Welcome back!

Today we are going to finish off my list of 6 Health Pillars for vibrant health. If you missed Pillars 1-3, you can read them here.

These may seem like no-brainers to you, but the trick is if you actually incorporate all of them (or even just a few of them!) into your lifestyle, you will see changes. They are simple, but very effective.

If these items feel overwhelming for you, do not put the pressure on yourself to start doing all of them tomorrow 🙂 Choose one that feels the most doable and FUN for you, and just do that. You can even set it up so that you introduce one Pillar into your life for 21 days, then move on to the next most doable and fun pillar. This way you are making a lifestyle change out of it, which will be way more sustainable than trying to make all these changes all at once, possibly failing and giving up on yourself. Going slow, seeing success and moving from there is way better 🙂

Pillar Number 4 - Sleep

If you are overlooking your need for sleep and rest, I am here to help you to begin making these two things priorities again.

First off, when you are asleep, your body is doing the bulk of its healing work. This is plain and simple. If you are not sleeping enough, you will not be giving yourself the opportunity to be as healthy as you could be. If you currently look at sleep as a luxury, I highly encourage you to turn that thinking around! Sleep is a basic need.

Sleep is essential for proper digestion, proper hormone function, proper brain function, proper healing, proper restoration - basically your body relies upon adequate sleep to function optimally. You slack on sleep, you slack on feeling good. Bottom line.

I understand that we all have responsibilities - work, kids, a house to run, social engagements and so on, but understand this - you can only give what you got! You know that when you are well rested you are so much more able to give to the things you must give to than you are when you are exhausted.

So if this means giving up watching your late night T.V or letting yourself sleep in a little in the mornings know that the rewards of getting enough sleep far outweigh anything you would get by staying up.

Most people need at least 8 hours. If that sounds crazy, that is ok. Work up to it. Start to add sleep to our routine in 10-15 minute incriminates. You will get there.

I also have some tips to help ensure your sleep is good quality sleep:

• Turn off all electronic devices 1 hour before bed.
• Only engage in light reading or light conversation about 1 hour before bed. No talking about taxes or reading your advanced calculus textbooks.
• Try to go to sleep and wake up at 'generally' the same times each day - even on the weekends.
• Do some sort of physical activity during your day to help create a body that is prepped for sleep.
• Create a little nighttime routine for yourself - like making a cup of herbal tea and sitting in your favourite chair to read. As you repeat this little ritual, eventually you will start to get sleepy as soon as you put the kettle on because your body will then expect sleep.
• Bask yourself to sleep - as you lie in bed, think of all the things that are going well in your life, all the people you love, all the success you have had and all the joy you are experiencing. This will make for a much easier time falling asleep and a much more peaceful sleep in general.

It is impossible to 'over sleep' so get as much as you need to feel rested.

Pillar Number 5 -  Play Time/Pleasure

This is the best pillar 🙂

In order to be healthy, you need to play. You need pleasure in your life.

If you have been waiting for someone to give you permission to do things you like doing, here it is.

If your whole life is filled to the brim with work, responsibility, eating right, working out, cleaning the house - over and over every day, then this is the pillar for you.

My number one reason for recommending play time and pleasure is because it is one of the fastest and most effective ways to improve your relationship with food.

It is really easy to get caught up in a way of living where food is your only pleasure. As a culture we tend to associate eating with pretty much everything:

• We eat to celebrate
• We eat when we are sad
• We eat when we are bored
• We eat to commemorate
• We eat to forget
• We eat to numb
• We eat for entertainment
• We eat for distraction
• We eat to suppress feelings we don't feel ready to deal with
• We eat to enhance feelings we are feeling

At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with getting pleasure from eating. In fact, I feel it is totally normal and inherent that you should enjoy your food.

The problem occurs when food takes a disproportionate place in your life. When food is your only source of pleasure, or one of the very few sources of pleasure in your day, then it is starting to fill a roll it was never meant to fill.

This can be said for anything that starts to take a disproportionate place in your life. Such as needing your partner to entertain you or keep you feeling satisfied, needing to drink every night, needing to gamble, needing to check out and watch trashy t.v - generally these 'bad' habits have at least part of their root in the fact that they are the only pleasure you allow yourself.

You cannot fully deny yourself of pleasure for very long. Eventually addictions and other issues will come up. This is one of the reasons deliberately adding pleasure and playtime to your life is so essential for health. It will help you to put everything else in your life back where it needs to be.

