Ten Things I Want my Son to Understand About Wellness (That I am Just Learning Myself)

My little guy is only five years old and I currently get to make most of the decisions regarding his health and wellness. But, one day in the not too distant future, he will be one of the older kids that I have devoted my life to teaching and mentoring. As much as I would sometimes like to ignore the fact that he will grow into a teenager, I know he will need so many of the lessons I'm learning at this point in my life.  

I also know that I need to make these lessons as simple as possible and share now to keep myself focused and accountable.  When he is old enough to start making his own decisions, I hope some of these things come naturally and automatically, and I also hope that I've found a way to model most of them with some consistency for him.

Wellness is a lifestyle.
This is probably the most challenging lesson and it is definitely the one I need to remind myself of daily. I am really, really good at focusing on wellness for short periods of time. I can keep up with just about anyone in terms of healthy eating and regular exercising - for a short amount of time. However, I am now realizing that those short bursts of nutrition and fitness are not helping me reach my wellness goals and I am also realizing that I got into that routine because I wasn't looking at my lifestyle. I was setting short term goals to lose weight for an event or to exercise for an upcoming competition and I wasn't setting a long term goal to shift my daily routine to match my desire for wellness.

It is important to invest in yourself and in your health and wellness whenever possible - taking care of yourself is not selfish.
This one is similar to the last one, but I want to emphasize to my son, and all young people, that there are ways to budget and rearrange priorities in order to remove money as an obstacle to wellness. I know how tempting it is to buy material objects instead of vitamins and supplements. I also know that junk food and is considerably cheaper than fresh, organic food, but I've come to realize that we will either pay for wellness now or pay for disease treatment later.  Our health and wellness also yields an impressive return on investment that can't be overlooked. Ultimately, I want my son to practice self-care daily and to know that he should never feel guilty for the investment of time or money because we really can't help anyone else until we help ourselves.

Drink water.
This one is self-explanatory, there are tons of studies about hydration, and I'm blessed that he and I both generally prefer water. I still needed to add it though, because I think this one becomes more challenging as more beverage options are introduced and because I see the effects of dehydration on people I know almost daily. When we are fully hydrated, all of the systems of our body function better, or skin looks younger and healthier, oils and supplements are more effective and we have less hunger and fatigue. It is such a simple solution to so many challenges.

Oil up (and take vitamins and supplements) every day. Seriously - EVERY day.
I didn't get this one for a while... maybe even more than a year. Even though I was becoming such a huge fan of the natural, Young Living lifestyle, I was still using the oils, vitamins and supplements in a reactive way instead of a proactive way until I was able to create good habits. Once I worked my favorite oils into my routine and into the routines of my family members, we achieved a new level of wellness for which I am eternally grateful.

Try to choose nutritious foods and beverages as often as possible.
I've already explained investing in wellness, so this one is more about balancing the junk that is pitched by the media and marketing companies with the wholesome nutritious food that will keep everything in your body working the way it was intended. At the very least, I want him to make sure he drinks his Ningxia Red every day because that covers a pretty impressive spectrum of nutrients and antioxidants.
Personally, I'm a sucker for ice cream and there are some commercials on (especially in the summer) that make me think having an ice cream sundae is the best thing that could possibly ever happen. So, I realize this very powerful force of our culture and would like my son to know that he can have a treat from time to time as long as the majority of his diet is nutritious.  I would also like him to understand marketing ploys, but I think that one will have to wait until he is quite a bit older... 

Move your body.
This one is just about as clear as the one about drinking water, but I do want to expound upon the idea of movement. I avoided exercise for a long time because I had the impression that it had strenuous and time-consuming in order to be effective. Then, I spent a while fully engaged in strenuous and time-consuming exercise that basically took over my whole life. In both cases, I wasn't focused on wellness and I wasn't looking at exercise in terms of just moving my body - that perspective makes it a lot more enjoyable. Now I look forward to my daily walks because I get to listen to music or audiobooks, I am moving around in between projects, and I'm showing my little guy that he can have fitness without being in pain or having to make it the focus of his entire life.

