capitalist medical system we have in America would define health as: maintaining an optimal level of self-comfort, with the least individual effort, through medicine and supplements.
I love capitalism. I am not knocking capitalism in general. I am just not sure capitalism has our best interests when it comes to health. The health insurance industry adds another element to the system. One that doesn’t seem to be about getting people health coverage. That’s a big question that the leaders of our country, and really the world, will have to face sometime in the future. WAAAAY beyond the scope of my puny brain to figure out! 🙂
For me, I think health is an individual thing. I think there has to be a sense of self in ones own health. I think our society has forgotten how to listen to and adapt ourselves within our own bodies. We are missing the body, mind, and soul connection.
Too often people just go to a doctor, take a pill, and hope they get better from whatever is wrong with them. We never learn how to adapt ourselves to overcome whatever that is. Instead we get programmed to just take a pill to fix our issue.
I think part of being human is that we are adaptable. That is what has allowed us to “tame the wild earth”. We are the most adaptable species of animal on planet earth. We are adaptation machines, as Tom Bilyeu says.
A question I have is: how have people survived for so long without all of these medicines if they are truly the way to health?
Known history goes back thousands of years. We have not had advanced medicines for thousands of years! So how did people survive for so long without that stuff if we truly need it today?
I think we did it by being adaptable to our environment.
I think a new definition of health should include adapting ourself to triggers in our body and our environment.
I want to be careful here too, because I do think medicine is good – who can argue with the benefits that penicillin has had for humanity? Remember I am not a doctor or health pro or anything. This isn’t medical advise. I am just asking the question and trying to give people a new perspective. Sometimes I think we have lost or are losing the part of our humanity that consiously connects with our soul and the environment around us. I think that poses a further risk of losing our ability to adapt to the environment.
I mention Tom Bilyeu above, check out his content here for more. I found a great episode of his show Health Theory that talks about creating a new definition of health. The guest on the show is Dr. Molly Maloof. This episode is definately worth a watch! Doctor Maloof has a great “new” definition of health that I think is spot on. She defines health today as the ability to self manage one’s body, and adapt behavior in order to overcome an adversity or challenge.
A concept I gain from this video and from other research is that we should be taking an active role in our health. We can do this by:
- Eating less processed food; replacing processed foods with foods that are whole or close to whole, like vegetables, nuts, eggs, lean meats, fish, fruit, and other non-processed things.
- Moving our bodies more with exercise.
- Practicing mindfulness, self mediation, self inflection, and making adaptations where needed.
- Possibly introducing practices like intermittenant fasting to establish more healthy body cycles.
I think there is a big difference in medicine today between medicines that fight sickness, like antibiotics, and vaccines, and medicines that “treat a chronic condition”. If there is no hope of ever stopping the medication, something doesn’t seem right to me. Medicine is supposed to heal you, not just maintain some level, as long as you keep taking this medicine. Right?
As my search for how to be healthy continues I am learning to look more internally for answers. I think there is definately an individual uniqueness to my own personal health. I think this is true for everyone. I think a new definition of health has to include some individual active awareness of self. I think this part has been missing from my life. I think this could be true for many people today.
Thanks for reading! Be happy and healthy my friends! Remember, you can become the hero of your own story.
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