Holistic Self Care

Holistic healing and practicing self-care have always managed to stand in the background of the health realm. Though more recently it has made its way out of the shadows and is being taken more seriously as a valuable standpoint on one’s health and fitness. This approach is focused more on natural and homeopathic avenues when accounting for one’s health. It is extremely important that students among all people, maintain a healthy outlook simply because students are under high stress and rarely consider picking up healthy habits due to their stressful environments. Trying to maintain an optimal student lifestyle can be difficult to address but can significantly change one’s life once the energy to become healthy is directed in the correct way.

Developing a healthy lifestyle is essential for every person to feel they are living a beneficial and satisfying life. To ensure that one is experiencing and creating a rewarding lifestyle, there are specific areas that should be taken into consideration and focused on. Healthy eating and paying close attention to diet are a top priority in changing the way a person feels and thinks. Physical activity and an exercise regimen are a serious part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Stress reduction and an overall well rounded attempt at being healthy, including introspection, exercise, and diet, are all ways that a student can enjoy their college experience. This can be achieved by creating a happy and healthy student atmosphere for oneself.

Diet seems to be one of the most obvious stages of beginning a healthier lifestyle, yet it is often overlooked or simply believed that if one exercises enough, diet does not matter. The more important concept of diet is not to lose weight or enhance one's looks, but rather to institute a more healthful body on the inside. The diet helps the body stay strong by keeping the heart and organs strong which in turn allows for more effective exercise to take place. The correct sustenance can change a person entirely from the inside out. Diet affects mood, the body’s endurance, and if nourished in the correct way, the ability to fight off disease.

When a diet affects a person’s mood, this can interrupt their day or improve it. When properly nourished, the body is able to exert more energy and focus on a specific activity as well as maintain continuous and unvarying mood changes. To help preserve a stable mood, there are a few suggestions that the medical field has gathered through research. As Krucik (2013) suggests eating smaller meals more often throughout the day, not skipping meals, and avoiding foods with unnatural, added sugars can serve as proactive ways of stabilizing one's mood. Avoiding sugars can be extremely beneficial, as it is the culprit for most mood changes. Once sugar is consumed one experiences an extreme high in mood and energy levels, only to be followed by an extreme crash in both. Skipping meals can also affect the mood of a person. It can be observed more often than not, that when someone hasn’t eaten in a while they are lethargic or a lot of the time, agitated. This is because the serotonin in the brain starts to lower once the body begins to get hungry, increasing the feelings of stress which cause many people to feel anger or anxiety.

Stress can also affect one's mood and thus their eating habits. Many indicators suggest that when someone is stressed, oftentimes they stress eat. This is a habit that exists when someone is feeling emotionally strained and to quell these feelings, that person eats; even when they are not hungry. This is commonly referred to as emotional eating and does not just involve stress but also depression.

Continuing on the subject of mood and chemical brain reactors, an important aspect of this process is how neurotransmitters in the brain are affected by nutritional deficiencies. It is important to understand which neurotransmitters affect which part of the human personality. There are inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters. The inhibitory neurotransmitters include serotonin and GABA, which affects confidence levels, sleeping habits, and the feeling of being in a good mood. When a person suffers from hunger, these neurotransmitters are operative by causing the opposite of their general functions to occur. Such as feelings of anger, sleep deprivation, and low self-esteem. The excitatory neurotransmitters include but are not limited to, glutamate and dopamine; which effect stress, memory, the way a person thinks as well as the level of alertness one feels. Naturally, if these transmitters are depleted, the effects will be the opposite such as high stress, loss of memory, general functioning, as well as fatigue and lethargy.

Implementing a successful dietary and eating plan into daily life is important to allow these neurotransmitters to remain at a normal level for each person’s body type. As Anderson and Johnson (1983) explain “Not only are these biochemical events altered by normal variations in diet composition, but considerable evidence now exists to show that the brain uses this information to regulate many functions” (p. 271). This suggests that a balanced diet should ensure that the brain functions smoothly and accurately. A daily diet plan should include fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, protein, dairy, and grains. Many people avoid changing their diets because it can be an overwhelming or difficult project to take on. However, there are many helpful websites that can be individualized for each person’s varying dietary needs; as well as a plethora of information regarding simple techniques on how to easily change a daily eating routine.

Dietary needs are not the only changes that should be made when considering a healthier lifestyle. The benefits of being physically active, as well as properly taking care of one’s body, are a necessity as well. To achieve an overall balance in the body, physical activity should become a top priority. Daily exercise including a mix of cardio and weight lifting are essential to developing strong muscles as well as increasing cardiovascular health. The heart and other organs depend on a body to be strong to allow proper blood flow and reduce stress on specific organs that can be affected by an unhealthy diet or excessive weight gain. Not only is the body affected by physical activity, but the mind is as well. Studies prove that thirty minutes of physical activity daily can positively affect a person’s mood. As Herbor and Sutton (1984) state “endorphin and lipotrophin, increase in response to both acute exercise and training programs” (p. 154). This research confirms that daily exercise can significantly increase both the mood and physical well-being of those who participate. Time management is essential in figuring out a schedule that allows for exercise as well as the ability to accomplish other daily goals without exhausting oneself.

