Disease vs Health

If health is the opposite of disease, what actually are those things. How do you know when you’re “healthy” or when you’re “diseased?” We’ll establish what it means to be healthy based on functional medicine definitions and ancient knowledge, especially Ayurvedic knowledge. First, we’ll break apart disease then we’ll define what healthy is by knowing what it isn’t.

If disease is the lack of comfort resulting from imbalances, then what is health?

Health is when you’re body, mind, and spirit can respond to these changes in an efficient and coordinated way. “Health is order, disease is disorder.” (Dr. Vasant Lad)

Health exists when digestion is good and the gut is healthy, your individual constitution is balanced (not too wet, too dry, too hot, too cold, etc), waste can be removed, your senses are functioning, and your mind, body, spirit/ consciousness are in harmony. (Ayurveda the Science of Self-Healing) Health is vitality. It does not mean that we are controlling our blood pressure or diabetes type 2 through medication. It means we are treating the underlying causes, NOT covering up the symptoms. This does not mean you don’t take supplements for the rest of your life, or use medications because you need them. But it does mean making choices that help address the function of the system and bringing it back into balance.

Digestion and the Gut

Modern medicine is catching up with ancient knowledge. Ayurvedic practices claim that all disease begins in the gut and now Functional and Modern Medicine is finally catching back up with this ancient wisdom. Leading-edge science and labs are showing that in fact, disease does begin in the gut. What we take in literally becomes our body, mind, and spirit. Whether that is physical food or the things we watch, read, or think about. We digest and absorb everything that goes into our system. If those systems are broken or damaged, we won’t be able to create the building blocks for our body, thoughts, or general resilience.

Dis- means “to deprive of” and Ease means “comfort.” So disease is anything that removes your comfort and (I would like to add) function to that. How is this created in the body?

Our bodies are constantly surveying and responding to internal and external changes, i.e. homeostasis. Our body is a system that constantly works towards balance in our ever changing environment. This balance is not a static process, it’s dynamic and ever changing, like being on a slack line.

When your body cannot respond to the changes in an efficient way that’s when we become diseased. And the more weight (physical, mental, emotional, environment), the harder it is to remain balanced.

Balancing your unique constitution

This leads into balancing our individual constitutions. Modern medicine has been trying to create blanket medical values, the problem with this is that we aren’t the same and that you can’t get good data about health with an unhealthy population (which is what lab values have been historically based on) and each of us has different DNA and different experiences, which cause us respond in different ways. Ayurveda has a system that separates people and disorders into different groups with differing characteristics in order to treat them individually. Check out this Dosha Quiz to determine your constitution. This can help you determine, what to eat, when to do things, what diseases you might be prone to, or understand your unique characteristics. Our bodies are like ecosystems. We may be a desert, a tundra, or a jungle, but each ecosystem only works when it is in balance.

As for our current medical system, we are beginning to use state-of-the-art tools like DNA sequencing to understand unique needs for supplementation and treatments. When you can address your unique needs you’ll become the healthiest version of yourself. You’re path to true healing cannot come in convenient packages or generalized medical treatments.

Elimination

What you take in won’t matter if you can’t take the trash out! You can keep putting in good food, good exercise, lots of sleep, etc, but if you don’t take out the trash, even healthy things can become toxic. What do I mean by taking out the trash?

Our body has ways of releasing toxins, whether they are man-made, environmental, part of the normal processes of life, or emotional toxins like toxic people. These pathways include the liver, kidneys, the skin, the colon, emotional release, open and clear chakras, and more. When these pathways are open, the trash can be taken out; when they aren’t, trash backs up in your system, eventually poisoning yourself. This is why doing detoxes is important, but they must be done in the right way!

If your pathways of elimination are blocked it’s like dumping literal sewage, toxic waste, and leaving on all your electronics on full blast, while you lock the doors and poor water in through the chimney. It’s a shit show, literally. When you’re in this state you will feel TERRIBLE. This is called a Herxheimer reaction. It’s when you release everything out into the open with no way for your body to get rid of it. (Check out my post on Detoxing or sign up for a discovery call to learn more about how to do cleansing in a safe way.)

Functioning Senses

The way we interact with our environment is through our senses, I’m going to include sense that aren’t usually conscious as well. When we see, hear, smell, feel, or think something, our mind determines whether it will be good, neutral, or bad. Based on that perception, our brain tells our body how to react. We can either continue on because it’s safe, do nothing different because it will be neutral, or go into our stress response (fight, flight, freeze). This system includes our emotions (which tell us whether it’s positive, negative, or neutral based on our past experiences and beliefs we form about those experiences), our heart (which picks up other people’s magnetic fields around us and tells us how safe they are to be around), our internal subconscious feedback loops, and our physical senses. When any of these are not working well or are out of balance, we respond to life poorly and knocks us off balance.

Harmony of Mind, Body, Spirit/Consciousness

A house divided cannot stand. Our mind, body, and spirit are inextricably connected. There is no separation between them although we can choose to follow one over the other. When we have obsessive thoughts, give in to our cravings, continue to pursue a job that isn’t really benefitting us, or staying in a relationship with someone who is abusive, we throw our inner harmony out of whack. Our mind, body, and spirit are a system with checks and balances built in. But when we stop listening to one part, we throw ourselves out of balance. This is a serious problem in our culture. We ignore our body and push through to seem more productive. We starve ourselves to “look more beautiful.” We don’t establish healthy boundaries with people for fear of hurting someone’s feelings or of letting people in too close. We act with compassion towards others but not to ourselves. And we justify poor habits.

We compete in every situation we are in feeding into the bullshit lie that we need to buy more, consume more, and be more productive. We believe that if someone else is successful, we can’t also be successful. We live in a world with toxic masculinity and femininity. Capitalism as god. And no awareness of our selves and the importance of connection and community.

We are literally a part of this planet. Our behavior on an individual scale affects those around us in a cascade that affects the entire planet. The microcosm reflects the macrocosm. It is our duty to ourselves, our families, and the planet to return back to the checks and balances that lie directly within ourselves. Make your decisions by checking in with your entire self, mind, body, and spirit. We must choose to live from a place of abundance, love and compassion; not fear, hatred, and anger. Until we make this shift, we cannot heal completely.

For guidance on reconnecting back to your true healing and the support of a community, sign up for a discovery call!