Wellness encompasses everything that plays a role in your physical, mental, and emotional health. The mind-body connection is real and what affects one absolutely affects the other. In fact, I spend just as much time consulting my patients in my telehealth functional medicine clinic on the emotional side of wellness as I do on food and supplements. While those are important, they aren’t the end all be all of your health journeys.
So what does wellness really look like? Here’s a second installment of all the ways I think wellness can show up in your life. (If you missed part one, head here!)
1.Sometimes wellness looks like replacing complaints with true gratitude.
A lot of us talk a big game about the importance of gratitude but still battle with fear, anxiety, stress, anger, and bitterness on a daily basis. It might be that we are treating gratitude as one more thing to cross off of our wellness “to-do” list, instead of really feeling and practicing it.
2.Sometimes wellness looks like changing the foods you eat.
There’s no such thing as “bad” food. But there are no doubt foods that are bad for you! We each have a unique biochemistry that plays a role in how our bodies respond to everything from stress, to toxins, to the foods we eat.
3.Sometimes wellness looks like doing good for others.
In the wellness world, we talk a lot about setting up boundaries and cutting activities and people out that don’t align with our goals and vision for our lives. However, if we aren’t careful, this can lead to a self-serving mentality that doesn’t leave room for compassion, empathy, and sacrifice for others.
4.Sometimes wellness looks like taking responsibility and facing conflict head-on.
It’s hard to admit when you are wrong. It’s a lot easier to create distance, blame others, and sweep problems under the rug. I’ve found that any time there has been conflict in my life, it’s only gotten worse when it’s not addressed. But if I own up to my mistakes, apologize, and enter a conversation with grace, truly wanting to hear the other person’s perspective, more often than not I’m met with equal parts apology and true reconciliation.
5.Sometimes wellness looks like letting yourself feel every emotion.
Anger, sadness, excitement, fear, and anxiety are all emotions that meet us on a daily basis—but society doesn’t always give us room to feel them. The problem with that is it leaves a lot of us walking through life with unresolved emotions that we’ve had to bury deep inside ourselves. Years of unprocessed feelings contribute to shame and trauma.