VividLiving. Authentic Health in the 21st Century

A New Age of Health. Chapter One. Part One

20/4/2020

A New Age of Health

Chapter One. Part One.

“He who has health has hope. He who has hope has everything.”
Arabian proverb

Something is changing. I can hear it in the subtleties of conversation. I can see it in the books lining the store shelves. I can sense it when I close my eyes and feel the energy in a crowded room. One by one, people are realizing there is a power inside them, much greater than they have been taught to believe. You have come to realize that as well or you wouldn’t have started reading this book. You know there has to be a better way of approaching your health – and your life. I offer you VividLiving.
I suppose you might be wondering, “What is VividLiving?” VividLiving is mindful, authentic self-expression. It’s a life approach that allows you to embrace what’s most important to you and to consciously create the wellness you desire.

To live Vividly is to live with awareness; being mindful of the world around you and the effects your choices have on your health and well-being.

To live Vividly is to move through life with gratitude; taking time to enjoy and savour the wonderful gifts around and within you.

To live Vividly is to take advantage of all the great opportunities that await you; to make the most of every day.

To live Vividly is to have passion; to believe in something with conviction and enthusiasm. VividLiving is also about responding to your passions with awareness and balance.

To live Vividly is to tune in to your truly glorious feelings, along with signals asking you to pay attention when something is ‘not right’.

To live Vividly is to live fully in the present moment yet knowing that in this moment your intentions can move you towards an increasingly vibrant and healthy way of being.

In this way, VividLiving has much to offer, as health and well-being is the foundation upon which everything in life is based. The best-made plans and the greatest intentions can falter when illness diminishes spirit and potential. Take a moment to consider what’s most important to you. What’s so essential that, if lost, it would fundamentally change your life? How high up on your list is health? How important is it to have a healthy body, mind, and spirit? Now weigh your answers against how much time you spend each day protecting, healing, and enhancing your health and well-being. Are they a match? For some reason, it seems easier for people to admit their health is important than to behave as though it is. I believe this is because the definition of health, and the steps to improve it, have become too narrowly focused. This narrow view doesn’t allow most people to approach their health in a way that feels right for them. A personal paradigm shift will occur when people allow themselves to embrace their own personal and authentic definitions of health and well-being.

Photo Credit: Nathalie Désirée Mottet

What Is Health?

Everyone seems to have a unique response when asked to define health and well-being. For some, health is to be less sick; for others, it is to be thinner, or fatter, or have more energy, or be physically fit, or feel less stressed, or be happier…

If I were to ask you what optimal health and wellness means to you, what would you tell me?

Now consider, how closely your current life reflects your definition of optimal health.

For some of you, the lifestyle you’ve embraced supports ideal health. For others, there is a wide gap between where you are today and where you want to be. If this is your truth, know it’s the contrast between what you want and what you have right now that creates a desire for change. It’s this desire that provides the launching points for all positive transformation.

To understand health and well-being, it’s essential to look outside of the physically-focused view presented so often today. Health is not simply the absence of a serious illness, and cannot be limited to a body part or a condition. Instead, it’s holistic, encompassing the body, emotions, intellect, and spirit. It’s the comfortable synergy of these parts that results in an ideally-healthy person. The very word ‘disease’ would imply this. The word dis-ease suggests there is a lack of ease in the person afflicted. That somewhere there is resistance or imbalance, preventing good health or happy life. Health, on the other hand, would indicate a level of ease in mind, body, and spirit. That life is flowing freely and without resistance, with all aspects working together smoothly.

Health is the comfortable synergy of the body, emotions, intellect, and spirit.

Photo Credit: Sharon Tomczyk

Your Authentic Self

In my hand I could hold one hundred different seeds. Each of these seeds, although similar on the outside, has the potential within to become a unique and wondrous thing. One may have the potential to be a sunflower, while another could grow to be a giant cedar tree. The seeds could become a strawberry plant, a lilac bush, or a dandelion, but they all start as a tiny seed. If the seed is planted in the right environment it will grow to be a magnificent and healthy version of its potential. As it’s growing, it can be damaged or crushed, it could be exposed to disease, or its environment no longer able to support its ability to grow. All of this will affect the physical structure of the plant yet, it can never alter the potential within the seed. While it’s possible to impact health, nothing can turn a tiny flower into a tree or a tree into a blade of grass.

