What comes to mind when you think of health?
For most, it’s the yearly visit to your primary doctor, gynecologist, or dentist.
What comes to mind when you think of mental health?
For most, it’s therapy, a psychiatrist, medication, or meditation.
Our director, Lucia Fernandez-Silveira, always says, “It takes a village.” Throughout the years, I’ve come to think of health a little more like that statement. I like to think of it as an umbrella term and under this umbrella, all aspects of health are tied together.
Working with people has shown me that concentrating on one aspect of your health while neglecting others will never make you healthy. Such as, seeing a doctor yearly while neglecting something as important as your mental health or seeing a therapist weekly while neglecting something as important as making sure your body is functioning properly.
We are seeing the ties between mental and physical health more than ever lately. Anxiety can give you stomach issues, stress can give you neck and back pain, depression can make you feel lethargic, etc. I’m a big fan of practicing what I preach so I’m able to help others with things I’ve seen work.
Two of my best friends, Dr. Alejandro Gonzalez and his wife Cindy Gonzalez own a practice called Premier Athletic Rehab Center (PARC.) What better place to start taking charge of every aspect of my health?
I decided to commit to a yearly PARC Physical. This yearly check-up that they offer allows you to have one of their Doctor perform a full body assessment. This assessment will give you a better understanding of your physical health and provide you with a self-care plan highlighting areas that require attention, possibly preventing future injury and/or dysfunction.
I was so surprised to find how many ‘little’ pains and ailments I had been neglecting, blaming it on ‘sleeping badly’ or an injury I had in high school that I never fully recovered from. The pain in my ankle from an old injury has kept me from doing things that I have found to be crucial for my mental health. Things such as working out, taking walks outside, hiking, doing yoga, etc.
It feels so good to take these small steps forward that can bring about significant changes. These moments of self-investments are essential in more ways than we can imagine.
I hope you’ll join me and invest in yourself, your health, your body, and your mind.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“As a society, we perceive anything corrosive in our lives as something that needs to be removed or ignored but in order to heal, you must first feel. ”
Gabriela Reyes, RMFT
