Embracing the Holistic Lifestyle
Let me just start by saying that when you embrace a holistic and integrative approach to health, you’re now a part of the minority. Not only do you have to be okay with being different, but you also have to care less about what people think of you. I love being different, I love leading the way and creating a path for others to follow.
You’re different, you see the world differently, and you approach health differently. I’m dedicating an entire blog to this topic because it can feel lonely when you’re just getting started on a holistic health journey. You have been raised to focus on body image, dieting, and everything in “moderation”, and yet the majority of America is sick and unhealthy. It takes a lot of unlearning and deconditioning when you’re first getting started.
To be honest with you, that part of your journey is hard. Once you get past those first steps, it becomes a part of who you are and how you approach life.
To embrace a holistic lifestyle, just like most things in life, you have to take baby steps. Starting with changing your mindset and perspective around one topic, enhancing your knowledge, and embodying it. Then, repeat.
For me, it started with essential oils and looking for natural solutions to common symptoms and problems I was experiencing like anxiety and digestive troubles. I had to be okay with ditching Advil and turning to peppermint first when I experienced a headache. Then I started to swap toxic products and turn to natural alternatives in my medicine cabinet. Then I was ready to take a look at common foods and ingredients I was consuming regularly. Then I started to look at my beliefs, energy, and spirituality.
Now I'm diving deeper into all of the above and continuing to deepen my journey and knowledge. It doesn’t matter where you get started, maybe you want to change your approach to exercise and moving your body, looking to take more of an integrative approach instead of forcing yourself to go for a daily run or commit to a HIIT workout. Maybe you want to start with food and release your conditioning toward weight loss and dieting. Or maybe you want to change your mindset and have a different approach to how you view your world and what it means to live life to the fullest.
The most important thing to remember is that it’s a journey. It is a journey that you will forever be on. The first step is recognizing where you are on that journey and where you want to go, but whether or not you’re ready for change. As humans, we each go through the same five stages when experiencing behavioral change. If you’re not quite at the third step then you’re not going to see anything different in your life. For example, say that you are thinking about making a change but you have some ambivalence or a lack of confidence. In this stage, you will likely experience change within three to six months. That is why it’s important to stay consistent and give yourself grace. Now, say that you’ve been thinking about change and now you’re expressing emotions about a possible change, you are increasing your confidence and maybe less ambivalent, and you will experience results likely within a month.
All this is to say, you won't just wake up one morning and completely embrace living a holistic lifestyle and change everything. There are steps, and it takes patience but I can tell you with consistency and determination that you will get there, and you will find that freedom from embracing this lifestyle.