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How To Get Well and Stay Well: 6 Healthy Habits We All Need To Know with Dr Gemma Newman #420

Jan 24, 2024 2h 5m 39 insights
What is it that really makes us healthy? Is it regular trips to the doctor, a swift diagnosis, and medicine when we need it? Or do we need a more holistic approach? Today’s guest believes it is the latter.    Dr Gemma Newman has been a family doctor in the NHS for 20 years. She is regularly invited to speak and teach all over the world and is incredibly passionate about treating body, mind and spirit as one - and this forms the basis of her brand new book, Get Well Stay Well - The Six Healing Health Habits You Need To Know.   Like me, Gemma increasingly found that her conventional medical training wasn’t yielding positive results for many of her patients - so she decided to take a more open-minded approach, studying nutrition, psychotherapy and a range of other holistic methods and combined them with her conventional medical practice. And, very soon, she began to see radical transformations in the health of her patients.   It’s this holistic method that Gemma explains in our conversation today, using the acronym GLOVES - which points to six key areas of life we can address if we want to get well and stay well. They’re ways of thinking, being and doing that should be front and centre in our lifestyles, and, of course, we discuss them all during our conversation together.    Crucially, Gemma, believes the first step in any effective, lasting behaviour change is finding self-compassion, and her approach will help you trust your inner wisdom, feel more in control, and stop outsourcing your wellbeing to the doctor’s surgery. And in a world where ‘wellness’ often comes with a hefty price tag, her suggestions are all free.   Gemma writes and speaks from the heart and I think you will really enjoy this conversation. Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com. Find out more about my NEW Journal here https://drchatterjee.com/journal Thanks to our
Actionable Insights

1. Prioritize Self-Compassion for Change

Begin any lasting behavior change by cultivating self-compassion, as it is crucial for seeing a better version of your future self and overcoming challenges in self-perception.

2. Reframe Your Life’s Narrative

Understand that everything in life is a story, and you have the autonomy to reframe your narrative, which can profoundly impact your long-term well-being.

3. Practice Forgiveness for Self

Engage in forgiveness not for the person you are forgiving, but as a profound gift to yourself, as it releases resentment and significantly elevates your personal health.

4. Apply the Meaning Maker Exercise

When facing emotional struggles, write down objective facts without emotional attachment, then identify what you learned or are grateful for from the experience to find peace.

5. Lead with Compassion & Acceptance

Approach situations by leading with compassion and acceptance first, as this mindset makes the process of forgiveness and other interactions significantly easier.

6. Challenge Negative Self-Talk

Become aware of and challenge relentless negative self-talk, recognizing it as an exhausting internal adversary that can be detrimental to your well-being.

7. Reclaim Personal Health Ownership

Empower yourself by taking back ownership of your inner wisdom and expertise regarding your health, rather than solely outsourcing it to professionals.

8. Embrace Setbacks with Compassion

When facing setbacks or perceived failures, avoid self-criticism and instead embrace the journey with self-compassion, recognizing that every experience contributes to your current state and growth.

9. Adopt the GLOBS Framework

Implement the GLOBS framework—Gratitude, Love, Outside, Veggies (nutrition), Exercise (movement & breathing), and Sleep—as key areas to address for holistic health and well-being.

10. Implement Small, Consistent Changes

Identify a few small, actionable changes you can make consistently, as these accumulate into significant health improvements over time.

11. Recognize Cumulative Habit Effects

Understand that small, daily actions, whether beneficial or harmful, have a cumulative effect on your long-term health and well-being.

12. Journal Daily Quality Intention

Each morning, journal and choose one specific quality you want to embody and show the world that day, bringing it into sharp focus and making it more likely to guide your actions.

13. Ask Daily Purpose Questions

To find purpose, ask yourself daily: ‘What is my most important value today?’ and ‘What can I do today that will honour that value?’ as this helps you show up as the person you want to be.

14. Create Value Code Word

After identifying your important values, create a personal code word that reminds you of them, strengthening your connection and helping you channel those values more viscerally.

15. Practice Visualization for Future

Engage in visualization to imagine a better future or desired health circumstances, opening your mind to possibilities and helping to drive different habits and actions.