As a newborn, you came forth with the same potential as those seeds. Although, on the outside, you appeared similar to other babies, within you was unseen and miraculous potential. You were born with traits and talents, distinct from what you have experienced or learned. They endure, regardless of your environment or the opinions of those around you. These authentic traits are not things you do or say - although they can be expressed that way - but are more deeply understood to be that which you are. A tree does not have to do anything to be a tree, it just is. Likewise, as a person recognizes and becomes comfortable with their authentic traits, life becomes easier, as uncertainty is replaced with peaceful knowing. The challenge for most people is to distinguish between the authentic them and what they have been influenced to be. To help you differentiate between the two, I invite you to reflect upon the following descriptions of the authentic self, and ask yourself which parts of you fit with the portrayal.

The authentic self is aware of its environment and its response to it.

Its motivation for growth comes from within and not from outside pressure. The authentic self loves growing toward and realizing its potential.

The authentic self is completely comfortable with itself. It does not need validation nor does it need to lessen the worth of others to know it’s important.

The authentic self does not limit itself by beliefs, doctrine, or the physical world, for its essence is not comprised of the physical.

The authentic self is not afraid because there’s nothing that can harm it. It cannot be destroyed, only ignored. It will wait an entire lifetime to be acknowledged, never going away, immediately there the moment it is allowed to be.

The authentic self is in constant communication with the body and mind, signalling whether ones actions or thoughts are in alignment with, or contrary to it. Actions that contradict the authentic self feel uncomfortable in the body or mind. Alignment brings a sense of ease and inner joy.

When you are behaving authentically you feel as though your heart is smiling.

Unlike a seed, that relies mostly on chance, as it’s the earth, weather, and sometimes a helping hand (or wing) providing it with the environment it needs to grow, humans have the ability to create environments that nurture their own authentic potential. To a great extent, individuals can control the body in which the authentic self resides. The physical state can either support or limit authentic expression; therefore your inner self will always lead you towards health.

Likewise, thoughts can enhance or interfere with authentic potential. Since the mind is the avenue through which the authentic self expresses itself to the outside world, the mind can also build and sustain the biggest barriers. Take time to quiet mental chatter, listen deeply and allow yourself to hear your authentic voice.

“You have a spark of divinity within yourself. Step out from the crowd and
discover how much power you really have.”
Paramahansa Yogananda

Continued in Chapter One. Part Two

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VividLiving. INTRODUCTION

20/4/2020

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If you’ve ever spent time closely watching young children, I’m sure you’ve noticed they move through their day with remarkable clarity of purpose, and self-awareness. They know when they’re hungry, thirsty, or tired. They know when they need a hug or need to be left alone. They cry when something hurts, or walk away when things are no longer fun. They laugh freely, and sit in wonder, gazing at the smallest bug or the magnificence of a star-filled sky. We were all like that once. However, for many, the vibrancy of childhood has been pushed aside for the serious matter of being a grown-up. I believe you were never meant to change. To grow wiser as you expand what you know, but never to lose the clarity and enthusiasm of childhood. It’s clarity that provides the basis for the abundant health and wellness you desire.

Photo Credit. Karl Fredrickson

The reason is simple: every moment you are given messages and signals guiding you towards the health, happiness, and success you were meant to have. Most of these messages come from within. They’re in the subtle, internal voice or feeling that tells you something isn’t right, or in the body’s scream when it isn’t happy with how it’s being treated. These signals are sparked by life experiences and are there to teach you, grow you, and show you the scope of your potential. To fully understand the meaning of these signals, you need to be able to look at your life authentically and honestly. From this viewpoint, you will gain an understanding of what you need to do to enthusiastically enhance your health.

