Emotional & Mental Health Is Often More Important Than Nutrition
Recently, after feeling unwell and experiencing a myriad of confusing symptoms for weeks, I was reminded how often emotional and mental health is more important than nutrition. As a health coach, I focus so much of my time and energy on food and supplementation (for myself and in helping my clients), so when something goes wrong in the body– I’ve trained myself to first look at what I’m eating.
When I started to feel unwell (fatigue, nausea, swollen lymph nodes, run down, etc.) I looked at everything I was eating and drinking and made some changes. I then modified my supplement regimen, started drinking more water, and getting to bed a bit earlier. This did help and I saw some benefit to it, but I wasn’t really getting better. I worked with my doctor and tried some medications for sinus infection and chest congestion, and again- some improvement, yet I wasn’t really getting better. So, I modified my diet even more – shifting toward a more plant-based approach and adding in a lot more foods with vitamin C. I made sure I was exercising (when I could, because I was so tired!) regularly and getting some sunshine. Yet, after all this I was stumped as I was still sick.
Around that time, during a counseling session with my therapist, I was reminded that emotional and mental health really can affect our physical well-being. He asked me about my stress levels, my busy schedule, and my chronic anxiety. A light bulb turned on –Aha! I had totally forgotten what I often tell clients: We can eat all the healthy, organic food in the world, but if we are filling our mind with stressful, anxious thoughts all day long- we may still feel sick.
Since then, I’ve added in daily meditations (I love the Simple Habit app) to calm my mind and my nervous system, and I’ve completely altered my work and personal life schedule to allow for more space to work on my own self-care and emotional health. Plus, I’ve added in some additional trauma work with my therapist, and some energy balancing sessions with a fantastic spiritual teacher. Because life can be stressful and hard, and we have to create space to take care of ourselves.
Now, to be honest- I’m still figuring out what is causing some tricky symptoms (maybe viral, maybe hormonal), but I’m feeling better each day now that I’m working on my internal self-talk and taking time to meditate daily.
So, here’s your reminder to do the same. Make time for you and if you’d like help with that, then reach out and we can connect.
To Your Health,
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