How to Increase and Build Vitality?

What Is Vitality?

Vitality is defined as “The state of being strong and active; energy.”

Naturopathic medicine works to assist the body in retaining and maintaining its vital energy, so understanding what vitality is and what it allows us to do is essential to receiving beneficial treatment.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the body’s life force, or vitality, is referred to a Qi. Treatments like Acupuncture move Qi in the body to where it best serves the whole and heals blockages so Qi can flow more freely.

What Does Vitality Help Us Do?

Vitality inspires and sustains all activities in our lives. Exercise, creative projects, and organizing your junk drawer all require varying levels of vitality.

One gift that vitality gives back to us is an understanding of what we should do with our time on this planet if we want to feel our best. When we engage in activities that give us energy – let’s say, painting or public speaking – we can take that as a sure sign that our individual body and mind like doing this activity and will thrive on doing more of the same. By gaining energy, we also gain direction and the energetic support to continue doing what is the best use of our unique talents and passions.

How Can We Develop Vitality?

Developing and sustaining vitality requires lifestyle adjustments that align with our core values and help us to balance our energy expenditure.

When planning how to gain and maintain energy in your life, consider:

• What foods make me feel sustained? What foods drain my energy and make me tired and lethargic?
• How much exercise energizes me, and how much exhausts me? (Yes, you can find a balance!)
• What emotional blocks can I release that have been stealing my energy?
• How can I meet my “tribal” need for financial sustenance and social contact as well as time alone and with family/ loved ones?
• How much vigor would you like to feel? If 5 is complete bliss and 0 is 6-feet-under, where would you like your level of vitality to fall?

By answering these questions, we can discover what keeps us feeling strong and vital and what drains our precious life force. From a naturopathic perspective, the following can increase your vitality for the long term:

• Eating fresh food seasonally.
• Getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night, and sleeping and waking with the dark/ dawn as often as is practical.
• Contributing to community.
• Regularly taking naturopathic treatments, including acupuncture, nutritional counseling, and bioidentical hormone therapy if necessary.
• Going for walks in nature.

Vitality is your energetic bank account. Keep it abundantly growing with nurturing practices that take your needs into account. With enough vital energy running through your body, there’s no challenge you can’t tackle!

Need help boosting your energy levels?

Contact Water’s Edge Natural Medicine today for an in-depth assessment with one of our skilled, compassionate naturopathic physicians. Call (206) 966-4522 or contact us online.