Episode 16: What Does Health Mean To You?

It’s common for people to say they want to improve their health, but what does that really mean? This episode aims to help you expand your definition of health and understand that health is not necessarily the end goal. Health is simply the gateway to the life you want to live.

Episode Transcript:

This context really matters health is not binary, you're more than numbers on a page or bloodwork results.

INTRO MUSIC: Welcome to The Compassionate Wellness Podcast. I'm Alex Treanor. I'm a Nationally Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and I am so excited you're here. The wellness industry is full of do's and do not's, should's and should not's. But I like to take a different approach. I'll be sharing all things health and wellness from a joyful, real-life compassionate perspective. If you're ready to drop the cookie-cutter approach and create a life you truly love, while eating a cookie or two along the way, let's dive in.

Hey, friends! Welcome to the podcast this week. Today we are talking about health. Can you imagine, talking about health on a podcast hosted by a health and wellness coach?

What I'm hoping we can do today, though, is expand your concept or your meaning of health. Before we dive in, I want you to take a moment just to think about what health means to you. How would you define health? What does it mean to be healthy.

As you're thinking about your own definition, I'll give you a few generic dictionary definitions that I found. Health is defined as freedom from disease or pain, health is the absence of illness. And I'm curious if these definitions match what you had in mind. Often when people come to a health coach, it's common for the reason that they come to be wanting to improve health. That's typically the first question, one of the first questions that we'll ask as a coach is, what has you interested in coaching? And I would say, majority of the time, part of that answer is "I'm looking to improve my health". So we explore this concept quite frequently. Because I want to know what that means for you.

When you say that you want to improve your health. I'm curious if you have health conditions that you're hoping to better manage. I'm curious if there are like health markers that you're wanting to improve, maybe blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, something like that. Or I'm also curious if there's something more than that.

Because when I hear that dictionary definition, it's not very fulfilling, right? It basically comes down to being very binary, it's saying, if you aren't ill, if you're not in pain, if you don't have a disease, then you have health, you're healthy. But when I'm talking with clients, and even reflecting on my own experience, that's not what I hear, right? We can have, okay blood pressure, fine blood sugar, cholesterol, not have any major health conditions, and still feel like there's something we're wanting to improve with our health.

I think as humans, there's a reason that this definition is not satisfying. And that's because we know there's more to it than that. It's not as simplistic as that dictionary definition makes it sound. Because sure improving your relationship with food, managing your nutrition overall, being more active, managing stress, sleeping better, all of these things can improve our health indicators, even managing disease in some senses, which, makes you less "ill". But is that all that we're looking for in life? That you're less ill, so now you're healthy?

I want to share a second definition of health. This one is defined by the World Health Organization. They say that health is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". And I love that second part, it's almost like they read the dictionary definition, and they were like, "...no, there's more to it than that. That's not quite right". I like this one a lot more, because it's holistic; there's a lot more dimension to it. It takes into account our physical, mental and social well being as part of our overall health.

I would also add that there's other dimensions of wellness and health as well. Things like emotional health, spiritual health, which is more than...sometimes we consider spiritual health as being like, going to church or having a religion. But really, when we talking about spiritual health, what that is, is a connection to a purpose larger than ourselves, some kind of connection to this greater understanding of life.

And it's important that we consider these aspects because yes, lowering your blood pressure, your cholesterol, these things are important for health when defined as not being ill. But there's also this additional meaning of what these things do for your well-being. And as we have said a million times on this podcast and I'll say it a million times again, context really matters, health is not binary, you're more than numbers on a page or bloodwork results. The beauty of life comes in through this web of meaning that we create. The blood pressure readings we get mean something because of how we interpret them and what they mean for our greater existence.

And health is really the gateway then to living the life you want to live, the meaning that you put on some of these indicators. And that's where I hope that we can expand our definition of what it means to be healthy. There's more to it than the numbers or the diagnoses that we have. Having physical, mental, social well-being allows you to play with your kids or your grandkids. It allows you to be present and connect with others. It allows you the freedom to move, to get out of the house, to go browse the aisles at Target, to do the things that you enjoy.

When we think about it that way, health is not the end goal. We don't improve our health just for the sake of improving it. That's not what it's all about. We improve our health so that we can do the things that bring us joy. And that's where our well-being comes from. The point of having health and well being is so that you can do something with it. You can live the life that you want to live, you can be the person that you want to become.

And as we think about health, overall, a big topic, I would encourage you to think a little bit deeper on it, to recognize that health for the sake of having health is meaningless, that doesn't do anything for us. Health has meaning when we attribute meaning to it; when we know what it allows us to do and what it allows us to be. When you know what your health does for you, it's a whole lot easier to be excited about working on it. Because you're able to recognize that health is just the vehicle or the gateway to get you to the end goal. Health is not the end goal in itself.

So as we wrap up this week, as always, I like to give you a question to ponder on or something to consider throughout your week. And I would encourage you to revisit the question that we started with today. And to think about your answer, how we defined it before and maybe what you might add to that definition.

What does health mean to you? What joys does it open up for you? And what meaning does it have in your life? What is the point of having health and what will it allow you to do?

That's what I've got for you today. Just a quick message. Hope you have a wonderful week and I look forward to talking with you again next week.

OUTRO MUSIC: Thanks for joining me on this episode of the compassionate wellness podcast. If this message resonated with you, please share it with someone you care about. I'd love to connect with you as well follow me on Instagram @alextreanor.coaching, or visit my website alextreanorcoaching.com. And as a reminder, Treanor spelled kind of goofy, it's T-R-E-A-N-O-R. For any references mentioned in this episode, be sure to check out the show notes. I hope you have a wonderful day and don't forget to make time for something you enjoy.