The myriads of theories and practices of healthcare across the globe only suggest that it is not and never will be about putting you into a box. So I’ll try to take you through some of the tips that I’ve gathered over time and that help me understand wellness better. 1. Look at your parents Wellness is a wholesome concept, hence one cannot be objective about it. Cutting out dairy may work wonders for your skin and digestion but another person slurping down glasses of milk may be healthy and fit as well. Small habits in your everyday life may be incremental for your health, or even detrimental. Growing up, we tend to pick up a lot of habits from our parents which they may have adopted during their formative years from their parents and so on. Look up to your parents and see what are the major health issues for them, if there are any. Try to trace it back to small habits or lifestyle factors. The same can be done to trace back the factors for good health and ensure that you do not give them up. 2. Educate yourself I was around 22 when I was suffering from irregular periods, irritable bowel, and skin issues. I had also had a history of Alopecia, an autoimmune disease. But it was only after my dermatologist suggested that I drastically cut out processed food, my skin got so much better. But even after significant improvement, the acne would not go away completely. It was then when I realized I was not hydrating myself really well after which a regular intake of fruits and a water-rich diet really helped me vanish all of the acne. The major takeaway here is that there are lots of people who give you suggestions but the baseline is that what worked for them may not work for you and this is why you need to educate yourself. Find the book here that really helped me understand how the human body works and that would help you make decisions for yourself. 3. Focus on including and not excluding When I was first asked to reduce processed food, I felt a sense of deprivation. The food that I was so used to having was the only one I knew. I noticed a similar pattern in many people with chronic illnesses too. A person who eats heavily processed foods in large amounts will be less stressed and in fact more willing to change his/her ways if provided with practical things to include. Also, a switch in lifestyle that is slow is also well sustained. So, if your doctor asks you to cut down on caffeine, use that as an opportunity to explore other drinks. Learn to prepare tasty recipes with almond milk or soy milk when asked to cut down on dairy. Sadia Badiei, Nisha Vora, and Subah Jain are my favorite recipe developers that provide good and practical options for people wishing to go gluten-free, dairy-free, or even willing to cook without oil and are just a click away. 4. Listen to your body I can start by basing it all on Ayurveda, but then it also comes down to common sense. You really feel satiated by the food when you were actually hungry in the first place. Eating food only after you’ve really starved yourself for it is definitely not the idea here. I will use an analogy that Sadia used in one of her videos (watch the full video here), a baby knows when he’s hungry. He cries when he’s hungry and fusses when made to eat something when he’s not hungry. As we grow up, we lose that connection with our body either in the name of table manners or stressful eating. A Ted talk by Darya Rose (watch the full video here) shows that stress eating actually reduces the body’s ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. Also, it is always so nice to really treat the food well, soaking in the aroma of the spices and fresh ingredients used in making your food. Paying some gratitude to the person who cooks for you is also a very good practice. 5. Sleep While I haven’t covered any specific activity, I am bound to cover the most relaxing activity of the day, which is restful sleep. There are just a few things that hold massive importance but I learned about them really very late. The quality of sleep is really important. Imagine having to reduce the number of hours by even 45 minutes. If you reduce your sleeping time by waking up early in the morning, you will tend to feel more groggy because the sleep that you disrupt in the early morning hours is actually hours of deep sleep. The body is able to move into a restful and deep sleep only after at least 1 hour of falling asleep. This duration is extended by stress or by the use of digital items just before bed. Also, make your bed, which is essentially your sleeping place different from your working place. If you do not have this facility, you can try using night bulbs or scented candles that will help your mind get into a relaxed mood. 6. Invest in your mental health Mental health is no longer a topic that is not discussed in the mainstream but we still have a long way to go. There was a time in my life when a loved one passed away and the pandemic only made the struggle more ruthless. It was then that I realized how important it is to invest in small things that made you happy. I learned to ride a bicycle and that was, for like a month, the happiest time of the day for me. Hope comes in forms like that. Hope is just something that you hold on to and move on. I also got involved in gardening and that is also a wonderful way of connecting with nature. A very startling realization that struck me was that I never practiced gardening before and always gave up because it was an objective-oriented thing for me. When I practiced gardening while locked down during the pandemic, there were no ulterior motives or gains, but the process itself was soothing and relaxing. I was not planning to post pictures or write blogs but I did it only because it gave me so much joy and that might be the reason it turned out really well.
A holistic approach to health encourages you to not just maintain a healthy weight but also to make your head a hospitable place for your thoughts. So that you make better decisions, more so become capable of introspection and claim your connection with your mind, body, and soul.
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