Thinking Your "Self" Well

In today's #BWD: thinking yourself toward better health. Our mind, body, and spirit are not separate parts; they are the intimately connected threads of a single web that we call the "self". These articles explore the nature of our unified selves, and the ways we can help or harm our most precious gift: the person called "me". May it bless you.

Be Well,
Bob


MIND

Are food cravings sinking your nutritional goals? The problem may not be in your belly, it may be in your head. WebMD explores where cravings come from, and what you can do when the strike in this slide-show on Food Cravings that Wreck Your Diet. You don't have to live at the mercy of urges and impulses. There are better choices.

BODY

The old saying, "You are what you eat", isn't just a slogan. It is literally true. Your body is like a manufacturing plant that is constantly replenishing tissues and energy resources, and where do you think the raw materials for that enormous manufacturing process come from? Yep, you are actually made out of the things you put in your mouth. In Joint Food, Liz Applegate, PhD explains how the things we eat can help keep our joints healthy. That's important for runners of course, but given the number of knee, hip, and shoulder replacements I encounter in the population I work with at the YMCA, I'd have to say that poor joint health is a wide-spread problem that is worth your attention.


SPIRIT

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a terrifying mental illness. Living with PTSD means not just remembering horrible, painful trauma and loss, but actually experiencing them again and again, but mentally and physiologically. It took Rebecca Thorne decades to learn her true diagnosis, and one of the ways the wife and mother keeps on going is by moving her feet. In Running Helps Me Cope With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Thorne tells the story of how she learned to manage her pain, and her life, by making Trail Running part of her wellness program.