Optimal health has three dimensions, including physical health, nutritional health and emotional health. Like a triangle with its three equal sides, improved well-being can be achieved by balancing the three dimensions of good health.

Physical Health

The human body was designed to move, but modern technology has reduced that natural urge. The automobile has become an overused conveyance so that we no longer consider walking. Our TV remote controls eliminate the need to get up. In our workplaces, robotics and machinery have reduced human activity exponentially, and our automated kitchen and yard accessories all contribute to our society moving toward an increasingly motionless lifestyle.

With so many of us leading sedentary lifestyles, poor physical conditioning has become an epidemic in North America. Fifteen per cent of the population is obese and over 40 per cent is overweight. The need to start moving our bodies has never been more urgent.

Being physically fit does not require that you engage in serious physical sports or activities. It simply means getting active on a regular, day-by-day basis. Performing yard work, cleaning your house, regular fast walking, taking the stairs and becoming actively playful with children are just a few activities that can all become initiatives toward becoming more physically active.

As you will discover through this interactive Web site, achieving physical fitness begins by understanding the high return on investment you will receive. Being physically active strengthens your heart, makes you less prone to injury, increases your energy level and detoxifies you. Perhaps the greatest benefit to physical fitness is the release of endorphin gland chemicals through heavy breathing, which magically calm and process stress.

Because you’re worth it and deserve it, make the decision today to become a physically active person.

For more information on physical health, exercise, walking, swimming, sleep, relaxation, etc., you may find some of the following links helpful:

Benefits of Exercise [Encyclopedia of Natural Healing]

Aerobic Exercise for Life [alive Journals 2002]
Get a New Grip on Weights [alive Journals 2002]

Looking Good Naturally [alive Journals 2001]
The Pilates Path to Fitness [alive Journals 2001]

Women and Weights [alive Journals 2000]
Stretch Your Way to Better Health [alive Journals 2000]
Be Your Own Personal Trainer [alive Journals 2000]

Your 15-Point Power Plan [alive Journals 1999]



Nutritional Health

The ancient proverb “You are what you eat” continues to hold true in today’s modern society. A direct link exists between Western diseases and the chemical-ridden processed and refined foods that we eat. As a society, we have been seduced by the clever marketing of processed food manufacturers without considering the risks to our health through consuming foods that provide zero or almost no nutritional value.

Realizing that the goal and focus of processed-food manufacturers is profit, rather than consumer health, more and more people are beginning to demand food that serves their best interest. As a result, a fast-moving trend is developing for living, fresh whole foods that enhance health, vitality and longevity.

Every week, you make hundreds of decisions about what you eat, how much of it, and when. The quality of these decisions relates directly to the level of health or sickness you will experience. Eating is much like creating: what you choose to eat creates the health you have today. We all have the ability to create health!

The goal in developing one of North America’s most comprehensive interactive Web sites is to make the journey toward improved nutritional health more attainable and realistic for you. Alive’s purpose is to motivate and support you to become a skilled steward of your health.

For more information on nutrition (vegetarian, organic, digestion, absorption, etc.) you may find some of the following links helpful:

Optimal Nutrition for Optimal Health [Encyclopedia of Natural Healing]
Nourishment [Encyclopedia of Natural Healing]
Nutritional Links [Encyclopedia of Natural Healing]
Macronutrients: The Foundation of Good Health [Encyclopedia of Natural Healing]

There’s a Right Time for Meal Times [alive Journals 2002]
Eating for Energy...It’s Easy! [alive Journals 2002]

Raising Healthy Kids [alive Journals 2001]
Protein-It’s Not Just for Athletes [alive Journals 2001]

Nine Tips for Whole-Hearted Health [alive Journals 2000]
The Nutritional Way to a Healthy Thyroid [alive Journals 2000]
Retirement and Nutrition [alive Journals 2000]
Pocket-size Sports Nutrition [alive Journals 2000]

Better Nutrition, More Energy, More Fun! [alive Journals 1999]



Emotional Health

In the last decade, health experts and practitioners have aligned their thinking, agreeing that emotional health is by far one of the greatest contributing factors in achieving optimal health. We know for certain that our ability to be emotionally aware, to express our emotions, to manage stress, to have healthy relationships and to be capable of developing the emotions of peace, joy and contentment all contribute significantly to experiencing optimal health and longevity.

Unprocessed emotions have a direct effect on our physiology. Stress, prolonged anger and anxiety cause blood vessels to become constricted, taxing the heart and wreaking havoc with the nervous system – in essence, putting the whole body in a state of tension and weakening our immune system. This can prove much more detrimental to our well-being in the long run than lack of exercise or nutrition, notwithstanding how important these factors are.

Explore and discover for yourself in this interactive site the direct link between emotional health and physical health… they’re inseparable.

For more information on emotional health, expression of feelings, anger, fear, etc., you may find some of the following links helpful:

Emotional Health [Encyclopedia of Natural Healing]

Healthy Emotions - Joy or Happiness... [alive Journals 2002]
Emotional Health - How to Deal With Stress [alive Journals 2002]
Emotional Health - What’s Driving Your Food Addictions? [alive Journals 2002]
Emotional Health - Relearning Emotional Expression [alive Journals 2002]
Emotional Health - Inner Peace Enhances Health [alive Journals 2002]
Emotional Health - Are You Emotionally Fit? [alive Journals 2002]