WAKE UP WORLD! HEALTH IS MORE THAN JUST FUNCTIONING
Posted on January 08, 2013 by Carla Langmead, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
We are more than just blood, tissues, muscle and bones.
Whilst I can not control the unforseen disease illness or accident I can prevent ill health to a certain degree through keeping my fitness and mobility levels up and my fat and stress levels down. This always requires conscious decisions to maintain this balance as my health does not just randomly ‘happen’, it requires my attention for much of the time. However, I am not obsessed and chasing the ‘perfect’ solution, just a balance. Creating a balance in life gives me the quality of life that I need. Of course everybody’s idea of quality of life is all different and only relevant to what you are aware of. I read somewhere recently that approximately 40% of new year resolutions are about fat loss. Although fat loss is simply energy in versus energy out it also depends on emotions and stress levels. Everyone knows how to technically lose weight, yet everyone doesnt know how to manage stress and emotions. In my opinion managing stress and emotions is the key to a lot of preventable health issues. Some stress is good for us and can motivate us, yet at other times stress can de-motivate. Demotivation is an integral clue, a symptom which has a cause. Often once the cause can be identified then steps around it can be gained which includes goals which are more realistic to the desired results. For example when it comes to my choice of exercise, I am not a runner, nor do I enjoy the meditative type exercises like yoga and pilates. Physiologically they have great benefit and value on body and mind, yet for me I need vigour, big movement, and music. I need to move my body to the beat of the drum!..which is why I love my chosen type of group fitness which I am also lucky enough to teach others. Exercise with others has many benefits; firstly the ‘social’ factor is proven to be the number one motivator behind continuing with any exercise programme, secondly if fat loss is the goal then the ‘group’ mentality has proven to have better results on motivation levels making the participant work harder than if left up to their own devices, thirdly, exercise of any kind not only reduces anxiety levels during exercise but for some time after. And all this aside from the fact that there can be a sense of belonging and community when part of a group. It is not uncommon for myself and a few class members to hit ‘The Red’ for a night of dancing when Richard Littlejohn is playing, or for my older clientelle, a cup of tea and a biscuit after class complete with our own ‘in house’ entertainment from the delightful and talented Robyn who skillfully tickles the ivory’s and bangs out old tunes like Roll out the Barrell and Danny Boy. I think to myself, where else but in community exercise do we get heart felt and community experiences like that? You wont find that in any gym that’s for sure. Approach to health is not just ‘functional’, we are more than just walking pieces of muscle bones and tissues, there needs to be psychological factors prioritised as well. Our mainstream health model does not provide for the psycho – social needs, so as a life style coach I endeavour to bring attention and awareness to this vital componant in health care. I have the skills, personal experience, qualifications and the desire to help people work on their health holistically. For personal consultations (Free first consult)… or my group fitness time table please contact me or check out me on line @ www.carlascoachingforhealth.com
