The Concept of Healthy Living

My name is Alisa Bach and I'm a sophomore studying at Azusa Pacific University. I am majoring in Kinesiology and minoring in Psychology. I am very passionate about healthy living and wellness. I believe that wellness is composed of maintaining 3 things: physical health, emotional health and spiritual health. I want to pursue a career where I can help others reach their individual goals by promoting the importance of balancing these three components of wellness.

There are several healthy behaviors that are intertwined with wellness, and I don't think that there is one behavior that is "most important". They are all important. It is important to eat clean, exercise regularly, manage stress, spend time in prayer, invest in healthy relationships with others, get healthy amounts of sleep, and set aside time to be alone. These are all very important and vital healthy behaviors. Rather than focus on which behaviors are most important, let's focus on how we can balance all of these behaviors. This is what is most challenging for me, and often leads me to a lot of stress, trying to balance all of these healthy habits.

It all starts with getting an idea of who you are. Self-awareness is a key component of wellness. I'm sure you have all heard the saying "Listen to your body". This applies to physical, emotional and spiritual health. Learning about yourself, what brings you joy, what causes you stress, what helps you cope, how you handle certain situations, and being able to identify your emotions are all important things to know about yourself. In my opinion, the start of healthy living comes from learning how to be self-aware. The first step of living a healthy life is learning what behaviors are most beneficial to you, based on the type of person that you are.

For example, I am more introverted, so I need to set aside time each day to be alone, as a way to process my day. Alone time also allows me to feel more in-tune with the Holy Spirit, strengthening my relationship with Christ and helping me to look at everything in my life from his perspective. Exercise has always been an outlet for me to relieve some stress, so I try to exercise regularly. I am also very affected by certain types of food. For example, when I eat too much sugar it affects my body physically, resulting in headaches and feelings of fatigue. Therefore, I do not consume very much processed sugar throughout my day.  I am also very affected by the amount of sleep I get. When I run on low amounts of sleep, it results in a lot of anxiety and irritability.

These are all examples of how I stay healthy. I take care of myself by being aware of what I need to get me through each day. I know myself and I know that each day I need healthy amounts of sleep, nutritious food, exercise, and alone time. My healthy behaviors may look different than yours depending on the type of person that you are, and that is okay. Someone who is more extroverted than me or does not need as much sleep as me may not be as affected by these things. That does not mean one thing is more important than the other, it simply means that we were all created differently.

Everybody is wired differently and may be more or less affected by different behaviors than others. This does not mean that one behavior is more important than the other, it just means that one person may depend more on a certain behavior or react differently to a certain behavior than another person. This, to me, is a beautiful and fascinating concept. God created each one of us so uniquely that our individual healthy lives may look different than others. We need not compare ourselves to others, we must love and encourage one another. Although our individual lives and behaviors may look different, we are all striving to be healthy.