The Five Aspects of Health

By Mary-Anne DiBlasio, Contributing Writer

 There are five aspects of health that we should all focus on as a whole, and I see all too often at least one of them being overlooked. These five aspects of health are as follows: Physical, Mental/Emotional, Spiritual/Energetic, Nutritional and last but certainlynot least is Financial.

 Physical: Now, this is a pretty well understood aspect of health for most of us. We have a stomach ache, we may have eaten too much or have the flu. We will have physical symptoms and we seek out relief that will take care of the symptoms that we feel. Now, if we display signs of a pretty bad headache, most of us will reach for the closest bottle of ibuprofen; and for immediate relief that will most likely do the trick, but what we also should be looking for is what could have caused the headache in the first place. Our body is great at telling us there is a problem, but most of us are not so great at paying attention to what those problems are or where they could be stemming from.

Mental/Emotional: Also, a pretty well versed aspect. We feel anxious or depressed; we seek out a therapist and possibly a prescription to help us feel better or even an herbal supplement. Again, working from the inside out, we need to look at what is causing the anxiety or depression, and the therapist should be working with you on ways to balance out potential issues in your everyday routine. If the anxiety or depression is coming from an “outside source” than there are options that may not require medication, and again, relief can come more naturally.

 Nutritional: Nutritional health is a tricky one. We are not saying “diet” or “lose weight”, we mean the substance we intake in order to nourish our bodies. With obesity at an all-time high, and fast food restaurants on every street corner, we need to truly come back to basics here, and as one of our practitioner’s says… “Eat like it’s 1800”; When food was natural; no preservatives or additives or “enriched”. Eat whole foods. Good old fashioned from the earth goodness. The more natural the better, before companies basing ingredients on the bottom line get involved.

 Spiritual/Energetic: This is where it gets to be a little more fuzzy or what we would call that “grey area”. Spirituality can be religion, however, if someone is not religious, it does not mean that they are not spiritual; they just may not follow any one particular “organized” religion. The bottom line is, people need hope in their lives. Hope to dream and achieve goals and look forward to future. Hope comes from the inside and folks can get this from various things; anything from meditation to Reiki to going to mass on Sundays.

 Financial: Now this is where folks are like… “Whaaaat?” “Financial, this isn’t part of health, and it is all about investing, and I just don’t have the money to invest.” Well… no! Financial health is an important part of the whole, because financial “stress” is what can cause a whole host of other issues affecting the Physical, Mental/Emotional, Spiritual/Energetic as well as Nutritional aspects of one’s health. Perfect example: ‘I can’t afford to pay my rent this month so 1. I have had a headache for two weeks straight, and 2. I am feeling completely depressed and anxious about it, 3. I feel there is no hope, and 4. I haven’t got an appetite for anything lately (because my headache is so bad I have a stomach ache!) Sounds pretty accurate, yes? 
So, with all that said, it is very important to nurture all five aspects of one’s health; the Physical, Mental/Emotional, Nutritional, Spiritual/Energetic and Financial for complete health and wellness.

---

Mary-Anne DiBlasio, Holistic Health Practitioner, Be Well Life Coach® and Founder of Western Mass Wellness Center.
Mary-Anne is a happily married mother of four living in Western Mass. She walks her talk and talks her truth. She founded her Wellness Center back in 1999 after she had a personal need for Holistic Health in a science-based world in 1995. Not happy to hear that there were not a lot of options, she decided to pioneer her own journey for a more natural way to better health and wellness. Four years and much training later, she decided to dedicate her life to offering folks holistic alternatives. Western Mass Wellness Center is located at 1111 Elm Street, Suite 21 in West Springfield. Visit her website westernmasswellness.com or call 413-73B-WELL (732-9355). Be Well… Be Wise… Just Be…

Western Mass Women Magazine