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7 Pillars of health - The Keys to Lifelong Wellness and Longevity
Growing up, I mostly maintained a healthy weight and lifestyle. However, in my mid-late 20’s, I started to gain weights. In 2017, when my life hit rock bottom, I was heaviest I’ve even been. I had around 35kgs overweight with serious health issues.
Looking back, I can pinpoint four key factors that lead my health to deteriorate. Mindset, meal timing & choices, lifestyle and unmanaged emotions.
I had a limited belief that weight issue runs in my family. Due to the fast-paced lifestyle, I had no structured movements and I used to have the largest meal of the day in the evening. Finally, I didn’t know how to manage stress and emotions timely in an effective way back then. These factors led me to a state where my body couldn’t take it anymore and started screaming through chronic diseases.
In between those years, I had many attempts trying all sorts of diet trend and workout regime but nothing really helped me. I used to lose a few kgs initially but then my body was quick enough to gain back again. I felt lost, frustrated and often overwhelmed.
So, when I decided to take control of my health, wellness back in 2017, I knew the traditional concept of just focusing on diet and exercise alone not going to help me in the long run.
I started acquiring knowledge to heal and manage health holistically. I looked into different cultures and ancient wisdom.
When I started to apply this knowledge and tools, I started to receive massive sustainable results.
What is pursuit to health?
We are all unique. So our definition of health & wellbeing would be different as well. You may have a completely different goal for your own health. You may be aiming to have an aesthetic look or simply want to be pain-free. Irrespective of your health goal, once you focus holistically you will receive the greater sustainable benefits in all areas of your life.
The major transformation and shift cannot occur by only focusing on one area of our life that is calling for our attention. Once we commit to align and holistically work on our mind, body & soul’s growth that is when the real magic happens. This is the secret formula of life. It happened to me and a hundred others. I’m here to show you how you can get started and start seeing real results.
While problems in modern life seem to become more complex, the solution is remarkably simple. To that effect, it’s important to focus on the seven pillars of health and wellness I outlined in this post.
We often consider good health is the absence of disease or sickness. In reality, this is not a complete truth. To achieve good health, holistic wellbeing, vitality and longevity, it takes more than just having a workout session or eating fruits/veggies.
The pillars will give you a sense of how to work toward your optimal wellness. However, this is a guideline only. I’m a huge advocate finding an individualistic approach when it comes to health and wellness. it’s is not one-size-fits-all. The journey is unique and different for each individual.
if you are someone who is just starting your health journey, my honest suggestion would be to start with one pillar initially and gradually make your way to explore other pillars. if you only focus on one area the results receive may not be sustainable.
What are the 7 pillars of health?
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Pillar 01
Breathe
Breath is the single trusted companion who is with you from the moment you came to this world until the last breath you take in this world. Yet, we take this superpower for so granted. I consider the quality of the breath as the most important out of 7 pillars of health.
The quality of the air and the way you breathe are crucial components of overall health, wellness, vitality or disease. On average, we take 26,000 breaths every day. Have you ever noticed how many of these breaths you have taken mindfully?
Breathing clean air is a no brainer but many of us find it challenging especially if we live in urban environments where air pollution is high. It’s important to get out in nature as much as possible. You can use an air filtration system, plants, or open up windows to bring clean air indoor. Be mindful of not having clutter in your home which blocks the flow of air.
Practising minimalism helped me to ensure my home is clutter-free and the natural movement of air & sunlight.
As someone who suffered from sleep apnoea and asthma in the past, I mostly used to breathe with my mouth and upper chest. This negatively impacted my digestion, detoxification, and overall health.
When we breathe incorrectly, our nervous system, oxygen/carbon dioxide balance, memory, are negatively impacted. These manifest diseases in our body like brain fog, lower concentration & memory power, blood pressure issue, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes to name just a few.
To improve breathing and achieve optimal health you must practice –
TIPS
- Deep, slow breathing through your nose using the diaphragm (stomach). Use the diaphragm muscle as your main breathing muscle with an average of 10 breaths per minute.
