Balance Your Tires: Return to a Holistic Healthy Lifestyle

By Susan L. Radecky, M.D.

Balanced, fulfilled, whole -- isn't this the kind of life you've always dreamed of? Then why does every day ordinarily feel like just the opposite -- unbalanced, unfulfilled and fragmented? Why does life so often feel like a car out of balance that just keeps pulling you to one side or the other? Let me offer a way of looking at ourselves that will realign our tires and restore much-needed balance in our life.

In the past 30 years, social scientists have discovered a more comprehensive method to study our health. They suggest we view ourselves as more than just a physical body, but examine our lives through the biopsychosocialspiritual lens. Don't let the 24-letter word intimidate you. It's a simple concept. Think about it in terms of an automobile. The "bio" or our physical body -- our physical traits because of genetics, measured blood pressure and weight, poor vision and so on -- represents one wheel.

Our second wheel is the "psycho", psychological or mind, which encompasses all of the emotional and intellectual activity that is part of our lives. The center of this action is in our brains. Remember, as human beings everything we experience is experienced through our senses and processed in our mind. So when someone asks, "Do you mean this is all in my head?" Answer confidently, "Absolutely!"

But that isn't it. The "social" aspect of our lives represents the third wheel. We all are social beings and much of who we are is defined by our relationships to our family, friends and people we interact with every day. And finally, the fourth wheel symbolizes the "spiritual" component of our lives. Secular scientists define this aspect as the source of our meaning.

All four wheels are essential to keeping our car in balance. It takes four quality tires to drive the car smoothly and straight. And this worldview isn't new. Biopsychosocialspiritual wellness has deep roots.

Ancient cultures understood that the four components -- bio, mind, social and spiritual -- all were an essential part of wellness. They never examined one tire without taking a look at the other three. Well, somewhere along the path of wellness into today, we've lost our way. We've stopped checking all four tires and started fragmenting our whole being. We're unbalanced.

Viewing ourselves as Body-Mind-Social-Spirit is key to restoring that balance. Consider all four components in your life in one day or one week. Which one gets the most attention? Think of attention as good or bad energy. Are you obsessed with going to the gym but haven't spent a night out with friends or family in months? Have you neglected one aspect of yourself and consumed yourself with another? Is your physical obsession hindering the growth of your spiritual component?

How balanced are you? Is your car pulling you off to one side? Is something inside of you hinting that it's time for a tune up? If so, spend some time reflecting on your whole self. We are beings created for wholeness and we can regain that wholeness through balanced, focused attention to all four aspects of body, mind, social and spiritual. Is it time to get your tires realigned?

"The Michigan Symposium for Integrative Oncology" is being presented September 23 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. The symposium is presented by The Wege Institute at Saint Mary's and The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary's. It is sponsored by the Wege Foundation. For more information contact The Wege Institute at 616-752-5052 or download the registration form at: www.wegeinstitute.org/news/IOS_registration.pdf.

Susan L. Radecky, M.D., M.P.A. is Director of the Grand Rapids Family Practice Residency and was one of the founders of the Integrative Medicine program at The Wege Institute at Saint Mary's. As a family physician and teacher, she is committed to creating environments that promote personal and organizational transformation through wholeness. For more information contact the Wege Institute at Saint Mary's: 616-752-6923.