As we have struggled to navigate the realities of a global pandemic, it has become increasingly important to define our individual vision for health and vitality. Nutrition and movement are part of the equation, but there is more to consider. Joey Klein, Founder and CEO of Inner Matrix Systems, offers six pillars to creating a vision of health and vitality in your life.
Pillar 1: Rest
We often don’t get enough good-quality rest in our current landscape of Netflix marathons and unending Instagram scrolls. Regardless of your level of activity, your body needs plenty of good quality sleep each night. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Center for Disease Control (CDC) says adults require seven or more hours of quality sleep per night. Teens and school-age children need even more.
Pillar 2: Nutrition
Food is fuel for your body and mind. We often think of how nutrition affects our muscles and gives us energy, but we should also consider how it fuels our minds. We should put things in our bodies that we can use for brain power and performance. For some insight about what foods can boost your productivity by nourishing your brain, peruse Food As Fuel: How Leaders Power Their Days, by Alan Kohll and published at Forbes.com. To be truly healthy, you need to think healthy and good nutrition is essential for your overall well-being.
Pillar 3: Movement
Daily movement is key in keeping all systems moving and sound. Just like a car doesn’t do well sitting for long periods in a garage, the human body is meant to move. Research shows that regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health. Evidence suggests that people who spend more time each day watching television, sitting, or riding in a car have a greater chance of dying early than more active people.
Pillar 4: Internal Practice
If it were as simple as knowing we should eat well and stay active, we would all have health and vitality. The challenge is that even though we know what to do, we don’t always know how to motivate ourselves to get it done. Consistent internal practices, like specific meditation and mindfulness techniques, can help us identify the emotional patterning that may be moving us away from our health and vitality vision. Spending just 20 minutes a day becoming aware of what your mind is thinking and what emotion you are experiencing can help you bridge the gap from where you are to the vision you want to create.
Pillar 5: Breath
Because we breathe without always consciously knowing we’re doing it, this pillar is often overlooked. How we breathe is of paramount importance, and breathing techniques can influence the body, mind, and emotions. According to Christophe André, in Proper Breathing Brings Better Health, “… every relaxation, calming or meditation technique relies on breathing, which may be the lowest common denominator in all the approaches to calming the body and mind.”
Pillar 6: Relationships
It would be a mistake to underestimate the power and influence our relationships can have on our overall well-being—especially those we are emotionally invested in and spend lots of time with. Surrounding ourselves with people that support and encourage our overall vitality enriches our life experience—while spending time with people who constantly suck our energy or don’t contribute meaningfully will stifle our overall happiness.
About Inner Matrix Systems
Inner Matrix Systems, based in Denver, is a personal mastery training system for high achievers. For more than twenty years, IMS has delivered a proprietary methodology that rewires, trains, and aligns the nervous system, emotions, and thought strategies to create real-life results. CEO, Joey Klein, and IMS have worked with more than 80,000 individuals from around the world through both live and online training programs, as well as one-on-one coaching. Clients have included: Boeing, IBM, Dell, Google, Panda Express, Coca Cola and The World Health Organization. Joey is the author of The Inner Matrix: Leveraging the Art & Science of Personal Mastery to Create Real Life Results (June 2021).