Wellness Corner

Make no mistake - change is possible.

Introducing and building new habits to create our own best wellness requires thinking differently about behavior change. We have to leverage proven techniques to be effective and take small steps along the way. In doing so, behavior change becomes possible, especially armed with the right tools and mindset.  

Make no mistake - behavior change is complicated.

Changing behavior is so much more complicated than deciding to adopt a new behavior. We have to be open to embracing the change process as dynamic and unpredictable. We have to adopt patience with the complexity involved in disrupting ingrained behaviors. We have to be ready to draw upon our tenacity and perseverance to stick through the ups and downs of creating the changes we desire.

However, while the behavior change process is complicated, it is also completely possible - especially with the right tools at hand.

Make no mistake - changing behavior is hard.
It often means acknowledging deep fears and emotions. We have to be willing to investigate the beliefs we hold about ourselves and hold ourselves accountable to manage them. We need to uncover personal core values. We have to face breaking old patterns. We have to take risks.

What if I am willing to do all those things and changing behavior is still hard? What is holding me back?

Every year, it feels like the start of September is different from so many other months. Even though it is weeks before summer officially ends, you can feel the impending changes in the atmosphere and the energy of the month feels charged... These cumulative energy shifts and changes seem to mark September as a transition, one well worth considering as we explore building and maintaining wellness.

The use of metaphors to understand, describe, and share our experiences in life is something most of us do and often without thinking. We use metaphors to convey how we are feeling, to help explain what is happening, and to make complex ideas more understandable.
 
And one amazing place to use metaphor is to describe our personal experiences with wellness.

I have been spending a lot of time lately reflecting on the last two years - mulling over the trials and tribulations; pondering the learnings and growth. I have been observing how some people are racing back into the community with open arms and full of excitement. I have noticed how others are cautious, nervous, and tentative in rejoining the newly opened world. Long periods of uncertainty have impacted us all differently; we are each emerging from the cocoon of the pandemic in our own unique ways.

There’s no denying it - I’m jazzed up about spring. I love the budding trees, the grass greening up again, the promise of flowers poking up from a long winter underground. It’s that time of year when everything starts to wake up and things start to feel brighter. I want to go for a walk outside. I can’t wait for the warmer days that I know are just around the corner.

In the busy-ness of daily life, it is tempting to overlook these moments and breeze through from day to day. Simple joys such as happy anticipation of warmer days or delight in spring blooming might receive only cursory attention. In a flash, we are moving on to the next big thing that we believe must. get. done. right. now.

Did you know that the average person spends almost 90% of their day inside? Whether at home, school, in the office or the car, the US Environmental Protection Agency reports that we are, on average, spending more than 21 hours of each day inside. 21 hours! In fact, the term, “Indoor Generation” has been coined to describe this entire era when we are spending more time than ever before living and working inside.

So, what does that mean for our health, happiness, wellness, and wellbeing?

I’ve been hearing a lot about emotional wellness lately, and for good reason - hitting the 2-year mark in a pandemic, many are feeling emotionally frazzled and quite simply burned out. In fact, you might even be feeling emotionally unwell, but what does that really mean? That there is something wrong that needs to be repaired or fixed? Or does it simply mean that emotional wellness needs attention so you can cope better with the craziness that life throws?

Raise your hand if you are feeling a little blue these days. With the honeymoon of the new year long over and reality setting in, you might be feeling a little gloomy, a little bummed, a little let down.  

Or maybe you are feeling frustrated with the state of the world? The state of society? Human behavior? 

Or maybe you feel defeat. Overwhelmed. Lost. You can raise your hands too. Go on. Raise them up. 

Here we are again - NEW YEAR, NEW YOU! We are pumped up to start new year goals and resolutions! We are feeling motivated to finally get to that thing that’s been on our minds about our health, our stress management, our relationships, our fitness and nutrition, our self-care habits…
 
WAIT. TIME OUT.
 
What’s wrong with the old you?? The you, you? The person you’ve become over time through your experiences, overcoming challenges, embracing new opportunities? Where does that “you” go if you are starting over?