Dr. Chad Sato
Hawai‘i Herald Columnist
We are entering hurricane season once again and if Hurricane Calvin kept its intensity and decided to wreak havoc on the islands, how many of you were prepared? Fortunately for us, Hurricane Calvin was downgraded to a tropical storm, and as it left the islands has been declared a post-tropical cyclone.
Back in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, I was a Boy Scout for Troop 325 and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1989, and that’s where I learned an invaluable motto, which is “to be prepared.” Since it has been over 30 years since our beautiful islands got rocked by Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992 and nearly 40 years by Hurricane Iwa in 1982, Hawai‘i is on borrowed time and ripe for a hurricane to hit with its torrential winds and rains. The looming question is “are you prepared?”
In this particular vein of being prepared, I am encouraging not only for you to take the necessary precautions for future hurricanes, but to also create a plan to be prepared in regard to your health and wellness. The best offense in creating vibrancy and verve in your life is to create plans to ensure that you stay healthy, wealthy and wise. I will be sharing some suggestions and recommendations on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level to help you be prepared so that you can live a life full of happiness and well-being.
Physical preparations
On a physical level, the usual recommendations in taking care of your body applies: body movement, proper sleep hygiene, drinking adequate amounts of water, supplements to boost your immune system and taking time for yourself. I could bring back all the recommendations that I shared in the past articles, but the main idea is to treat your body like a temple. When we are young, we feel invincible and that we can do and eat anything that we want. As we get older and our metabolism begins to slow and our waist begins to expand, making the necessary changes in our lives is a choice. Your physical body and health is your responsibility and no one else’s. You have the choice of what you put into your body and whether or not you choose to exercise and keep your body in relatively good physical shape. Be the one to take ownership of all the decisions to keep you healthy and well.
Besides taking care of your body-temple, be proactive of your physical surroundings as well. If your house needs to be fixed or modified, take the initiative to make plans and create a timetable to get it done. Planning now and being prepared does two things: gives you peace of mind for the future and usually costs a lot less when you are not in emergency mode. The all-too-common phrase of “bumbye” or “I will eventually get to it because I have time” makes many put off their to-do list for tomorrow that could be done today. We work our entire lives for money, but if we don’t pay attention and take care of our physical bodies, just like our homes, it slowly deteriorates. Act now instead of having to react to a future event that won’t necessarily have to be your reality.
Emotional preparations
Your emotional state is just as important to prepare for as your physical body. Especially with so many things changing in the world and emotions running high, with uncertainties galore, shoring up your brain-gut axis is essential to help keep your emotions even Steven. Maintaining a healthy microbiome in your gut has been discovered in the past ten years to help keep your emotions in check. By keeping your gut alkaline and taking the right, specific probiotics will help to produce the happy hormone, oxytocin, that your brain needs to maintain a positive emotional frame of reference.
Another way to prepare your emotional level is to look at what triggers you. You have the power to either react or respond. The difference between the two is that when you react, you allow your emotions to run you, while responding entails dealing with a certain situation incorporating your rational mind. So how do we not react? The strategy to deal with your triggers is to examine the traits that the other person exhibits that gets your goat. First is to identify your triggers and then to self-reflect on times where you have done the same trait that bothers you. Be brutally honest with yourself and by owning the traits that the person exhibits help you to neutralize the trigger. This strategy is more commonly known as mirroring and is far from easy to do. Who wants to admit that we do or have done the same trait as the person who irritates us the most? Try this exercise and you will magically witness your triggers start to lessen.
Mental preparations
Believe it or not, your mind is very powerful and tricky at the same time. Your perceptions of certain challenging or inspiring experiences shape the way you deal with the world and behave. Your mind can either be your best ally or your self-sabotaging enemy. This is where monitoring your thoughts and being conscious of what thoughts you entertain comes into play. If you find yourself repeating the same story or discover self-limiting thoughts, make it a habit to question those stories and thoughts to determine if they are still valid. It is through your life experiences that you gain knowledge, but it is when you apply that knowledge in a constructive way where it becomes wisdom.
Don’t let your past perceived traumatic experiences run the way you live your life. All of us got challenged with COVID-19 three years ago and some thrived while many others suffered and still suffer today. Remember you possess the power to choose. You choose each and every moment how you want to think and respond to situations that you encounter. Learn to tune into your gut and trust your inner guidance, which may help give you confidence in what you do or don’t do. Furthermore, by making it a practice to observe every so often what you are thinking and why you do what you do will help you to make shifts when you need to. Fortify your mind, because it is a powerful tool that can help you stay balanced and centered. Incorporate body awareness to help verify that your thoughts are coherent and that you are living according to your highest values.
Spiritual preparations
Last but not least is your spiritual energetic preparations. Whether you are religious or not, it’s important to take some time to shore up your spiritual focus. If you already have a spiritual practice or ritual, hats off to you and keep at it. For those that don’t, now is the perfect time to prepare spiritually. A spiritual action is how you choose to show up each moment in your life. Listen to your inner voice and intuition. Are you willing to follow what your inner compass is guiding you to do, or do you allow all the opinions and judgments of others dictate how you want to live your life? Meditating and taking time to connect with mother earth and nature is essential to quiet your mind and emotions. Your spiritual energetic body is unique to you and others may not understand but if it makes sense to you then that is what really matters. Take time to build trust in yourself and become solid in your truth. It’s your life so make choices and take actions that uplift your spirit and soul.
Conclusion
Like preparing for a hurricane or upcoming tempest, it is the preparation for the worst possible outcome that is of the utmost importance. Some people may go overboard, but it’s better to be prepared than to be sorry. I didn’t fully realize the power of the Boy Scout motto to “be prepared,” at the time, but putting it into practice actually helps to bring me peace of mind.
When you put yourself in a place of readiness, it helps to eliminate worries about the uncertain future. So choose today to be prepared so that way you can live life with more ease and harmony.
Dr. Chad Sato graduated from UCLA in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and earned the doctor of chiropractic degree with honors from Life Chiropractic College West in 1998. Sato founded his practice, Aloha Chiropractic (drchadsato.com), in Mänoa valley, O‘ahu, on Oct. 1, 1999. He is a sought-after educator, speaker, author and mind-body specialist who helps people reach new levels of empowerment when it comes to their health and wellness by staying present with their body signs, making appropriate life choices and utilizing stress instead of managing it.
