The three pillars of health.
If you work with me individually (who am I kidding, if you know me personally too), you know I’m a stickler for diet, sleep, and movement. Why you might ask? Well, they are the three pillars of health, both physical and mental. No amount of therapy is going to get you where you want to go without a solid foundation of diet, sleep, and movement. Let’s talk about why they are essential to your wellbeing. We discussed last week that sleep is crucial for recovery, healing, and dumping cellular waste. All necessary for your brain to function optimally. Diet creates the building blocks for the chemical reactions in your body, including neurotransmitters in your brain. We’ve also discussed in a previous post (and I’ll probably do it many more times in the future), how movement is medicine. Movement is necessary for optimal cardiovascular, muscle, bone, hormone, brain, blood vessel, and nervous system health. Movement is a proven strategy for improving attention, mood, and anxiety. Often, when life gets to lifeing, these three are the first to go. You may sacrifice sleep for work, or eat quick processed foods because you’re so busy, or stop moving your body intentionally to save time. Ultimately, what needs to be your security, becomes another stressor. When the reality is, these pillars are what will ground you and keep you going through hard times. Not prioritizing these pillars of health actually exacerbates mental health issues, on top of physical ones.
Therapy is learning. You are unlearning old patterns that no longer serve you and learning new ones. Guess what? Neural learning requires a lot of energy. Without optimal sleep, nutrition, and movement, you will not get the results you are looking for. Your brain simply cannot learn and commit to memory what you are working on without these pillars of health. This goes for learning in general, I’m looking at you students. Think of these pillars of health as your base, the bottom of the pyramid, the foundation of your house. If they are not secure, the whole structure suffers. The importance of diet, sleep, and movement are non-negotiable, start thinking of them that way. They are crucial for stress-management. It’s hard to focus on your relationships, working through trauma and grief, and building the life you dream without a secure foundation. Plus, truly honoring your body’s needs is radical self-love. It builds trust in yourself and a strong sense of self when you are connected to your own needs. Your body is not to be beaten into submission, it is to be listened to as a guide. Don’t forget, perfection doesn’t exist, just do your best in a world that makes it hard to care for yourself. And you know I’m going to remind you to practice self-compassion.
Questions to ponder.
Which pillars of health need your attention and which ones feel secure?
What are your biggest barriers to prioritizing the pillars of health?
How can you tend to the pillars that need your attention?
