Health is finding home in our bodies.

For the majority of my adult life, I have been dedicated to carrying for the sick. As a cancer nurse, usually the people I have worked with have been very ill and questioning what could they have done better to prevent cancer. We know through research that there are many cancers that are preventative by changing our diet, lifestyle, stress, and through smoking cessation. Health and healthy is a term we through around in our society, but what exactly does it mean. 

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, health is described as the following:

health -

- the condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit. Especially freedom from physical disease or pain. 

- general condition of the body

-condition in which someone or something is thriving or doing well

-general condition or state

Does this mean health is a mainly a personal experience? I say yes. I believe that the language we have around something can be come a powerful motivator or a prison. This is all dependent on how we use it. 

One thing that holds a lot of people back from going after health goals are actually their thoughts about it. 

"My family has always been big, so I will be big too."

"Eating healthy is too hard."

"I have cancer so I cannot be healthy."

"I cannot go swimming because I'm too fat and look bad in a bath suit." 

These are just a few thoughts as a nurse, I have had people say to me.  It has been interesting as these thoughts can become and become a self-imposed prison. 

I believe a big step towards health is to stop treating our bodies like prisons. Yes, there are some things outside of our control, but our bodies are our home. Learning to treat your body like a place you want to be is one of the most powerful steps you can take toward good health. 

So this week I challenge you to find ways to be more at home in your body and separate what is actually facts and what's thoughts are actually a self-made prison.