Episode 70: The Intuitive Way to Wellness
I’ve been interested in health and wellness for years and years. The more I learn, the more I seek to fill the gaps in my knowledge.
The thing is though, we don’t need to know more. We already live in the age of information where we are bombarded by too many ideas. It’s overwhelming and exhausting. Over the last few years I’ve been making the shift towards looking inwards and simplifying. This approach feels more refined and direct, like a compass.
The body wisdom is always present, but we have to take a moment to slow down, listen and feel. I no longer relish in shiny new methods and approaches, wrestling the conflicts between them. For example I once tried to live a veggie paleo way to support my thyroid to function better. It suited me for a few months and I lost weight and had more energy. But there are limited options, especially if you’re trying to avoid dairy for health reasons. It felt so unnecessarily restrictive, and soon became tedious. Social events became a challenge and I don’t like the worthiness that can come from eating a certain way. There’s a sweet spot between the structure that helps you to take action towards your priorities, and having enough flow to feel creative and inspired.
And the same for meditation, exercise and other health activities and behaviours. I don’t know about you, but the more that I am told to follow a set of rules or regulations, the more I resist and rebel. I want to feel nurtured and spacious.
Health is undeniably of huge importance. Without health, it’s hard to show up at work, in your relationships and to have the energy and motivation in the things that matter to you. But we all have things that get in the way, like time, finances and responsibilities with work, family and community. In order to nurture the things that are precious to us, we need to nurture ourselves first.
As well as wanting this different way for myself, I’ve been motivated to share this with my clients. The old way is where the practitioner knows best. The new way is collaborative and creative, so that you are able to direct your own healthcare and are supported by like-minded practitioners. In truth, only you can be the expert of your own body, because you’re the one who lives there. If we’re relying on someone else to fix us, we never truly have autonomy over our own health and bodies.
We talk about balance as if it’s a destination. Instead, I think of it as more of a shifting state within us. It can change from day to day, throughout the menstrual cycle or season. We are cyclical beings. Like all living things, we breathe, grow, move, respond to our environment. And all health approaches address pillars such as nutrition, exercise, sleep, mindfulness and relaxation. But what health looks like for us is as individual as our own fingerprint.
Health has always been something that fascinates me and is important to me. In recent years, I’ve watched a number of loved ones lose their health, and sometimes sadly, their lives, to illness and disease. Life is fleeting, and the ‘busy busy’ culture isn’t serving us. Stress undoubtedly plays a big part in illness, but so much of the daily stress we encounter is considered normal. I don’t believe it’s possible to be healthy if we’re trying to live so far removed from nature. And all too often, people don’t join the dots at how the events in their lives impact their bodies and lead to illness. And daily habits might not seem newsworthy, but they are fundamental in living a more aligned life.
I created The Intuitive Way to Wellness because I wanted to share ways that people could prioritise their health and wellbeing without feeling constrained by their particular situation. I’ll help you to determine tiny, daily actions that make a big difference over a course of time.
What you need now that the days are getting shorter and colder is different from the light and warmth of high summer. And for one person the priority might be to create space for rest, whilst for another it’s time to get up and start moving. Self-care might seem a laughable concept to a sleep-deprived new mum, but if she gets sick, then it affects her priority to tend to her baby. And for someone who is undergoing medical care but who loves to exercise, they need to find options that won’t leave them flat-out and too weak to endure treatment.
Look out for the next 2 episodes of this podcast where I’ll go into two of the themes of the Intuitive Way to Wellness: making space for yourself and the gift of rest. And starting on November 15th, I’m running a free 7 day mini-course of the ‘Intuitive Way to Wellness’. You can sign up for the wait-list by clicking the link in the show notes. Over the 7 days, you’ll learn simple and accessible tools to do with touch, breath, movement, rest and connecting with the senses for a nurturing approach to health. For those of you that want to explore more deeply, I’ll soon be announcing a 4-week online version of the Intuitive Way to Wellness which will help you to keep on the conversation with your bodily wisdom.
Maybe you know that something isn’t working but you need some tools to deepen your connection with yourself so that you can listen to what it’s trying to tell you. Or perhaps you’re ready to enhance your health for greater creativity and spiritual connection. I’m excited to share ideas for the Intuitive Way to Wellness and see how they get interpreted and personalised in your own life. I’ll see you next week to talk about making space for yourself. Remember to sign up for the free 7 day mini-course.
Resources:
Sign up for the free 7 day mini-course here
If you’d like to read more information of the Intuitive Way to Wellness, click here
Keep in Touch with Avni:
Sign up for my free course ‘5 Days to Wellness with Ease’