Categories
Book Happiness Tips Optimum Health

Q&A Time: Getting Perspective on the Gene Thing

iconsChristine (from USA) Question: “With modern medicine today there are many tests you can have now to see if you are more likely to develop some awful diseases such as Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s. Would you want to know?”

The right question

One of the things I teach in the 30-Day Happiness Challenge, is to ask better questions. And also to make sure the question we are asking does not pre-suppose a ‘fact’ that is not really a fact (100% true, 100% percent of time). Otherwise the answer we get will not be relevant.

By the way. Just wanted to remind you that I am not a Doctor, in case you forgot. I am just a voracious reader, researcher and therapist / Coach.

Here is the thing on modern medicine. It is EXCELLENT at treating symptoms – or broken stuff – but crap at the preventative stuff, and the creating optimum health stuff. For more on this read ‘Mind Over Medicine‘ by Dr Lissa Rankin.

Categories
Book Optimum Health

Pillar 6 to Optimum Health: Wholeheartedness (from The Guidebook to Optimum Health)

wholeheartednessThe trump card

As I was writing my book on optimum health, I thought I had it all sorted out with my 5 Pillars: exercise, nutrition, detoxing, rest and how we used our minds. But something was niggling at the back of my mind. Sort of saying, ‘Are you missing something?’

Well it turns out I was. I had the body covered; the mind covered; but I didn’t have the heart taken care of. And the reality is, you cannot separate these three parts. It is like trying to create a complete picture, but only using two-thirds of the jigsaw pieces. There will be gaps and in this case those gaps can be major illness, recurring aches & pains, and even that regular ‘cold’ or ‘flu’.

Categories
Book Optimum Health

Pillar 5 to Optimum Health: Mindfulness (from The Guidebook to Optimum Health)

mindfullnessNice word. What does it mean?

I use the term ‘mindfulness’ which is based on the concept of mindfulness in Buddhist meditation, but take it broader, into how it shows up each and every day. As numerous ‘smart people’ have told us over past millennium, we only have ‘this moment’. The past is gone, and the future is yet to be shaped. So it is the sum of our moments, and how we use them, that ultimately determines what quality of life we have and the level of results we achieve.

The other word that pops up when we talk about mindfulness is ‘consciousness’. Being conscious of the big picture, the small picture, our place in the picture, other peoples place in the picture, the possibilities, the reality of where you are right now, the place you want to arrive at, and your inner dialogue. So for me, mindfulness is a heightened level of consciousness of our thinking, feeling and behaving.