Ask yourself these following questions;

• Do I want to be better?

 

• Am I ready to make the most of my life?

Never quit on the belief that a life of joy, health and happiness is possible in your future.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3176053/Boy-8-cerebral-palsy-casts-aside-frame-complete-triathlon.html

• Are you ready to be responsible for, and accountable to, your health?

• Am I willing to let go of having an illness or condition?
  Yes I know this sounds daft but some people get something out of being ill.
  It may be worth exploring what benefit an illness has to hold you where you currently are; and what fears you have around being well. For example a simple example is that a head cold forces a time of rest after intense mental activity. I am speaking here more specifically about long-term chronic health conditions but you get the picture.
  For many of us it is as simple as being afraid that we can even consider being well…. why not? Imagine how it will feel to have energy and health once more?

• Can I let go of trying to control everything such as my exercise, diet, body weight, health supplement taking, and let go into a more intuitive healing journey?

  In other words am I ready to start listening to and working with my body such that I become more intuitive about my body and its needs and cries for health, nourishment, exercise, movement, play, creativity and REST?

  Health is the natural state of the body and it doesn’t come from forcing it. In truth a healthy natural diet will provide the body with most of what it needs, doing exercise that we love will being more joy, and doing more things that create happiness will create an environment conducive to healing. Rest is important for both mind and body.

  Working against ourselves rarely works in the long-term; consider most intense weight loss and exercise campaigns that we force on ourselves; how long before we kick back against ourselves and give up?

• Will I do anything to heal? In other words are you prepared to invest time and energy into your personal healing journey?

 

• Am I ready to let go of my diagnosis?
  To be well you must start to see yourself as well; not ill.
  
  The body follows the direction of the mind. When you consider that the body cells and tissue frequently replace themselves one must ask why am I still ill? Not all systems regenerate but most do; so for illness to be present in the body there must be something causing illness that can in most circumstances be removed or resolved.

  This is why functional medicine examines numerous potential causes of ill-health and then sets about systematically making healing changes to all areas responsible for ill-health. For example areas that are explored include: nutrition (which permits healthy cell, tissue and organ regeneration), lifestyle (works for or against us), environment (nurtures or harms), chemicals and toxins (for example toxic metals, endocrine disrupters, and artificial additives are all ‘foreign’ to the body and can potentially cause immediate or long-term health effects), viruses and microbes such as parasites, yeasts or disease-causing bacteria (cause illness), and our minds (direct the body functions).

  In other words there is usually some reason for being ill; it is rarely because you have bad genes. Genetics do not determine whether we are healthy or unwell; environment does. As the saying goes: genetics is the gun; environment the trigger. To read about the time scale of cell and tissue replacement in the body please read this fascinating article; most cells regenerate amazingly quickly http://book.bionumbers.org/how-quickly-do-different-cells-in-the-body-replace-themselves/.

 

• Am I ready and willing to make changes to my diet, lifestyle, how I deal with daily stress, and even my thoughts to allow in better health.
  

  Family cooking together in kitchen

  Are you prepared to examine sources of negativity in your life such as the media, gossiping friends, weight and diet obsessed magazines, a job that you don’t like and so on? To be happy and well requires positivity in all areas of your life as best you can. To be healthy requires loving yourself and respecting your body.

• Am I ready to explore the fascinating links between my emotions and my health? Start to observe your self talk and notice the link between what is going on in your mind and emotions and how you feel in your body.  I see time after time in the clinic that where emotions have been bottled up; ill-health follows. Many times this is a subconscious protective behaviour; however it does help to release these emotions from the body using healing techniques.

  To read more: The link between emotions and health
  The mind-body connection

• Am I an emotional eater?
  If so then lets deal with it!

All jokes aside; most of us have learnt a food response to stress and anxiety and it can really weigh us down when weight and health becomes a problem. Be gentle on yourself. This pattern was probably learnt a long long time ago before you were aware of it.

• Am I worth the expense to be better?
  If you cannot justify in your mind spending money on good food yet can justify going to the pub, eating fast food, and spending money on ‘things” then “Houston we have a problem”; you are not ready or willing to be healthy (for some subconscious reason that warrants some exploration).

• Do you believe that you have no time to buy, prepare, or eat good food?
  Do you believe that you cannot eat a healthy lunch when out of the house? Do you believe that eating a good meal takes more time than buying a take-away or eating convenience food? If so; then you will not succeed.

  It may take shifting your priorities, making time and being more prepared but it is possible. Most of us don’t have time. Everyone that is healthy is not healthy by chance; they are making choices and investing time in doing the things necessary to be healthy.

  Exercise, purchasing and preparing food, packing a gear bag late at night, preparing meals in advance; going the extra mile to the healthy café and making better choices in a restaurant, coffee shop or petrol station; it all boils down to how much do you want to be healthy.

  If you are not prepared to make changes in all these areas then it is not a nutritional therapist or exercise trainer that you need; you need to spend time exploring your resistance to making these changes and how strong your desire and serious your motivation for health (not illness) is.

• Am I worthy of putting myself and my own health FIRST; before everyone else?
  

  To be selfless requires being selfish.
  You are of no use being a martyr to everyone else if you become ill yourself.
  Also to be a positive influence in the lives of others you must first set an example of good health, positive lifestyle and optimistic mind-set.

  Do I understand that in order for me to give to others I must prioritise whatever it takes for me to be happy and well, healthy and energetic? We do not have an unlimited reserve of energy. To have energy requires taking positive steps to be healthy in mind and body.

• I am not a victim of my circumstances. If I feel a victim to my health, personal situation, and my past then am I willing to gently take steps to have compassion for myself and let the past go??

These are just an example of important questions to ask yourself and I believe are worth highlighting as you embark on your journey back to health.

You are so very worth it.

Love, Andrea