Pillar 02
Nutrition
We are what we eat. This Pillar of Health is the one that we naturally tend to focus on exclusively when we decide to embark on a health & fitness journey. I’ve done that too in the past trying all sorts of diet trends only to end up frustrated, lost without achieving any results.
Over the years, I believe I have managed to hack the secret for a disease-free healthy body through personal health journey. The secrets is quite simple. When it comes to nutrition, focus on –
What, How & When you eat?
Before you start developing your diet, nutrition plan, I highly recommend to identify and understand your Ayurveda Dosha- body type. This has been a game-changer in my health and fitness journey. You can check out this blog post where I explain in details.
TIPS
What to Eat?
Eat seasonal quality fresh food preferably organic, unprocessed food. You should consider daily diet intake consist of plenty of veggies, fruits, quality protein, healthy carbs and fats.
We often complicate our daily food choices by overthinking. It doesn’t have to be that case. Developing balance to please your taste bud (aka. mouth) and fill up the necessary nutrients for the body is the answer to this problem.
Ensuring that our body is content with its level of nutrients and life force from its food is essential for longevity.
As I practice intermittent fasting, I usually have to worry about only 2 meals – breakfast and dinner. I’ve developed a set of recipes which I rotate all year round and tweak based on seasonality and availability of ingredients.
Usually most of the days during summer my breakfast is a nutrient-packed smoothie with loads of seasonal fruits, leafy greens, and healthy seeds giving my body a healthy start. Lunch is consists of a healthy plant or animal-based protein, veggies and healthy carbs & fat. Then I give myself a cheat day once a week when I indulge myself with a croissant or anything my mouth fancy on that day.
How to Eat?
Even with the most nutrient-dense diet, you might be depriving yourself of essential nutrients from the food because of your eating style.
Studies have proven that, when we eat in a stressful environment, our body is not able to digest the food properly, our body doesn’t absorb the necessary nutrients and sometimes can even create disease due to poor digestion.
There are four key things to consider on how you eat.
- Pay gratitude and bless your food before you eat so that your body can absorb as much as nutrients form the food. Have you ever thought of how many people have worked hard to deliver that yummy meal you are having daily? There is a chain of people from farmers, packers, delivery driver, to the retail shop assistant are just a few involved in that chain. Honour all of their hard work and the food itself which turns into living energy.
- Practice eating in an environment distraction-free to facilitate optimal digestion. Don’t eat while you are multi-tasking like watching TV’s, working, talking etc.
- Chew your food properly before swallowing. It’s an again a no brainer however not many of us consciously do this.
- Finally, be mindful of your portion size. In human naked eyes, sometimes the portion that you serves may look alright but in reality, it might be more than what your body needs. I’m not a huge advocate of calorie count and measuring every meal. Having said that, if you are someone who struggles with weight loss, it might be a good idea to check the calorie intakes and measure meals initially to familiarise yourself until you learn this intuitively.
I follow a rule of thumb where my meal sizes are equal to the size of my palm.
When to eat?
Coordinate your meals following your body’s circadian rhythm which is in sync with nature’s time with sunrise and sunset.
According to Ayurveda, one should have the biggest meal of the day around midday when the sun is strongest and so as your body’s digestive fire. When you eat your meal at this time, your body easily digests, absorbs all essential nutrients.
Aside from aligning meals timing, also consider practising intuitive eating. Eat as often, and only as much, as your body needs. However, this shouldn’t be confused with overeating. Listen to your body carefully. It signals when your body needs food.
Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.
Rumi
Pillar 03
Movement
The human body is impressive, but often this Pillar of Health is overlooked. And boy……for my almost entire my adult life I had a negative belief about movement, particularly exercising. The limited belief was that it doesn’t matter how much I diet or exercise, I’m not going to lose excess weights. It’s in my genetics. It was wrong.
The only reason I was NOT getting the result because I didn’t understand my body type and unknown of what works for my body. I’ve just blindly followed the latest diet and exercise trends without understanding the entire mechanics.
Once I designed my exercise routine according to my body type and food intake, that’s when transformation started to happen. According to Ayurveda, I’m Pitta-Kapha dosha. This means I should be mixing regular cardio/HIIT activities along with weights and resistance training at least 3-4 times a week.
