How to Make Health Decisions

With all the myriad of environmental inputs, choices, and treatments, how do we make health decisions?

How do we escape the energies of analysis by paralysis?

For starters, we need to ground ourselves in multiple energies or dimensions that ensures we can see the big picture, become a witness to what is arising, and avoid spiraling down the path to pains and suffering.  

Four Areas to Consider 

1. Subjective: intuition, interest, accessibility, opportunity, necessity, and overall level of motivation
2. Objective: although objective, tangible results (e.g., blood work) have been the gold standard, they must be balanced and viewed holistically with all the factors listed (e.g., the blood work is normal, however, the patient feels horrible) 
3. Health advantages: comparing long versus short term benefits and costs
4. Season of life

 What is the Season of Life?

Our genetics, personality, and season of life will often dictate whether a particular practice or therapy is nourishing or toxic. For example, metaphoric summer practices include action and achievement, while a season of winter begs for rest and recovery. Problems arise when we use winter practices in a season of summer and vice versa. Consider the following mismatches:

• A loved one suddenly passes, and a person continues with their perpetual summer day-to-day hustle and bustle without taking time to metabolize their emotions, grieve, and welcome the temporary season of winter.
• A person engages in intensive exercise practices while, at the same time, ignores a severe musculoskeletal injury or severe adrenal exhaustion.
• Someone stays in a perpetual season of winter (apathy, addiction, and pathological depression) fed by endless nights of TV binge-watching, overeating, excess alcohol consumption, and avoidance of nature while, at the same time, spring and summer are knocking at their door offering the gift of rebirth.

 You Can Choose Again

Sit in a posture and become witness to all the subjective and objective energies. Wait for these energies to come together in a coherent manner. From this posture, you're better equipped to make a decision.

One of the most important pieces of advice to remember is that tomorrow is a new day. And tomorrow you are ALLOWED TO MAKE A NEW DECISION - especially if and when new information arises in either the subjective or objective domains. Give yourself the gift of certainty in the moment and know that tomorrow or next week you can revisit and make a more nourishing decision if needed.