The other problem that can arise here is feeling guilty, or like you are wasting time when you do things that are just for fun. I used to try to weasel my way out of doing fun things by choosing activities that were half for fun and half for self improvement - like reading really deep spiritual literature or going to lectures and workshops. Those things were certainly enjoyable, but they were not pure pleasure or play. What I am suggesting here is that you must have times in your day/week where you engage in activities that bring you joy purely because they bring you joy.

You need pleasure, so accept that fact and choose to get your fix in healthy, awesome ways - instead of in ways that have a backlash. Here are some suggestions:

• Read fun novels
• Watch funny movies
• Play a sport
• Play games
• Build puzzles
• Go hiking
• Read fun blogs
• Paint
• Sing
• Draw
• Sculpt
• Dance

Whatever feels like fun for you, make it a part of your life. It just has to be fun, and something that is easily acessible for you, so you can do it on a daily basis.

15 minutes a day is a good start if you are new at this. Build from there 🙂

Pillar Number 6 - Personal Responsibility

This is a major sticking point for many on their health journeys - and their journey through life in general. I have put it last on our list, because this is something I want you to see as a pillar you may need to commit to working with for a while. Responsibility for yourself and your health may seem scary and overwhelming at first, but in the end this is the most empowering thing you will ever do for yourself.

The majority of us feel that we are impacted by those around us. We all have times when we feel that the words people have said or the actions they have taken hinder us from reaching our desired goals. It is very common to want to blame our spouses, parents, neighbours, sisters, friends, situation, the weather and co-workers for things not going our way.

Perhaps you feel that your spouse bringing 'bad' foods into the house stops you from eating right.

Maybe you feel like your boss is too demanding and that they MAKES YOU FEEL stressed out and depressed.

Could it be that you feel like you 'can't' do what you want to do, live how you want to live or be how you want to be because of the people or situations in your life?

I totally understand those feelings. In fact, in many ways we are taught to think this way in our culture.

You may have been brought up in a home where no one spoke about the 'white elephants' in the room. Where it was more acceptable to just pretend that everything was fine when it wasn't. With this you most likely learned the pattern of ignoring your own needs, you never learned how to effectively communicate what you are thinking/feeling/needing/wanting and you learned how to bend to the wills of those around.

On the other side of this coin you may have been raised in a family where everyone was expressing their needs and desires so loudly that it was a constant battle to see who would win the game of getting heard first. With this you most likely learned how to 'man up' and take charge, how to bulldoze everyone and everything in your way.

Perhaps you had an upbringing somewhere in the middle. Where you sometimes felt heard, sometimes felt powerful and at other times felt totally ignored and like you had no say in your own life.

No matter what, it is never too late to start taking full responsibility for yourself.

Of course, this deals with a lot of patterning from our past, and there may be some thought and belief patterns in you that must be undone. That is OK 🙂 Accept that this will most likely be a process for you, but that every step you take will lead you to a more joyful, fun, compassionate, love filled life!

The first step I invite you to take with this, is to make these two phrases your new mantras:

I am not responsible for how anyone around me feels.

I am fully and completely responsible for how I feel. 

These two phrases are the absolute truth. Remember that you cannot 'make' anyone feel anything - everyone decides on their own how they are going to feel about their lives. So it is with you. You may have patterning and knee jerk reactions to certain situations at this point, but on some level you are always choosing how to feel. And you can always choose to feel a different way than you are feeling.

By taking responsibility for your own life, you actually set yourself free. When you stop giving others the power to determine what you do, how you feel and what you life looks like, you get to them walk in the knowing that you are set to do what is right for you.

This may be scary at first. It may even feel selfish and totally wrong. But trust me when I say this - when you are living your truth, you are doing what is best for everyone.

No one can make you do, be, say, or feel anything. You always have the power of choice. Others may choose to feel uncomfortable with your choices. They may choose to get angry or defensive or destructive. That is their choice. You do not have to take responsibility for how others react to you, because you cannot. You can only take responsibility for what you do, and how you react to them.

Start with simply empowering yourself with this: The more you take care of yourself, the better able you are to take care of others. So step up for yourself, do what you need to do for your highest good, and you WILL be helping those around you.

This completes my list of 6 Pillars Of Vibrant Health. Now I would love to hear from you! What do you think of the list? Anything you would add?

<3