Health is
where
your
W
Heart
hen you think of the title “Health is where your
Heart is”, you might imagine switching from manteca
to olive oil, eliminating chicharones from your diet, or
eating low-fat foods. While healthy eating is critical for
our heart health, I believe that it is our thoughts around
health that shape our heart’s health and wellness.
Written by Natalie Peña
is!
vival. Instead, it is based on wholeness.
So how do you move forward to choosing from the
heart?
Get clear on your BIG WHY
Oftentimes, it is difficult for us to find our WHY when
we focus on our health. This can cause us to push health
to the bottom of our to do list. So how can we prioritize
health to the top? There are several techniques that you
can use to get to the essence of or choices, or our WHY.
We know that our health should get the attention it de-
serves, so I ask you to utilize all the practices I am sug-
gesting. They will support you on your health journey.
A technique my dear friend introduced me to is Root
Cause Analysis (RCA). Research suggest that you can
use RCA to get to the essence of a problem. This tech-
nique was developed by Taiichi Ohno who was the archi-
tect of the Toyota Production System during the 1950s.
It is said that if you ask WHY 5 times, you will get to
the core of your problem and solution. If we are aware
of the problem, and we have a solution, our commit-
ment will remain powerful and focused. We all know
we need purpose if we are to stay committed to some-
thing, therefore I urge you to start the process. One, ask
why you want to take on your health. Once you have an
answer, ask why again. Do this five times, and see what
your answer is. The why answers the deeper inner es-
sence that we may have forgotten about. Once you have
asked yourself why 5 times, write down your answer.
Next, you will need to get clear on your goals. Notice,
goals do not come before the WHY because WHY is
the heart of your choice. Goals become the “how to” get
it done. This is the action from which the heart has de-
cided. Take time to reflect on the answer. Ask yourself
where you feel it in your physical body. Last, recognize
how your body is connected to the WHY. This will sup-
port you to ground yourself when you feel like giving
up.
This month, I focus on making healthy choices from
your heart instead of your mind. So, how do you know
if you are choosing from the mind instead of your heart?
First, we must understand where our choices are made
because where we make choices, can determine the out-
come of that choice. To understand, let’s define a dis-
tinction and a collapsed distinction. A distinction is the
differences between two things. A collapsed distinction
is not recognizing the difference between two things.
Oftentimes, we do not know how to identify when we
are living in a “collapsed distinction”, so we tend to play
out our choices from a state of not knowing or the sub-
conscious mind. I’m here to tell you, there is a clear dis-
tinction between choosing from the heart instead of the
mind. When we chose from the heart, it comes from a
deeper purpose. When we choose from the mind, it is
usually from a place of fear or survival.
For example, choosing from the mind might looks
something like this, we get sick, we decide we bet-
ter get healthy and build our immune system. Or we
go to the doctor, and we are ordered to lose weight for
health reasons. Stop for a moment and think, has this
ever happened to you? If so, where did the choice to
live a healthier lifestyle come from? See, the mind is
programmed to survive, so naturally our mind starts to
think of ways to survive. We make our choice from this
fear of death and sickness. In other words, our choice
came from fear of being sick again. The only downside
to choosing from this space is the decision is grounded
in fear instead of love. The fear of death or fear of not
being enough. While this type of “wake up call” might
jolt you to choose differently, it may yield negative emo-
tions.Thankfully, there is a different way to make your Mental clarity about goals in health
choices. When we choose from the heart, we tap into Goal setting is important for strategic planning and at-
the deeper meaning of the choice. It is not based on sur- tained success. Having a life coach is also supportive to
Heath is wealth
Health is where your heart is!