By Sandra Kahn, AP, RN, BSN, Dipl.Ac. (NCCAOM), RYT-200

Your lifestyle habits have a great effect on your health and your health responds ultimately to the kind of life you will live.

How you take care of your health is the most important decision you can make for yourself. I say “decision” because it is the action taken after much consideration and then committing yourself to it. Being in healthcare for over 30 years, I have witnessed how people have chosen to treat their bodies through their lifestyle choices. With that said, one of those people was me as I experienced my own healthcare challenges despite my formal nursing education and clinical training.

For nearly 25 years, my body was communicating with me, giving me signs that things were just not right. I chose to be in denial, continued to live my life doing what I was doing, and saying to myself that I’m OK,” “nothing to be concerned about,orit will clear on its own.” I did not accept the fact that there could possibly be something going awry inside of me. The fact was that there was something because abnormal hormonal levels, pain and a significant amount of inflammation for over 2 decades took its toll. The vicious cycle of pain and inflammation for so many years created remarkable tissue scarring. By the time I took action and sought out medical treatment, some of the minor harm was already done but there was a part that was still treatable. The question was now: how do I treat it?

With the collaboration of treating with an Acupuncture Physician and being my own patient advocate, I went from being in pain, frustrated, discouraged and depressed to being empowered, knowledgeable, confident, hopeful and excited about my health journey. I quickly realized that my lifestyle habits of over 25 years were leading me to a lifelong healing journey that I was committed to doing for myself. My 10-year holistic health path led me to so much information that I was not aware of and concepts that I had never known about in all my years in the healthcare industry.  However, in my personal journey and in the journey with my patients today, I discovered the basic fundamentals that everyone needs as a foundation for ultimate health.

There are 5 simple lifestyle tips that transformed me to be the healthiest version of myself:

  1. Proper hydration with water
  2. Healthy food intake with live foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains
  3. Regular exercise to improve overall quality of life
  4. Get your sleep, both quality and quantity are equally vital
  5. Reduce your stress to reach a state of calmness and relaxation

That’s it! Yes, they are simple but I know not always so easy to do consistently. In my article in CMSA Today, “*5* Simple Tips on How to Achieve Your Ultimate Health in 2022 and Beyond,” I discuss each tip in detail with action steps. My recommendation to you is to begin with where you are now with what you have, one tip and one action step at a time. This is how I did it and how I instruct my patients to start or resume their health journey of a lifetime.

Remember: Be kind to yourself, be patient, be committed and move forward at your own pace.  It’s never too late to be the healthiest version of yourself today and beyond!

Sandra Kahn, AP, RN, BSN, Dipl.Ac. (NCCAOM), RYT-200 is owner of Acupuncture & Oriental Healthcare Inc. in Davie, Florida, and has been practicing Oriental Medicine since 2007. Sandra is Past President of the Florida State Oriental Medical Association and currently serving as Secretary of the All Florida Case Management Network.
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Case Managers work hard and it's important to stop when you can to relax and refresh! We have some exciting events coming up for CM Week including Mindfulness sessions, Networking with friends and peers, CE opportunities, prizes and more! Go to https://cmsapmg.wpenginepowered.com/chapters/cm-week/ to reserve your spot! You deserve to be celebrated!