So just as we discussed last week, we all have the ability to become our healthiest self, and health can look different for everyone. For example, starting to pay attention more to nutrition and make healthier food choices could be health for someone who struggles with obesity, while loosening up on nutrition “control” and incorporating more types of food could be health for someone who has struggled with an eating disorder. Additionally, health is not just physical. It goes much deeper than exercise and nutrition; it includes our mindset and thoughts, outlook on life, relationships, and more. So, by shifting our actions and our thoughts, we can all achieve the healthiest version of ourselves.

With that being said, we must first believe that health is actually possible for us, because our belief systems and outlook on life play a huge role in our overall health and wellness.

Did you know that if you read the side effect panel of a medication, you are more likely to experience those side effects? And if you believe a certain treatment will help the symptoms you’re experiencing, you are more likely to experience improvement in your symptoms (aka the placebo effect). In a similar way, if you believe a food to be “bad” for you, your body reacts differently to that food than if you believe it to be “good” for you. With findings like these, research shows that it is not solely what we are doing, but how we believe it will affect us that really matters.

So how do we apply this to our health?

While the answer is relatively simple, putting it into practice can be a tad more difficult. It starts with shifting your beliefs and essentially convincing yourself that you are capable and worthy of living a healthy life. Once you believe that you are capable and worthy of true health, your daily actions will start to align with that belief. You will start desiring to care for your body more through nutrition and movement. From there, you may desire to also care for your mental health more. This includes practices like meditation and breathing exercises, but also includes removing toxic people from your life and allowing less negative energy into your “bubble”.

This is typically not a fast process, so give yourself time and grace along your journey. But as long as you can persevere, you will see that true health has always been available within you, and you may even wonder why you waited so long to find it.