Foundational wellness pyramid

Contributed by Damian Rodriguez, DHSc, MS, posted on doTerra Blog. 

doTERRA’s Wellness Lifestyle Pyramid illustrates how optimum wellness is achieved through a combination of healthy lifestyle behaviors and proper medical care. When lifestyle is the focus, health is naturally achieved and maintained. Your daily habits make all the difference.

Proactive Medical Care

The advancements in healthcare over the past century are astonishing. Today it is not transmittable diseases, but our own lifestyle behaviors that are the greatest risk factor for chronic disease and that have the greatest influence on our overall health and well-being. That being said, a relationship with a trusted medical professional is one of the foundational pillars of lifelong health. This is what the doTERRA healthcare initiative is all about: developing a relationship with medical professionals so you can be proactive instead of reactive about necessary medical care.

Informed Self-Care

As you move towards taking more responsibility for your own health, it is paramount to understand the issues that may not necessitate the immediate attention of a medical professional. This is where the daily use of essential oils really shine, as a complement to modern medicine. Essential oils can support the proper function of different body systems on a daily basis, address minor blemishes, support feelings of clear breathing, protect against environmental threats, and more.* Becoming more informed about preventive health measures and how to be proactive about your health by creating daily essential oil regimens and using natural products is an important component in a lifestyle that supports overall health and well-being.

Reduce Toxic load

“Toxic load” refers to the volume of substances that have been accumulated in the body at any given time and the overall burden it places on the body systems and vital organs. Toxins come from countless sources, many of which we are not even aware of. Environmental threats, chemicals, and radiation are three of the most common categories. Technically, every substance that has a consistent chemical composition is a “chemical,” but in commonly used terms, a chemical is any substance (natural or synthetic) that can stress the body. Your body has a number of different passageways through which it is directly exposed to toxins and several different mechanisms that it uses to deal with this exposure. The three most vulnerable pathways are the lungs, the digestive tract, and the skin. We are directly exposed to toxins through the food we eat, the air we breathe, and anything that contacts our skin. While minimizing exposure to potentially harmful chemicals on a daily basis is the most effective method, you can be proactive about reducing toxic loads already in the body. Focus on a clean, whole food diet, detoxify with a regular dietary cleanse, and use all-natural household, skin, and hair care products to support your body’s own detoxifying processes.

Rest & Manage Stress

Possibly the most ignored and underrated factor of overall health and well-being is sleep, and similarly, the management of stress. Research has shown that sleep quantity and quality directly influence almost every component of health. Sleep deficiency has been directly linked to dysfunction of nearly every body system, and recent research suggests it has a negative influence on healthy lifestyle behaviors as well, specifically proper nutrition and exercise. Proper sleep hygiene, adequate quality and quantity of sleep, and finding ways to minimize daily stress are important for optimum health. Setting up a daily regimen of essential oil use, especially diffusing your favorite calming oils and blends as part of a bedtime routine, along with some key supplements can go a long way towards getting the rest and stress management your body needs for lifelong health and vitality.

Exercise

Regular physical activity is one of the foundations of extended lifespan and increased quality of life. Whether you are a serious athlete or one who prefers to just maintain an active lifestyle, getting some form of exercise daily is necessary to maintain the strength of your cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems and even your mental well-being. While recommendations vary, for optimum health, rigorous physical activity should be part of your everyday life. Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the average adult get at least 600 metabolic equivalent minutes (METs, a metric combining both time and exercise intensity used to estimate overall energy expenditure) per week, which is equivalent to approximately 150 minutes of brisk walking. However, recent research suggests that significantly more (and more intense) activity may be necessary for the best long-term health benefits. Put a few drops of CPTG® Peppermint essential oil into your palms, rub them together, and directly inhale for a quick energizing boost as you head to the gym or hit the trails for the exercise your body needs for long-term health and wellness.

Eat Right

The foundation of lifelong health and vitality is how you fuel your body. A balanced and minimally processed whole food diet, complemented by the right nutritional supplements provides the essential macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals your body needs to function at its peak and directly impacts the other components of the healthy lifestyle behaviors. Proper nutrition provides the energy for daily exercise and recovery, can help with sustaining proper rest habits and regulating stress levels, may assist in reducing how many toxins we consume, and supports the proper function of the many separate body systems that help maintain our long-term health and wellness so that the need for self-care and medical attention is minimized.