Being healthy is something everyone wants, but what exactly is being healthy and what should you do to achieve it? In this blog, I explore being healthy and how hypnosis can help you do that.
Being healthy definition
According to the World Health Organization, health is "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not the mere absence of disease."[1] So it is more than just not being sick. When you are healthy you thrive in your mental and physical health, so to speak.
You feel fit and well. You have a healthy dose of self-confidence which is good for your mental health and fitness.
There are other definitions as well. For example, some people say you are healthy if you can function normally[2], but that in turn raises the question of what "normal functioning" is.
How to be healthy.
To answer this question, we looked at countries where life expectancy is highest. In Japan, for example, people are getting a healthy decent age, so what is this due to?
Researchers indicate that Japanese consider hygiene important in their daily lives. This is partly due to their culture and the idea of cleaning yourself physically and mentally before meeting other people. So at work and at home, people in Japan are concerned with being clean.
In addition, in Japan it is very common to regularly check your physical health. They are aware of the importance of health. It is very normal to screen everyone at school and at work for their health. Some people even spend days in a clinic to check everything properly.
Also, the diet of most Japanese is healthy. It is balanced and full of nutrients. In doing so, they drink very little alcohol, but they are not 100% sober 😉 . Japanese also don't eat too much salt, which is good for your blood pressure.
Although one-third of adult males in Japan suffer from obesity, the percentage is still much lower than in many Western and other developed countries.
The mental health of Japanese can also be protective of physical health. In Japan, communities also tend to be well-connected. This helps at times when people need help, which in turn works well against stress[3].
Being and staying healthy
So being healthy has to do with personal hygiene, healthy diet and having a healthy weight, among other things. In addition, it is helpful to have enough social contacts to have healthy mental health as well.
Being Physically Healthy
So for physical health, it is helpful that you live in a clean environment. So the place where you prepare your food should be clean. Wiping your countertop daily with a hygiene wipe can already do a lot to keep your body healthy, because you will have less bacteria in your environment that your body has to fight against.
Hygiene
A clean bathroom, kitchen and home do a lot for your health. Everyone also has a vacuum cleaner or mops his/her home occasionally to remove dust and other microscopic pathogens[4].
If cleaning is not really a habit of yours, a hypnotherapist can help you change that habit. Techniques with visualizations can already do a lot to change habits quickly.
Nutrition
A healthy diet also helps your health. The Mediterranean diet is often cited as a diet that helps you be healthy[5]. In particular, this diet consists of eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, fish, lean meats and nuts. And as in Japan, you may also drink a little alcohol, but not too much.
Finding it hard to eat more vegetables or drink less alcohol? Then hypnotherapy can help with this, too. For example, research shows that hypnotherapy can be used for weight loss by helping people change their diet[6]. You can go from an unhealthy diet to a healthy one with a little help from a hypnotherapist.
Beliefs about nutrition and whether you can and should eat fruits and vegetables, for example, are scrutinized and changed to make it easier for you to eat 2 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit daily.
Movement
In addition to good hygiene and healthy eating, exercise is also important for your health. For example, if you exercise regularly, it is good for reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease[7]. In addition, it can reduce inflammation in your body.
Exercise is also good for your mental health. It can help you reduce depressive symptoms, anxiety and it improves your mood in general[8].
Also, if you want to exercise more, hypnotherapy can help you improve your sports motivation [9].
Being Mentally Healthy
Being mentally healthy is more about your mindset and thoughts in general. For example, if you suffer from depression , it is accompanied by many negative thoughts and feelings.
Nearly 14% of all health problems in the world are linked to mental health problems[10]. When you think of mental health problems, you don't just have to think of depression. An addiction to alcohol, or any other addiction, is also a mental health problem.
Good mental health is often the basis for good physical health, in that respect this section of the blog could have stood for physical health as well.
If you are mentally healthy, you can often cope well with stress. After all, stress is often a trigger to start doing unhealthy things, such as eating a lot, not exercising, or taking alcohol or other mind-altering substances.
Hypnotherapy can help you deal with stress. Research shows that just 1 session of hypnotherapy can do much to reduce the amount of stress hormones in your body[11].
Many mental problems also result from long-term stress, such as depression, or from a traumatic event that was super stressful at the time, such as post traumatic stress syndrome.
Cognitive hypnotherapy can do a lot for people suffering from severe depression[12]. It involves looking at the thoughts you have that may be causing the depressive problems and how to turn them around.
Beliefs that cause long-term stress, for example, can be figured out with hypnotherapy. This is often done with conversation or, as is often done with depression problems, with regression. With regression, you go to the first moment a belief arose that is now causing problems. These are often moments from your childhood, because at that point in your life you determine how life works and how you are supposed to function in it.
If those "precepts" don't work for you, it can cause you to become depressed later in life. Sometimes it is enough to reinterpret that moment so that you can come up with new "precepts" that will help you be less depressed.
But if you had a tough childhood, more may be needed, as you may not have been given the protective factor by parents that can prevent you from becoming depressed later in life[13]. In that case, a hypnotherapist can also help you by talking to your inner child . The latter can then help you grow into the life you have now so that no part of your subconscious is stuck in the past.
So being healthy is a pretty big goal to have, because your health is about more than just your body. Being healthy is also about having a healthy mind.
Hypnotherapy can be used for both your body and mind to improve your health. For mental health, there are numerous techniques that can help you remove beliefs that are holding you back, reducing stress and other triggers that can create unhealthy thoughts and behaviors.
To eat healthy and exercise more, hypnosis can also offer a supportive role. Sometimes visualizing desired behaviors can be enough to take the first steps toward a cleaner home, more exercise and a better diet.
Want to learn more about how hypnosis works? Then come to the free online master class on hypnosis.
Or sign up for a seminar or training from the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands. That's nice for your own health, and it's nice if you want to help people with their health in particular, whether it's just help for the mental side of health or for the physical side of health.
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