by Dr. Mark Wiley<\/p>\n
When you’re trying to make changes in your life, especially health and wellness changes, we all know\u00a0 New Year’s Resolutions don’t work. They don’t because the barriers we put up to prevent our success. So it ‘s time to Break Down Those Barriers to Health Success.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether you suffer stress or back pain, headaches or PMS, tendonitis or something else altogether, the prescription medications helped a bit, for a while. But when they wore off, you had to take more\u2026 and more still. And now you are seeing an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, an holistic therapist and are finding that the requirements to do what is asked of you (even attending the frequent appointments), is just not quite fitting into your busy daily schedule.<\/span><\/p>\n It can be challenging to take control of your own health. Commitment and perseverance are necessary to achieve optimal health and well-being, and personal struggles can often arise along the way. Barriers such as financial constraints, lack of time, or access to quality healthcare can impede our journey to a better quality of life. And while each person\u2019s barriers are of different sizes and shapes, the following three are by far the most common.<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps the most obvious barrier to achieving optimal health is time. There is only so much of it in a day, a week, a month and a year. We can\u2019t add time, and when we finally do find a free moment it quickly gets eaten up by unanticipated sources, like work, housework, family obligations, events, projects, you name it.<\/span><\/p>\n Something always seems to get in the way of doing our exercises; driving out of the way to purchase organic whole foods; eating balanced meals; getting a healthy amount of sleep; taking those supplements as directed; or drinking enough water or exercising. After a while, people start to think that going the \u201calternative\u201d route to relief may be a bit overbearing. You have to visit the practitioner, perhaps several days per week for several weeks or months. You have to take herbs or supplements\u2014and handfuls of them several times per day. You have to do a series of stretches or exercises between office visits\u2026 and sometimes even on the same day! Who\u2019s got time for all that?<\/span><\/p>\n The main difference between mainstream medicine and alternative therapies is that the practitioners and products of alternative \u201cmedicine\u201d are working toward healing you, not patching you up. And healing takes time. And I\u2019m here to tell you that time is no true barrier to health!<\/span><\/p>\n Look, I know you\u2019re busy. You\u2019ve got kids, a demanding job and a hectic family schedule. But if you need to exercise you can prioritize 20 minutes at a time, three days per week.<\/span><\/p>\n Forget Seinfeld reruns; do your stretches instead. Better yet, why not do the exercises while watching your favorite sitcom or the evening news? Why not skip reading the morning paper and go for a walk instead. Avoid the take-out lunch and go to the farmer\u2019s market on the way home from work, then prepare a healthy lunch in advance.<\/span><\/p>\n There are always sets of minutes in a day that can be \u201cconstructed\u201d into health minutes. You simply need to prioritize your day, your week, your life\u2014and establish the time. If you don\u2019t, and your ills become chronic or life threatening, what good is your time then?<\/span><\/p>\n Do yourself, your family and your loved-ones a favor and break down that Time Barrier. It doesn\u2019t exist; it\u2019s an illusion. Time is an abstract concept, but its utility can be physically modified on the fly. Only laziness and lack of creativity makes time short. And we both know you\u2019re neither lazy nor uncreative!<\/span><\/p>\n The second most common barrier to achieving perfect health is money. That is, having the financial means available to buy the best organic or free-range foods, receiving the best holistic treatments and taking only the highest quality herbs and supplements available.<\/span><\/p>\n A personal trainer costs money. A weekly massage costs money. Acupuncture gets expensive. Herbs are cheap, but their protocols are long so their costs add up. The main thing is to prioritize your wellness dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n If you are spending X amount on health each month, how can it be maximized? And if you are spending money on extra cable TV channels, expensive dinners and unnecessary clothing, then why not cut back on these and allocate the money for your health instead?<\/span><\/p>\n Despite what you were told in the 80s, it\u2019s not how you look, it\u2019s how you feel that counts! One of the best things you can do is to learn methods of reducing stress and some stretches and exercises you can do by yourself at any time of day or night. This will allow you to reduce your massage frequency and you will derive greater benefit from the herbs and acupuncture you are receiving.<\/span><\/p>\n I recommend consulting your holistic practitioner to get a clear picture of how many visits over what length of time will be required of you. You also want to know what herbs or supplements you may need to take and over what period of time. With this information you will know ahead of time (no pun intended), how much money you will need to allocate for your natural therapy.<\/span><\/p>\n With this information, you can begin to budget your wellness dollars accordingly. I highly recommend you not begin a course of treatment until you have the means to attend every required visit and to purchase whatever additional things are needed along the way.<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s no sense in wasting money on half a therapy. And while you\u2019re pulling resources together, work on your sleep\/wake cycle, stress relief and diet. With clarity of costs and allocation of money in place, money will no longer be a barrier to your health.<\/span><\/p>\n The third most common barrier to health is you own level of belief in what it is you are doing (or receiving) and what the result of that will be.<\/span><\/p>\n Are you on a fast? If so, do you believe it will do you good and deliver on the expected results?<\/span><\/p>\n Are you receiving CranioSacral therapy or Rolfing? Do you think the sessions are helping, or will help if you follow them through their prescribed course of treatment?<\/span><\/p>\n My point is, many people who begin and then drop out of holistic therapies do so because they lose faith in the method of care they are receiving. This either happens because the practitioner has made unrealistic promises or the patient was expecting different results than the ones gained. And most Americans want fast and easy results. Managing goals and expectations is the key.<\/span><\/p>\n By their very nature, alternative therapies are not fast\u2014but they are generally safe, holistic, non-invasive and, if followed through, their results can be long lasting and life changing. When working with alternative therapies of any kind, you must obtain a clear picture of what may and may not happen, and over what period of time.<\/span><\/p>\nBarrier 1: Time<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
Barrier 2: Money<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
Barrier 3: Beliefs<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n