A local holistic wellness coach weighs in on what it means to approach health holistically and without cost
We’ve talked plenty about wellness and how to improve one’s health through exercise and nutrition. Now, let’s hear from Nikki Torres—a holistic wellness coach—and what she has to say. From giving advice to correcting misconceptions, read ahead for the expert lowdown on all things holistic wellness.
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A holistic approach
Holistic wellness takes into account all aspects of a person’s life, such as physical, social, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. When needing to consider all these factors, a holistic approach to health and well-being can seem like a massive challenge to conquer. To that end, Nikki has one piece of advice: Don’t get overwhelmed.
“Just by its name, holistic health and wellness is made up of several different pillars and you have to understand that you can’t get everything perfect all at once,” she said. To help with keeping track of all these aspects, she suggests checking in on where you are once a month through a journal, for example. Ask yourself how you’re doing in the physical activity area, the nutrition area, the sleep and recovery area, and more.
“And like I mentioned, you don’t have to be a hundred percent on all of these all at once. No one who has it all together did it in one month or two,” she added.
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Steps to move forward
Nikki further advised that the key to approaching your wellness holistically without overwhelming yourself is to start with the lowest-hanging fruit. “Maybe it’s getting into the habit of sleeping early or making better food choices or starting to move more frequently. Once you’ve established a rhythm for one, two, or all of these, then you can move on to another pillar,” she explained.
She also mentioned that the beauty of holistic health is that tackling one of these aspects almost always results in a positive overspill into another. “For example, exercise may help you sleep better. Eating better may give you more energy to move more often and so on,” she said. “Don’t rush the process and don’t compare your journey with anyone else’s,” she continued.
Moving on, she mentioned that she thinks meditation is among the most important wellness practices. “Meditation is absolutely [being] slept on! Meditation clears my head of so much clutter. It’s like a daily spring cleaning for your mind. What I like to do is to immediately journal and write down my priorities for the day after meditating to stay on track of my goals,” Nikki explained.
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Besides meditation, she said that people should get lots of sleep, drink plenty of water, move their bodies daily, and be kind to others in order to stay happy and healthy.
A different picture of wellness
On another note, Nikki said it should be clear that wellness isn’t limited to such things as self-pampering. “How self-care has been portrayed in the past couple of years highlights so much of the self-pampering aspect of it that we’ve lost [sight of] the ones that don’t necessarily cost anything but are just as important,” she said.
She went on to say that a state of well-being could look different for everyone. “Your picture of wellness could look like learning to healthily communicate your emotions with your family or your partner. It could look like establishing healthy boundaries at work without sacrificing your output and performance, and it could look like finally making time to work on your dream projects as a result of establishing healthy boundaries,” she explained.
Finally, Nikki ends with this final piece of advice: “Wellness comes in different forms and practices—and sometimes, they don’t have to cost you.”
Featured Image: NIKKI TORRES (via Instagram)
