Pillars of Health
Lifestyle medicine is a core foundation of our approach to health and naturopathic medicine. We often tell patients that at it’s foundation naturopathic medicine is about our lifestyle.
To help us understand what lifestyle medicine means and how to approach it we often split it up into five pillars of health.
These pillars of health help us reflect on the fact that our lifestyle requires multiple areas of strength and focus.
What are the pillars of health?
We think of the pillars of health as being the divided into the following: EAT, MOVE, THINK, REST & CONNECT
Eat: Our diet & relationship with food
Our EAT pillar involves diving into our diet & nutrition as well as our relationship with food. As part of our intake, diet, daily nutrition, personal preference are reviewed, and recommendations are strategized to support our health and personal goals. We also have open conversations with patients about how their relationship with food is, and what has occurred previously so we can navigate this area with ease for everyone.
Move: how we move our bodies
Movement is an important part of any persons daily practice. We like to start with understanding what you currently do for movement, but also what you enjoy or have enjoyed in the past. We aim to support all patients in getting them to a place to at least meet the Health Canada Guidelines for a daily activity, or personalize the approach to suit their goals. We always work on building this into their routine in an sustainable and easy way.
Think: mental health, stress management, and outlook
Our THINK pillar helps us address how our daily practices can support our mental health and stress management. These may include; mindfulness practices, journalling, reflection, body based practices, setting better boundaries with work, or things we do just for our own well-being.
Rest: how we sleep, recover, take a break and have fun
While how we physically rest and recover is important (ensuring we are getting enough & good quality sleep!) the REST pillar also encompasses our recovery from activity and physical pursuits, mentally & emotionally resting from challenging times in our life (exams, jobs changes, family & relationship stress), and actively restoring ourselves by engaging in activities and things that we find joyful. This pillar often involves reviewing habits around sleep, what you enjoy doing for fun, how you are recovering from exercise and taking care of yourself in the face of stress.
Connect: our relationship with ourselves and others
Our relationship with ourself and those around us both factor into our well-being. This includes feeling centred in ourselves: our values, our self-worth, our body image, but also feeling connected to others on a variety of different levels; having fulfilling intimate relationships (partners or family), friendships, and community connections.
What does this look like in naturopathic medicine?
Dr. Fiona & Dr. Madeleine may ask you about these various areas of your health; what they look like day to day for your or week to week. They will explore how these habits are serving you (or not!) and strategize with you on the best way to combine our best understood evidence from these areas of lifestyle medicine with your unique life experience. When necessary, they will make referrals to other health care providers to assist you reaching your goals.
Want to learn more? Book a complimentary meet and greet appointment to get started in learning about how naturopathic medicine can support your health goals.