Reflecting on ALL dimensions of Health.

Hello Friends and Family.

After a brief hiatus from regular Internet access, I am back writing again and hope you enjoy the new 2011 JT's Health Enhancers Blogspot.

As the New Year approaches and the turkey and cookies begin to slightly increase our waistlines it is important that we do a genuine reflection of where we stand not only in our physical health but the many dimensions of health that affect our well-being.

I encourage you to write down each dimension of health that is bold below and genuinely rate yourself on how you are doing in this area of your life (you may use a 1-10 scale an A-F scale, bananas to apples scale-whatever floats your boat) and how you may look to enhance this dimension of your health in 2011. I have added some general questions and examples after each dimension to help you with this.

1. EMOTIONAL: How is your mental outlook on your life? Are you being positive or negative in how you view yourself? Are you excited about your life and what you are doing in it? What are your passions and are you getting to act on them with clarity and confidence regularly?

2. Intellectual: Are you learning new things or hobbies that are increasing your appreciation of your existence? For example, I rate myself currently at a 5 out of 10. I'd like to increase my intellectual health in 2011 by learning to play the banjo, improve my Spanish speaking skills and as you can tell improve my writing skills. I believe improving on these areas of my intellectual health would enhance my existence and help others.

3. SPIRITUAL: I personally rate my Spiritual health on the amount of time I feel truly at peace and worry free. What are you doing to increase times of peace and calmness in your life? One may find that going to a place of worship for an hour a week brings them a sense of peace or others may find a solitary hike in nature brings them peace. Find out what brings peace to you and make a plan to incorporate this into your life. You'll know you have found it when crying babies or watching the Buffalo Bills does not seem to irritate you so much.

4. ENVIRONMENTAL: My contention is that we as humans share this planet with species and nature and that our decisions have an impact on well-being of our planet and other species. Therefore, how can we better treat our environment in 2011? This does not have to be drastic, perhaps just change a few light bulbs in your home to higher efficiency bulbs. This will not only save you money but lessen the amount of coal burned into the air which affects air quality and asthma rates. Or, re-use the plastic bags that your groceries are put in for trash bags or for pet waste.

5. SOCIAL: How are we doing in our relationships with other people? Are we truly listening to and supporting others? How is our social support network? For example, I find that when I am feeling down or depressed that I can positively change my mood by simply talking to an old-friend or family member on the phone. Seek out those who support you and call on them when feeling down. How may you increase your network? Perhaps, by becoming involved in an organization or group that is aligned with your own unique passions.

6. PHYSICAL: I chose to put the Physical dimension of health last because it is often wrongly attributed to the only meaning of good health. In my opinion, Physical health is equal to all the other dimensions of health listed above. However, the great thing about increasing physical health is that you can increase other dimensions of health at the same time. For example, I found joining a basketball league last winter not only increased my endurance and physical body, but I made life-long friends thus increasing my social health. You may seek out a volunteer trail clean-up crew that maintains natural hiking trails and Eco-systems, this will not only increase your physical health but also your environmental, social, and intellectual health. Be creative and see what works for you.

The purpose of this exercise is to genuinely reflect on each dimension of health in your life and how you look to improve on it and create a better life for yourself, others, and the environment. Have fun with it!!

This is the opinion of Jonathan T Felsen.