16. Seek Experiences of Awe

Actively seek out experiences that evoke awe, whether externally (like a sunset or music) or internally (like reflecting on profound love), as this can be deeply transformative and inspiring.

17. Practice Deep Listening

To understand where challenges originate for others, listen deeply to their stories and the narratives they tell themselves about their experiences or identity.

18. Understand Past Influences, Not Blame

Reflect on past life events not to assign blame, but to understand how they shaped your opinions of the world and yourself, which then opens your mind to new ways of approaching life’s challenges.

19. Connect with Nature Daily

Prioritize being outside in nature and cultivating an appreciation for it, as this is integral to improving health and vitality, and fosters mindfulness for supporting and sustaining nature.

20. Use Physical Activity for Emotional Release

Engage in physical activities like yoga or exercise to release energy, as the body and mind are intimately connected, and this can significantly benefit psychological and emotional well-being.

21. Prioritize Sufficient Sleep

Ensure you get enough sleep, as it directly improves the health of your immune system by influencing the number of natural killer cells in your body.

22. Eat Mindfully and Slowly

Sit down to eat, enjoy your food, and chew slowly to activate digestive enzymes and properly assimilate nutrients, which is important for a healthy immune system.

23. Practice Gratitude Daily

Engage in gratitude by recognizing lessons learned from life experiences and appreciating moments of beauty around you, even during struggles, to bring more light and self-compassion.

24. Use Gratitude for Pain & Mood

Practice gratitude, such as through journaling, to diminish physical pain sensation and improve mood, as it helps let go of negative ruminations and can lead to a 16% reduction in pain perception.

25. Practice EFT Tapping

Use the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) by rating a struggle, then tapping specific pressure points while repeating a mantra like ‘Even though I have this [problem], I love and accept myself,’ to diminish its intensity.

26. Shift Gaze to Horizon

To promote calm and activate your parasympathetic nervous system, regularly shift your visual focus by looking out into the distance, as far as you can, allowing your eyes to relax.

27. Walk Barefoot for Grounding

Walk barefoot on grass or earth to connect with nature and potentially benefit from an electron transfer from the earth, which acts as a large grounding globe.

28. Bring Nature Indoors

Incorporate elements of nature into your home, such as houseplants, pots of herbs, nature screensavers, or pets, to visually please and potentially improve indoor air quality and mood.

29. Engage with Water for Well-being

Look at or be near water to boost your mood and potentially gain energetic advantages through electron transfer, even if it’s just a tank of water or walking by the seafront.

30. View Nature Images for Calm

If direct access to nature is limited, view images of nature to help relax your body and mind, as studies show this can provide mood-boosting effects.

31. Find Micro Purposes

Recognize and embrace small, daily responsibilities, like caring for a houseplant, as micro purposes that bring satisfaction and value to your life.

32. Focus on Plants, Peace, Purpose

Simplify your health journey by focusing on the three P’s: Plants (nutrition and nature), Peace (mindfulness, relaxation, forgiveness), and Purpose (values, meaning, connection).

33. Utilize Free Well-being Practices

Explore and implement numerous free practices and experiences that can enhance your well-being, as many effective strategies do not require financial investment.

34. Reflect on Early Life Decisions

Acknowledge that personal blind spots exist and reflect on how decisions made in early life impact current worldviews and experiences.

35. Cultivate Love Through Connectivity

Understand love as an awareness of our fundamental connectivity and our ability to make a positive difference in the lives of others, recognizing that we are all healers.

36. Foster Connection Through Gratitude

Connect with yourself through gratitude and self-compassion, as this makes you more likely to connect with others from a similar space, elevating both yourself and those around you.

37. Practice Forest Bathing

Engage in ‘forest bathing’ or walks in natural settings, as studies show this can lead to lower blood pressure, reduced pulse rate, and improved physiology compared to urban walks.

38. Reduce Rumination with Nature

Spend time in nature to reduce activity in the brain regions responsible for rumination, thereby improving mental well-being.

39. Seek Nature for Perspective

Spend time in nature to create mental space and gain perspective on overwhelming situations, which can then enable you to make necessary life changes.