Outside of my comfort zone

I have been outside of my comfort zone ever since I started HEAL. Going back to school, doing all the reading and writing are not ordinary things I do for the past 20 years. I need time to get into the rhythm of things to do each day. I have to be mindful of the time to be as productive as possible. I have to split up my day for family, personal and spiritual matter. At the end of the day, I would reflect and be thankful to be doing something for myself. No longer I am only doing things for my family, friends or colleagues. I am on my journey of self-discovery! This feeling of satisfaction is definitely worth all the uneasy feeling or stress for stepping out of my comfort zone.

I am expecting heavy load of work from this course and knowing myself, I sense my body may not be able to keep up with the pressure. At the same time, being in the HEAL program, I want to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. I decided to seek a physician’s advice to help me attain optimal health. After some research, I decided that naturopathy would be the best path for me as it will be all natural. This would be my first visit to a naturopathic doctor in my life! I was feeling nervous. Why? I was brought up to think that going to doctor is no fun and doctors will always find something wrong with you so that they can cure you from it. Anyway, I called the clinic and set up the appointment.  The physician was kind and had given me a long list of things to do till the next appointment. The treatment plan included taking apple cider vinegar before each meal, 15 to 20 grams of protein each meal, 50% of vegetables on the plate, black strap molasses, vitamins and liver support vegetables. Great, I assume I would know how to eat after doing it for so many years but I was so wrong! Even though I have been vegetarian and I would assume it is a healthy diet but I have not been eating right! In reality, eating healthy is not that simple and I am glad that I sought professional help. I have just been through with first week of the changes, I am feeling better, more stamina, more clarity and definitely more tolerant to everything that comes my way.
 
This course is a dream come true. Though it can be challenging sometimes as there are so many big words to digest, many concepts to understand, I accept this is part of broadening my knowledge. The best part is we have playtime just like kids at kindergarten. It makes me feel alive and closer to others. This is befitting its name Health Education and Active Living.
 
Last week’s session was quite an experience for me. Firstly one of our classmates had presented a touching, sad story of a girl struggling to read her first book. We were listening to her with tears in our eyes. I would think illiteracy happens mostly in Asia. Next the first team had their presentation on the first part of Social Determinants of Health. Their presentation was well-done with many videos, activities and many questions were presented which we had to answer. Many thoughts flooded my mind. Mostly negative ones like conditions are bad here, the problem is huge, what can I do, who am I to make the change, so forth. These thoughts made me felt depressed and helpless. On the other hand, I know that we have to study and understand the problems first in order to find the solutions. I am not going to focus on the problems but will be looking for inspiration to find the solutions. I am seeing the bigger picture now, becoming more aware that healthy living is not just a personal issue.

I am looking forward to a wonderful time in more self-discovery. Wish you all happiness and health till the next post!

What is health?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its broader sense as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." At the first look this definition seems to be slightly simplified. However it does cover several levels of being human, namely our physical, mental and social well-being. After all, humans are made up of body, mind and soul. A person with perfect health conditions may not be considered as healthy if he is lacking in other aspects, for instance he has no healthy social interaction. So to be considered healthy, one must achieve well-being in all these levels.

Moreover, it states that health is not merely about the absence of disease or infirmity. It is more than just living without disease, illness or pain. In my opinion, to be healthy means to have the ease in using our body to do our activities that we want. Some of us may be more active physically and when they can perform accordingly, they are considered as healthy. On the other hand, there will be people who like to be involved in intellectual activities, when they could peform they would be considered as healthy too. This difference in desire for different activities and purpose leads to different understanding of being healthy. I guess everyone can be healthy in his own way and in the end health is associated with well-being, happiness and the feeling of contentment. Health is an objective of achieving an ideal state of perfect conditions of all aspects as a human being in order to be happy. Health is ease in living your life according to your desire and intention. It is an ideal state whereby a person is happy with his conditions in body, mind and soul. So when a person loses this ease in his life, he is considered to have a dis-ease.

There is a Chinese saying: Health is wealth. Health is as important as wealth or money if not more important. This is true as without health, wealth alone cannot bring us happiness. With health, we can be productive and this affects the future of our lives and our society. Therefore, it is said that our health is our country's wealth too.

Start of My Journey to the West

Hi, my name is Lily. I was born and raised in Singapore. I moved to Jakarta, Indonesia after I was married. I lived in Jakarta for 20 years. Hence I had seen the best and worst of the developed and developing countries. I migrated to Canada in 2011 with my family (a loving husband and 2 awesome sons). This experience is truly exciting and has opened up many new experiences and there are many more new things to explore. I have set my mind on making my living in Canada a wonderful and meaningful one. I will make use of this wonderful opportunity to try new things and develop to my fullest potential.

During my living in Jakarta, I joined a religious foundation, Bao Guang Chong Zheng Non-profit Organisation and I have been volunteering my services in this organisation for the past 18 years. The organisation is based in Taiwan and has branches all over the world. I started as a student and eventually I was promoted to the position of a teacher. I have been teaching not only on religious materials but also practical knowledge about living a happy, fulfilling and meaningful life. The latter includes good social relationships, positive attitudes, health behaviours and so forth.

I have always been mystified by the connection of body, mind and soul and how can we can achieve balance in all of them. We, human beings, are made of body, mind and soul. To be healthy and happy, all these 3 elements are closely interrelated.

My study at Simon Fraser University Masters of Education in HEAL (Health Education and Active Living) program will educate and train me to understand the broader view about health. Through working together with a group of passionate educators, health practitioners and professors, I am certain I will grow and develop my full potential.

My contribution is that I will be present in terms of body, mind and soul! I come with an open mind to learn and share with everyone. I believe that life is fun and in this case, I am looking only to gain without all the pain.