Sturdy foundational health

In my work with individuals, I often hear about how complex health and wellness can feel for people.

There is so much information in circulation and lots of varied voices - some with wildly different priorities and values. Many people are tempted to self-diagnose or label themselves. The sheer number of differing perspectives can feel overwhelming for people.

Similarly, there has been an emergence of a sort of tribalism across different health and wellness camps. You’re either paleo or vegan or gluten-free or carnivore. Or you follow a traditional medicine system. Somehow, these choices become fixed parts of identity, which has led to a sort of nervousness I observe in people who may want to change their minds.

You are welcome to change your mind anytime.

As more information comes in and your knowledge expands, it makes sense that your mind may change. For example, if you have been gluten-free for five years and learn that eating a sourdough bread prepared properly with ancient grains does not disrupt your digestion, you are allowed to make that shift in your diet. You can dislike yoga for five years and then decide you want to try it (and maybe even like it).

In science and research, we are expected to keep our finger on the pulse of new publications and adjust our empirical perspectives based on new findings in the field. It would be foolish not to. How can the same not be true about personal wellbeing?

If you are feeling stressed or anxious about what to do for your health because you are overwhelmed by perspectives or bogged down by rules you previously identified with, I encourage you to pause for a moment.

Maybe this isn’t quite the time to subscribe fully to an entire system or set of rules in a top-down way. Maybe the process can be more bottom-up - one day and one new practice at a time.

This may prevent an unnecessary clinging to rules that don’t fully resonate with you in exchange for a false sense of security.

Instead, consider taking a look at your foundational health - sleep, nutrition, movement, and mindfulness - in broad strokes. If you’re not getting 8 hours of sleep - truly 8 full hours - that is a good starting point. What can you do this week to support your sleep cycle? All aspects of health benefit from adequate sleep, regardless of your health perspective. You may be surprised (or perhaps it comes as no surprise) by how many health disharmonies resolve when a person sleeps enough. I’ll write more about these foundational pillars of health over the next few weeks.

You are welcome to send me a note if you have thoughts on this letter - I would love to hear from you!

Artemisia

PS: If you want to read about some recent research on children’s sleep patterns and emotional regulation, you can check out my article for Psychology Today here.

Artemisia O’bi, MA - Clinical Herbalist | Chinese Medicine

innervillagehealth.com @innervillagehealth