What's A Better Health Approach Than Reactive or Proactive?

There seems to be 2 main schools of behaviour when it comes to health issues. (I’ll explain what this has got to do with The 3 Little Pigs later).

Firstly, there are the reactive types – they're the types that whenever something comes up, they spur into action to try & fix it (aka make it go away).

But ‘reactives’…, are you doing too many random things that are actually counteractive to your health? This type of behaviour can lead to frantic, haphazard actions where motivation fizzles after the problem goes away (until next time).

Then, secondly, there are the proactive types – they're the future-thinking types, anticipating calamity by adopting good health practices.

But ‘proactives’…, what's your true focus? Health? Or avoiding being sick in the future? This type of behaviour can lead to adopting standardised actions that make you feel good but may not actually be doing what’s needed. Shock comes up in the future when things go wrong anyway.

I'd like to propose an even better health focus than reactive or proactive.

​An ‘interactive’ approach. Let me explain.
​

When you're interactive with health, you're present & connected with what you really need. This means that you have an awareness of the ‘weak spots’ in your body, but you're also aware of ways to support these areas. And this awareness is not a ‘cookie-cutter’ approach to health, but what works uniquely for your body and being.

You know yourself. Each level of healing is exploring deeper and deeper into yourself.

You have learnt tools and tricks that work for you. This comes not by blatantly rote-accepting what others have told you, but by testing and trialling on yourself. Over time, there's this symbiotic communication that forms where you develop the intuition needed to stay in tune with yourself and what your body needs.

The 3 Little Pigs
If you haven’t heard the children story – then the very basics of the story (without the embellishments) goes like this:

There were once 3 little pigs, and each built a house for themselves. The first little pig built his house out of straw. The second built his out of sticks. And the third built his out of bricks. Along came a big bad wolf, who proceeded to the first little pig’s house and blew his house in. He went to the second little pig’s house and also blew his house in.

He went to the third little pig’s house, and said, ‘Little pig, little pig – let me in!’ To which the third little pig replied, ‘Not by the hair on my chiny chin chin.’ And so the wolf huffed & he puffed, but he couldn’t blow the house in. The big bad wolf realised that there was a chimney & decided to climb down it to get to the little pig. But the third little pig was prepared with a boiling pot under the chimney & defeated the wolf once again.

​The end.

​What has this got to do with health?

The first little pig is the ‘reactive’ health focus. It has the notion of clutching at straws, all with an energy of desperation but little substance.

The second little pig is the ‘proactive’ health focus. Although seemingly more solid (than straws), when it comes to the crunch, it also has little withholding substance. Solidarity founded for the sake of image only is not a strong foundation at all.

The third little pig is the ‘interactive’ or ‘active’ health focus. While this takes longer to build and develop, it also is doing what is ACTUALLY needed, not what is thought is needed. Good knowledge of how your body works – what actions are solid and what is not – in addition to not necessarily covering up ‘weak spots’ but instead making the most of it. This is the way to really turn the tables.

And when the ill-wind of ill-health approaches, you will see which health focus is left standing when the dust settles.

Reactive vs Interactive
Reactive approaches to health are easy to see from the outside, but not so easy from the inner perspective of a health crisis. But the feeling is recognisable.

FEAR.

Not that fear is necessarily a bad thing. A reactive health approach is good in times of emergency when it’s important to spring into action immediately. There are times when short-term focus is important – and emergencies are a good example of this.

However, in a health situation that requires long-term, consistent action and change – reactively clutching at straws is perhaps not the best approach. The energy is quick, but it’s also over in a flash. And it’s harder to continue taking the action required when gremlins aren’t knocking at your door.

This creates an oscillating type effect where action only is spurred in a crisis type situation – and ignored when nothing is wrong. Yo-yo dieting is a good example (with the perceived crisis of putting on weight).

When clients come for an Intuitive Health Planning session, and I ask them what challenges they have with health – over half say weight issues. And while it’s true that our health system does currently claim that health issues are linked to weight, the real underlying focus is not that they want to be healthy, but they want to get rid of something they don’t like about themselves.

