By DR. VICTOR S. SIERPINA
Some days it may just feel like we are surviving, just barely hanging on, rather than thriving. This is a time of year when we often stop and take stock of our lives and ways to improve them. To be well, we need to reflect on the balance of the full spectrum of our health choices. This will of course include care of our body and our environment, our mental and emotional self, and our spiritual and social dimensions.
A tool I use clinically to help patients examine these areas of their lives is the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine wellness questionnaire. It is composed of 25 questions in each area of body, mind and spirit. Each question is answered with a number from zero to five, representing the frequency of certain lifestyle practices from never to daily. At the end, the tally of scores gives a snapshot of how you did on the scale of surviving to thriving with stages of extremely poor, below average, fair, good or optimal health.
Each section has a maximum of 125 points and usually people will find one section significantly lower than the others. Many folks that come in for a holistic consultation are concerned about some specific physical concerns so the body section may be the lowest. Others with mood or social problems may rank a lower score in mental or spiritual domains.
Everyone has areas for possible improvement and the key to making a meaningful change is to start slowly, incrementally, picking one or two areas in each section to start to work on. This could be a change in diet, attitude or spiritual practice. It might mean getting a massage monthly, making stronger efforts at improving communication with loved ones or spending more time in prayer, reflection or meditation as examples.
I guide people to pick something they really feel motivated to work on and that they are fairly confident they can change, given their current life circumstances. Then, they do their best to modify those few chosen activities and monitor them on a monthly or even weekly basis. While this is not the sure-cure to unfulfilled new year’s resolutions, it provides some structure and balance to changes you hope to make. It is a method to start to move you up the scale from surviving to thriving.
Remember that just doing one thing better or differently can be a catalyst to other changes you want to make in your life. Inertia, on the other hand, is like a dead weight that keeps us stuck in old and unhealthy habits.
Start the new year with some momentum, hope and change strategies. I am confident that if you do, your health and the world around you will be better off.
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Online at galvnews.com is a self-assessment questionnaire, which you can download, print and take in the privacy of your home. You don’t need to share it with anyone, though a close family member or your doctor might help guide you and reinforce your choices and progress.
Dr. Victor S. Sierpina is the WD and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine and Professor of Family Medicine at UTMB.