What 2021 taught us about health
From maintaining a health kick to shedding bad habits, here’s five things we learnt about health over the past year. –
It seems people swung one of two ways over the past year when it came to their health.
Lockdown 2.0 was an opportunity for many to prove they were capable of leading a clean lifestyle after shedding the bad habits they fostered in 2020. For others, it was time to do the opposite.
With the new year approaching so too are the pressures of making some resolutions. Whether they centre around maintaining a flourishing health kick, or to find any morsel or motivation to start one, when it comes to health there are a few lessons to take from 2021.
There is no “one answer” to being healthy
According to Gabriel Perera, a complementary medicine practitioner and founder of Ora Health, the biggest misconception when it comes to health is thinking there is one quick fix.
“More than 20 years in the global natural health industry has shown me there is not one answer, and in fact, health is something (like money, hobbies, and relationships) that can’t be over-generalised but instead need to be personalised to an individual,” she said.
Perera said your body, your circumstances and personal preferences all need to be considered in order to find a healthy routine. She suggests falling back on first principles to find the best “definition” of health to suit your specific needs.
“It’s worth bearing in mind that the definition changes as someone’s personal circumstances change – the definition of great health that we have in our 20s changes as we start families, or level up in our careers or age-out of certain sports and activities.”
Health is about more than just your body
The concept of health is usually tangled up with diets and exercise and while it’s natural to only think about ways to look after your physical body, Perera says the things that are less visible are often forgotten about.
“We’ve read the recent statistics on increased rates of depressions and anxiety, mood disorders, and regrettably suicides during the past two years with these impacts amplified in at-risk populations,” she said.
“I believe for many of us the past year has reinforced two things. Firstly, we don’t need to travel or attend quite as many meetings as we thought we did and secondly, as fundamentally social animals, human beings thrive in the context of healthy relationships,” said Perera.
Social isolation and loneliness have been shown in recent research to be as dangerous for an individual‘s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. “Amplify this risk with chronic stress, which many of us are dealing with and it’s a worrying combination.”
Your health should be your biggest priority
According to Perera, good health is the platform on which lives are built, so it’s important, especially under current circumstance, to recalibrate your priorities to make sure your health is at the top of the list.
“2021 has forced us to bring the focus on our health back to where it should be,” she said. “I’ve seen Australians in 2021 take on an adaptive approach to how they maintain and improve their health.”
Be consistent
One of the biggest challenges people face is learning how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Perera says consistency is everything, which involves going back to “what’s important to you in relation to your health” as well as choosing “an approach that makes sense to you”.
Perera suggests speaking to a practitioner to get their insights is a good way to start, along with finding someone who helps you get out of your comfort zone.
“Whether that is to going to the gym with a friend three times a week, taking a supplement to support your sleep, or trying a meditation practice. One workout is not going to get you there, but consistent and regular “doses” will, and often faster than you can imagine.”
Be kind to yourself
Perera’s last piece of advice is to be kind to yourself. Set expectations that are challenging but not overwhelming.
“It has, without doubt, been a challenging couple of years and practices like meditation or even just keeping a simple gratitude journal can be very powerful with demonstrable clinical benefits that science continues to validate.”
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