Glen Alex has spent her life campaigning for better human health, and now, in her new book Living in Total Health, she offers a balanced and sometimes surprising journey into what it means to be healthy, wealthy, and wise — or what it means to become commonly known as “wellth” in the health and wellness community. Glen defines this new term as “the sum total of the wealth and well-being found in good health. Wellth means being rich in health – having reached certain physical diagnostic ranges and living a meaningful or joyful life. Balance.”
This balance is evident in this book because it’s not just about exercise or diet. Instead, Glen divides the book into three sections: Physical Wellbeing, Emotional Wellbeing, and Mental Wellbeing. Then each section is divided into four chapters, including “Moving Your Body” (Physical Wellbeing), “Being Present” (Emotional Wellbeing) and “Reducing Stress” (Mental Wellbeing). Each section and chapter is filled with discussions, personal stories to illustrate Glen’s arguments, and exercises to help the reader become more aware of and practice the subject. Glen further clarifies her goal in the introduction by saying, “The purpose of this book is to provide a different perspective on health, and to revisit unavailable guidance on diet, exercise, etc. The intention of Living in Total Health is to activate your critical thinking and question your assumed approach to health when you have not met your goals.”
One aspect of Living in Total Health that I particularly appreciated was Glen’s constant reminder that everything we need is already within us. She does not ask us to perform miracles, but simply to do what we are naturally born to do. Instead of telling us to do hardcore exercise at the gym, she redefines exercise as any type of activity that requires movement, like walking, yoga, or even doing laundry or dishes. The challenge is to take action. Sure, some people might choose to do more—and that’s great—but for most of us, Glen’s words of wisdom are a much-needed reminder of where to start.
Glen also makes it clear that if the health crowd becomes one size fits all, we don’t have to go along with it. Each of us has our own individual body, and as a result, our individual nutritional needs require much more than “a patent meal plan.” She encourages us to find out what foods our bodies respond to well and to find a nutritional balance between what we enjoy and what doesn’t bother or inflame our body. Other important physical aspects she focuses on are the importance of stretching, including when and how to do it, and the benefits of massage, including massage safety tips so you can make sure you find a reliable and trustworthy massage therapist.
In the Emotional Wellbeing section, Glen explains the difference between feelings and emotions and how they are signals with messages to us. Perhaps the strongest discussions in this section have to do with separating our emotions from those of others. Glen talks about the importance of setting boundaries for people, including emotional ones. Sometimes we may need to draw a line with someone about how to treat each other, but we may also need to draw an emotional line that we won’t cross when it comes to embracing other people’s problems. While we can be sympathetic to people, Glen warns us not to metaphorically put on someone else’s shoes that aren’t ours—in other words, don’t take on someone else’s emotional baggage.
In the midst of these boundary discussions, Glen brings up the issue of domestic violence, and I think she makes a strong point here about the difference between a conscious decision and a thoughtless one. So many male bullies will claim that a woman’s behavior caused them to hit her, but if that’s true, why don’t these men just leave the women behind so they can take out the frustration in their lives? These men are also unable to contain their anger since thugs do not engage in abusive behavior in public, only at home, which is evidence that people make conscious choices.
In the final section on mental well-being, Glen focuses on how the accumulation of unhealthy life choices in general affects the mental health and stability of most of us. Mental health focuses on how stress affects us, and Glen offers tips on how to reduce it. She also helps us to rethink our support systems and introduces the concept of creating an ecomap of your support system as an effective exercise in achieving greater spiritual wellbeing in your life.
Living in Total Health contains so much more than I can discuss in this short review and within the pages of the book Glen tells us what it’s like, in a kind but direct way, like the good coach that she is. Toward the end of the book, she explains her way of thinking about her purpose in life that guided her in writing this book: “I strive to fulfill my purpose for being on this earth, to realize my inner gifts, and to share them with others. My Truth and The Eternal State of Love provides the foundation I need to achieve my goal of becoming the best version of Glen and the reflection of my Creator that I am capable of.”
We should all strive for a similar goal, and we can achieve it. Reading and practicing the principles in Living in Perfect Health is a good step toward that achievement and a greater sense of happiness and well-being.
Thanks to Tyler Tichelaar