Natural Holistic Health

Achieving Perfect Health

Kim Gray, Naturopathic Doctor

Natural Holistic Health
Republished here from Tidewater Woman Magizine, September 2005

A perfect state of health is something we all want, take for granted when we are young, and fear we will loose as we age. Even in our modern age of information, very few of us know how to maintain vibrant health. Surprisingly, even fewer of us know that we should expect perfect health until the age of 120.

The reason we want to have perfect health is to pursue our lives, relationships, careers, adventures, goals, and dreams unimpeded. In fact the only reason to have a body is to go about each and every day doing activities that we call “life”.

Our expectation of good health starts to shift when the body starts to age, breakdown, or become sick. This is where many myths, theories, and suspect forms of information are presented. The facts are that science does not know why the body ages, why it manifests any variance from perfect health, or how to return it to the state of vibrant health. Centuries of health practices have not led to a dependable form of healing. It is fascinating that we study disease but not health. It seems that if you want to be rich, don’t study poor people.

Let’s look at healthy people. Not surprisingly, there are very few longevity studies. It seems that it is simply not profitable to study why people live a long time with perfect heath. In these rare studies, we find some common traits in people who are called successful centurions.

Positive: Very simply, these people are happy about living. That’s right. They feel that their life has meaning, that they have all that they need, and that they are valued in their life roles. They are not exposed to advertisers who suggest that they don’t have enough, and need more. These people are poor, by our typical American standards. Yet, these people are able to obtain what most Americans spend a fortune pursuing, and cannot obtain.

Purpose: Healthy people expect to be healthy because their life has purpose. In these cultures, the desirable roles are obtained with age. They have real reasons to live a long time. In the American culture, we value youth and beauty, and expect to be cast away as we age. The human spirit will not survive if a person feels unimportant, unwanted or even a burden. Healthy people find valuable roles to play in the lives of others.

Nourished: Healthy people eat natural unprocessed food that has worked in the human body for centuries. Evolution has not caught up to adapt the body for the onslaught of toxins we call food in the modern world. We have traded convenience for good health.

Harmony: Healthy people live in natural cycles with the seasons. They generally eat food that is available in season. They have activities that are appropriate to the seasons. They do not use many of the artificial conveniences such as lighting, entertainment, telecommunications, or transportation to break these cycles. Once again, we find that when we choose short term convenience over long term health, we experience illness.

Cleanse: Healthy people use ritual internal cleaning of the body and mind as part of a cultural or religious practice. We call this detoxification. Some cultures include fasting, taking herbs and various other activities that they follow at certain times of the year. Christians follow the season of Lent. This practice is all but absent in our modern culture, yet we experience the highest rate of chronic disease ever recorded in any civilization.

Balance: Finally, healthy people are disciplined. They lead balanced lives that involve work, play, nourishment, rest, ceremony, joy, and sorrow. They do not attempt to make work easier, play more convenient, nourishment more sophisticated, rest minimized, joy and pain medicated. They know that these are the essential parts of life, and accept life with peace and excitement.

We, as Americans, have much to learn about living healthy lives. Millions of dollars of research can’t alter truth that has stood the test of time: Live positively, have purpose, be well nourished, follow natural rhythm, cleanse the body and mind routinely and practice balance and healthy discipline.