Health: The Common Definition
What does health look like for you?
Depending on your perspective, it can mean:
- the absence of illness
- eating well
- exercising
- being happy
- experiencing meaning
- feeling engagement in our activities
- being with those we love
- and having the financial, physical, and mental means to live the life we want.
What If We Considered A Different Perspective?
But the second definition of health - and one we don't often consider - is our ability to respond to change by ADAPTING when things don't go as well as we'd hoped.
Our cells are naturally designed to heal. They want to return to full function in a manner that is resilient.
How does this relate to stress?
The very nature of life is change, and stress is unavoidable. Change puts stress on living organisms to adapt or decline.This is the drive behind evolution.
Mental stress occurs when there is a gap between:
a) our expectations, and
b) our actual reality.
It comes from a perception that "there" (our expectations) will be (or was) something better than what's actually "here" (our reality).
This can cause a significant decline in our mental (and eventually physical) vitality and health.
Healthy Or Not? Why Your Mindset Means Everything
There is a difference between “healthy” stress which encourages our ability to adapt and evolve and “unhealthy” stress which spirals into cellular deterioration.
Often the difference lies in the perception that we hold in our minds:
Our thoughts and beliefs are the bedrock foundation for our mood, motivation, and perceptions about our physical health, and what we feel we can or can’t do. Thankfully, through one-on-one coaching work and cognitive-behavioral feedback, we can effectively change our perception which directly affects our state of well-being.
Written by: Islena Faircrest, Life Coach + Health Educator
Islena has provided wellness education to people of all ages and stages since 2000. She teaches yoga, writes for health content media, and has led retreats & Teacher Trainings in the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica. She is one of JK Naturals' favorite guest bloggers and her wisdom will occasionally grace our blog.
As a behavioral specialist,Islena offers private consultations for individuals and group workplace coaching for professionals to help them transform toward the highest version of themselves by using cognitive tools and strategies. Islena offers complimentary 15-minute consultations to determine if this service and work can help you reach your highest potential. You can find her on Facebook and on her website.