Picture this - you’re 55 years old. You wake up, take your blood pressure medicine, follow that with your depression medication to combat the side effects of the blood pressure medicine, but what do you take for the depression side effects? See the trend?

Don’t fret - we are in the age of a new healthy. More than ever, we have the option to decide what we put into our bodies. The movement from traditional western medicine is happening and we now look to new healing practices from meditation, exercise, and natural remedies. Organic foods are popping up in every store and local markets are booming with popularity. We want non-processed foods, recyclable materials, clean air, and a diet that lasts years - not simply a 3 day remedy. Welcome to an age where we look to prevent sickness rather than treat it when we get it.

How can you become more healthy? Experience Life magazine published the article ‘The New View of Health’ listing the 5 Entry Points to Healthy Living:

1. Listen to yourself. It’s important to seek out professional health expertise when you’re ill, but it’s also important that you include yourself on your trusted list of health advisers. Your body has wisdom. Notice symptoms before they become acute. Be willing to make nutritional and lifestyle adjustments that address underlying health issues. If you sense a medication you’re taking is causing trouble, tell your doc.
2. Take the long view. When you consider your health, do you primarily think in the short term, looking for silver bullets to help you deal with problems and symptoms as they arise? Start thinking about the real long-term implications, risks and costs of a potential health downgrade or chronic disease. Conversely, imagine what a health-and-vitality upgrade could promise. Consider how you want to feel in five, 10 or 20 years. Start taking steps toward sustaining your good health, now.
3. See the whole picture. Health is made up of more than your body. It encompasses your mind, emotions, home, relationships, lifestyle and environment – all the places where you live, work and play. If one area of your life is suffering, the rest suffers, too. Strive for health and balance in all sectors of your life, and you’ll find the pursuit of physical health becomes easier and more rewarding by far.
4. Make healthy choices. Whether you’re shopping for groceries, scheduling your day or deciding how to spend your vacation, make high standards for health a top priority. Don’t settle for the path of least resistance or “what everyone else is doing.”
5. Create a healthier world. Start tracking some environmental factors that relate directly to your health, and take constructive action where you can. Advocate for cleaner energy, greener design, preservation of your local watershed. You have a voice – and a right to be healthy. Stand up and speak for what you desire.

Being healthy has become easier than ever. The options are out there, but it has to start with you. You decide what you put into your mouth, you choose to take the stairs, you think good thoughts. So wake up, take a deep breath, and choose to be a Healthy Human, because it is a full-time job.

Want to read the full article on The New View of Health? Click here.