Raise your hand if you have ever felt personally victimized by the term “wellness” in this day and age. I don’t know about you, but both of my hands are in the air. The Health & Wellness industry is currently dominating our lives, as we know it. We are constantly being bombarded with the newest diets, workout trends, and ways to “be healthier.” The only problem I see is that most of the time it has very little to do with health, and more to do with fitting into this picture perfect image of what society has deemed to be the new image of “health.”
by: Nikki Jahnke
So I’m sure you’re wondering, what is wellness then?
I can tell you one thing for sure and that is: it is more than just eating healthy and working out. Wellness encompasses both your outside body and your inside body. It is about the mind, body, and spirit. It is about finding that connection between the three and realizing that no one is more important than the other.
If you are feeling like the Health & Wellness scene has become privileged, don’t worry, I promise you that you aren’t the only one. When you are scrolling through your Instagram feed and are constantly being inundated with pictures of your favorite influencers doing a new boutique workout class everyday, getting IV nutrients, doing Red Light therapy, etc it can be easy to feel like you will never achieve their level of “wellness.” But I’m here to tell you that wellness is more than just the boutique workout classes, the juice cleanses, and the fancy Cryo-therapy machines. I’m not saying those things aren’t great, and if you can afford them, go for it!! Live your best life! But the truth of it is that this is highly inaccessible to a majority of the population.
There is so much more to Wellness than is being let on.
As I mentioned before, it has to do more with the mind, body, and spirit and less to do with the amount of money in your pocket. Wellness should feel attainable to EVERYONE regardless of your physical location, your financial background, or the resources in your area.
So, now that we have that covered I’m sure you are thinking, “well I eat clean and workout so I must be healthy.” True, but that’s only part of it. Now I challenge you to ask yourself these questions:
Am I sleeping enough?
Am I drinking enough water?
Am I allowing myself to take time to relax?
Am I speaking to myself positively?
Am I managing everyday stress in a healthy way?
Believe it or not all of these things accompany what it means to be “well.” You can have a healthy diet and have a killer workout regimen, but you also need empowering thoughts, self-love, sleep, and healthy stress relief. Without it, your body will be out of sync and unconnected to your mind. But, you will begin to notice that if you think positive thoughts, your body will respond positively.
Here are some tips on how to embody
the whole picture of wellness:
Eat well and move your body with consistency: Ok so I said its more than this, but this is a fundamental aspect of wellness. It’s essential that we move our bodies in a way that we enjoy, while nourishing it with all the nutritious and wholesome foods. I know we can all agree that when we eat better, we feel better. For example, I start a majority of my days off with a smoothie because it loads your body with nutrients. My smoothies always include fruits, veggies, fats, and protein/collagen peptides. But, my favorite part is getting fun with it and adding some extra adaptogens and superfoods. My favorite adaptogens to use are maca (for energy & hormonal balance) and ashwagandha (to help relieve stress). I also love topping my smoothies with bee pollen because they are a high source of antioxidants and rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals.
Start your day off with positive thoughts: When you wake up in the morning, instead of reaching for your phone right away, I encourage you to think of at least 3 positive thoughts. It can be thoughts of gratitude, it can be positive affirmations, and it can be things you love about yourself. Because like I said, you can eat all the vegetables and do all the workout classes, but true happiness and wellness starts from within.
Give yourself some me time: if you’ve ever gotten frustrated because you feel like your doing so much with little result, then maybe you need to consider giving yourself a break. It is possible to be doing too much. Over exercising and under eating are very commonplace in the health and wellness world. If you constantly feel tired, anxious, are getting sick, or find that whether or not you’ve worked out dictates your entire day then odds are you are overdoing it. Take some time out of your day for some me time. Incorporate more self-care activities like reading, taking a bath, socializing with friends, or making a yummy breakfast that you enjoy
(like my Chocolate Caramel Coffee CHILLshake) to relieve some stress.
Practice mindfulness: Stop what you are doing at least once a day and take time to practice mindful breathing. It’s easy in our daily lives for our bodies and minds to live different lives. But with mindfulness, we can reconnect them so that we are able to be fully present. You can also live mindfully by just tuning into daily routines. If you are just washing the dishes, then just focus on the dishes. If you are stretching, focus solely on stretching. Often times during activities like this, we are thinking about a thousand different things, which only causes us to become more stressed.
After reading this, I hope you have come to realize that wellness is more than just expensive products, new workout classes, and fancy treatments. It is about finding the balance between our mind, body, and spirits and using that to live a life we love. It is about using the resources we have available to us. It is about what you are feeding your mind and not only your body. Wellness is not privileged. Wellness is not one size fits all. Wellness is and has always been available to you. It is just waiting for you to open your eyes and realize it.
HEY I MADE THIS!
Hi! My name is Nicolette (Nikki for short) and I am a Chicago-living, Bachelors prepared registered nurse. I’m currently working in pediatrics and loving every minute of it.
I suffered from an eating disorder for over 5 years and developed a huge passion for all things health and wellness. I started my Instagram page solely as a way to hold myself accountable for what I was eating during recovery and found a love for creating recipes.