By Julie Kouyate
As a coach in the wellness industry, I am constantly shown the stark truth about what ails most of us humans. We are looking for drastic change, and we want it immediately! We tend to know what it is that we need, but getting there is extremely overwhelming. Rather than suffer from disappointment about not getting “the thing,” many people choose to disengage from the goal all together.
Small daily improvements are what make us feel as if we are honoring our commitment to ourselves and the health/state of being that we desire. Wellness is an act of doing—that is why the suffix “ness” is behind the word WELL. In my life, I go by a certain set of energetic and physical markers to determine what I will do during my days to feel my best, and then I also have some very simple ritual type practices that I have ingrained into my daily life as well.
I'll begin with the energetic factors. Each day is new and brings about many challenges, opportunities, and fresh new energy. Rigidity to our “programs'' of wellness goes against the idea of being well. I love daily exercise, but it doesn't always happen. Instead, I will gently ask what would feel best for my body to do each day. Sometimes the answer is to do a dance workout, go for a walk in the woods, sleep, do planks, swim, do yoga, or any number of things. We really need to follow the energy as it presents itself rather than only do XYZ because that is the “goal.” Feeling-oriented goals and asking what feels best for optimal health should be a question we are asking ourselves each day or week.
Next, are physical markers. If we recently had a loss, injury, a bad night of sleep, or a big stressor, then the answer might be to help our nervous system by doing that which regulates the nervous system. It's troublesome to the body, and psyche as a whole, if we pour salt on a wound and hype up our body's arousal system with intensity when all it wishes for is nourishment and soothing. I have witnessed people who soften in healing to go right back to a hardened mindset and think they have to lift heavy things in crossfit, or save the entire world from suffering, only to almost by force, land in bed doing the nurturing that their psyche needed in the first place.
Daily habits should be small and feel good to you! I am a somatic healer, and I truly feel the best way toward wellness is being present with our bodies. My small acts of care are always associated with the senses. I love to apply homemade oil to my breasts and face using lymphatic massage with a rigorousness to it. This helps me to love my body, enhance the health of the tissues, and bring healing energy to myself. I also synthesize any new daily rituals with other daily practices to set them into stone.
For example, I created a habit of ingesting my daily microgreens and nutrients with dishwashing! If a new habit is coupled with other no brainer jobs/habits they will become ingrained. That is precisely why I do breast massage right after the shower. Voilἁ, no more trying to remember: it’s as ingrained as brushing my teeth.
As far as more daily wellness habits that make me feel healthy, I use the work week to eat smaller portions, drink Chaga mushroom complex instead of coffee, eat fresh whole foods without sugar or carbohydrates, and go to sleep at an early hour. It is now habitual for me to treat my body gently in this way during my work week in order to serve my clients to my best ability.
When the weekend comes, I can loosen my regimen. I enjoy coffee or go out to eat, and perhaps have a dessert. This really works for me too. I feel that I have balance in my sleep and diet patterns. It’s so regulating to the hormonal and nervous systems to have that clean energy all week long, and then let that open up for more flexibility to have a little enjoyment on the weekends.
We don't have to incorporate healthy tools into our lives so drastically that we can't even sense if they work for us or not. Oftentimes a slow and calculated approach to incorporating a new wellness regimen is how we ingrain it into our body memory. Everything doesn't have to be fully integrated yesterday. Take your time with things and see what is the best fit based on what feels right. Sometimes we can be so valiant in an effort to “take the supplement,” we aren’t getting in touch with the fact that it might make us feel sick or is showing us that our bodies don't need, support, or want that particular thing. So let's listen up, check our energy, make exceptions for what's happening in our life, and pair a new habit to one that you have on lock. It works. Happy wellness!
Julie Kouyate is a BodyMind coach and a licensed massage therapist. She lives in Ann Arbor with her husband, Mady Kouyate Griot, daughter and four sons. You can learn more about her offerings, including bodymind coaching, somatic healing sessions, “playshops,” retreats, and dance classes with live drumming, at kouyatehealingarts.com, or call (734) 330-7903.
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As a coach in the wellness industry, I am constantly shown the stark truth about what ails most of us humans. We are looking for drastic change, and we want it immediately! We tend to know what it is that we need, but getting there is extremely overwhelming. Rather than suffer from disappointment about not getting “the thing,” many people choose to disengage from the goal all together.