Superhealth!

The concept of "superhealth" is easy enough. Interchangeably referred to as wellness or sometimes fitness, it’s what exists at the peak of our own experience, a state far beyond just being “not sick.”

Take the spectrum of health, as we understand it in current medical terms. Illness - ranging from terminal, severe, mild, acute or chronic. You go to a doctor or specialist to be seen with a condition so that you can graduate back to an absence of illness. Anything beyond this simply doesn’t exist because you don’t need to visit a doctor or a hospital if there’s nothing wrong, right?

But what if there’s nothing particularly right?

Looking around, you'll notice that a good number of people aren't sick at any given time. But by golly, ask them about their energy, how they feel, what they feel they can do physically, and you'll get very different responses. If being not-sick was a universal diagnosis in medical terms, then we must be bounding out of bed with energy in the morning, powering through every day with reserve in our tanks, loving a regular exercise plan daily then getting into some vigourous night life before falling asleep instantly each night totally satisfied, ready to do it all again…

Staying active is one key to developing superhealth

Actually I think there’s a select few people on the planet at most who feel like that all the time!

There's an argument for the existence of a scale of health too, not just illness. Where you might feel amazing one day and ordinary the next. But what would it be worth to have amazing health and energy, day in day out? That kind of life I’d label superhealth – abundant energy and drive, the chance to live and experience life to its fullest.

The concept of health in our current system is great, don’t get me wrong. We need doctors and nurses and medicine and therapists of all kinds to help fight diseases and cure or care for the ill. We’ll all need healthcare in our lives. But it’s not the end of the story.

“Health care” vs healthcare

Here’s where I draw a distinction : there’s an incredible amount you can do to care for your own health on a daily basis to stay close to superhealth, and not just “not sick”. All it takes is a little care, a little effort repeated regularly. You don’t have to sit back and let ill health creep up on you, forcing you to one day become dependant on the healthcare system, often at the worst possible time. A little prevention does go a long way.

Next week I'll start to discuss a model I like to use when considering how best to affect a client's health, called "SHARPEN". It's a simple acronym for the elements that lead to your best potential body and mind. 

S - sleep

H - hygiene

A - awareness of your own body, genetics, and risk factors

R - relaxation

P - posture

E - exercise

N - nutrition