Lifestyle is the general attitudes, interests, behaviors, and behavioral orientations of a person, family, group, or society. The word was first introduced by Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler in his famous book, The Case of Miss R. with the implied meaning of “the general nature of a person’s innermost basic personality as established at early childhood”. In the years since then, this concept has been refined and applied not only to psychology but to many other fields as well. The definition now often includes attitudes and beliefs about one’s place in society, as well as ones regarding social interaction and interpersonal interactions.
Within the framework of this broad definition, two main camps have emerged: the “back-to-the-land movement” and the “healthy lifestyle” movement. The former tries to bring people back to a more natural state of living, often through organic means. The latter tends to value traditional forms of civilized living (such as being educated, having a stable job, having children, and so on) in addition to a more holistic approach to life. These two opposing philosophies can be compatible, but are not necessarily opposed to each other.
In order to discuss this issue more thoroughly, we need to take a closer look at the two main camps of the healthy lifestyle and the back-to-the-land movement. The back-to-the-land crowd tends to value tradition, a slower, more natural pace of life, and a return to the roots of our culture and society. On the other side of the spectrum is the lifestyle-promotion crowd, which looks to technology, marketing, branding, advertising, and fast-paced, robotic processes as the path to happiness. This group would favor automation as a means of speeding up one’s way to success, while glorifying minimal forms of human interaction, with minimal consequences. Both groups can be viable points of view for someone who values good health, but if you are looking for a company whose products and services you can put to good use, then it would be wise to read the brand that is endorsed by Dr. Barak Oren, a world-recognized heart doctor.
In his book, “The New York Times Bestselling Author: Audio Book,” Dr. Oren divides lifestyle into six categories, each of which represents a way of living that promotes physical and mental health, relaxation, growth, creativity, and connectedness. To further simplify his approach, he divides lifestyle into six parts: cognitive, emotional, physical, social, proxemics, and communal. His categorization is not absolute, but rather a useful starting point for anyone who is looking to find a way of living that promotes wellness. As such, one would do well to listen to the six perspectives represented in each of the six categories in order to understand the true nature of their individual lifestyles. Here are the categories and perspectives represented in “The New York Times Best Selling Author: Audio Book”:
The first category, cognitive, refers to thinking and social media interactions as part of a balanced lifestyle. The second category, emotional, focuses on how the body and mind interact through both thought and action. The third category, physical, considers the daily tasks we undertake individually and collectively, which require strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. The fourth category, social, takes into account how we interact with others and with the world as a whole, which requires a willingness to be a good listener, a good communicator, and a good citizen. The fifth and final category, prosthetic, looks at the products and services provided by businesses in order to look at the lifestyle content represented by them.
Given the wealth of information available on all of these topics today, it is easy to see how lifestyle can be separated into specific categories and then examined in light of each category’s overall wellness results. However, the process can be a little more complicated if we want to examine other areas of lifestyle, such as exercise and diet. Lifestyle changes for most people are generally easy to make in the realm of diet and exercise, as the vast majority of people have access to ready-to-eat or prepackaged food. However, there are still those who live from paycheck to paycheck, making do without the luxury of a home-prepared meal, or even access to the store that offers home delivery. For these people, a visit to their local nutritionist may be the key to improving their health.