Why Wellness is unique to each person
Here at the Kaya Holistic Wellness website you’ll see “find your unique wellness” often. That’s because there is no “one size fits all” approach to wellness – it looks different for everyone.
It’s easy to find influencers who tell you they know exactly what you need, without knowing you at all! They say: you need this particular diet; you need this exact workout and to do it this many minutes/hours per week; you definitely need to drink X gallons of water a day. Exactly the same for everyone regardless of age, ability, dietary preferences, and ignoring any chronic illnesses or physical disabilities you may have. That is ridiculous! An 80 year old in good health, who has no dietary preferences, with no physical limitations is going to need something very different than a 50 year old with chronic digestive issues who is vegan or a 25 year old with Fibromyalgia and high cholesterol.
What influencers also ignore is that wellness goes beyond just food and exercise – it’s about social connection, spiritual practice if that is important to you, relationships, finances, sleep, there are so many dimensions to wellness. This is why we seek to help you find YOUR unique wellness. However it looks for you.
““Wellbeing is about the combination of our love for what we do each day, the quality of our relationships, the security of our finances, the vibrancy of our physical health, and the pride we take in what we have contributed to our communities. Most importantly, it’s about how these five elements interact.”
– Tom Rath”
Moving beyond diet culture
Unfortunately we live in a society that seeks to tear us down and negatively impact our self-esteem because the diet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. The beauty industry is also a multi-billion dollar industry. In order to make money, these industries need us to feel bad about ourselves. If we stop desiring to lose the last five pounds; stop trying to prevent aging; stop comparing ourselves to the perfect images we see on social media – they lose money. At Kaya we believe in health at every size (HAES.) Eating healthy foods and moving our body will not result in a tiny body for most of us and that’s ok! All bodies are good bodies. It is possible for some people that they may lose weight or their body shape may change when they begin to eat more healthfully or move more but that is not our goal. Wellness isn’t about how you look it’s about how you feel.
Moving beyond the wellness aesthetic
I went to Instagram and searched the term “wellness.” Most of what comes up in the top posts are attractive, white women with bodies that are currently the most socially desirable: small waist, large butt. That is beginning to change, according to the articles that I see so I expect that if I did this again in three years it would be attractive, white women with very small bodies overall. The other pictures that were not white women or white men used buzzwords and phrases like “detox” “glow up” “lose weight” although I was heartened to see that many posts were about loving yourself and self-acceptance. However the self-acceptance posts were lists and inspirational quotes. They didn’t include images of non-white bodies, of larger bodies, of people who were not conventionally attractive and that is an issue. While wellness influencers (who let’s be honest are often part of the multi-billion dollar weight loss, fitness, and beauty industries) have a certain aesthetic, that aesthetic is not what wellness is. Wellness is anyone and everyone who is making a commitment to themselves to feel better. It’s not expensive candles and weekly massages, it’s tuning into your body and your mind to find out what is and is not working for you. It’s mindfulness not sketchy supplements.
Find your unique wellness
You may already know what you want to change but need guidance on how to implement it. It could be that you need the accountability of working with someone who will ask about the choices you have made that week. Or maybe you have no idea where to start – you know that you aren’t feeling well emotionally or physically but you have no clue what needs to change.
You might know zero about nutrition or mindfulness and want someone to help you find what wellness looks like for you! Now that you know what wellness is and more importantly what wellness isn’t, it’s time to begin. Wherever you are starting, Kaya Holistic Wellness is ready to help you on your journey.
Contact us today to get more information or get started!
Stacey Aldridge
Stacey is the founder of Kaya Holistic Wellness. She has had an interest in health and wellness since high school and became more interested in holistic health when she was in graduate school for social work. Stacey has a Master of Social Work from Jackson State University and advanced training in nutrition. Learn more about Stacey.
