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The four (purrfect) foundations for living well
Have you ever stopped to think how amazing you are? From a tiny baby to a fully grown adult – and do you ever stop to think about how you managed to get that far? Every heartbeat and breath you take and don’t even have to think about.
The cornerstone philosophy was born out of my knowledge and experience working with many patients during my career as. If we provide the right environment the body can re-balance and thrive and we feel the wellness that we deserve – not the illness and ailments that are at odds with our inheritance. The human body is unbelievably intricate, far too clever for even the most eminent professor – and despite that thirst to understand its workings, I believe we will never know fully the body’s secrets. As we see new studies and scientific findings often published daily, we can often feel overwhelmed and confused at how on earth we should be living… which is when I started to think just how should we live and, more importantly, how can I help the people I work with to understand what they could do to take back control of their health outcomes. And so my idea of the Cornerstones of Wellness was born.
We now know that if the environment is right the body will function how it is intended and we feel well – but how do we know what that environment should look like? One of the core principles I feel we need to understand is that we are all different – unique, but we all need the four cornerstones to be in place to thrive. So here we go…
This is the food we eat and the fluid we drink which act like chemical messages to all of the cells in our bodies.
Whoever thought about that chicken leg providing the building blocks for repair and B vitamins for energy metabolism – or those delicious florets of broccoli to help reduce the amount of dry wrinkled skin we get – among other things.
Food can be broken down into four categories that are essential for life: Protein, Fats, Carbohydrates, Vitamins and Minerals, plus Water.
It’s a bit like following a recipe really – so when we don’t follow the instructions and get the proportions right or miss one ingredient out because we forgot to buy it, the end product doesn’t look or taste like it should. So some of the foods we need are essential and need to be consumed on a regular basis, but others, if the body has the raw materials, it can make what it needs itself. Amazing, don’t you think?!
We are designed to move. If we look back to our ancestors, moving would have been an essential survival activity…..that is sit on your bottom all day and you’re not going to be eating are you?
We know from research that not all people benefit from the same types of exercise and this is probably down to our ability to adapt to the environment to survive. But we do now know that being less sedentary and enjoying the activity has huge health benefits to both our physical and mental well being.
Survival is an absolute priority to each and every one of us so we have mechanisms inbuilt to help us to do just that. We have a complex hormone system that cascades information to all parts of the body preparing us for whatever is challenging us at that moment.
But what are the stressors we have today? I’m fairly sure it isn’t the sabre tooth tiger that would very much like to eat us for dinner – or the stress the body needs to be able to go and hunt your breakfast out. These stresses would be short lived – you would either eat or be eaten and hormone levels would revert to normal levels ….stress over. The stressors we experience in our lives today are numerous – from families to money, job pressures and even the ill health we are experiencing. Interestingly, we can cause stress in our bodies by over exercising if we are not designed for that type of activity – but that doesn’t give you a ‘get out’ moving card.
Constantly high levels of stress hormones can impact all of our body systems resulting in many of the physical health problems I see in clinics today.
Sleep is essential to our survival – so much so that the dangers of sleep deprivation resulted in the removal of this from the Guinness World Book of Records.
This is a time when the body rests and repairs, our brain forges new connections and helps memory retention. How much sleep we need is often the focus of many research papers with the general consensus being no less than six hours nd no more than eight – yes, you can have too much. As with lack of movement, lack of sleep can affect all of the systems of the body and contribute to many of the chronic diseases we live with today.
So, as you can now see, health is centred on the four areas of our life that affect all others: food, movement, relaxation and sleep. So. now, ‘take 9 lives, at least…’ has used these four cornerstones of life to build ‘The four (purrfect) foundations for living well’.
Sounds easy, right? Eat well, move more, relax well and get enough sleep (but not too much!). Yet, in today’s busy society it is often these four foundations that get tossed to the wayside in the rush to meet the constant demands of modern life.
I’m hoping that much good will come from ‘take 9 lives, at least…’ and especially as we take action into ‘The four (purrfect) foundations for living well’ that we will get some way towards that elusive truth in a world of well-being advice that is a total jungle out there.
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. This website is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Content should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise or treatment. The reader assumes full responsibility for consulting a qualified health professional regarding health conditions or concerns and before starting a new diet or health program.