For example, if we have a society that cherishes weight gain (and there have been societies/tribes from time to time in history) – this would no longer be confused with health. Honestly, what they really want is not to feel shame (because our society (currently) finds less weight more attractive), rather than real health.

From an inter-active health perspective, fear can also be there from time to time. But the fear (of death, shame, incapacity, etc) is not the driving force.

What's really important, is the relationship where more and more of ourselves are integrated.

Here, pain & symptoms are not about quick fixes or eradication, but a deep understanding that something is just not right. Also, understanding that change is possible, and the willingness to explore of all levels to find that avenue for change.

Your body vehicle is something to be cherished, and that requires an exploration of yourself physically, energetically, emotionally & mentally.

You actually want to BE with yourself, rather than get away. Here, you can start RESPONDING, rather than reacting.

Proactive vs Interactive
Proactive approaches to health are a little bit trickier. This is the commonly prescribed ideal ~ do all these ‘right things’ and you will be healthy.

But when you consider the definition of proactive, it might make more sense.

Proactive behaviour considers acting in advance of a future situation, usually an anticipated difficulty or problem. While it also means taking control rather than ‘reacting’ to situations gone wrong or waiting complacently, it’s focus remains on avoiding a future calamity.

This one is harder to recognise on a feelings basis – but could come across as PRIDE. You feel good, you’re doing the right thing, being an upstanding person, have the know-how that others don’t have. But, it ends up in forcing actions that are not necessarily truly aligned with yourself.

Some might actually be taking an ‘interactive’ approach but mistaken it for a ‘proactive’ approach because there has been no differentiation before. The subtleties should not go unnoticed.

Again, being proactive is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s great for that ‘oomph’ that’s need to transition into new health habits. Because, let’s face it, most of us resist change in the long-run. We get comfortable in our little hovels and ways of being.

However, when considering your health throughout all your life, not just a snap shot in time, our needs change based on different phases of life. We also have very individual cases, all of which needs to be taken into account. What is true to do at one point in your life, may be different in another.

All parts of us need to be taken into account. And that’s why things like Blood Type diets and pre-set supplemental regimes have varying results. Because these are not customised enough to your situation.

They would definitely work for people who had previously poor health practices, because on a general level, most health diets & practices are just common sense. Less processed foods, more natural and varied diet, do some exercise & movement and just reduce stress.

But, Brandon Bays story comes to mind as a good example. She talks about how she developed a massive tumour to her shock, as she was eating the right foods, exercising regularly, taking care of her mindset and enjoying her successful life. Her journey of uncertainty resolved as she explored & developed a method to delve into cellular emotion locked away from childhood trauma. And with working with the true root cause, things started healing in her body.

From an interactive health perspective, health is not done for ‘health’s sake’ but to be with self, work with self, do what is functionally needed to fully enjoy this life, re-integrate with self. This means actually connecting to yourself, rather than imposing health ideals.

Here, health is not a ‘right way’ approach, an impossible perfect to achieve – but an understanding, love & acceptance of who you really are. You actually want to be true to yourself and your body more. This often means throwing away out-dated ideas and notions of what is ‘right’ health.

Adopting an Interactive Health Approach
It’s hard to give a protocol on adopting an inter-active approach to health, because that would just be creating more ‘cookie-cutter’ templates. But if I were to give 2 key pointers – these would be it…

Firstly, develop an understanding of your weak spots. In the physical, but also in the energetic, emotional and mental aspects. When you develop an awareness, either from weak spots ‘inherited’ from birth or developed through life, you start to also develop ways to support yourself. You are only as weak as your weakest link/s.

​Secondly, develop your intuition in relation to your health. Develop the ability to know when things take effect (or not), the ability to feel when something isn’t right inside, the ability to explore & transmute aspects of your physical, energetic, emotion and mental selves. Healing is becoming whole once again – and you don’t have to understand the parts of you that are lost, you can have intuition guide you back home.

So, next time the ill-wind of ill-health is knocking on your door, wanting to blow you down… rather than yelling out reactively or proactively – ‘Not by the hair on our chiny chin chin!’, you can trust that you have built up the knowledge and know-how to withstand what’s needed. Because, now you are in a truly interactive relationship with your body, responding to what's needed, happy to actually BE together & ready to support each other throughout this life.