Is Your Physical Environment Making you Sick?

Close your eyes (no, not right now, you’re reading). Now imagine that you are surrounded by lush green grass, a warm breeze, and bits of sunshine sweep across your face through the leaves of tall oak tree.
Feels pretty good, eh?

Now imagine that your on the streets of an inner city. You’re alone and it’s sleeting. You can hear angry shouting around the next alleyway. There are bars on the windows of abandoned shops.
Does that feel stressful?

Maybe. Maybe not. To some, the second scenario might feel powerful. Maybe they were raised in that environment and that might feel like home to them. That same person may feel sweaty and overwhelmed sitting in the middle of some endless meadow.
What am I getting at here?

We all inherently know when we feel uncomfortable. Or do we? I liken this to the example of a frog being cooked in water. If a frog is dropped in boiling water, it will jump out. However, if the frog is placed in cool water, and the temperature is slowly turned to boiling, the frog will die. Often times it’s the situations of mediocrity in which we stay. This is the frog/water scenario. It’s easy enough to remain there, and making a large change seems awfully uncomfortable.

Can we all compare some situations to this?

I just recently left a somewhat toxic situation and it has inspired me to write this. The situation started out exciting and new. When I think about how I felt when I left it- the contrast is STARK. I am a healthy person; I am a holistic health coach, I eat a plant based diet, I exercise 4x per week, yet I noticed that I have been sick off and on for at least four months. I’ve gained weight. I’ve set back to complaining as a default (ew). I became really depressed. I knew something had to change.

How do we change this situation?

1. Recognize what the triggers are. Is the problem your environment? Or is the problem your own mindset?

2. Have a safe physical space. Make sure this is a space where you can be free (and give yourself permission to be free) of responsibility and distraction. Even if this is just simply the bathroom. I know some moms out there that would agree that a strong bathroom lock = sanity.

1. Start to put into action some ways you can change your poor physical environment. For instance, change your schedule around a depressive roommate. Make a new habit of eating lunch in a park to recharge from a low energy workplace. Find people in your life who support you in being the best version of you.

2. Find a way to feel differently about the situation. The best way to do this? Perspective. We have the ability to change the way we feel about everything, we just have to change the way we view our awareness of it. Obviously if there’s a situation of physical violence or the like, find a way out and find support. Changing your attitude towards a situation can help, even if it’s only a temporary fix.

Have you found yourself becoming physically ill from a depleting physical situation? How did you fix it?