When I was an adolescent, across the road from our house was a hayfield. In the summer, during warm weather, when I had finished the farm chores, I would take whatever book I was reading (and I was always reading something), and with an old blanket I’d head across the road into the waist-high uncut hay.

I’d walk far enough away from the road that the dust of passing cars wouldn’t bother me, throw down the blanket and sink into a green, earthy-smelling cocoon. The hay was long enough that I couldn’t be seen, and the wind would blow and close the trail I’d made, erasing all evidence of my presence. Laying there on the blanket, looking up at the cloudless blue sky, listening to the bees buzzing lazily on the ripe clover flowers, watching the stalks wave above me, feeling the sun’s heat on my skin (this was northern British Columbia, so the sun was merely warm), I was happy and content. I would read and doze the afternoon away, eventually heading home with a feeling of wellbeing, my senses completely sated.

Wellbeing depends on a number of factors, some of which are not in our hands. We inherit our genetic history making us susceptible to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, or other health conditions that come to us through our family line. In the same way, we inherit a predisposition for mental health; our families pass on the genes for things like depression, anxiety, or mood disorders, making it important for our own health and the health of the generations that follow to pursue optimum health. That means taking responsibility for the aspects of our health that we do have the power to control.

Don’t know where to start? Let me help you with that…

Physically
“To enjoy the glow of good health, you must exercise.” Gene Tunney
Regular, heart-pumping exercise. Research says 30 minutes at 3-5 times/week. Add some strength conditioning like yoga, pilates, crossfit, or weight training 2-4 times/week. If you haven’t been exercising, start slowly and build both your stamina and the habit of physical activity. These are just a few suggestions – the options for finding optimum physical health are almost limitless. Find an activity you like and as Nike exhorts, ‘Just do it.’

Mentally
“Until you change your thinking, you will only ever recycle life’s difficult or painful experiences.” Anonymous
Go to therapy. No, really. Go. To. Therapy. Expressing what’s in your mind allows you to actually comprehend what you’re thinking and how that entrenched, habitual thinking is contributing to recycled life experiences. You don’t need to be mentally ill to benefit from a psychological check-up. Find a good therapist, establish a relationship, and go every couple months just to talk. It’s like a cognitive reset. My clients often express how astounded they are about how much mental ‘sludge’ gets cleaned up in one of these sessions. Therapy is an investment in yourself and optimum health that will pay huge long-term dividends.

Spiritually
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, [one] cannot live without a spiritual life.” Buddha
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that ‘spiritual’ is synonymous with ‘religion.’ Having a spiritual life is so much more than that. For some this is an active faith, for others, it is time spent in nature, or in creativity. For others, it’s sitting on the sand gazing out over the expanse of the Gulf to a horizon that extends beyond what can be seen. For still others, it’s laying in a hayfield, contemplating the cycle of life. Get connected to something larger than yourself…and better yet, bigger than humanity. That’s spiritual.

Optimum health falls on a continuum and will be different for every individual given the factors over which we have no control. By taking responsibility for the things we can change, we will have the kind of life that isn’t “…the same year lived 75 times.” For your sake and the sake of the generations to follow, find your own metaphorical hayfield.

Go.

Now.

Dr. Susannah is a leading psychologist, registered professional counselor and Master Practitioner in Clinical Counseling based in Canada. For more information, please follow @DrSusannah on Twitter and Instagram to stay tuned for her latest news.
Photo by La-Rel Easter on Unsplash.