One of my favorite activities that I do in both group coaching and workshops is a word association exercise.
When we have the luxury of being together in person, I put up several giant sticky notes on the wall with one word on each and ask participants to write on smaller sticky notes what comes to mind when they think of each of those words.
I always prompt them to think about the word “health,” and I always get very interesting answers.
What do you think of when you think of the word health? If you were to do a word association about it right now, completely uncensored, what would come up for you? What descriptors or attributes might be part of how you experience health?
How do you define health?
In my experience over the last few years with just this exercise in my own work with clients, individual definitions and perceptions of health are wildly different. I’ve seen responses everywhere from “green juice” to “white-washed” to “good overall mental and physical well-being” to “healthy weight.” In my broader experience in the fitness industry as a whole over the last decade, the definition and perception of health has increasingly looked a lot like thin, rigid, and highly disciplined. In my professional opinion?
Health is personal, and despite what the world may say, you decide how it looks and feels.
Sorting it out, though, can feel tough. There’s a lot of pressure and rhetoric out there that tells us health looks like Western medicine’s definition of it. (Or, ahem, your doctor’s definition of it, even though he clearly doesn’t meet his own definition of health.) There’s additional input that it looks like being thin(er), or having a BMI of 18.5-24.9. Even more information tells us health means eating a plant-based diet or exercising every single day. Oh, and don’t forget that in order to be healthy, you have to consistently practice meditation and breathwork too.
So what’s the answer? Well, again, only you know what it is for you. But – and this is a big but – there are some foundational things you may find helpful pay attention to as you define, or redefine, what health means to you. And these foundational things can make all the difference in finally, actually, feeling healthy.
This conversation is one I believe makes a difference for all of us, and this struggle is one I can help sort out. So, next week, I’m partnering with Health & Wellness Coach, Lauren Redwine, to facilitate a workshop on Redefining Health.
We’ll be exploring what health really means and how to get there, with all kinds of ah-has, heaps of kindness and compassion, and tangible takeaways for you and your health journey. As usual, don’t expect me to tell you exactly what to do with your body (because that is BUNK), but do expect me to give you tools, resources, and real ways to make that “get healthy!” goal a guarantee.
Basically, this is a solid investment of one hour of your time – for zero dollars of your money – to go from feeling like you’re doing ALL THE HEALTHY THINGS and still not feeling healthy, to making health happen.
Did I mention it’s a FREE workshop? Because it is. And you know me well enough to know it’s not going to be a 30-minute pitch either. This is the good stuff.
Get your tickets, and tell your friends. We’ll see you next Wednesday at 3pm CST.
For first access to all kinds of events and info, sign up for weekly emails. If you’re ready to start redefining health for yourself, let’s talk coaching. Schedule a call below, or email me anytime to get started.
