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ACTIVITIES THAT SUSTAIN US

It's encouraging to see media stories and posts on how gardening, gratitude, finding purpose, spending time in nature, and other activities mitigate the unexpected stress and strain of recent crisis events. “Growing a handful of plants, even if what you get to eat from them is relatively meager, can feel like a balm during a time when we’re all stuck indoors and hearing constantly about death and economic collapse.” writes Chris Crowley in “The Quarantine Garden Has Taken Off.”

When people engage in these types of activities, they experience improvements in mood, stress, composure, and illness resistance. Both research and real life validate this. For example, clothing designer Eileen Fisher commented that her years of meditation practice have been invaluable to her now as she copes with the pandemic-driven collapse of sales and production at her company.

A PREREQUISITE FOR FUNCTIONING WELL IN SOCIETY

During difficult times, we are often moved to explore and engage in practices that comfort and strengthen, such as mindfulness and spending time in nature for mental resilience and composure. Any participation in these activities—no matter how brief—is enriching.

That said, real power and readiness to respond skillfully in difficult, demanding situations derives from prior mastery and routine use of these health-enhancing practices.

Now more than ever, having a high level of personal health and well-being is a prerequisite for functioning well in society.

Attaining this level of well-being requires optimal integration and regular use of physical and non-physical practices. Tapping into these valuable strengths during crisis times is just the beginning since their utility and benefits go well beyond stress reduction and coping during critical times. The key opportunity is in building a foundation for high health and high well-being that sustains us through all life situations.

PRACTICES FOR FUNCTIONING WELL TODAY

High health practices go beyond baseline diet, fitness, stress management, and screenings to address the essential skills required now. The practices are simple, durable, and easy to use; however, many are not well-known. When mastered, they produce and sustain high health and well-being among individuals and populations. The High Health Network makes it easy for everyone to attain and sustain these levels. There is no better time than now. Join today.

Joyce M. Young, MD, MPH
Managing Director, Advanced Wellness Systems

Image by Susan Cipriano from Pixaby

“Ours is a time of continual movement which often leads to restlessness, with the risk of ‘doing for the sake of doing.’ We must resist this temptation by trying ‘to be’ before trying ‘to do.’” —Pope John Paul II

Sincerely,
Your colleagues at Advanced Wellness Systems