5 Ways to Achieve Wellness

To achieve wellness, we all can benefit from these five things: healthy diet, structured exercise, mind/body/spirit connection, dietary supplements, and essential oils. Each plays a role in supporting the other, but all things start with diet, and the others support what we eat to help us be as healthy as we can be.

Wellness is called a journey because to achieve it requires an individualized plan that may take time to figure out. While there is merit in one-size-fits-all options, most times you will have to adapt them to fit your needs, your current health situation, and your ability to maintain your efforts. However, nutrition is nutrition … you absolutely have to get the right amount of it to achieve and maintain wellness.

1. Healthy Diet 

Achieving wellness by eating a healthy diet is essential, but what does that mean for you? How do you know which “diet” to choose?

• You take advice from a dietician, a nutritionist, or a dietician/nutritionist.
• You talk to your friends who you have seen turn their health for the better by eating in a particular way.
• You read and decide which way of eating you think will work for you.
• You jump into a way of eating, experiment, and see if it works for you.

Let’s get real, though. The word “diet” sets people off. It suggests deprivation or having to give up something you really, really like. If you find yourself feeling this way, try looking at a “diet” as a healthy way of eating to maintain or improve your health and choose foods and programs that nurture your body and spirit and support your wellness journey.

The point is: If your way of life is killing you, drastic changes may be necessary, and no matter how you eat, it’s a diet. So when you find one that works for you, make it a way of life. It will give you the physical strength to enjoy the other things you need to do to improve and maintain your health.

No matter what route you choose, any change you make to eat a healthier diet will begin your wellness journey.

2. Structured Exercise

The are an endless number of ways you can incorporate exercise into your life. Again, it’s a matter of finding what works for you.

• Walk: The easiest is walking. Go for short distances and build up. Do what you can. Any kind of movement is good, and if you are able to walk, start there. Once you build your strength, move beyond leisurely strolls into power walking to help improve stamina.
• Mobility Limitations: If you do have specific difficulties with mobility, there are ways you can get moving. Talk with rehabilitation centers. Ask them about programs they may have or know of in your community.
• Gyms: Another great place to start is at a gym. Many kinds are available: YMCA; Club Pilates; Gold’s; Planet Fitness. Check your local community for exercise facilities that work within your budget. You will find a variety to choose from.
• Home: Exercising from the convenience of your home is the most economical and perfect for those who may be self-conscious about getting started within a public setting. Lots of DVDs are available. You can buy a membership to Beach Body and have an endless supply of streaming videos available to use when you want. This may also be an option if you do have difficulty with mobility.

Wherever or however you choose to add exercise into your day, the following types are recommended. As with any exercise program, it’s best to seek advice from your doctor, especially if you have any underlying health conditions.

• Walking
• HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training; best to work up to this one)
• Strength/Resistance
• Stretching

3. Mind/Body/Spirit

Probably the best way to achieve wellness is to support your body/mind/spirit connection. Without the right mindset, self-sabotage takes over. Add these three things to your wellness journey and you’ll be guaranteed better success.

• Meditation: It’s the best way to calm your mind, ease stress, ground and center your soul, and improve physical awareness.
• Pilates: Second only to yoga, Pilates combines stretching and strength building and improves balance.
• Yoga: If you only did yoga, you’d achieve wellness in agility, balance, breath, and strength because of the amount of stretching involved. It is quite like a physical expression of meditation. You really have to connect your mind to what you’re doing through your breathing and mental focus. Yoga involves your entire self.

Meditation aides can be found at your local book store. You can do it at home, too. Some yoga classes may even incorporate meditation as part of their sessions. Many yoga sessions can be accessed on streaming video. If you have a smart phone, there are several Apps to help you get started. The same goes for streaming videos.

The universe wants you to be well—God wants you to be well—otherwise, the options wouldn’t be available to you.

4. Targeted Supplements

Dietary supplements help everyone. Multivitamins may be enough for some but not enough for others. The best way to decide which supplements you need is to be tested. You also want to take supplements you can trust. Young Living sells several quality essential oil infused supplements. They include multivitamins to mineral boosts to digestive enzymes to hormone support … so many. Young Living has them categorized like so, and I take several of them daily.

• Daily Longevity
• Digestive Wellness
• Targeted Supplements
• Nutrition
• Feminine Wellness
• Masculine Wellness

To learn about the variety of supplements Young Living carries, click HERE,  then click on the “Shop” tab at the top of the page and look for “Infused Supplements”.

Or you can ask me by visiting my Consultations page or via email here: Sheri Rose.. I’d love to help you.

5. Essential Oils

The number of essential oils on the market today is too vast to list here, but there is no shortage of information out there about them. Before you use essential oils, it’s critical to learn about them. If you choose to use them, I can help you. I choose to use Young Living essential oils, because from what I’ve learned, they are the best.

• Some essential oils are called “hot” oils. You have to dilute them in a carrier oil because if you don’t they could irritate your skin. Keep this in mind when using Peppermint, Cinnamon, Clove, Wintergreen, Basil, Lemongrass, Oregano, and Thyme.
• Other essential oils are photosensitive, if they are not properly diluted with a carrier oil. However, you can dilute them at 0.025%, or 3 drops per 2 oz. of carrier oil, and they will be safe.
• In general, Cold pressed citrus essential oils can be photosensitive but some are not if they are steam distilled. If they are cold pressed, you should not apply them to your skin if you go outside. They can cause skin irritation or rashes or burns if where you applied them on your skin is exposed to sunlight.

See the article “Why Young Living Essential Oils?” for resources about essential oils.

Use Essential Oils 1 to 3 General Ways to Achieve Wellness

• Aromatically: Diffusing
• Topically: Diluted in a carrier oil
• Internally: Not advised without the guidance of a clinical aromatherapist, an aromatherapist, or someone you know who understands the chemistry in the oils and how they affect the human body.

I am an essential oils coach who does understand the chemistry of essential oils, and if you decide you’d like to try some, please keep me in mind. You can contact me on my Consultations page or via email here: Sheri Rose.