Conscious, Mindful & Intentional: Health for me
Intermittent fasting. Strength training. Protein intake. Energy Balance. Meditation. 10,000 steps. 8 hours sleep. Transformation. 6 pack abs. - Health on the internet.
Conscious. Mindful. Intentional. - Health for me
Well Nakul, you’ve just put a bunch of marketable words like sustainable and organic, what does it mean?
Let me break it down for you.
Physical well being or physical health, what most of Instagram is about has 4 pillars: Movement, Nutrition, Sleep and Stress.
Deep health has 6 pillars:
Physical: performing and functioning well
Emotional: experience full range of emotions and expressing them appropriately
Environmental: your surroundings supporting your health & well-being
Relational: have a support system where you can belong and be authentic
Mental: Focused, alert, thoughtful, calm, confident, competent
Existential: having a meaning and purpose in life
Health is how you live, life long. Not a 3, 6, 12 month game.
Two things I see very commonly:
People mistake performing at the highest level, peak performance to be health as more often than not, the top 1% are our role models. Virat Kohli, Cristiano Ronaldo, Chris Bumstead, Mathew Fraser, Ido Portal - you get the gist. It’s their job. They need to be at that level. It’s not a part of their life, it’s their life. We take these role models and apply their principles onto us. Instead of making our own principles.
Operating at extremes. Go hard or go home. No pain no gain. All or nothing. Kill yourself at the gym and then go crazy at the bar. 6 days of grunting, feeling the burn, pushing through the pain at the gym, and then drinking and eating like there’s no tomorrow because we earned it. Most of us are just too hard on ourselves. We want to punish ourselves because we constantly feel like we’re failing when it comes to health. And I don’t blame you. We all have been conditioned by this industry, by society.
So Nakul, how’re these three words gonna help me be healthy?
200,000 years humans have been on earth. The last 100 years have been unprecedented with technological and industrial revolutions. We all have lost contact with our bodies. There’s a reason we’re the smartest species on the planet. Once we start slowing down, being conscious about why we do everything - breathe, move, eat, sleep, rest, fall sick. Be mindful about how our behaviours and habits affect these. And then act intentionally.
It’s taken me 8 years to look like this. But I look like this most days now. Through these 8 years I have only counted calories once for a month. I can’t remember the last time I seriously fell sick, had more than a very slight niggle, or seriously injured myself. I don’t wake up with pain everyday. I sleep great. I go out and drink when I feel like, indulge when I feel like. But everything I do, I listen to my body and I live consciously, mindfully and intentionally. The rest all falls into place. And that’s how I help my clients too.
So incase, reading this you’re lost, feel free to reach out to me and we can find the best way for you to lead your life.
You can either start by signing up for Individualised Health & Performance Coaching, join my Men’s Group Remote Coaching or arrange a free intro consultation to help me guide you!