So…..have you asked yourself ‘How am I today?”? If not, you might want to take a minute to check in with yourself. Monitoring your well being is the first step toward optimum health.
Paying attention to how your body is functioning is the only way you can know if you are healthy. No one else can do this for you!!! You live in your body every waking moment.
It sends you signals about what it needs and what is happening.
What does the body need for optimum health? There are 5 basic elements to achieve and maintain optimum health:
– food and nutrition,
-rest and sleep,
-exercise or movement,
-air and oxygen,
– water.
Actually, there are 2 more which will also be discussed. They are social connection and spiritual connection. These are 2 components of mental health.
When considering any of the 5 basic elements of health, balance is the key factor. Too much or not enough of any of these will not result in good health. A person can even get too much oxygen and too much water. This doesn’t happen very often, so no worries.
For today’s column, let’s look briefly at air or oxygen since that is the component without which a person dies very quickly. The first thing a baby does the moment of birth is to breathe.
The brain which controls all other life activities needs oxygen to maintain life. Oxygen is essential to life. Breathing is automatic. You can only hold your breath for a few minutes at the most before your body forces you to breathe.
The air we breathe contains oxygen. However, it contains things in addition to oxygen. Those things are primarily pollutants from vehicles, manufacturing processes, and smoke.
Pollutants contribute to lung diseases of all kinds, thereby weakening the respiratory system and diminishing the oxygen supply to the brain resulting in less than optimum physical health and mental functioning.
What can you do to provide your body with adequate oxygen? There are basically 2 things to pay attention to.
First is the quality of air you breathe. The second is to breathe properly. Open windows in your home and office. This provides fresh air full of oxygen. Plants give off oxygen, so find some time to be outdoors near grass and trees.
Take a walk and breathe deeply to replenish your oxygen supply. When you’re sitting at your desk, straighten your back to open your lungs and take some deep breaths. To help you remember to do this, you can set an alarm on your phone or watch or computer. It will make a difference in the way you feel and function.
When considering air quality we must take a look at the vehicle emissions and smoke from charcoal cookers. Both of these things contribute significantly to respiratory diseases such as cancer, emphysema and asthma.
Do you ever look out over the city, noticing the air isn’t clear? That’s the smoke from vehicles and cookers. Do you notice the smell of charcoal in the air?
Please don’t wait for government regulations about these things. Take action now. If you have a car that is belching smoke, get it fixed!!!! If your household uses a basic charcoal cooker, consider cleaner forms of cooking.
Technology is advancing and they are affordable and use less fuel. Take a trip to the Expo next month and you will see several varieties. The government is already in action about encouraging cleaner, more environmentally sound cooking methods. Get on-board with these changes for the sake of the health of your family and the nation.
The second thing to do to provide your body with adequate oxygen is to breathe properly. We will discuss this in the next column. It is looking like this series on the 5 elements of optimum health will be extended to more than 5 articles in order to cover the topics.
It is my hope that through these articles you will have a better understanding of your health and be motivated to take these simple easy steps to create optimum health and functioning.
Be well and love life.
Joanna
UM– USEKE Volunteer
