THE NOW SOUND

When I used to think of wellness, the first thing to come to mind was my body. Did I drink enough water today? I forgot to exercise. I should’ve gotten more sleep. Understanding how your body is feeling and changing is easily seen and felt. I am tired. I am sore. I am thirsty. etcetera. We think that those feelings are only tied in to our habits and actions but have you ever thought that our thoughts and feelings cause us to feel these things too?

There are four types of wellnesses I want to talk about: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. One is not more important than the other. Bettering one aspect of your wellness creates benefits for the others to improve too.

Have you ever noticed that the night before a big test keeps you rolling over at night so you don’t get good quality sleep. You wake up to your alarm and start rushing to get ready because you laid in bed a little too long and your cortisol levels raise now making you stressed about the time and makes you even more nervous about taking the test because of all that? Yeah, me too. To feel stress, grogginess, and nervousness are all typical feelings that come with an event like that. Notice how one feeling can lead to another? The physical feeling of grogginess led to the mental feeling of stress and to the emotional feeling of nervousness and interchangeably so. The same works for ‘feeling good’ as well. It is all connected!

Physical wellness to me is what you put into your body and what you get out of it. From diet to exercise to self care. Those are the basis of getting optimal performance out of oneself. There are so many variations to the types of exercise you can do like going to the gym, doing yoga, going for a run or playing sports. The list is vast! Same thing with diets. It all depends on what your body needs. Listen to it closely and it will tell you. Self care to me, is exactly that; listening within. It is recognizing when you need more sleep or to drink a glass of water. It tells you when to stand up or when you need to sit down. My favourite self care is when I need silent time by myself to regather my energy so I can be my full person when with my friends and family.

Mental wellness and health has really become a forefront in today’s society with stigma being removed from mental illnesses like anxiety, eating disorders, and many more. It has become more common for us to realize that you don’t have to look sick to be sick. My heart melts to see the compassion that us as a global community have for one another (although compassion lacks on other issues but one step at a time). Therapy is no longer a bad word or only for the ‘crazies’. In fact, you don’t need to have mental illness in order to benefit from talking to a professional to improve many aspects of life such as self, relationships, community, and finances. There is so much power in talking! Many executives and high performing individuals go to some form of therapy or counselling or coaching as a form of maintenance.

Emotional wellness does NOT mean you feel happy all the time. In fact, it is the entire opposite; it is the ability to feel everything deeply and fully and come out the other side. No one is ever happy all the time. At one point or another, we have felt sadness, anger, joy, anxiousness, loneliness… Some feelings are harder to bear than others. There are extreme emotions that come with significant life events like grieving a loss of a loved one or even the loss of a job. Although you may not feel emotionally well at this time, there are ways to help cope with it. The important part is to acknowledge it and seek help. Know that it is okay to be feeling this way at this time.

Lastly is spiritual wellness. I personally don’t believe in one all powerful God or many gods or no god. I believe there is a higher power that we cannot fathom nor do I try to justify what or who it may be. It is beyond my comprehension. The important thing is that I believe in something and whatever you may believe in, I hope it brings you comfort. When the world feels heavy and you can’t catch a break, take a moment to connect with the divine power; a light when it seems so dark. There is an unconditional love that no matter the circumstance, you are still loved. Some choose to pray, others meditate. Some things, you can’t do on your own – open your heart and you will heal.

I grew up in a very Catholic household. I had a pleasant upbringing and experience. What drove me away from religion was the fact that people, no matter how holy, are still people and I needed space from the close knit community. I spent my early 20s neglecting my spiritual wellness thinking I did not need it but when things got bad for me, I turned to meditation to surrender my pain and sorrow. The universe responded in the most beautiful ways – I felt an overflow of light that filled my dark soul. Love made my heart burst into passion for life. I felt peace yet alive! A weight literally was lifted off my chest. I could breathe again.

We all experience wellness in different ways, whatever that may mean to you. I try to focus on being well rounded on these four pillars so I may live to my fullest and reach my goals. In all honesty, I am definitely a work in progress but awareness is the first step.

I wish you well.