There has never been a better time to be a conscious of ‘wellness’ than now while we are facing a worldwide pandemic of a new and exceptionally virulent virus: COVID-19. While here in Bali we have been – up to now – less affected than many places, the simple fact is that no–one and nowhere is safe.
A virus is a nasty little, invisible thing which loves attaching itself to hosts and causes great damage as it reproduces and attacks mercilessly . The worrying thing about this particular virus is that not everyone shows symptoms, meaning the person next to you who appears perfectly normal could be highly infectious. Annoying in the extreme – and dangerous.
So being ‘well’ becomes very important as the results of this outbreak (and SARS and MERS before this) show that the fitter & healthier you are, the less likely you are to be badly affected, even if infected. Your recovery period will be less and your symptoms milder, so this is a huge incentive to keep as healthy as possible.
But how to do that? Simple: diet and exercise! You’ve heard it all before, but I think it’s time to really take note and do something. We try not to think about the linkage between our weight, our diet and our fitness to our health. “Yes,” we say “ I may be a bit overweight, but that’s okay , it’s normal.”
Actually when get down to the wire, it’s not! There is direct and consequential linkage between all these things, and heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and other – now very common – complaints are mostly prevented by good eating habits and plenty of exercise.
And by being in a higher risk category the likelier we are to take COVID-19 and its scary friends to their very uncomfortable maximum levels. This all sounds very serious, and sadly it is, there is no doubt about it, we need to be vigilant, careful and disciplined. But forgetting about the current fixation on COVID-19, we just need to do the best for ourselves – everyday! And Bali is a great place to do it with beaches to walk on, seas to swim in, spas to relax in, gyms to exercise in. There is no excuse not to get healthier – get on with it! But of course, be cautious in a time where self-isolation is key.
Stay healthy and be happy while you are here!
Alistair G.Speirs, OBE
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