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!