Small Steps to Great Health
We are living in the age of ‘over’.
Over (insert word here): whelm, wired, tired, stimulated, worked, indulgent, committed, burdened, loaded, achiever… And increasingly people are looking for (needing) a health over-haul!
As a Naturopath, we meet lots of people in a state of ‘over’. And sometimes they just don’t know where to start or maybe they’ve been trying seemingly everything - often with great enthusiasm, only to to find it didn’t work, didn’t last, didn’t make them feel good or was just too hard. And no shade, but often these well intentioned insta-influencer, high-intensity, celery-juice-cleanse type ‘miracle’ fixes are either only one small piece of the puzzle or not suited to you personally at all or sometimes, just a fad.
The other thing is, that it can be really easy to live in the land of ‘should’. Scrolling through social media at the ‘perfect’ portrayal of people’s lives and the ‘quick-fix’ that solved all of their problems can leave you feeling like there is a plethora of things you ‘should’ be doing to feel better and lead a healthier, more balanced life. But - in the state of ‘over’ it’s pretty hard (impossible) to see through the fog and chaos and break things apart into smaller, simpler and more meaningful steps tp achieve lasting positive change.
Making change is hard. It requires energy and effort to repeat the new habit or process or thought pattern repeatedly until it becomes integrated. For many people, making changes can be daunting and short lived at best, and often finding themselves running back to the comfort of past habits before you can finish saying ‘gluten free’.
Working with a Naturopath takes a multifaceted approach to unwinding the things that no longer serve you, the barriers to your optimal health and in an entirely unique way to you - no cookie-cutter protocols, because you are an entirely unique being!
We Naturopaths have a pretty awesome toolbox of herbs, nutrients, flower essences, homeopathics remedies and dietary and lifestyle interventions that can all be used to help you come back to a state of flow and balance. But moving beyond that, sometimes we just need to clear that fog a little, make some space to be able to find change a little less daunting, the things that don’t cost a cent. For one small habit, with consistency opens space to add another small thing and eventually the sum of lots of these small steps equates to a level of health and well-being that will leave the only ‘over’ left as over-joyed!
Take the pressure off! The state of ‘over’ wasn’t created in a day and it can’t be unravelled in a day.
Set the foundation for success. Your self-judgement era is finished my friends! We are in our self-lovin era! Do you have a commitment to a continuous process of learning, growth and change? Yes? Excellent! Then step 3 is a super important one…
Accept your humanness. Perfection doesn’t exist. Healing isn’t a linear process. So you didn’t even mange to drink 100mL of water today? No worries, have a glass now and start again tomorrow. Every stumble is an opportunity for growth, because making the decision to get back up, readjust, relaign and start again is where the magic really is and where positive habits are formed.
Start with 1 small thing. Find something easy that will have a big impact
Just add water! Maybe you’ve only been managing 300mL per day, start by increasing it to 1L and gradually increase until you hit 2.5-3L each day. You’ve got this!
Find an ‘in’. You don’t have time/can’t meditate? Do it while you sleep! Jump into bed, pop on a guided meditation, turn the lights off and drift off to sleep. Your nervous system is still receiving the message and reaping the benefits.
Put your bare feet on the earth. Even for just 1 minute a day. Energy will flow through you!
Realign your purpose. Turn ‘I have to…’ into ‘I get to…’. Turn ‘I must eat breakfast’ into ‘I am caring for myself when I make a healthy and nutritious breakfast’. Or, ‘I need coffee to get through the day’ into ‘I get a moment of peace as I enjoy a coffee’.
Repeat the small steps.
As the fog lifts, our eyes open and we see more clearly (philosophical right?! But an undeniable truth nonetheless). And when we can see, we have more power and agency to continue making more small steps. It becomes easier to see the missing pieces, the pieces that need to fall away and the pieces that need a bit of modification. With small steps, you really can move out of a state of ‘over’ and have your best health.
Let’s connect -contact us now to see how Naturopathy can help you on your journey to health.