How do I get well?

General well being can be attributed to many factors and there are many ways in which each person can contribute towards their own healthy living, whether trying to recover from recent illness, cope with a recurring health issue, or improve and maintain the quality of their health.

We will all have different coping mechanisms and some will cope more than others with health problems or stressful periods of time in our lives.There are practical approaches to relaxing and reducing stress, making important life changes, obtaining needed help, getting more pleasure and meaning into our lives, taking charge of our health care, and learning to love and listen to our bodies. The trick is to find what works best for you and this will take, time, effort, trial and error and changes in your current lifestyle. It is often dependent on individual circumstances but everyone will have their own advice based on their own experiences so talking with close family and friends will always help.

Overcoming illness means cooperation with medical professionals alongside your own efforts.  "Self-management" programs have been shown to reduce doctor visits, hospitalizations and medication use. Doctors cannot heal us without our participation. Self-care in getting well is a winning proposition for everyone involved.
We can recover our health and improve our lives, despite chronic problems for which medicine has no absolute cure. There are ways ways to get better even in difficult circumstances.
The following five points are a great first step in the process to getting well;

1. Slow down. Save some energy for our bodies and lives, instead of giving every last ounce, whether its to work, entertainment or stress.


2. Make a change. Change something in our lives that damages us. No matter how small, any successful change builds our self-confidence and makes the next change easier.


3. Get help. We can't do it alone; life is a cooperative effort. Learn to find and ask for help. As mentioned earlier, discuss with your friends and family and gain knowledge from their experiences.


4. Value our bodies and our lives. Listen to our bodies and treat them with respect. Don’t abuse them with alcohol, fatty foods or over sleeping.


5. Grow up. Educate ourselves, take responsibility, be assertive. Accept ourselves the way we are, but don't give up on getting better.Whether recovering from  recent illness or difficult time.

Personal health depends partially on the active, passive, and assisted actions people observe and adopt about their own health, these five steps provide a positive start to your outlook on the road to recovery, taken hand in hand with the tips found below for a healthier lifestyle you can make positive steps towards getting and keeping well. 

Eating healthily
Our diet, more than any other factor probably has the biggest influence on our health. Our body draws energy and nutrients to repair and rebuild itself from elements of our diet. Even our thoughts and emotions are influenced by the quality of our food. Making healthy choices can improve and maintain well being. Our immune system is built and maintained from the food we eat. A diet of processed food lacks nutrients. This depletes vitamins, minerals and antioxidants necessary to ward off disease and fight infection. A healthy diet should contain all these elements in abundance to give our immune system the power to act.  

Exercising regularly
Our body is designed to move and inactivity can be the cause of many health problems.  Improve your well being with just half an hour of exercise a day, exercise stimulates blood flow, improves the skin, burns fat and improves energy levels. The half an hours exercise does not have to be strenuous of exhausting, a brisk walk or gentle swim for half an hour a day for instance would be adequate and its surprising how quickly your energy levels and fitness will build up, after 2-3 weeks you will easily be able to accomplish more and exercise comfortably for longer.  Keeping healthy this way can help your body’s immune system to fight infection, and stay strong against elements which may weaken it whilst recovering from any previous illness.

Keeping a healthy mind and stress management
The symptoms of anxiety include sleeplessness, panic attacks, phobias and an inability to relax. Many physical disorders - including heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, indigestion, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and alopecia - are caused by stress and anxiety. Some tips for managing stress and keeping a healthy mind are;

• Let your emotions show, don’t bottle up feelings


• Organize your life, planning means many unnecessary stresses are avoided


• Learn to value yourself, whatever you achieve big or small during a specific time period be proud of yourself and realize your own worth in accomplishing this.


• Learn to relax properly, find out what it is you like doing that relaxes you and helps you wind down for the day before you go to sleep, exercise, reading, taking a bath, walking the dog, watching a film for example, try different things out and find what it is you enjoy.

Managing stress can play a huge role in rehabilitating yourself after illness and maintaining a healthy body and mind to strengthen the immune system.  

Having a positive outlook
Positive thinking actively contributes towards keeping healthly and maintaining well being by encouraging happiness and contentment, relieving stress and therefore stress related illnesses. Thinking and acting with a positive attitude can do more than anything else towards getting you whatever you want out of life. Here are a few simple tips towards having a positive outlook;

• Act instead of reacting, don’t wait for things to happen.


• Believe that each moment is positive, regardless of outcome. Take the positives from every situation.


• Learn to always be grateful, again, take the positives.


• Keep a good sense of humour.


• Believe that you are in charge of your own destiny, dont blame circumstance or others, grab opportunities and don’t regret mistakes, at least you tried.

Sustaining emotional well being. All of the above has hopefully provided a small guide to well being, achieving health and maintaining this for a good standard of healthy living. Achieving everything in one go is not realistic so focus on two key things you are actively going to improve and have a positive attitude to accomplishing these. 'Getting well’ and maintaining this level of healthy living is important in both the  mind and in the physical sense. It all starts with having a positive attitude and from then its about planning and perseverance :)