Approximately 80 per cent of all health issues are a result of unhealthy choices like a ‘high-on-calories-low-on-nutrition’ diet, sedentary lifestyle, negative thoughts and undue stress. Is it not time to get back control of your life, your health and your happiness? The best way to achieve a healthy lifestyle is by making good choices. Which of these following List of Ten Commandments Of A Healthy Lifestyle can you check out?

 The Ten Commandments Of A Healthy Lifestyle Checklist:

1. Maintaining Ideal Body Weight
2. Avoiding Refined, Processed or Dairy-based foods and opting for a Plant-Based Diet with moderate Proteins
3. Walking at least 10,000 steps daily
4. Engaging in Regular Physical Activity
5. Prioritizing Adequate Quality and Quantity of Sleep.
6. Not mistaking Socializing as an invitation for Smoking and Drinking.
7. Taking steps to Control and Master your Stress
8. Nurturing Strong Personal Relationships
9. Finding your Life’s Purpose and Meaning
10. Practicing Mindfulness

How many have you ticked? If most, congratulations!! You are taking personal responsibility for your own health and wellbeing and decreasing your risk of developing disease! If not, think about how you could become more intentional in your health and change behaviors to increase your chances of living healthier and longer.

Always know that real healing starts from within. People who say, “I have this problem, fix me!” often do not get great results. Energetically and symbolically, they are putting the healing power in the hands of another. This devalues an individual’s most precious power – one’s ability to heal from within. This power is harnessed when we start taking complete responsibility for our own-selves. This means that we need to accept who we are with compassion and love, and work towards changing our current mindset and behavior, which can progressively add more value to our overall health.

It also means identifying how we are living our lives is contributing to our health problems, and bringing about appropriate changes to benefit us. A study on the survival rate of terminally ill patients found that those who felt helpless, died sooner than those who felt that they could do things to improve their condition, even if it only involved making small changes. If we wish to remain healthy for as long as possible, we must focus on empowering ourselves to heal from within.

In most cases, our body can heal itself – as long as we give it what it needs to do its work optimally. Accept and take care of your body. Thomas Jefferson once said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. Cultivate this interest – it is bound to give you positive outcomes.”

Search for your positive reason. We all need a reason to achieve what we want, health or otherwise. The more reasons you have that you must achieve your goal, the higher the likelihood that you will follow a healthy lifestyle and get to your end destination. Create a wellbeing plan. Write down your health vision and goals. What lifestyle habits do you need to implement to improve your health? You can refer to the checklist given in the beginning. Once you have a plan, maintain a journal to keep yourself in check.

When we talk about wellness, many people simply consider it a function of physical health. The term wellness encompasses all aspects of a healthy and happy you. It includes the physical aspects of health and equally, the emotional, psychological and most importantly, the spiritual aspects too. Spiritual wellness is more than being of a certain religion. It is a personal involvement with values and beliefs that provide purpose and meaning to our lives. It may involve prayer, meditation, yoga, living by certain principles, morals and faith.

Spiritual wellness allows you to seek meaning and purpose in human existence, and helps you appreciate your life experiences for what they are. When you find meaning in your life experiences, you will be able to develop harmony with your inner self and the outside world. In simpler terms, spiritual wellness grants you balance.

The route to spiritual wellness is something you must learn to master on your own. Spiritual wellness strongly emphasizes the importance of building inner resources and inner thoughts in order to give meaning to experience. It is also important to know that spiritual wellness does not mandate you to pick up a religious practice. However, religion could be one route to boost your spiritual wellness.

The following are recommendations to maintain an optimal level of spiritual wellness:

• Explore Your Inner self. Take time to meditate and think about who you really are. If you experience a life-changing event, take some time to think about what series of events led to this. Be curious. If an incident makes you even the slightest bit curious, take a moment to explore the experience a little deeper.
• Practice Mindful Relaxation.
• Practice acceptance with gratitude.
• Laugh More. Happy people live longer. Our spirits respond well when we are positive, so make time for a bit of fun everyday!
• Meditate: Spend a few minutes in silence and stillness each day and tune in to your internal world. Even 5-7 minutes daily make a huge difference. When we meditate in the evening, our bodies produce more melatonin, which helps us sleep better. Meditation also strengthens our immune system.
• Get Rid Of Negative Influences. Make a conscious effort to rid yourself of the negative influences in your life, whether bad habits or negative people.

Always remember, taking personal responsibility and control of your health does not mean you cannot seek help. If you need guidance, make sure to reach out to someone who can guide or help. Taking control and complete responsibility of your health and lifestyle can reverse the effects of illness and restore your body to its optimal health, so shift your mindset to take personal responsibility of your wellbeing — it will only benefit you in the end.

This Novruz I leave you with one of my favourite quotes by Pubilius Syrius, “Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings!” Live your life healthy, happy, whole. Navroz Mubarak!!