When seeking more balance, harmony and well-being the questions you ask are just as important as the answers because without the correct questions a mystery still remains. WHY do I feel imbalanced and unhealthy?
I had my yearly check-up at the doctor last week and he asked me a series of questions. I was surprised that some of them were not complete. For example, he asked me, “Do you smoke?” but he did not ask me “Are you around people that smoke?” Both of these situations would result in similar negative health conditions. What if I was around people that smoke? Or what if I worked in a factory with a lot of pollution? Or had just returned from living six years in Mexico City, rated as the second most polluted city in the world? What if I had a commute to work every day that had me sitting in traffic, inhaling car fumes for a half hour each day? Without asking me deeper questions, he missed opportunities to gather more information and provide me with better service.
Last week I talked to a friend who had been having trouble sleeping. She was baffled as to why since she had just purchased a new bed, she had been going to sleep at 10pm every night and waking up at 8am or even later, if she needed more sleep. However, she felt exhausted every morning. Her health care practitioner asked her some in-depth questions. It turns out she assumed she was getting enough sleep because the bed was new and she was sleeping the recommended amount of time according to her clock. However, when he asked her “How is your sleep?” the light-bulbs went on. It didn’t seem like a big deal to her but she had been getting up more often and even though the bed was new it was not really that comfortable for her. She had made two assumptions – the time she was in bed was enough consideration for her sleep and that a “new” bed means a “good” bed. By asking more in-depth questions she was able to see beyond her assumptions and find a solution.
During my early studies doing ethnographies as an anthropologist I learned the importance of questions. People tend to make assumptions about themselves, their condition and their actions. People often do not to notice what they are doing and do things as a routine. The only way to break the assumption/routine pattern is by asking deeper and deeper questions. For example, when an anthropologist does an interview they don’t assume everyone in the office they are studying has the same definition of “break time”. They will make a point to ask each person for a definition of key terms.
Here is an example from an interview with a client who had anxiety issues.
HCP: Do you drink any caffeinated beverages?
Client: Not often
HCP: What is a caffeinated beverage? Which do you drink?
Client: Soda, Coca-Cola
HCP: Do you drink coffee? Do you drink tea?
Client: Oh yes! (Perhaps did not relate those to caffeine)
HCP: How often do you drink coffee?
Client: Perhaps ten cups a day
HCP: What do you put into the coffee (now we are looking for sugar and milk intake)?
Etc…
When trying to figure out why you don’t feel your best or why something is throwing your emotional or physical well-being off balance stop for a few minutes and ask yourself some questions. Turn each answer you give into another question until you cannot ask anymore and then move on to the next question. You will be surprised what this method will reveal!
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