How To Start A Wellness Journey (3 Main Areas of Focus)

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So, you want to know how to start a wellness journey. Good for you! The first thing I would encourage you to do is to look at your wellness journey as just that, a journey! Your journey will be yours and yours alone. This is not a competition, nor a race, but a destination. Your unique destination.

You will have some victories and some challenges; however, if you stay consistent you will see your health transform in ways that you didn’t think were possible.

In this article, we will take a look at the following areas of focus for wellness:

1. What is a wellness journey?
2. What steps do you take to achieve wellness?
3. How can you support yourself on a wellness journey?

I would also encourage you to have an open mind. Starting a wellness journey may look a little different than what you expect.

Grace & Peace

How To Start A Wellness Journey

What Is A Wellness Journey?

Ah, wellness… What’s the first thing you think about when you think of a wellness journey? Is it self-care, eating a balanced diet, or exercising? Or do you think of overall relaxation like spas, saunas, and massages?

All of these answers are correct; however, wellness is such a complex topic with deeper aspects than just self care. Don’t get me wrong, self care, exercise, and dieting are all aspects of wellness, but where does the foundation start?

What we will look at in the next section are three of the most important foundations in establishing true long-lasting wellness.

According to wellmeright.com, a wellness journey is a process of taking care of oneself and one’s overall well-being. It is not just about fitness or eating right, but also about mental health, relationships, and spirituality.

My wellness journey began about 15 years ago. You can read more about my journey here.

Some things have lasted and some have not. My goal is to share the things that I have learned to be essential for overall wellness.

Let’s take a look at three overarching areas of concentration to begin a wellness journey.

What Steps Do You Take To Achieve Wellness?

1.    Focus on your Spirituality:

A personal relationship with God is essential for your overall health & wellbeing. Outside of your creator, you can do nothing! As you focus on your relationship with God, your spirituality will automatically increase. You will begin to tap into your spiritual gifts, why you were created, and most of all have a sense of where you are headed in the life to come.

This step will be essential in achieving long lasting wellness

A good way to start is by talking to God throughout your day just like you would an old friend. Ask him how’s he doing, ask for guidance for your day, and just simply give thanks 🙂 I always say, your prayers don’t have to be elaborate just authentic. He always has a listening ear!

2. Focus on your diet/nutrition:

For the most part, we know that we are what we eat. Sometimes, it can be difficult to find out what to eat. Let alone, enjoy the healthy foods “they” say we should eat for proper nutrition. BUT what if I told you that your food & nutrition does not just involve what you eat? I had to learn to manage ALL the appetites in my life to find true health. When I say appetites, It’s all the things we allow our bodies AND spirit’s to digest: food, entertainment, love, sex, people, movies, T.V., music, etc…..You get the idea, lol

A good way to start with your food & nutrition is to start paying attention to what your body tells you. Believe me, your body will alert you if you’ve eaten something it doesn’t agree with. Keep a journal of these foods and start slowly eliminating what’s making you sick.

A good way to start with your spiritual food & nutrition is to take note of what makes you uncomfortable & causes triggers in your life. Keep a journal of this because you can begin to make adjustments in areas that irritate your spirit. For instance, I cant watch a lot of movies/TV with killings in them. If I watch too much, I start to get anxious in the days to come. Remember, what irritates the flesh and the spirit can be two different things.

3. Focus on your Mental & Emotional Awareness:

This is such an important area! I had to learn the hard way and I don’t want you to experience that!

Think about what you’re thinking about! Your mind does not have to be a garbage dump for negative, destructive thoughts.

A good way to start is to think good thoughts on purpose! It was mind-blowing when I realized that you can think thoughts on purpose that align with where you’re trying to go. You can also stop negative thought patterns by saying the word STOP out loud.

As you do this, you will begin to form new thinking patterns and habits.

Another cool trick is to get a rubber band and put it around your wrist. If you have a thought that you’re trying to break, pop yourself with the rubber band and say STOP!

A good way to start with your emotions is by having awareness of them. Don’t “push them down” or run away from what your feeling. Embrace your feelings because they are valid!

Related:

5 Tips on How To Start A Healthy lifestyle: Healthy Eating Jumpstart for beginners

How Can You Support Yourself on A Wellness Journey?

Here is where the self care comes into play. Just as the title says, it is important for you to SUPPORT yourself through this process. Yes, supporting yourself is possible and it is a thing! Just as you would offer support to a loved one, this is your opportunity to offer support to yourself. Let’s look at how.

Ask questions on your journey like: what does my body need right now? Is it water, food, rest, or time with God. Sometimes these simple questions can help identity what areas need your attention most.

You also want to set boundaries for yourself and set specific realistic goals while on your wellness journey. Find what works for you! Explore unique ways to enjoy exercising, time w/ God, self care, and nutritious food.

Address perfectionism as it is an illusion. I can tell you right now that you WILL NOT be perfect. This journey will not be perfect but as I stated earlier on, it WILL be uniquely yours.

Also, being perfect is never the goal. The goal is to adopt healthy habits that help you live a healthy well-balanced life.

Have compassion and have patience with yourself. As you progress on your journey, you will learn new things about yourself and you will be doing a lot of changing, mentally.

It is important to take time to purposely show yourself compassion, patience, and love.

Final Thoughts: How To Start A Wellness Journey

One day you will look back on your journey and it will have turned into a lifestyle! That’s good news!

You will always be evolving however, as time goes on the hardest part of the journey will be behind you.

You would have learned certain habits and retrained yourself for long-lasting wellness! If you need heap on where to start with your eating check out these two articles: Top 5 Favorite Go-To Healthy Recipes (Easy & Delicious) & 15 Amazing Bible Verses on Health that Inspire Healthy Eating (Includes Affirmations).

My hope is that you are able to apply what you’ve learned here about starting a wellness journey and make some of these habits stick.

Even if you just start by doing some self reflection about where you would like to be and what your goals are for your journey.

I believe in you and I’m glad that you’ve decided to do something for you. You deserve it!

As always, thanks for being here and until next time, here’s to healthy living my friend!

Check out these good reads for your health!

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