Movement is the expression of life. Life constantly seeks to express itself and all the potentials in through any forms of movement. Design your movement based on your body type and interest.
Ask your soul…….. Does it love to run, swim, cycle, dance, stretches, yoga flow or lift weights? Let your soul be the biggest and most trusted Personal Trainer.
TIPS
- Find all opportunities to move daily in your immediate environments which are in sync with the natural world.
- Choose walk over drive, take stairs over lift, stretching over no movements at all. Develop the subtle balance between challenging your body through various forms of movement but not to a point where it breaks down.
Pillar 04
Sleep
Getting just 7/8 hours of sleep isn’t just enough to tick a box for this pillar of health. The quality of sleep also plays a huge part in the overall health and overall wellness.
In this modern era, sleep deprivation is real. In the past, I’ve prioritised everything over sleep as I did not consider sleep as important until my body started to scream through developing diseases.
In our body, the cortisol (awakening hormone) can be disrupted due to not having quality sleep creating stress, hormonal disorders, and other diseases.
The quality of sleep depends on many factors such as the temperature, timing of sleep, breathing patterns etc.
One simple, easy but important change you can make right now to drastically improve the quality of your sleep is to align sleep timing with circadian rhythm synced to nature’s timing. The relationship between the sun and the light. This will significantly help to balance hormone level which in return will have a direct positive effect on appetite, digestion, energy levels, athletic performance, mood, cognitive performance, creativity, and mental clarity.
The rhythmic movement of the Earth and the solar system has a direct impact on our biology and physiology. Our body is designed to be active during the daytime and start resting as the sun goes down.
Ayurveda – the ancient science of life teaches us this concept to achieve quality sleep.
According to Ayurveda, one should align the sleep and wake cycle according to the circadian rhythm.
To achieve optimal health, you should consider beginning your soothing preparations for sleep during the Kapha time of the evening 8-10 pm. This time of the day has dominant water and earth energy. Due to the heavy quality of this time of day will help ensure that you drift off to sleep easily, naturally. Similarly, Ayurveda advises the best time to wake up is before 6 am. Between 6-10 am Kapha becomes dominant again. So it becomes challenging to wake up during this time leaving you feeling like “I overslept and am having a hard time waking up”.
TIPS
- Align your daily working, resting and sleeping rhythm with nature’s timing/sunlight.
- As the sun goes down, practice winding down and only engage with calming, relaxing activities that not going to stimulate your nervous system too much before bed. I suggest creating an evening ritual of activities that overall prepare your body and nervous system to calm down after an active day. You can dry body brush, oil massage, read the book, meditate, play light games etc.
- As much as possible block or reduce all blue/artificial lights at least a few hours before bed. Our body is not able to differentiate whether it’s a day or night time if it exposed to artificial lights in the evening. In this case, your body and mind will continue to feel active.
Pillar 05
Connection
Humans are social animals. Fundamentally, we seek connections to live a healthy, happy life. In my opinion, there three kinds of connections, we need to focus on –
TIPS
Connection with your self
you should invest enough time, dedication to develop a deeper understanding of yourself. Some may say consider as spiritual connection.
The key essence is to create a sense of purpose, direction, values or meaning in life. You can seek to connect with inner self through meditation, prayer, or other mindfulness activities. Maintaining a connection to inner self can be a very individualistic approach.
- Dedicate a small amount of time each day to yourself. Use this time to disconnect with the outer world to reconnect with the inner self. You can use this time to journal, relax, reflect, meditate, or pray.
- Identify and create your WHY. Write them down. Reflect on them often. Keeping this in the front of your mind will help guide everyday decisions and priorities—big and small.
Connection with others
In ancient times, humans gathered for ceremonies, rituals in family groups or tribes frequently. We have physical, emotional, the social need for connection with others. After our birth, we have a connection with immediate family members. As we grow older, it expands to relatives, friends, neighbours, colleagues, mentors etc.
In this modern social media, online era, we now tend to isolate ourselves more depriving our soul of developing a true human connection. Connections are necessary for survival and well-being. Connections help us to learn, grow, and thrive.
A study performed on the people from the Blue Zone area of the world showed that people’s happiness increase by 15% when they are connected and surrounded by community. The true essence of happiness comes from giving.
