Where in Erie is Creating Wellness? Week 5

Wow! What a Super Bowl! You just have to love a good game!

It is important to remember that wellness encompasses three dimensions. To achieve true wellness, we must work to improve all three areas at the same time. Physical wellness pertains to how we use our body. Biochemical wellness refers to things that we put into our body or don't put into our body. Lastly, psychological wellness refers to the mind body connection.

So, where in Erie is Creating Wellness this week? Presque Isle Bay. Today I walked from Dobbins Landing to the water taxi dock on the peninsula. I've always wondered how far of a distance it was. I ventured off with my brother and a GPS unit. The walk took us 46 minutes, through snow drifts and soft ice in some spots. In total, it was 2.01 miles.

The obvious wellness correlation is the physical activity of walking, however I am referencing the Bay because of the psychological dimension of wellness.

The walk across the bay was very invigorating, exciting, and calming at the same time. Walking across a frozen body of water is not something you do often, nor is it something many people do. That was invigorating and exciting. Looking back towards the city, but only hearing silence was calming. With no one around for at least a mile in any direction (at the halfway point) helped bring a state of consciousness to my mental forefront. Spending quality time with my brother helped bring back memories of our childhood. By the time I stepped on land on Presque Isle, my mind was more focused on the present vs thinking of the past or worried about the future. I was relaxed and in a state of ease.

I recommend any able bodied Erie resident try this before the ice on the bay melts. Walking across the bay may be too far for some and not far enough for others. I urge you to attempt a distance that is within your physical abilities. Walk some distance off the shoreline and just feel alive! Feel the sense of freedom, feel the excitement of just being alive! It is often the simple things and the seemingly routine events that can bring about the greatest joys in life.

Improving your attitude, your outlook will have tremendous effects on your daily actions and ultimately your life experience. The mind-body connection is real. Your physical health will benefit greatly from a healthy and positive mental state.

Erie, get out there and Create Wellness in your world! Create Wellness in your life one day at a time for a lifetime! Together, we can and will improve our community.

Until Next Week, BE FIT. EAT RIGHT. THINK WELL.


Dr. Steve