Miss Bonnie Alice Green is one of my oldest friends and favorite people. She now lives in Portland, Oregon with her amazing husband in a loft above their art gallery. Doesn't that sound like a movie? Bonnie has always moved, a dancer and a graduate of Kinesiology at Indiana University. We were able to get together recently and chat over baked kale chips about food, and movement, and all the ways America has it wrong, and the ways America has it right. It was such a beautiful evening, one where we reconnected, and one where I learned all about her passion for wellness. Please visit her (amazing) blog GarbanzoGreen.com for more information about health and wellness.
Here's her post on her version of living counter-culturally:
Lifestyle-related
health complications, unique to this modern age of convenience and stress, have
become an overwhelming burden in American culture. We have become quite
skillful at applying band-aids to situations, figuring out how to ‘fix’
whatever we broke (when we were trying to make it better in the first place). Our
entire healthcare system is built up around the idea of treating instead of preventing
disease. Some of the problems we’ve created for ourselves are not so easily
undone (i.e. obesity, chronic stress, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, anxiety).
However, I do believe that there are ways we can reclaim our quality of life in
a very foundational way. The truth of the matter is that learning to
restructure our priorities, in order to strive for preventative healthfulness,
is countercultural and certainly requires intentionality.
Every
hour of everyday we make choices that either contribute to or take away from
our healthfulness. I am convinced that keeping an open mind about lifestyle
change is the most valuable thing you can do for your health. Paying attention to
how you feel and figuring out why you feel that way is one of the simplest
ways to identify red flags and begin to make small changes. I think we could
start by eating more vegetables, exercising and scheduling time for play and
rest. Our bodies are communicating to us all the time about what is good for us
and what isn’t. The problem is that we don’t have the time or energy to respond.
We think ‘oh, I’ll get to that later’ or ‘it’s just part of getting older.’
People tend to ignore their body’s needs until serious complications arise.
This is where I think we’ve taken a wrong turn. No matter how old or young or sick or healthy
you are- I believe that you can establish habits now that will serve you well in the future.
Our
nation’s health is suffering at the hands of convenience and excess, but I’m
hopeful that people are beginning to understand this crisis. I am excited about
some of the changes I see happening: nutrition labels on restaurant menus, school
lunch revolutions, Michelle Obama’s Let’s
Move campaign and a higher level of interest in farmers markets and
community supported agriculture. Also, there is more research than ever validating
the importance of exercise on heart health, stress relief and weight management.
Maybe someday insurance companies will cover the costs of gym memberships or cooking
classes and see a dramatic drop in the need for prescription medications. I
encourage you to dedicate yourself to learning more about where your food comes
from and what it is (or isn’t) doing for you. Ignorance is not bliss. It is time for us to understand the consequences of our choices
and relearn how to take care of ourselves.