The Good Health Triad: Good health is part of our Foundation

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The Fullfilment Project, and the Fullfilment Framework, are an evolving endeavour to better understand how to live a life that brings fulfilment, so I can pass on this knowledge to as many people as possible. While reviewing the Fullfilment Framework recently I realised that I had left out a key element, that of good health. If we do not have good health everything else, whether it be related to happiness or success, becomes more difficult. Health, therefore, should really form part of our Foundation, in addition to self knowledge and acquired wisdom.

When we think of health there are different elements that need to be considered,  all of which fall into three pillars of good health; the pillars are mental and emotional health, physical health and energy health. I call these the Good Health Triad. The first two are well known and much can be found on these two pillars of health in books, videos and other online resources, but energy health is not so commonly referred to or known about. We all have an energy system that is well known about in the East, which refers to the movement of Chi (or Qi) around the body along the meridian lines. If our energy system is not functioning properly we become unwell. Chi needs to flow through us, but if there are energy blockages the Chi stagnates, if there is not enough Chi in the body, fatigue sets in and physical health declines.

Mental and emotional health, which includes how balanced our emotions are, influences our mindset, which the world filters through to our conscious and unconscious awareness. Emotions, like energy, come and go, but when negative emotions hang around for long periods of time this reduces our good mental and emotional health. If sadness becomes depression or pride becomes self importance we have negative results appearing in our lives. Our mental and emotional health is dependent on positive mindsets and positive environments. Our environments are key here, and this also includes our relationships. This is why we should choose our partner, our friends and our work colleagues carefully, they all, in part, form our support structure, as we form part of theirs. It can be very beneficial to seek support from trained Counsellor or Psychiatrist depending on your level of need. Be brave enough to seek support is essential to good mental and emotional health.

Physical health is equally important. Anyone who has ever been sick with the flu, or a more serious illness, knows how debilitating it can be. The mind may be willing but an unwell body often is not. Our physical health is largely dependent on two things, our diet and our level of physical activity. Everything that we eat and drink literally becomes our physical body. The water we drink becomes the fluids in our body and fats, fibres, proteins, vitamins and minerals all play very specific roles in the ecosystem that is our body. Aerobic exercise builds up stamina and anaerobic exercise builds muscles and our body becomes in good working order, if we regularly exercise in both of these ways. This does not mean that we have to run a marathon every day or lift crazy amounts of weights, we should start at our level and build up from their. I would recommend following the advice of a trained fitness instructor to ensure you do not injure yourself.

Energy health is also equally important. Our energy health can be maintained by practising Chi Kung (or Qigong) and/or Tai Chi and/or physical Yoga. These Eastern practices allow the Chi in our bodies to be healthy and to flow. Chi, like the water in a river, needs to keep flowing,  as well as be of good quality and quantity for us to remain healthy. If water is stuck on one place it becomes stagnant, our Chi is the same. Often people will go to see an Acupuncturist to keep their meridians in working order to keep the Chi optimised for good health. Daily practice of Chi Kung, Tai Chi and physical Yoga are also excellent ways to keep our energy systems flowing and functioning at their best, which contributes to our overall good health.

Keeping ourselves in good health means that we have to cultivate the habits and actions that boost and balance our health in all of these three areas, mental and emotional health, physical health and energy health, none of them should be neglected. The Good Health Triad is such a foundational part of our happiness and success it now has it’s place as part of the Fullfilment Framework Foundation.