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5 Pillars of Health - Live Your BestLife NowAre you someone who recently had a serious health scare and arenow educating yourself about how to support your total wellness?

Or, are you someone who has always been relatively healthy andjust always like to be aware and update and learning as youmaintain your health?

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Or perhaps you are someone right in the midst of a minor tosignificant health challenge and looking for information to help youget through and recover to the best of your ability?

If you fall in any of the three above categories, then I'm glad youstopped by to read my blog post. In this blog post, I will sharebriefly what the 5 pillars of health are and some key tips andpractices you will want to implement to live your best life now.

So what are the 5 Pillars of Health and why are they called Pillars?

The 5 Pillars of Health are

Pillar 1: Healthy Eating

Pillar 2: Healthy Sleeping

Pillar 3: Healthy Movement

Pillar 4: Healthy Environment

Pillar 5: Healthy Thinking

They are called the 5 Pillars of Health because they are the fiveessentials to Optimal Health. The pressures of daily living — abusy schedule, the demands of work, inadequate family orpersonal time, not enough rest, environmental challenges — canlead to a life thrown out of balance, a disturbance of our naturalequilibrium in any or all of these 5 areas. Now before we getstarted, release that expectation, thought or goal that you must beperfect in all 5 areas (or that I might suggest that!), that'sextremely unrealistic. Instead envision your health as journey andconsider what things you can do daily to improve your experienceand journey.

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Let's look at each pillar individually.

Pillar 1: Healthy Eating

Adaptating a strategy for healthy eating is one of the five pillarsbecause we are what we eat. Literally! The food we eat becomesour cells, a healthy life needs a healthy body and a healthy body isformed from healthy cells.

Well what does it mean to eat healthy?

First off, leading research has shown that traditional food pyramidwith a heavy quantity of starch is actually a leading contribution tomany of the healthy complications that we are seeing in the worldand particularly in North America. Countries like Brazil andAustralia have actually already released an updated food pyramidas pictured below. 

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You can see that the shift in the definition of a healthy diet is toconsume more vegetables and fruit and lower quantities of grainsas in the past.

The key to healthy eating is to first recognize that the status quo isbroken. If the status quo was working then why are we seeing arapid increase in cancer, diabetes and heart disease? It's time tobuck the trend! Stop believing any nutrition, health and wellnessinformation from the media and start doing your own research.Although there are several great companies like Isagenix andKashi that are really focused on bringing quality food and nutritionto the market to support your optimal health, unfortunately manycompanies aren't. Instead, many are focused on producing thelargest profit quickly which often leads to corners being cut andyour health being compromized.

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Finally, recognize that there will ALWAYS be opinions forsomething AND against so do your own research and then makethe best decision that suits and feels right for you. There are somegreat holistic nutrition thought leaders out there like Dr. PearlMutter who wrote an excellent book called Grain Brain Whole LifePlan and Dr. Mercola who runs a very high quality holistic nutritionsite. Educate yourself, do your own research and then apply thatknowledge to improve your eating.

Pillar 2: Healthy Sleeping

Sleep is the second pillar listed because it is while we sleep thatthe body is able to repair and rejuvenate itself so you can functionat your best when you are awake.

Now, here's a simple test - can you all agree that when we don'tget a good night's sleep we struggle a lot the next day? That's aBIG clue. :-)

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There is an excellent book by Shawn Stevenson called SleepSmarter. It shares many great tips and insights. Some key takeaways for you is that between the hours of 10pm and 2am arecritical sleeping hours so if you have to be cut out sleep then wakeup early instead of staying up late! Also, get more natural sunlightduring the day, exercise and move your body daily (pillar 3), getthe electronics out of your bedroom and have a caffiene curfew.

Pillar 3: Healthy Movement

There are so many benefits to having healthy movement/ exerciseincorporated daily in your life. One that you may or may not knowis that it what we call a cornerstone habit. Ie, science has proventhat those who regularly exercise tend to more healthy in all theother areas of their life- socially, nutrition and mindfully. Also,those who start to exercise consistently then find it a lot easier toincorporate other healthy habits to move towards a healthierlifestyle.

Overall, one can achieve the benefit of healthy movement in just15 minutes a day. Healthy movement can be a simple as taking awalk with your dog every day to hitting the gym and doing that

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intense workout. Aside from helping you to maintain a healthyweight, exercise can also help to maintain a positive mood, boostenergy and promote better quality sleep.

If you are someone who hasn't exercised in a long period of time,do consult your doctor before starting any exercise routine.

Pillar 4: Healthy Environment

Pillar 4 is having a healthy environment. The term "healthyenvironment" is a huge one and in this scenario focus on onhealthy environment ecologically and socials.

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Ecologically speaking, there has been an quantum leap in theamount of toxic chemical we as humans come into contact withand these is having signifcant negative impacts on our quality oflife. Check out this quick video called Toxins, The SilentKiller. Fortunately for us, the world and political leaders are slowlymoving towards minimizing this, and things like recycling, filteringour waters, eco friendly products and services are becoming moreand more popular. Consider developing a strategy to review theproducts you are using daily and what small switches you canmake to minize toxicity in your life be it from filtering your water, toswitching out your laundry detergent or doing a full body gentlecleanse.

Socially speaking, would you agree that being around people whotruly care about you, respect you and you enjoy being around canhave a huge impact on your quality of life? We have humans havean ingrained need to connect and feel connected and incommunity with others so having a positive and strong socialcircle allows each of us to full engage in our lives. If you feelisolated or alone, reach out to family and friends, go join a club ona topic that you love. There are billions of people in this world soyou are sure to find other who like the things you like to share lifewith.

Pillar 5: Healthy Thinking

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Do you know the saying: "Thoughts become things!" It's true, yourthoughts lead to your feelings, which lead to your actions, whichlead to your results! So thoughts do become things! Knowing this,it makes sense why healthy thinking is the fifth and final pillar toliving your best life now. Keeping your mindset positive will allowyou to attract positivity into your life, it helps to reduce stress, turnproblems into opportunities and helps you to value all the greatthings that you have or receiving in your life.

Key habits and practices that have known to help others just likeyou have healthy thinking are visualization and meditation. Take afew minutes a day to visualize yourself having the life you desireand enjoying your life helps you to draw that desired life to you.Likewise, taking a few moments a day to control and quite themind and be at peace, helps to build the internal muscle of

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controlling your mental choices so that when you want to bechoosing healthy thinking you have that mental muscle throughthe practice of meditation to help you.

Summary and Next StepsSo those are the 5 pillars of health- healthy eating, healthysleeping, healthy movement, healthy environments and healthythinking. Where do you see that you may need to do some smallor big changes to help live your best life now? What are the top2 small daily habits you can adopt after reading this post that willhelp you shift into a better life?

Okay,great, say yes to you and start today!

Thanks for stopping by to read my bost on the 5 Pillars of Health-Live Your Best Life Now.

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