Photo Credit. Camilo Jimenez

VividLiving was created after many years of studying, observing, and being thrust head-first into life’s most delicate moments. As a paramedic, firefighter, and educator, I’ve been privileged. I’ve shared happy tears as new human life came joyously into this world, shared final moments with those whose day it was to say goodbye, and fought to save others, who knew it was not yet their time to go. For years I witnessed pain and chaos, hurt and death. Yet, one of the biggest tragedies was seeing people whose choices and environment left them feeling powerless, and without influence. The control and manipulation of others had overwhelmed them. They lived by reacting, merely surviving moment to moment. I began to pay attention to the differences I noticed between those who often found themselves in a place of illness and desperation, and those who seemed to slide through life without a care or worry. It became obvious that circumstances made little difference to well-being.

Photo Credit: Sharon Tomczyk

Some of the most vibrant and joy-filled people had experienced the most difficult situations. The difference was in the sense of self, each carried with them. Some people clearly knew what was important to them, and they made choices that deliberately enhanced their lives. These people often described themselves as happy and successful. Of course, sometimes they slipped, or life knocked them over. But they got up, dusted themselves off and with a smile, kept on going, taking all they had learned with them. These people did not define themselves by their illnesses or their problems, but by their strengths and accomplishments. On the other side of the spectrum, I observed people who felt completely disconnected, not believing they had any real authority over their lives at all. They re-actively did what they always had because they didn’t know they had a different choice. In some cases, this was because they’d come to accept terms and conditions set by others without questioning if these boundaries were right for them. In other cases, it was because they felt like victims, or victims-in-waiting, as the world was full of things to fear. Illness, pain, or problems were always just around the next corner. Sometimes this drove people to a place of apathy. They came to believe that if they shut out or stopped caring about the world, perhaps it wouldn’t notice they were there. For those feeling this disconnection, life was an everyday struggle. Enthusiasm was gone and with it the vibrancy of life. Many people swing somewhere between these two extremes. They glide through some parts of their lives with strength and finesse while other, more difficult parts, are overlooked or neglected altogether. They know they’re capable of greatness in some areas, while in others they feel their life is out of control. It became clear to me if one can make authentic and conscious choices - always - in every situation, they gain mastery over their life.

So that sparks the questions: What is authentic to you? Who are you really?
What is truly most important to you?

With further inquiry we might consider: How do you make authentic choices when you have to consider others? Your family, your job, your responsibilities… What if the authentic choices be selfish? What if it could hurt other people?

My wish is that these questions and many, many others will be answered for you soon. I offer you a guidebook containing a set of processes and principles that can show you how to reclaim your life and improve your health and well-being, and do it in a way that allows the best of you to shine. Throughout the process, it will spark more questions for you, as you learn about your authentic self. Yet, this time, you will have a wider range of answers as you tune in to the wisdom that lies deep inside you.

Photo Credit: Sharon Tomczyk. The inspiration for the book came during a kayak trip in the coastal waters of Vancouver Island. For me, this photo is an inspiring representation of both the beginning and ending of my journey writing this book.

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aUTHENTIC HEALTH IN THE 21ST CENTURY

A welcome and introduction from the author. April 2020

A New Age of Health. Chapter One. Part One

A New Age of Health

Chapter One. Part One.

Health is the comfortable synergy of the body, emotions, intellect, and spirit.

When you are behaving authentically you feel as though your heart is smiling.

“You have a spark of divinity within yourself. Step out from the crowd and
discover how much power you really have.”
Paramahansa Yogananda

Continued in Chapter One. Part Two

VividLiving. INTRODUCTION

Author

Categories

Archives

aUTHENTIC HEALTH IN THE 21ST CENTURY

A welcome and introduction from the author. April 2020

A New Age of Health. Chapter One. Part One

A New Age of Health

Chapter One. Part One.

Health is the comfortable synergy of the body, emotions, intellect, and spirit.​

​When you are behaving authentically you feel as though your heart is smiling.

“You have a spark of divinity within yourself. Step out from the crowd and ​discover how much power you really have.” Paramahansa Yogananda

​Continued in Chapter One. Part Two

VividLiving. INTRODUCTION

Author

Categories

Archives

Health is the comfortable synergy of the body, emotions, intellect, and spirit.

When you are behaving authentically you feel as though your heart is smiling.

“You have a spark of divinity within yourself. Step out from the crowd and
discover how much power you really have.”
Paramahansa Yogananda

Continued in Chapter One. Part Two