Lifestyle Medicine: Meditation and Mindset
By Sharon Fekete
It is serendipitous to now engage our readers about what is known as ‘lifestyle medicine’ in our luxury lifestyle edition. This concept is revolutionizing our healthcare system and certainly holds a place in the future hub of the first certified wellness district in the country, Tampa Bay. This scientific approach to decreasing disease risk and illness by implementing nutrition, physical activity, stress reduction, rest, meditation and mindset is a breath of fresh air.
duPont REGISTRYTM sat down with Chitra Prasad-Patel, Co-Founder of Evolve Personal Health, about the benefits of lifestyle medicine.
Health is not just about the physical; it is also a combination of internal and external factors. Embracing happiness and encouraging a healthy mindset is a huge component for leading longer and healthier lives. As current research on brain structures indicates, mindfulness is an important tool in improving well-being. Furthermore, perhaps the most effective vehicle to reach mindfulness is meditation. The brain can be changed by conscious thoughts and actions, also known as neuroplasticity. Meditation can reverse the adverse effects of injuries, damage, or patterns created by trauma.
Lifestyle Medicine Perspective
At Evolve Personal Health, we address conditions through behaviors from a lifestyle medicine perspective. Variables such as how negative or positive a person behaves, eating habits, and levels of physical activity are all taken into consideration. These behaviors can be transferred into practical prescriptions to improve your life. For example, to improve hypertension we know that meditation can be the best avenue to pursue, as it will alleviate stress.
Reducing stress is the first step in becoming healthier, stronger, and happier. There is a direct correlation between a healthy brain and the practice of meditation. This practice is non- denominational, and transcends through all socioeconomic, educational, and cultural backgrounds. In order to understand a person’s purpose, introspective questions will be asked about why he/she is here and what they want to achieve. Through practices of meditation, yoga and breathing techniques we can reflect and gain clarity on these narratives. In a traditional medical practice, we are not always offered practical alternative methods to reduce stress.
In order to gain maximum benefit from services provided at Evolve Personal Health, knowing your goals is crucial on your journey to be better. Introspective conversations to work toward reversing health conditions will require an open mind, patience and commitment. Meditation and mindfulness is the foundation of the practice. Everything we do incorporates healthy and mindful initiatives vs. taking a pill to reduce anxiety and/or stress.
Tampa Bay is a forward thinking health conscious area. We are prime to become the first wellness district in the country. This innovative program would not work in other places; Tampa Bay is pioneering the way to preventative care. It is obvious that the community has a progressive understanding of health. Consider the amount of boutique fitness studios and different types of yoga options for people. A program such as this could only work in a progressively minded area such as ours, where collaboration and integration among experts of medicine and mindfulness intersect.
Evolve represents what medicine should be, reflecting kindness, compassion and openness in combining alternative and traditional methods to gain overall wellness. The space is serene in every sense of the word and infused with contagious energy.
On a personal note, when my father was informed he had a weak heart recently and mom recognized her nutritional habits could improve, they were encouraged to join Evolve. I am proud to say they are now both on a healthy regimen to actively improve and extend their remaining years of life. I have also slowly incorporated meditation into my entrepreneurial lifestyle thanks to this team of experts. It has certainly proven beneficial when faced with a need to gain clarity and tap into creativity.
