Health Issues Articles
Your vocal health is determined by the health of your entire body
Have you ever noticed that when you are extremely fatigued, your voice is much weaker than if you are energized? Not surprisingly, your vocal health is determined by the health of your entire body. Thus, if any of the following 5 factors are typical of your lifestyle, so too will the following 5 factors have an affect on your speaking voice.
- Poor diet
- Lack of sleep
- Obesity, if it inhibits your ability to breathe
- Use of tobacco, illegal drugs (and even some legal ones), and excessive alcohol
- Stress
We need good energy input for maximum output
As women, we perform on the job depends on many variables: our skill set, mindset, personality type, and attitude. At any moment, we may carry out any number of tasks that call on us to be able to think, move, and execute practically simultaneously. It's like we're in constant air traffic controller-mode having to complete one task (plane landing) while getting ready for the next (plane taking off), plus keeping our eye on the one that's a few hours away (plane approaching our air space).
When you think about it in basic biological terms, that's a heck of a lot of demand on one person's body and mind. Add in all the other variables, like dealing with work relationships, the sights and sounds of the office, running in and out of meetings, etc., fighting traffic, never mind what we do before and after work, and the ante is raised even further. By the way, this also goes for online business owners, too. Even though we may work on a computer from home all day or from an Internet cafe, we still have a myriad of responsibilities in our jobs.
Do you have kith?
Dictionary.com defines "kith" as "acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in the same general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group." You need your kith and your kith needs you. Human beings necessarily depend on each other. As John Donne said, "No man is an island."
Just as we may not be aware of our big toe, until it hurts--we may not be aware of our dependence on our kith--until we hurt. That is what happened to Maria--and it changed how she related to neighbors and friends for the rest of her life. When Jorge died, Maria had no one. Not only had she lost her husband of thirteen years, but she lost only support; her only confidant.
"Life DOESN'T work, until you DO"
"Life DOESN'T work, until you DO." Latesha summarized a valuable lesson she had learned from a recent encounter with adversity. We laughed together, struck by Latesha's ability to communicate wisdom so simply and elegantly.
"Do you know what you just did?" I asked her. "You demonstrated, once again, that you have the gift of perspective. You just taught me something about life."
When you send out negative opinions you ALWAYS feel it in your own body first
Staying healthy is more important than ever considering the rising rates of cancer and chronic disease in our world - not to mention the expense of healthcare and the emotional fallout. While I personally have healthy nutrition habits and exercise regularly, I do very little specific teaching on what supplements to take or what exercise routine one should be on.
I tend to come from the core of what makes us stay healthy or get sick - mindset. Yes, even disease is related to how you think and feel. In fact, it can make or break you and holistic/integrative physicians already get this.
