Everything Is Connected

I was reminded again over the holidays about how everything is connected. This is often something I say when it comes to the human body, and the muscles and how hip tightness can create shoulder pain – but it remains as true as ever in our life as well especially when it comes to health and happiness.

All of us get thrown off track of best healthy routines at some point in life. This could be due to work demands, family stuff or overall life business over-load. For me this happened when our third child was born. Life was ‘fuller’, a little louder, sleep was harder to come by and time disappeared.   All of these small factors accumulate and effect the most important aspects of your health – the 4 pillars of health (Sleep, Exercise, Nutrition, and Stress).

When your sleep is not good quality, it reduces your energy levels and increases your stress levels (literally your brain doesn’t work as well). This reduced energy means you are less likely to exercise which reduces energy and increases stress even further. When you are stressed, and pressed for time – nutrition decisions are made based on time and ‘in the moment’ feelings of gratification (ie – poor decisions and bad snacking).

It is a slow downward spiral…

The effect is small and gradual. Small enough that you don’t notice at first. It seeps into everything. The change is not so pronounced that it is noticeable outwards, but just enough that you are not as energetic as you usually are, not as patient as you could be, not as happy and satisfied as you should be.

The same spiral can lift you up….

The fact that all aspects of your life are connected means you can reverse the downward spiral. By changing one small, but important thing in your life at a time you can improve everything in your life. There is something called a cornerstone habit – this is a habit that improves and affects all other habits. It is different for everyone. However, for me it is always one of the pillars of health – sleep, exercise, nutrition or stress levels.

Focus on changing one thing. My recommendation would be to start with sleep if you are not a ‘good sleeper’. If sleep is not an issue for you – start with exercise. Make it easy and sustainable. There is a great book called the “1-minute workout” which clearly demonstrates how effective a 10-minute workout can be -emphasizing quality over quantity. With only 10 minutes at home there is no excuse NOT TO get moving.

Once you get moving, your energy changes, you make better nutrition choices, and gradually you feel everything starting to change as you have more energy, WANT to do more thing, have more patience with friends and family (thus improving your relationships).

Focus on one thing, and it will change everything.

Dr. Rob Green