- Make time, effort to develop and nature true meaningful connections. Next time look into the eyes of your loved one deeply to let them know you are there for them, you care.
- Make time to meetups with your friends, create new friendships with likeminded people. Find a community who can support, and guide you.
- Next time proactively take the opportunity to say hello to the person next to you when you are waiting for your coffee in the queue. Give your big beautiful smile to a stranger next time.
Connection with nature
Mother Nature is the biggest healer, nurturer. It binds the entire ecosystem together.
Your surrounding living environment, connection to nature has a direct impact on your health. There have been many research and scientific studies have shown the importance of nature plays for our mental wellbeing.
- Spend enough time outdoor preferably in nature every week. You can go for a picnic, a run or walk.
- Practice grounding meditations, or simply walk barefoot a few times a week.
Pillar 06
Detoxification
This pillar of health focuses on our body’s ability to purge toxins or waste. Fortunately, our body is well-equipped to eliminate toxins naturally without depending on any external factors. However, due to the environmental and lifestyle choices sometimes our body needs extra care and attention to enhance this natural detoxification system.
In both Ayurveda and Chinees medicine heavily focus on our body’s detoxification process which essentially means resting, cleansing and nourishing the body from the inside out.
Detoxification means cleansing the blood removing impurities from the blood in the liver, where toxins are processed for elimination. Our body also eliminates toxins through the kidneys, intestines, lungs, lymphatic system, and skin. However, when these systems are compromised, impurities aren’t properly filtered and the body is adversely affected.
This detoxification process is a vast topic. I hope to cover this in details in a future post. For now, let’s understand a few simple ways you can enhance this process right now.
TIPS
- Practice Intermittent Fasting for a period to provide resting and healing time for the organs.
- Improve blood circulation through dry body brush, lymphatic drainage massage, movements etc.
- Fuel and nourish your body with foods and herbs that are packed with healthy nutrients. Check out this blog post where I explain some superfood herbs that help with detoxification.
Pillar 07
Growth Mindset & Emotions
The final pillar of the 7 pillars of Health is developing a growth mindset and management of emotions. To have a holistic view of health, we must consider the impacts of our thoughts and feelings on our physical body and overall health.
I’m a huge advocate of developing a growth mindset and identifying your WHY behind any action you take in life.
You must get clear on your mind first what is the health goal you have? Is it for aesthetic, longevity, vitality or any other purpose?
Once you identify your WHY, you will be able to create a solid plan and able to follow through to receive transformational benefits.
When I started my health journey being 35kg overweight, my WHY was not going back to that physical and mental state ever again. My powerful WHY pushed me to continue on the last mile of a 5-mile run.
Our thoughts become reality. Guard your thoughts carefully. If you have a negative or limited thought, it then takes root in the form of belief which turns into a behaviour pattern driving your everyday decisions and actions.
Once the belief or outcomes of your actions are emotionally charged, it results in an imbalance in our hormones and nervous systems. Eventually, it manifests as diseases.
As an example, when we consistently anxious or worry it causes our stress hormones to be in the fight or flight mode creating adrenal fatigues.
The opposite is also true. It has been scientifically proven, when you are on gratitude or loving state, it creates feel-good hormones and changes genes structures promoting good health, vitality and longevity.
Majority of the time, the physical diseases, pain that we experience are just a mere reflection of the inner world and often deeply rooted with mental, emotional & energetically issues.
TIPS
- Find and create your personal WHY for your health goal. Identify, note down and reflect frequently.
- Develop and nurture a growth mindset. Changing limited belief, subconscious conditioning that doesn’t serve you any longer.
- Develop the skill to navigate your feelings without surpressing or improper expressions. This means identifying, assessing, and effectively sharing those feelings with trusted ones in a safe environment.
Share with us what's your definition of Pursuit To Health?
Any other tips that helped you in your health journey in the comments section below.
I would love to hear from you, so please tag me @iamtaslimbegum on Instagram.
Lots of love & light from my soul to yours!
Taslim
P.S. Please remember to always consult with your doctor or health practitioner before trying any new health, diet, or lifestyle practice.
