Here's To A Happier & Healthier 2022

It has never been more important to maintain a healthy and balanced approach to your work and your life. If it’s one thing we’ve all learned of late, is just how fragile mental health can be at times, and if you don’t have a solid support network around you, you simply won’t be able to respond to a robust and active lifestyle the way you should or want to.

So as we’re heading into the end of 2021, and looking forward to a better 2022, we thought it was a good time to check in with you and give you a little nudge towards a more holistic, healthy life.

FIRST, LET’S GET THE LANGUAGE DOWN

Holistic healthcare is often associated with hippies in tie-dye shirts, hemp pants, and…man buns. But that is a very simplistic way to look at the overall concept. Holistic healthcare quite simply means treating your whole body. Your mind, your body, and your spirit, and it’s starting to get some serious credentials too.

Have a read at this article by Columbia University. Here you’ll find areas where mysticism and science are finding agreements and it is in that spirit that we’re going to look at how embracing a more wholesome, holistic approach to your overall wellbeing should be on your list for 2022.

“To ensure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.” -William Londen

William Londen was a bookseller in England in the 1600s, and we wonder what he would have made of his quote, today? We expect that while the challenges of the day may be markedly different, was hasn’t changed is the human condition.

For centuries the pursuit of healthcare has been driven from an almost exclusively scientific model and one has to consider where that has left us today. While there can be no denying that modern technology and the evolution of medical care have yielded fantastic results, we also have to think about what some of those approaches have cost, and we mean that in every sense of the word. Spiraling healthcare costs grounded in a profit-focused industry has meant that many of us simply cannot afford to seek medical help when we need it and as that is becoming a bigger reality for more of us every day, we’re going to have to start finding alternative ways to not just treat us when we’re sick, but maintain a standard of healthcare that prevents us from getting ill in the first place.

Enter, Holistic healthcare. It is here where many modern-day problems are finding solutions that are rooted in centuries-old tradition and wisdom and somewhere in between all of that, is this wonderful area where science is overlapping, and in that field, we’re finding new and thrilling avenues to explore human healthcare, sans the hefty pharmaceutical price tag.

SO, WHERE ARE WE GOING IN 2022?

We have six areas that you could focus on in 2022 to give you a broader, better standard of life, not just living.

LEARN TO BREATHE

We’re starting off at a place we never thought we’d ever have to – breathing. In all senses of the word, it is an undeniable ingredient to our modern lives and thanks to our friends at Covid-HQ, has become something of a skill that most of us took for granted.

Constant mask regulations, lack of outdoor activity, and fresh air have placed the importance of breathing and quality air intake at the center of wellness conversations since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak. It looks like we’re going to have this little bug doing the rounds for some time, so take the time to teach your family (and especially your children) about the importance of making time to breathe, and to do it properly. Learn more, here.

NUTRITION

There is no list worth its salt that isn’t going to dedicate a section to good nutrition and emphasize just how important this is. If you are not maintaining a solid, diverse, balanced, and consistent eating regime, you might as well forget about the rest, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune or require a whole new set of skills. Anyone can learn how to prepare fresh, healthy, and balanced meals with ingredients that you can get from local markets or grocery stores and if budget is a concern for you (hey, who isn’t it a concern for?), then you don’t have to blow the family finances on exotic fruits and quinoa. Your basic fruit, vegetables, meats, and starches are more than sufficient if you prepare them well and eat them fresh. The best part of it, is that the more regularly you do this, the easier it becomes and the more likely you’ll get buy-in from the younger members of your family.

If you’ve been part of the fast-food fix generation, then phase in your new menu and catering slowly and get your family to be a part of it.

HEALTHCARE EDUCATION MATTERS

If you know your body and know what to look out for and recognize what feels normal or abnormal to you, you’ll be best placed to know when things are not quite working as they should be. This means drawing and creating awareness about your body and what feels right or otherwise.

By extension, fostering a greater sense of self in your family is equally important. When you take what your children are saying and feeling serious, they’re more likely to do the same for themselves and that’s a win-win situation. Prevention is better than cure and when your kids know how to monitor their body’s responses to different situations, they’ll also know when to tell you that something is not quite right.

At this point, we must also mention that holistic healthcare doesn’t just extend to your mental health and your physical health, but it also encourages you to be more sexually active with your partner. Intimacy and specifically sexual intimacy creates strong bonds and enhances instinct and general feelings of wellbeing and belonging.

MAINTAINING GOOD MENTAL HEALTH

Mental healthcare and wellbeing have enjoyed the greater focus of late and it really is about time. With the way, our modern lives work no one was designed to thrive in this environment naturally and we’re all going to need some kind of help at some stage of our lives, but especially our young people. You must start the conversation at home about mental health and how it’s OK to not be OK.

Destigmatizing the myths around mental health starts with breaking down the secrecy that surrounds the topic to this day, and men are particularly at risk as the stubborn tendencies of “cowboys don’t cry”, just won’t go away.

THE WORK-HOME BALANCE

And here it is! The concept has gone from something we only dreamed about, to something that we’re all actively living and pursuing. We’re working from home in greater numbers than ever before, employers are actively seeking out new ways to enhance their worker’s experiences at work and have finally started looking at the benefits of employee engagement and started taking it seriously.

Heading into 2022, we’re going to yet discover how this pandemic is continually changing our way of life and for many of us the daily grind just isn’t worth it anymore and this is evidenced by the millions of Americans that have simply downed tools in 2021, so if you’re an employer – pay attention.

MANAGING YOUR PRIORITIES

This could almost have taken the top spot in this post because as we get ready to embrace the start of the new year, it is more vital than ever before to have a solid, serious grasp on what is important to you and what isn’t, and the latter list has got to start growing. For far too long we’ve placed a disproportionate level of importance on making money, career success, and material possession. Now, we want more from the things that matter to us, but we still have to navigate this crazy life to make that happen.

So if you have not done so yet, get your pen and paper out and start plotting your perfect 2022, because it all starts with a plan. Get your family involved and paint a picture of what you think you want this time next year to look like, then start making plans over the year to make that happen.

However you get there, we wish you a happy, prosperous and healthy 2022, Happy New Year!