Those who participate in daily exercise activities are also more likely to get a restful night’s sleep. Sleep is extremely important and unfortunately, is constantly overlooked. There are several reasons that sleep should be considered just as important to one’s health as eating. Sleep not only recharges the entire body as a whole, but it helps the brain to function better, allowing memory activity and learning to flourish when properly rested. Many people experience mood changes such as irritability or anger should they not get enough rest. However, the most dangerous side effects of lack of sleep include cardiovascular problems as well as weight gain due to a change in metabolism.

A well-rounded person is certainly able to adapt to different atmospheres, using the natural world around them to stay positive. An example of keeping a positive attitude is the ability to use laughter as a mood booster. As previously discussed, endorphins are released after physical activity, laughing included, proving that laughter truly is the best medicine. Another excellent natural tool to boost esteem is exploring nature. Nature has proven to be one of the world’s greatest mood enhancers, especially by use of the sun. The sun gives off vitamin D which has recently been linked to depression. A lack of vitamin D may be the cause of some depression, making the sun a vital medication for everyday use.

Naturally reducing stress is a main concern for the average person. Every person undergoes a certain amount of stress in their lifetime and picking up techniques on how to deal with this problem has become a necessity. Yoga and conscious breathing techniques are two methods that have been linked to stress reduction. They are beneficial because they help reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer as well as provide the mind and body with a more relaxed feeling. As Ross and Thomas (2010) states, “in both healthy and diseased populations, yoga may be as effective as or better than exercise at improving a variety of health-related outcome measures” (p. 3). This indicates that yoga and the breathing techniques involved with it can significantly help those who are suffering from health issues. Yoga requires the ability to control breathing, therefore these two go hand in hand. However, when breathing techniques are used alone, one may feel refreshed with an amplified sense of awareness. Breathing reduces the stress felt from the nervous system and can increase one's overall productivity level.

Other stress reducers include acupuncture and massage. Both of these include outside forces touching the body. Acupuncture originated in China and is used in modern-day medicine to benefit the body physically, mentally, and emotionally. It uses small needles to prick the skin in certain specified areas of the body that trigger sensory reactions depending on what the client is having an issue with. When discussing exercise, Thoren, Hoffmann and Seals (1990) explain “behavioral effects of exercise are mediated by this mechanism and that the same or similar mechanisms are responsible for the central and peripheral effects of acupuncture” (p. 417). This insinuates that acupuncture can have the same emotional effect on a person as exercise. Massage involves the same concept except using hands instead of needles. It seeks to find certain pressure points on a person’s body that also reach specific sensory areas to decrease the amount of stress or other emotional problems the patient has.

Nutritional supplementation, herbal medicine, and aromatherapy are all concepts of holistic health that can be applied to ensure that a student is living a successful and vigorous life as well as reduce stress. Stress reduction is a key component in ensuring a quality life experience. By keeping stress to a minimum, it allows other, healthier areas of one’s life to surface. Nutritional supplementation is obviously associated mainly with physical health. Taking vitamins to increase skin cell growth or vitamins to help strengthen bones can improve overall health by helping to protect the main barrier of the body, which is the skin, as well as certify that bones are less likely to be broken and remain well lubricated. Herbal medicine can be used to decrease the pain that a person may be suffering from, rather than using chemicals. Herbal medicines can be used to relieve headaches, stomach aches, arthritis, and hundreds of other ailments that the body undergoes. Some suggest tea while others have more recently relied upon medicinal marijuana. Lastly, aromatherapy is one of the most common practices that people are unaware they actually use. Using bath salts, oils, or any other type of naturally derived aromas can help calm the nervous system as well as physically help the body relax. Certain mixtures of smells can be natural remedies to cure many mental or physical ailments that one may suffer from.

Overall a person should have a well-rounded sense of self to achieve optimal student mature and experienced person. Those that seek spirituality are oftentimes more confident with themselves and their surroundings. As Miller and Thoresen (1999) explain “Spiritual and religious involvement is not only common but is often important in clients' lives and has been generally linked to positive health outcomes” (p. 3). This is an assessment made upon clients that are involved in treatment for psychological problems, reinforcing the idea that spirituality is imperative both for healthy and sick people.

Although holistic healing and health have been overlooked for many years, a more natural route is being sought out by many skeptics of Western medicine. Many people are focusing on a more natural way to remedy ailments rather than a chemically induced route. Exercise, diet, and other natural remedies are certainly a way to begin a successful, positive future, both scholastically and recreationally.

References

Anderson, G., & Johnston, J. (1983). Nutrient Control of Brain Neurotransmitter Synthesis and Function. Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, 61(3), 271-281.

Harber, V., & Sutton, J. (1984). Endorphins and Exercise. Sports Medicine, 1(2), 154-171.

Krucik, G. (2013, June 18). Mood Food: Can What You Eat Affect Your Happiness?. Medical Information & Trusted Health Advice: Healthline. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://www.healthline.com/

Miller, W., & Thoresen, C. (1999). Integrating Spirituality into Treatment: Research for Practitioners. Spirituality and Health, 293, 3-18.

Ross, A., & Thomas, S. (2010). The Health Benefits of Yoga and Exercise: A Review of Comparison Studies. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16(1), 3 12.

Thoren, P., Floras, J., Hoffmann, P., & Seals, D. (1990). Endorphins and Exercise: Physiological Mechanisms and Clinical Implications. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 22(4), 417-428.