At the risk of spouting off an enormous understatement, the human body is an amazing thing. However, do we really take the time to understand and respect the enormity and complexity of our physical being?

As I drink a can of soda while popping Pringles and eating Hershey’s Kisses left over from the holidays, I am thinking perhaps I am not honoring my body as best I could. Exercise, with its purpose of improving health, is something I participate in after I have done my work, done all my housekeeping, fed the pets I do not have, and spoken to telemarketers. Healthy eating is something I do only if time allows, regardless if the prep requires only the mere peeling of an orange.

How can we take better care of ourselves in the New Year? Simply pondering the vastness within may be a beginning—a beginning that will inspire us to take a holistic approach to health. I would encourage us all to look at alternative perspectives of health but the phrase has become almost blasé and yoga guru shamans click in the minds of many. However, it does not have to be that way. Let’s look at two simple, different perspectives that may enlighten our health in the New Year.

The first perspective is that staying healthy does not have to be trendy or expensive. The New River Valley does not have an abundance of hip workout places to begin with. There are not many places to go where we can enjoy a steam bath and then socialize at the juice spritzer bar with our colleagues. But that is OK because we do not have to put our money into memberships at places like these. Studies show if we simply committed ourselves to walking four times a week (even if it is cold outside), our health would improve.

After doing some research in the NRV, I found that none of our municipalities charge a walking or sidewalk usage fee. That Bowflex machine that gets delivered to your home for just 12 monthly payments consists of exercises that can be done, for the most part, with little to no equipment at all. Finally, if you do need a place to work out, several local towns including Radford and Christiansburg have recreation centers with a zero dollar membership fee (OK, we pay for it with our taxes). Careful personal calculation shows that I can afford a lifetime membership at this price—and I’m a school teacher.

The second perspective is that alternative/holistic health does not have to be, well, all that alternative. This type of exercise and approach to fitness is not as esoteric as some of the phonies would want you to believe. It can be looked at as simply a different sort of awareness about your body. This awareness does not mean that we must eschew all forms of traditional Western medicine and Western thoughts on health. It does suggest that there are other sources of health-related wisdom that, though foreign to many, may enhance our current beliefs on health.

Rather than frightfully, and perhaps unwisely, jumping into the alternative routes to health, you can slowly mix and match activities that work for you. The balancing power of yoga may be good for some. Acupuncture good for another. Hypnotherapy for someone else. Any or all of these activities can be attempted while still reaching for the cold medicine or aspirin when suffering. Perhaps with enough healthy experimentation, you will find a natural practice that eliminates the need for pharmaceuticals.

The meandering of my thoughts in the last paragraph clearly illustrate that I am no expert in the ways of alternative health. But I do know how to walk and I can afford a free membership anywhere it is being offered. With these traits, I just may have the awareness and the funds to venture outside of my comfort zone every now and then in hopes of reaching my ultimate health. So this New Year, let’s skip the spritzer bar and head out the front door to hit the sidewalk.

Rick Robers is a middle school teacher in the New River Valley when he’s not too busy eating Pringles and Kisses.