|
Melanie Andersen's Website God | Family | Health | Education | Environment |
||
|
Family
|
Health I have always had an interest in health and how the human body works. Once when I hurt my leg as a child, I searched our medical books to try to figure out exactly what was wrong. When we went to see the doctor, I told him that I believed I had torn a ligament. He was quite impressed. It turned out that I had twisted a ligament, not torn it. When I was in my late teens, I spent 10 months doing volunteer work in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. I became quite ill while I was there and never fully recovered. Six months later, I spent a year studying and doing volunteer work in the Fiji Islands and became much more ill. I then spent another three years suffering from very poor health. I saw many specialists, had many tests done, and tried several different forms of therapies and medication to try to improve my state of health. I was told I had “Irritable Bowel Syndrome”. I was in terrible pain most of the time, chronic diarrhea, extremely weak and tired. It became difficult to live a normal life. Oddly, my five years of suffering miraculously ended when I became pregnant with my first child. But while I was nursing my second child, I noticed that my body was in constant pain (like sore muscles after working out), I had very little energy, eczema, headaches, etc. I started to see a naturopath. She put me on a special diet which avoided common food allergies and was meant to rebalance my intestinal flora. I was on the diet for four weeks and I felt like a thirteen year old again. It gave me energy and joy. I was fascinated by the dramatic change that diet caused in my state of health (physically and emotionally). But it was hard to be on such a strict diet. Over the course of the next three years, I learned more about the relationship between diet and health and SLOWLY changed my eating habits. A good friend of mine introduced me to some very powerful healing tools: the book Eating Alive By Dr. Jonn Matsen and herbal remedies from Awareness Life Products. In 2003, I went on a very strict diet and used these herbal remedies and noticed dramatic changes in my physical and emotional health. I also began to see a therapist who uses symbolic immersion therapy to help people get in touch with their emotional selves. This therapy has also created profound changes in my life. I have also found yoga tremendously helpful in preventing chronic back pain and conditioning the body without putting too much strain on it. I think that our health should be one of our highest priorities in life – our physical health, our emotional health, and our spiritual health. Our physical health effects every aspect of our lives. It determines how efficiently we function, as well as the quality of the life we live. It is also a long-term investment. One of my grandparents died two decades ago while some of my grandparents are still alive. I certainly don't want to be in this world for ever, but it would be nice to see my grandchildren and maybe even great-grandchildren. I hope to enjoy the freedom of movement for decades to come. Our emotional health is equally important to our physical health and I think it is sorely neglected in our culture. I strongly believe that everyone should participate in therapy regularly. Our emotional health determines the quality of our relationships with other people both personally and professionally. Our emotional health effects how we perceive the world and events in our lives. Our spiritual health provides meaning and purpose to our lives. It also provides a moral framework which makes us accountable for the decisions and actions we choose to take and effects the quality of our relationships. All three aspects of our health affect each other. |
Health Education Environment |