• Expressing a positive, creative spirit
• Healthy, loving relationships
• Eating a whole-food diet and using whole food
supplements
• Moving the body with regular physical exercise
• Adequate rest, both physical and mental

We are all aware of things that are detrimental to our health, smoking, drinking in excess, eating too many sweets, to much stress, and being sedentary. What if we changed our focus and decided to pay attention to the things that bring us good health and ensure they are part of our lives? We would feel better, we would have more joy in our lives and our life experiences would increase substantially instead of just grinding through the daily routine looking for the next quick fix.

Number one of the top five causes of health is expressing a positive creative spirit. This can be done through certain characteristics that are not always easy but can be practiced and kept in the fore front of our minds. Those characteristics are love, truth, compassion, peace, integrity, and courage. Help develop love in your life by loving others even if at times it feels they are not reciprocating the same to you. Be truthful in all your interactions so you can look at yourself in the mirror and be proud of how you treat others. Have compassion for those around you, trying to understand their situations. Cultivate a peaceful environment in your home and work. Do everything with integrity so you would never be ashamed if someone held your life under a microscope. Have the courage to do what you feel is right and stand up for what you believe in. At the end of the day even if things didn’t go your way, you will sleep a lot better.

Number two; develop healthy loving relationships. “No man is an Island” is an iconic phrase but appropriate when considering this point. Many of us try to be strong and do it all ourselves. At some point if we do not have people around for support, we will fall short of accomplishing our goals, not to mention our exhaustion from working so hard. Relationships are important in our homes, our families, our work and our community. If you find that you struggle with keeping relationships consider exploring this by talking with a counselor, see if they can shed a little light on the situation. However, I will let you in on a little secret, most relationship problems start if you are not following the “Causes of Health” number 1 (see paragraph above).

Number three; eating a whole food diet and using whole food supplements. We only have one body. If we are to live to the best of our abilities and be healthy we have to consider how we fuel our system. A diet that consists of minimally processed whole foods is essential to get the macro and micronutrients your body needs to survive and thrive. If you do not get those nutrients your body will start to break down and deteriorate, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly, but you will not be as healthy as you can be. Dr. Royal Lee the founder of Standard Process whole food supplements observed in 1929 that people did not become diseased because of bacteria and viruses; rather he observed they became ill because they were starving. They were not hungry, they were malnourished due to eating too many processed foods and not getting the nutrients they needed to keep their immune system strong. Opportunistic organisms would flourish, or the organ systems would fail, and symptoms of sickness and disease begin. Taking vitamins is important, but not all vitamins are equal. Whole food vitamins that are cold processed are the best to take because they maintain all the micronutrients and vitamins without being denatured. Synthetic vitamins can rob your body of micronutrients and cofactors essential for your physiology and can lead to sickness and disease as well.

Number four; moving the body with regular exercise. Exercise can be a very broad topic, and exercise can vary from person to person depending on age, lifestyle, and capability. The point is if you are not moving you are dying. Movement has many profound physiological affects on our body. It affects our ability to detoxify, it affects our moods, it affects our sleeping patterns, it affects our bone structure, and our pain. Have you ever hit your finger with a hammer? The first response is to shake your hand because “That hurt really bad”! The reason you are shaking your hand after you hit your finger is because movement blocks pain. The more you move the less pain signals find their way to your brain. Many people specialize in movement for health, Chiropractors, Physical Therapists, Massage Therapists, Personal Trainers, Yoga and Pilates Instructors all can be of assistance in helping to re-establish normal movement, we all just have our different ways of doing it.

Number five; getting proper physical and mental rest. Resting may be the most overlooked aspect of health, because it would tend to be the most obvious. However, appropriate rest allows the body to recover and grow to be stronger to handle tomorrow’s challenges better. Speaking as a person who knows how to burn the candle at both ends, I have experienced the hard way what happens to the body if you do not stop and take time for rest. Physically your body becomes injured and your workout and physical goals become impossible. Mentally you lose focus and clarity and run around all day trying to put fires out. Physical rest is best if you can keep a regular routine. Going to bed at the same time, and rising at the same time each day. Taking active rest days from your workout routine to do slower workouts like walking or hiking, yoga or Qi Gong are great. Mental rest consists of turning off the inner monologue that constantly drums in your head. Taking time to meditate, read a good book, listen to positive upbeat music, all can have profound effects on your mental state.

Living a healthy life may not always be easy. It is a work in progress, but having a framework of things to keep working on will help you to live a more healthy, more natural, more optimal life.

Dr. Phil Cameron DC is the owner of the Bozeman Wellness Center. He is a Chiropractic Physician and Professional Applied Kinesiologist.   He Treats every patient as an individual and strives to help each patient Live Healthy, Live Naturally, and Live Optimally. Visit www.bozemanwellnesscenter.com for more information.