Health & Wellness

YOUR BEST SELF

DEEP HEALTH

by Hannah Jenner

When you think about health and wellness what does that encompass for you? Maybe it’s nutrition, physical fitness or good looking blood work. Or maybe it goes beyond that. If you have never heard of the concept of deep health before, then read on. Deep health is about thriving in all dimensions of your life, physical wellbeing and beyond

Physical: Feeling vibrant, energized and thriving. Performing and functioning well.

Emotional: Experiencing a full range of emotions and expressing them appropriately.

Environmental: Knowing your everyday surroundings support your health and well-being.

Mental: Being alert, focused, competent and thoughtful. Learning and remembering and solving problems well.

Existential: Feeling a sense of meaning and purpose in life.

Relational: Being connected and authentic with others. Feeling supported and like you belong.

*Ref: Precision Nutrition Deep Health Questionnaire

All of these factors are linked to your overall health and wellness. When you are happy, supported and able to live your life in line with your true identity and values, you are much more likely to flourish. You have no doubt heard of the term “worried sick.” It has been scientifically proven that the stress hormone cortisol has an impact on general health. While it is harder to prove that a positive state of mind actually shifts gene expression profiles, various studies have shown that mood most certainly matters.

Deep health quite literally means taking a deep dive into all areas of your life to find out what is working well for you and where there is opportunity for change and improvement. So many of us live with low level fatigue, slight irritability, or a sense of feeling alone and have come to accept that as normal. All of these things over time can affect health and well-being, in particular, inflammation markers. A healthy human should more often than not be able to handle a challenge, maintain focus throughout the day, feel neutral to positive most of the time, recover from exercise and be pain free. Relationships and your surrounding environment should support you and aid you to be a better person. It is well worth working through each element of deep health and checking in with yourself. On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is worst case and 10 is best case ask yourself: • How are your energy, pain and recovery levels? • How is your general mood, ability to express emotions and ability to calm down when upset? • How calm and focused are you? How confident and capable and how able are you to deal with a big challenge? • Do you feel a sense of purpose? Does your lifestyle reflect your deeper values? How hopeful and optimistic do you feel about life? • How supported do you feel? Can you be authentically you around friends and family? Do those around you encourage healthy behaviors? • Is your home environment clean and safe? Does what’s around you contribute to your well-being and healthy behaviors? Is your community safe, secure and supportive?

If you score yourself an 8 or above to each question, then congratulations you are in a great place and are living in a way that allows you to thrive. If you scored yourself 5 or below on each question then you have a lot of room for growth. Take some time to reflect on which area you would like to work on and think of one small thing you can do to improve that score to a 6. Take it one step at a time and only commit to doing something that is easy to achieve. If you work through these elements of deep health and uncover what is working well and where there is room for growth, it will help you to build a roadmap for a future in which you can thrive!