"Holistic" isn't some weird healthy, hippie concept - it means taking care of your whole self.
I'm not sure why it took me more than 30 years to realize that the parts of my life are interdependent, but once I started looking at taking care of my whole self, I started feeling much better. I want my son to know how to integrate all the parts of himself so he can take care of himself no matter where he is or what is being emphasized there. I don't want him to only cultivate his mind in school, his body on the soccer field and his spirit in prayer as if they are isolated elements. I want him to understand that each aspect supports and empowers the others so they all deserve equal attention in all contexts.

Be grateful, humble, and fully connected.
Speaking of spiritual wellness, I want my son to understand that his emotions and spirituality contribute to his overall wellbeing. I believe if he can stay grateful and humble, cultivate positiveemotions, and find a connection with something bigger than himself that he will be be in a better place to make good decisions about health and wellness and I hope that he finds a still quiet space in meditation or prayer where he can recharge. I borrowed idea of being grateful, humble and fully connected from my favorite personal development resources - Oola. This is the affirmation for Oola Faith that also goes with the Faith essential oil. Honestly, I intend to help Ian achieve the Oola Life in every way, but the other 6 "Fs" of Oola will have to wait for another blog for Future Ian.

Learn how your body works and be an advocate for yourself and your wellness.
I just added this to my list of very important wellness lessons for Ian because I am a very well-educated person and it shocked me to realize how much knowledge I have and how little of that knowledge pertains to how my body really works. For the majority of my life, I relied on other "experts" to assess my body and tell me what it needs but I am not starting to realize the disconnect between that reliance and the reality of my state of wellness. I have multiple advanced degrees, yet when I found out that my Endocrine System was out of whack and my Adrenal Glands were not working properly, I didn't even know where they were located in my body. I knew more about the parts of my car and the need for routine preventative maintenance on those parts than I did about the parts of my body and their routine maintenance and I have a feeling that might be the case for a lot of people. So, I really want my son to pay attention in Anatomy class and I want him to ask a lot of questions about the things that he puts in and on his body regardless of who is recommending them because all of or bodies are unique.  

Believe in wellness more than you believe in disease.
Belief is a powerful thing and I definitely believe that energy flows where attention goes. Consequently, it has become my mission as an advocate for teen wellness and as an Independent Distributor for Young Living to help inspire and remind people to believe in wellness. 

Think back over the past week or so in your life - how many times have you heard people talking about how healthy they are?  How many people shared stories of illness or disease? Our society as a whole is very preoccupied with disease and so many of us have been impacted physically and emotionally by a myriad of diseases. 

Personally, I've had my fair share of experiences with cancer, addiction, heart disease, and various illnesses both long and short term but I can't let that distract my attention from the opposite reality because I've also known and had my fair share of experiences with health, vitality, fitness, good nutrition, energy, and overall wellness. So, I am not discounting the grim reality of dealing with disease, but I do want my son to take note of all of the healthy people full of vitality that he encounters so he can place most his focus and attention in that direction. 

Clearly, there is some overlap in these ten lessons, I know that I am a beginner on this journey, and I'm definitely not a healthcare consultant or a wellness guru, but I am a mom who wants to learn and grow so things are easier and more clear for my son.  I also know there are many more lessons that I could add about environmental toxins, alkalinity, gut health, chiropractic adjustments, sobriety, acupuncture, stuck emotions, getting second opinions, the connection between synthetic ingredients and side-effects, and the need for an open mind once he begins researching all of this on his own.  However, I don't want him to lose balance in his life because he is overly focused in this area either, so I'll trust that he will explore the rest as it becomes important and relevant to his unique experience.

If any of these tips resonate with you, please share or tag someone in the comments.  If you would like to learn more about wellness or start your own wellness journey, please connect with whomever shared this blog, stop by and visit us at Pathways to Inner Healing in Moscow, and/or check out my Young Living website at http://pattymclain.vibrantscents.com 

This post wouldn't be complete without some very special thanks to my many mentors and guides along this path to wellness - especially my husband and son, my Young Living Squad, my aunt, Linda Smith, and all of the practitioners at Pathways to Inner Healing.