In parts 1 and 2 of this series I discussed the insides and outsides of your body as an aspect of Healthy Living. Read the label of your bath and body products to avoid harmful toxins and improve physical and mental health. Same goes for your food labels and choices and healthy eating, in the post prior to this one on Healthy Eating.
But for me a big part of how I live healthy is the health of my environment and my personal sustainability. The overall health of your environment reflects on your overall health.
First, I have spent years perfecting our home's energy- in Chinese Medicine the flow of the home is central to the personal health of those dwelling in it. Read up on Feng Shui if you haven't heard of it, but the finer points are easy: remove the clutter, create movement, balance the dark space with light, bring in greenery, and pay attention to electronics (turn them off regularly!) and other potentially energetically harmful items, locations, etc. Such as, don't build your home under the powerlines, but if this was the best purchase for you, you can combat that energy with Earth Acupuncture.
Support the healthy interior space with healthy exterior space as well, such as a garden, or even just a deck for some outside space and time. Make sure the exterior around your home is as welcoming to YOU as the interior is. Pay no attention to how this might affect your guests at first, make sure it is comfortable to you! Most importantly, give yourself a space for quiet time, whether it's a "library" in your home, a prayer or meditation room, a garden to tend to, or a pond to relax by, inner peace isn't achieved easily, so give yourself tools to assist you. Learn to quiet your mind and body, this goes a long way for your overall health.
Once you know that your home, environment, and peace of mind are attended to, it's time to start looking at sustainability: What healthy ways can you impact your surrounding and personal environment in order to achieve your own personal sustainability as well as nature's?
For starters, give your family the gift of growing their own food- gardens can be as big or small as your needs require, but the rewards are huge. You will teach your family nutritional sustainability with this one addition to your home, as well as feeding your home for three to four seasons depending on where you live! Many botanic gardens, children's camps, and other community service organizations teach gardening basics; often for free or a nominal fee because these organizations want to encourage sustainability. Look around, even Whole Foods offers courses.
After you start gardening, you'll be inclined to start composting and creating a food storage. Composting is a great healthy addition to your environment; create healthy soil AND reduce your landfill input by making this one small change to your home. Composters come in all shapes and sizes, from large outdoor churning piles to indoor electronic models like the Nature Mill that we use, your options are limitless. A great science project for the kids: Worm composting.
If you don't have a garden don't be afraid to grow your vegetables in pots (like we do). Previously we belonged to a CSA club, and when the location changed and prices skyrocketed this year, we opted to grow indoors and on our deck. Granted we're not getting the yield we did in prior years by being part of an actual farm, (enough to create last summer's CSA series), but it's fun watching our tomatoes, jalepenos, and herbs grow right here at home. It's even more fun to be able to say "this mint is from my herb garden" when we bring Mojitos to a neighborhood party!
Once you start paying attention to how you affect your environment and how it affects you, many other sustainability topics may start to interest you. Look up Transition Town if you're intrigued on how to wean yourself off of Peak Oil. Join a local sustainability network like ours to get some new ideas.
This barely scratches the surface on environment and sustainability, but "The Green Movement" is all around you, you won't have to go far to find it, and I encourage you to seek out healthy living in all aspects of your life!
But for me a big part of how I live healthy is the health of my environment and my personal sustainability. The overall health of your environment reflects on your overall health.
First, I have spent years perfecting our home's energy- in Chinese Medicine the flow of the home is central to the personal health of those dwelling in it. Read up on Feng Shui if you haven't heard of it, but the finer points are easy: remove the clutter, create movement, balance the dark space with light, bring in greenery, and pay attention to electronics (turn them off regularly!) and other potentially energetically harmful items, locations, etc. Such as, don't build your home under the powerlines, but if this was the best purchase for you, you can combat that energy with Earth Acupuncture.
Support the healthy interior space with healthy exterior space as well, such as a garden, or even just a deck for some outside space and time. Make sure the exterior around your home is as welcoming to YOU as the interior is. Pay no attention to how this might affect your guests at first, make sure it is comfortable to you! Most importantly, give yourself a space for quiet time, whether it's a "library" in your home, a prayer or meditation room, a garden to tend to, or a pond to relax by, inner peace isn't achieved easily, so give yourself tools to assist you. Learn to quiet your mind and body, this goes a long way for your overall health.
Once you know that your home, environment, and peace of mind are attended to, it's time to start looking at sustainability: What healthy ways can you impact your surrounding and personal environment in order to achieve your own personal sustainability as well as nature's?
For starters, give your family the gift of growing their own food- gardens can be as big or small as your needs require, but the rewards are huge. You will teach your family nutritional sustainability with this one addition to your home, as well as feeding your home for three to four seasons depending on where you live! Many botanic gardens, children's camps, and other community service organizations teach gardening basics; often for free or a nominal fee because these organizations want to encourage sustainability. Look around, even Whole Foods offers courses.
After you start gardening, you'll be inclined to start composting and creating a food storage. Composting is a great healthy addition to your environment; create healthy soil AND reduce your landfill input by making this one small change to your home. Composters come in all shapes and sizes, from large outdoor churning piles to indoor electronic models like the Nature Mill that we use, your options are limitless. A great science project for the kids: Worm composting.
If you don't have a garden don't be afraid to grow your vegetables in pots (like we do). Previously we belonged to a CSA club, and when the location changed and prices skyrocketed this year, we opted to grow indoors and on our deck. Granted we're not getting the yield we did in prior years by being part of an actual farm, (enough to create last summer's CSA series), but it's fun watching our tomatoes, jalepenos, and herbs grow right here at home. It's even more fun to be able to say "this mint is from my herb garden" when we bring Mojitos to a neighborhood party!
Once you start paying attention to how you affect your environment and how it affects you, many other sustainability topics may start to interest you. Look up Transition Town if you're intrigued on how to wean yourself off of Peak Oil. Join a local sustainability network like ours to get some new ideas.
This barely scratches the surface on environment and sustainability, but "The Green Movement" is all around you, you won't have to go far to find it, and I encourage you to seek out healthy living in all aspects of your life!
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