Comprehensive wellness

By

Julio C. Rivas, CS

We need a comprehensive approach to health.  Without it what we do right is diminished by what we do wrong. 

A highly-exercised person can be unhealthy for multiple reasons, among which include smoking, excessive alcohol, eating poorly, hateful and dishonest living, and a highly stressful life.  A slim person can be unhealthy due to the above reasons and a lack of exercise. 

A person with above-average weight doing many right things can be healthier than one who possesses an attractive body shape.  

Caring relationships and love for ourselves, whether one is underweight or overweight, always promote health. 

The comments by these experts emphasize certain aspects to a comprehensive approach to health.

Eddy: "Immortal men and women are models of spiritual sense, drawn by perfect Mind and reflecting those higher conceptions of loveliness which transcend all material sense."

NY Times columnist, Gretchen Reynolds, says, “Two-thirds of Americans get no exercise at all. If one of those people gets up and moves around for 20 minutes, they are going to get a huge number of health benefits, and everything beyond that 20 minutes is, to some degree, gravy.”

Victoria Pitts-Taylor is a professor of sociology at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, says, “Our body shapes are influenced by a whole range of factors, including genetic, economic and environmental factors, as well our lifestyles, which are themselves pretty complicated arrangements. Our perception of health should be broader than the medically and statistically determined body mass index.”

Marilyn Wann, a fat activist and author says, “An approach called Health at Every Size” offers an alternative that, based on scientific evidence, is better for both health and happiness. Developed in the last 25 years by experts in health, psychology, nutrition and fitness, “Health at Every Size” invites people to stop dieting, love their bodies, end weight prejudice and find enjoyable food and fitness habits. In preliminary research, “Health at Every Size” improved long-term health and happiness, where weight-loss methods did not.”

Erika Nicole Kendall, a wellness author, says, “Having a healthy body image means appreciating the beauty you have now, and any beauty you may acquire while you are taking care of yourself. You love the body you have, and you make that love an action verb by taking care of it: you feed it what it needs, you do your best to avoid what it doesn't, and you keep it engaged.”

Overall wellness requires a comprehensive approach.  The take-off premise is spiritual health.  Spirituality nurtures mental/emotional/physical health. 

 It motivates us to involve ourselves in intelligent and caring activities that better our world.  This induces affectionate, rewarding and trust-based relationships.  

To this mix we can add the exclusion of poisons like drugs, alcohol and tobacco; fueling ourselves with moderate amounts of fresh and healthy food; and engaging in moderate, daily exercise.

Spirituality anchors and propels comprehensive wellness.  A spiritually calibrated life is fueled by infinite SPIRIT-LOVE, which we can regard as the divine ALL-GOOD.  It is a goodness-generating, matter-transcending LOVE-POWER.  We are its metaphysical and immortal oeuvre. 

We are not souls trapped in a decaying, mortal, physical body.  From SPIRIT/LIFE we derive a beautiful, celestial essence.  Hence, spiritual wholeness is the core and substance of our genuine being.  This recognition can help us re-mold our lives, including our physical bodies. 

Spiritual cognition harmonizes our mind, emotions and body.  It causes us to be more alert to and ameliorate such harmful impositions as insecurity, envy, greed, hatred, revenge, and fear.

The ALL-LOVE/INTELLIGENCE enhances our capacities to build honest and trust-filled relationships.  Family and friends are made more solid by it.  It also promotes the wisdom and perspicacity to guide us through the mine-fields of professional relationships. 

We are the immortal outcome of the infinite PRINCIPLE/LOVE.  This gives us divine abilities and purpose.  Yes, we can love ourselves and each other.  But we also can employ our divine abilities to enhance ourselves and the world. 

Comprehensive wellness motivates, capacitates and activates us.  It happens naturally when we know that we are outstanding, beautiful, spiritual beings.  And that we are essential to infinite SPIRIT/LOVE and to one another.