Integritus Prime

As we look forward to our first wellness retreat of 2020, it’s with a mix of excitement, anticipation, and gravity. Non-communicable diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer are killing people in many nations. Fiji is no exception. We have deplorable statistics when it comes to deaths from such preventable and reversible illness. We need a wellness approach.

As Dr. Margaret Cornelius’s studies in lifestyle medicine indicate, there some basic lifestyle factors that determine how well we are on any given day and in our lives in general. I will cover just four of them here:

1. Eat Plants– Animal-based foods like meat and dairy are connected with many lifestyle diseases, whereas plant-based foods give us energy, strength, and switch off our gene expressions for conditions like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. In Fiji, people in their 40s are dropping dead of heart attacks that can be prevented with lifestyle changes.
2. Move in Fun Ways – our exercise habits determine our fitness, mood, fat levels, and overall wellbeing. Fun exercise options like dancing and Zumba, along with restorative and healing practices like yoga and tai-chi can really help us achieve relaxation, coordination, and mind-body alignment.
3. Get Good Sleep – lack of sleep increases our risk factors for lifestyle diseases, can cause us to overeat, lower our productivity and focus, and increase stress. Adequate sleep heals us in many ways, allowing us to regenerate ourselves overnight.
4. Show Stress Who’s Boss – a meditative practice helps us release stress instead of accumulating it. If we lack a contemplative practice, we can become chronically stressed, leading to autoimmune conditions like thyroid issues, lupus, and cancers. Journaling and reflection also help a lot, allowing us to step outside of our mind chatter and circumstances to simply witness what is happening in our lives so we can come up with solutions.

As you contemplate your own wellbeing in 2020, consider ways to augment your practice if you aren’t on track. We’re doing it by keeping our own lifestyles healthy, and offering wellness coaching and retreats, like our upcoming one in Rakiraki, Fiji. Let us know if you’re interested to take a deep dive into your own wellness habits.