“Health4Life” has two interpretations which come to mind; “health for a lifetime”, or a more present “health for living”, in either or both cases it is a challenging idea, because sadly a lifetime or a daily life experience of true health is truly sensational when placed in the context of our cultures current and free flowing sickness epidemic. This Health4Life event was sensational but not sensationalised, as the truth regarding the relationship between our lifestyle choices and their impact on our present and future health is itself the sensational, needing not even the softest hint of spin. “Tackling the Stress factor” wasn’t the unveiling of a new wonder drug we’re all encouraged to feel we’re moving towards, this was the inaugural event of an organisation which is looking towards a cure for the “pill for an ill” mentality which we’re culturally fed, and increasingly growing sick of.
No matter our intention, passion often directs us neatly into a comfort zone with our soap box there welcoming our return. It would be seductive when organising a health and lifestyle event, to book a line up of speakers who can fit neatly together and perhaps reference eachother along the way. However, founder and event organiser Adele Wolstenhulme was clearly aiming to achieve something a little different here. This event was a carefully crafted collaboration of diversity, and celebration of the truly healthful potential found in understanding the potency of synergistic shifts in lifestyle habit.
As one who has struggled with anxiety and stress problems in the past, it was reassuring to have the subject presented by someone who is himself a paragon of calm intelligence. Key note speaker Dr L. Dorian Dugmore PhD delicately conducts his words with a firm command over the intricate mechanisms of stress responses, and he presents those details purposefully with a reassuring poise which you can’t help but be calmly infected by. As Dr Dugmore begun his presentation I may have felt uneasy because of my relationship with the subject, but I was comfortably navigated thru it as I deeper understood that unease and was enthralled by the journey. Dr Dugmore champions choice - The intricate chemical exchanges which underlie “toxic stress” are exposed as choices our body makes based on the choices we make everyday, and as I spoke with Dr Dugmore on his work with some 120 football league managers, I further appreciated that while those healthier choices of perspective and focuses may simply be decisions, their application in the context of our lives is something which can require skilled management. Our lives are complicated, simple solutions may not be easily applied to complicated and overwhelming problems.
Dr Dugmore’s co-speaker was the inspirational Anna Hemmings MBE, Britain’s most successful ever female canoeist, who having reached the peak of her sport was struck down with ill-health and diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2003, only to fight her way back to well health, becoming an Olympian for the second time, and to winning a further three world titles in a row to make SIX in total. Anna is more than an inspiration for me, she is a reminder that the condition diagnosed as “ME”/CFS is a holistic issue, and while the foundation of my own cure was built on non-toxic eating and nutritional excellence, there are many others finding the reversal of their symptoms further towards non-toxic feeling and emotional excellence. The solution most likely closer reflect the activating cause. For me food was and is always first, but my causal triggers were rooted primarily in the physical, physical traumas presenting also mental and emotional stresses, rather than mental and emotional stresses impacting as physical trauma. It can be a chicken and egg problem, which is why I avoid both. For Anna Hemmings her solutions were found in a process called “Reverse Therapy”, and there can be no disputing her results, as she humbly and proudly produced her three post recovery gold medals to the awe and resounding appreciation of myself and the rest of the audience.
This reminder to stay aware of the true comprehensive relationship between our whole lifestyle and our whole health, resonated through the day. The delightful Philippa Levinson presented the nutritional and detoxifying solutions to ill-health which she discovered having successfully battled her own ME symptoms. Philippa sung from my heart as she eloquently embraced us with a holistic appreciation for well health and happiness thru balancing our bodies with detoxification, and nutrient support from both a physical and mental perspective. Dr Marylyn Glenville PhD offered a contrast in tone, sharing with us the feast of nutritional science which has made her a prolific best-selling author and powerful presence in the world of nutrition.
If there was an ideal speaker to keep us tuned in after the break, it was the exuberant business psychologist and stress expert Sue Firth. Sue was a vibrant flow of fresh air swirling in among the audience and pulling us into her presentation with laughter and smiles. Balancing the topics of nutrition and mood-chemistry gymnastically, and centring on a “neurological” consideration of the heart. Sue is entertaining and hugely knowledgeable, leaving her audience (and it was indeed HER audience) uplifted, exhilarated, and informed. Appreciating that we can “thrive on stress” rather than be unhealthily overwhelmed by it.
After the closing Q and A panel session I discovered a real low point to my day and that was having unfortunately missed Naturopath Benjamin Brown’s earlier presentation. This was a guy after my own holistic heart, and I think he would engage the attention on any expert panel. I whole heartedly look forward to having more time with him in the future, and I highly recommend some moments spent to get to know his “time for wellness” organisation.
There was no highlight in this day, the day itself was a highlight in my calendar, but had I have not been given the time with organiser Adele Wolstenhulme I may not have left the RIBA so completely charmed, and quite so utterly enthusiastic for Health4life’s future endeavours. We talked on the underpinning themes of the day; building foundations on nourishing our bodies with whole healthful food choices while nourishing the rest and whole of us thru our approach to our personal and working lives. Both becoming healthy and supportive extensions of eachother, when appreciating that whatever the nature of success we are looking towards, our achievements operate within the jurisdictions of our health, clarity and energy. That for the human animal to work well and enjoy a whole human experience, we must work with nature, supporting our efforts with a well nourished mind and body and not sabotage our machinery with toxic food choices and toxic stress responses. Productivity is the human animal’s natural function, and we need to activate that function with health supporting lifestyle. As well as personal informed decision making, this lifestyle needs for a deeper understanding of these realities by the corporate world; a conscious and educated appreciation of how working smart means to work with health, not without, and not against.
Health4life was born beautifully out of Adele’s motivation to reach out more. Considering that those seeking her guidance as a consultant had already made some degree of informed choice to make changes, she felt compelled to explore a way to promote healthful information and make that information available to as broad a spectrum of people as possible, “as a consultant I was forever asking myself how I could help more people, how could I reach out further?“ In her introduction Adele explained a hope for us to take away three things from the day, I took more than that, and I took away one important thing and that was hope, hope that these ripples being made by academics and by those having successfully applied healing personally, will by their volume, accuracy and their sincerity make the waves of change for a wholly healthier future.
Written by Richie A. Watson for the Holistic Future Network and Rising Up! In association with Natural Balance Foods.
Adele Wolstenhulme FdSc DipION BA (Hons) Dip IT Sec Man mBANT
http://www.inside-outnutrition.com/
Dr L. Dorian Dugmore PhD and Anna Hemmings MBE
www.beyondthebarriers.co.uk
Benjamin Brown ND
www.timeforwellness.org
Dr Marilyn Glenville Bed MA PhD
www.marilynglenville.com
Sue Firth BSc (Hons) MSc
www.yourwhealth.com
Philippa Levinson DipION mBANT
www.detox-international.com/Philippa_Levinson.html