Do you Love Your Car More than Yourself?

I have come to realise that as a nation, and perhaps even as a species, there is a tendency towards a reactive rather than a proactive approach to health and well being.

Whilst most of us will seek treatment or advice when we're ill or in pain, on the whole we're not very good at looking after ourselves in order to prevent illness and to STAY WELL.

Certainly, most of us take our car in for regular service and MOT - whilst the latter is a legal requirement, the former is because it's such a pain if the car breaks down. Why then, don't we do the same for ourselves? After all, if a car is broken beyond repair it's easy to just buy another one. The same cannot be said about the human body.

Increasingly, we push ourselves to work harder, longer and faster until - guess what? The body says 'Enough!' - the result being the sudden onset of illness or pain, or a recurrent or chronic symptom. We duly trot along to the GP or therapist in search of that 'quick fix' that will help us get better and back onto that gruelling treadmill as soon as possible.

The trouble is, although we may feel better in the short term and we're able to pick up from where we left off, if we keep going at the same pace as before it's pretty certain that a recurrence will be on the cards sooner rather than later.

So how can we prevent this happening again?

The answer is to implement change. When illness, pain and symptoms occur, it is your body telling you that something in your lifestyle isn't working well for you. It is a warning sign - and you need to listen.

One change could be to ease up on yourself - don't work so hard, long or fast. Easier said than done though, in today's climate of financial and peer pressures.

If this is not an option for you, then TAKE TIME TO LOOK AFTER YOURSELF. Ring-fence an hour a month minimum for 'Me Time' - and hour a week would be better - to replenish and nourish yourself. Do an hour of yoga; have a treatment or a massage; go for a quiet walk; have an uninterrupted soak in the bath; SWITCH OFF YOUR PHONE!!

And don't give your car more TLC than you give to yourself.