Focused Self Care and Functional Health

As you may have noticed by now; being healthy drives my motivation. The way we view our body and exercise influences our outcomes greatly, beyond measure in my opinion.  It's absolutely amazing to me that physiological functions can be exponential in their manner of maintaining good health.  This is rarely accessed in our modern world. And therefore something we have to teach ourselves.  

This blog is optimistic as I hope that the meaningful journey that I’ve taken can be reflective and hopeful for your own health sovereignty.  Taking calculated risks and working against the grain with my own rules is part my philosophy and part curiosity that I love to showcase on the podcast.

This subject is highly personal - (as health stories tend to be), this is due to my journey to finding functional medicine is deeply connected to a defining point in my life. It changed the way I saw health, exercise and what it means to be healthy altogether.

There is no way around the fact that if we want to continue to progress with exercise that we need a healthy vessel.  What’s standing in the way for many of us is the Western approach to health and a lack of realness for improving ourselves.  Unfortunately, the Western side of medicine values clinical significance rather than optimal health.  Optimal health and appearing young and healthy aren’t the same thing, although many automatically associate a lean body with health.  

I see a lot of similarities between the mindset shifts required to have an intellectual approach to fitness and the pursuit for optimal health.  The expectations of taking pills to solve our problems has trickled in to the fitness industry’s tendency for empty promises and quick sales.

And of course as I use this podcast production as a way to self reflect and grow -  I have to come clean about my neurosis with my health status and chasing perfection.   Finding a balanced approach without breaking the bank and micro-managing a bunch of numbers that don’t matter is not a linear process but one with trust and asking good questions.

The more I dive into asking questions and learning about functional health the more joy it brings me.  

What is functional health and functional medicine?

From the episode on July 20

Optimal health is more than absence of disease.  Chronic illness, aging, old injuries or stress can get in the way of whole body fitness and feeling good while moving.  Functional Medicine can reverse the negative impacts of stress and aging on our body.  A guided approach to whole health and fitness starts with comprehensive testing and data that the typical doctor does not offer. Functional Medicine is the future.  If you want to realize the potential of your body with blood work, stool and genetic testing and if you are motivated to advance in age without chronic illness, then you’ll learn why Functional Medicine is the best solution.

I love talking about the small changes in a health focused regimen and the biology of how our body changes is fascinating.  Actualizing one’s body potential  seems like an inspirational idea but I assure you that a large part of my day to day is spent with my clients experiencing growth throughout their life.

In reference to actualizing body potential I think of Maslow’s hierarchy and how it has been revisited to include self transcendence. Reaching a transcendence level of peak performance is something that we can learn through movement, moving with others and connecting. Exercise and health as a force for this type of advancement is incredibly inspiring to me.  

There are key beliefs to actualizing your body potential, and they are:

• Most people don’t know how good their body is supposed to feel, feeling well creates more wealth in your entire reality
• Without standardized measurements, we focus on the unique-ness of their vessel
• Expectations are aligned with knowing your body deserves more than what’s currently available (information, resources, possibilities)
• Holistic injury care and performance wellness is centered on building resilience and the growth mindset
  

The innate intelligence of the body is embodied in how the complex systems of the body work together and — more importantly — align for increased resilience at any stage of life.

Showing up for your body in appreciation for a fit/healthy body is something I believe can cause cascades of great chemical/emotional/cellular things among the connected parts.

The downside of this incredible focus on self care is scaring yourself towards sleepless nights and anxious breathing- and only a few experts know how vast the negative belief system intertwines with chemical changes in the body that make us sick and in pain.  I’ve been there and I bypassed a lot of grief with healthy focused behaviors that shadowed mental illness.  This makes me think of how much the fitness industry perpetuates and rewards anxious behavior.      

I think Functional Medicine has the potential to turn around the public opinion on conventional medicine care- a huge shift in the name of independence and sovereignty for our health and homes.