Return To Health
In 1945 Joseph Pilates published his book “Return to Life Through Contrology”. Mr. Pilates called his method Contrology, the complete coordination of body, mind and spirit. Specifically designed exercises practiced diligently 4 times a week over a period of 3 months would develop your body to the ideal. Mental vigor and spiritual enhancement would accompany this work.
His method of Contrology was designed to give you suppleness, natural grace, and skill that would be reflected in the way you carried yourself walking, playing, and working. In other words, life.
Mr. Pilates reflected then on the pattern of life in the “Modern Age” (1945, remember) as this ‘too fast pace is reflected in our manner of walking, sitting, eating, and even talking and results in our nerves being on edge from morning till night and actually depriving us of out needed sleep”.
Oh, if Joe could see us now, 65 years later.
Your well being is in your own hands. Do you recognize that?
Being well is being mindful of the obvious, common sense indicators that lead you towards health or drag you down into the well of stagnation. Doing nothing is stagnation. Are we becoming a STAG-Nation?
Think of a swamp for a moment.
A common feature of a swamp is water stagnation. They hold a very low property value. Their reputation is not one of productivity. They are often times messy and could be quite smelly.
(respectfully, there are fantastic benefits of swamps such as pollution removal and providing a critical habitat for wildlife that do not serve the purpose of this article).
Does any of that ring bells, or how about gongs for you?
Sorry for being so stinky about it; however, it’s a darn good inquiry. If it strikes a chord, you damn well know you’re existing in a less than optimal state of being.
“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness”, so says Joe.
What’s the second?
He didn’t say. I’d imagine that taking care of your health could be the runner up. Do you give your body, mind and spirit the care that your well being deserves? What are some ideas of well being? Try these on for size:
- strolling outdoors. Collect some sunshine and air. Take in the beauty.
- sitting quietly with only yourself. 5 minutes of awareness is so sweet.
- dance in the kitchen. Feel joyful? Move to it baby.
- pandiculate. Looks like stretching but oh so better.
- play. swim. watch your cat. pet your dog. dig.
Care of the self is so much more than what the media blasts to us. Self care is what you already know despite that ‘new’ study that proves that getting outdoors is good for us.
Caring now is to stop doing what makes you stuck, stressed, drained and sick and start doing what nourishes, strengthens, cleanses, and encourages the body to what it does best, support you.
Returning to health is a one way trip. You have taken several round trip adventures through the years. Bounced around between an extra 30 pounds, high blood pressure, Atkins diet, a liver cleanse here and there, and now you’re on the brink of Type 2 diabetes. WHAT?
How did you get here?
Perhaps by consistently making poor choices.
You could get away with it. Youth, resiliency, blissful ignorance and skirting the borderline numbers are not serving you anymore. Nor are they extending your life.
So what have you got to work with here?
How do you return to health?
What is the easiest and fastest way to get on board?
The easiest and most immediate answer to that is simple.
Respond.
Don’t react by clearing your pantry and purchasing organic seaweed flavored cereal and rice lemonade. Don’t go out and buy the $100 sneakers and heart rate monitor.
Respond. Calmly. Quietly. Decisively.
Respond by making the changes that you wish with what you have to work with now. Reacting to that alarm again that says ‘that’s it, I’m gonna do it’ may only yield short term results…once again.
Long term gains or short term results?
What’s going to stick?
Simple and sensible. Clean and clear. Pure and practical.
Your response is going to be the decision you make today to change the way you live. Accept the responsibility for yourself and take action. Your ideas and thoughts about a better way are true. Not too deep down you know what you must do to return to health.
The simple beauty that we perhaps have forgotten is that we need very little to move forward.
Decide.
Respond.
Take action.
Use your given, natural abilities to problem solve.
Create a better way for yourself, for your family and for your beautiful well being.
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