Wellness and Wolves?

Human beings are multi-faceted. When discussing health & wellness there are 5 components that must be considered: Physical; Mental; Spiritual; Emotional; and Social. To work towards optimal health these 5 components must be “fed”. As all humans are unique this will certainly mean different things to each individual. With that said, the Cherokee parable of “the Two Wolves” reminds us to always work towards the positive in all areas of our lives.

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…”A fight is going on inside each of us, it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil- he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, self-pride, superiority, self-doubt and ego. The other wolf is good- he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” the old chief simply replied “The one you feed.”

In my next several blogs I will suggest 1 area to look at to improve your overall quality of health and wellness.

1.0 Decrease the amount of time spent on the phone, tablet, video games and computer. There are many good reasons to put a limit on your screen time. Here are just a few:

* Information Overload! Our brains can only process so much in a certain time frame before becoming stressed. Human brains actually slow down when exposed to too much information in a short period of time. Also, MRI studies of internet “addicted” teenagers show multiple areas of the brain with lower density gray matter than the “non-addicted” control group. As you can imagine, this negatively impacts intellectual, behavioral and emotional brain function.

* Reduction in Attention Span. Studies indicate the average human attention span has decreased from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to 8.25 seconds in 2015. primarily because of the increased usage of smart phones. As a reference, a gold fish has an attention span of 9 seconds!

* Insomnia, Anxiety and Depression. Blue light emitted from our phones, tablets, pc’s and even most T.V.’s will suppress the brains production of melatonin which is a naturally occurring hormone that promotes sleep. The reliance on social media and on-line gaming as opposed to face-to-face personal interactions are connected to increasing rates of self-reported depression and anxiety, especially in young people.

Enough said? Now that you’ve finished reading this, turn off your computer or put down your phone and go outside to feed your body and mind with something healthy and fun!