MEDS Reimagined
Some time ago I saw a coach use the acronym MEDS, Meditation (or Mindfulness), Exercise, Diet and Sleep as a device to remind us about some good ways to improve our wellbeing. I loved it so much I stole it.
I mean, I couldn’t find the original to credit it, so I figured it was in the public domain and decided to use it.
Now, however, I want to reimagine it and really make it mine. Henceforth, MEDS will be Movement, Eating, Dhyana and Sleep. Sleep remains the same. Okay, but what’s that other thing there? Let’s talk about Dhyana, then I will explain the others.
Dhyana
Dhyana is a Sanskrit word meaning, simply, concentration. There are different complex descriptions according to various branches of Buddhism, Hinduism and Yoga, and more. Go ahead and Google it if you want. I’ll wait. . .
When Dhyana went to China, it became Cha’an. Then it went to Japan to called Zen. It means to practice focusing your mind on something, rather than letting it run around like a nervous little dog on espresso beans, like it does. Don’t believe me? Then listen to yourself for a few minutes.
Why are you so petrified of silence?
Did you think about your bills, your ex, your deadlines
Alanis Morisette, “All I Really Want” (1995)
Congratulations! You just did Dhyana! I could say much more, but let’s leave it there for now.
Movement Patterns
Let’s lose the term “Exercise.” It’s a drag for most people, and sounds like punishment. It sounds like something you have to or should do, and you should feel bad if you don’t. Say “Movement Patterns” instead. Everyone moves, unless they are a rock. By changing the patterns of your movement, you change your body, your health, and your overall wellbeing. Good movement patterns make a better, happier life. That’s not a drag or a punishment.
Eating Patterns
Next, forget you ever heard the word “Diet.” It also sounds like punishment, and also makes you feel bad if your is not great. Worse than that, “diets” don’t work, they never have and they never will. Otherwise everyone would be at their ideal weight and health by now. Our situation, history and habits form our eating patterns. Mostly, it’s a food system that prioritizes profits over nutrition, and feeds us literally addictive, ultra-processed “food” that sends our body’s normal hunger and satiety signals completely out of whack. By changing your eating patterns, you can rewire those signals, get better nutrition, and feel lighter, stronger, and more energetic. Diets don’t do that.
You Are Your Patterns
Your health and well-being is a perfect reflection of your patterns. By changing your patterns, you change you. So, remember to take your MEDS: Movement, Eating, Dhyana and Sleep.
Maybe I need to keep workshopping Dhyana, though.