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With the New Year we have renewed hope and a sense of purpose to make this the best year ever. Whatever commitments we make to ourselves, only we can keep them, and only we will know if we really do. Like the old saying, “Wherever you go, there you are.” We are, after all, the same person when we enter the New Year as we have been all along. Having somebody hold us accountable can be helpful, by providing encouragement to change how we work, or eat, or exercise to live our best lives. Even better, having tools and structure can give us something to hold onto and to monitor as we make progress.
In this edition of our enewsletter, we provide you with some expert recommendations on how to foster healthy habits, starting with our favorite phone apps. Here at Aspen Valley Hospital, we provide our staff with an app called Calm, which supports mindfulness and the ability to relax and let go of stress for better sleep. Does it work? I’m a tough customer with an inability to get out of my own head, but the process of trying to concentrate and follow the meditations can, by itself, bring me a sense of peace and reduced anxiety. For at least a little while. Others I know have great success and, like anything, it’s a learning process and it takes practice. Other apps can help us to track our diet, exercise and activity levels, all with better health as the goal, and all with help from the phones in our pockets.
My one recommendation, regardless of whether you choose to make a change or not, and whether you choose an app or a person to assist you, is that you just do you. Health and wellness is a personal journey and not a competition. The truth is, by spending time here in this high mountain valley, we are all winners as we pursue full and enriching lives. To help, we offer some tips from the experts for living well at altitude, including highlights from the five pillars of healthy aging.
Also, in this issue, we introduce you to our first baby of 2024, as is our tradition, to remind us that the circle of life continues here as it does everywhere. It is our privilege, as a community hospital, to be here for all community members in all phases of life and what comes along. May this New Year reenergize you and bring you new opportunities to be your best self—and to live your best life in 2024. Whatever that means to you, we are here to help.
Dave
