Heart your Health

Mind | Body | Spirit

February is “Heart Your Health” month! When reflecting on this idea, it occurred to me how important it is to remember that creating overall health in life requires examining a variety of areas. If we exercise daily, then fill our bodies with processed foods and chemicals, we cannot expect to be healthy. If we are meticulous about our diets yet continue to participate in patterns in our life that wear us down emotionally and mentally, we cannot honestly call ourselves healthy. Overall health and wellness are really a conglomerate of mind, body, and spirit.

Heart your Health = Progress, not Perfection

While this is a great perspective, I think it can also be very overwhelming. We are all inundated with daily demands and adding “perfect your health” is just too much to add to the list. It can also be easy to fall into the trap of feeling that if we cannot approach every component, it is not worth tackling at all.

When it comes to making any change in habit or lifestyle, I like to look at it from the perspective of “progress, not perfection.” If we make a commitment to one small change in the various areas of health like exercise, nutrition, and mental health, that is progress. Examine each area and see what is real to you in terms of being doable. Perhaps you’re not ready to cut out soda, but you commit to drinking enough water each day. That is progress. Maybe you have not worked out in a year, but you decide to commit to 10 minutes of movement a day. That is progress. Small, consistent changes over time have a significant impact.

Heart your Health = Being Kind to Yourself

So this month, take a look at the changes that you can start to make. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself in the process. Remember…progress, not perfection.