Cultivating a Thriving Lifestyle: The Intuitive Wellness Approach
If you’re like me, you’ve likely invested countless hours exploring various health philosophies and regimens. While experimentation is a valuable part of the journey, it's crucial to remember that the goal of any wellness protocol is not perfect adherence – it’s to enhance life. True well-being includes physical, mental, and emotional health. It's about finding a balance that works for you, rather than strictly following a prescribed set of rules.
Intuitive wellness is a holistic approach to health and well-being that emphasizes listening to your body and mind. It encourages you to trust your inner wisdom and make choices that align with your unique needs and desires. Rather than following rigid diet plans or exercise routines, intuitive wellness focuses on finding what works best for you and adjusting your practices, as needed.
To be clear, an intuitive approach is not a way to bypass the attention and work it takes to stay well. It means that instead of following someone else’s plan, you create your plan.
That’s why, as a coach, I’m such a fan of principles and practices, which allow me to help others create a personalized framework that moves them toward their intentions, while working within the confines of their abilities and lives.
There were several events that got me into a reflective mood and spurred my thinking on this topic.
The first was the recent passing of a renowned plant-based physician this summer. Dr. John McDougall, a vegan pioneer, wrote 12 books on the plant-based lifestyle. He was 77 years old when he died in his sleep. While he passed peacefully with no known health issues, it seemed quite young to me, given his commitment to his health.
The second happened earlier this month when a celebrated vegan chef shared that she had stage 3 lung cancer. Chef AJ also wrote books on plant-based living, focusing on whole foods and minimizing salt, oil and sugar. Thankfully, she still feels well despite her advanced diagnosis and chalks that up to her healthy lifestyle. But it gave me pause, given that my eating habits are aligned with hers and she’s only a few years older than me.
Which led me to the third event – my own process of revisiting my wellness protocols in light of the passing of my 101-year-old father last autumn and my 60th birthday earlier this year.
All of these experiences are poignant reminders of the importance of staying healthy as long as possible, so when health challenges do occur, you can face them from a position of strength. They also underscore the truth that there is no singular, universal path to optimal well-being and we don’t get extra points for adhering to our protocols perfectly. In fact, in many cases, the stress of perfectionism is subtractive.
That’s where Intuitive wellness comes into play. By tuning into your body's needs, you can optimize your energy levels, improve your mood, and enhance your overall quality of life. This personalized approach empowers you to create a sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle.
There are numerous places in your life that you can apply intuitive wellness principles, such as body, mind, spirit, relationships and career. But for ease of illustration and brevity, we’ll focus on the body, both nutrition and movement, for the rest of this article. Just keep in mind that you can apply this strategy to any area of your life.
The benefits of applying intuitive wellness to your nutrition and movement are numerous and include:
Developing a positive body image by focusing on health;
Enhancing your self-awareness by tuning into your body’s signals;
Increasing your energy through improved blood flow; and
Enhancing your mood due to a balanced diet and physical activity.
And as you might expect, there are challenges, too, such as:
Unlearning all the social cues relating to diet and exercise culture;
Learning to reconnect with your body; and
Practicing self-compassion when the inner critic arises.
But here’s the biggest obstacle I faced when I began to implement intuitive wellness – trusting myself. And the way I worked with that barrier was to experiment a lot with the things I was reading and listening to and then tailor that approach to my needs. Over time, I created a personalized toolkit that is ever-evolving as I grow and change.
That’s the beauty of this approach. Utilizing the best external advice and resources to create true transformation for yourself through self-awareness, reflection, and strategies that align and grow with you.
So how do we do this? Let’s work with the body as our example.
First nutrition. Tell me if this resonates. You’re looking to solve what you believe is a food-related problem. Maybe you’ve put on a few pounds. Or you feel like you’re not digesting your food properly. Perhaps you’d like to try a new way of eating altogether.
You do your research and you find a book or a program that is offering the result you’re looking for, so you give it a try. My guess is you get good results at the beginning. But then it becomes harder and harder to adhere to the program. Your enthusiasm wanes as does your progress. And so goes the illusion that this external solution is the fix.
Why does this happen? Because someone else designed it for themselves. Trying a generic approach doesn’t make it wrong. It’s just not the right solution for you in the long run.
Now what if you took that approach and began to tailor it to your needs, especially as your progress began to decline. That’s a perfectly fine place to start when you begin working with intuitive wellness.
Here’s a personal example. I’ve been on a healthy eating journey for decades, experimenting with vegetarianism, sports nutrition, clean eating, and veganism. I was on a business trip 20 years ago in southern California when I found a book on something called raw food. I was intrigued. I bought the book and read it cover to cover on the return trip. When I got home, I got out my food processor, bought a high speed blender and a dehydrator, and started learning. I was already eating mostly vegan at the time, but this was a full notch up.
I took classes, experimented with recipes, and found raw food restaurants in New York City and in my travels. It was like a little adventure. I was all in – for about eight months. And then it got hard. Even though I felt amazing, it was hard to get through a cold northeast winter in the US without warm food. Over time, I reintroduced cooked food. Yet I remember that time of connecting with my body and the excitement of learning something completely new. That book propelled me forward – not to the author’s way, but to my own.
Today, I am far from a raw foodist. But my kitchen bookshelf is filled with raw food recipe books and I still use my processor, blender and dehydrator weekly. Because I found that for me, the guidelines of not eating anything that has been warmed above 118 degrees, which is when the nutrients begin to diminish, were too stringent for me long-term. But, I discovered that I love preparing, sharing, and eating what I now term as “living food.” This type of food is a part of my diet, not the whole diet.
Now let’s take a look at movement. Perhaps you’re looking to start an exercise program, change a well-established routine or want to challenge yourself in some way. You may try getting some home equipment, joining a gym, or hiring a trainer. Maybe you decide to train for an event, like a 5k. Anything to infuse your physical activity with some fresh energy.
Much like the nutrition example, there are a number of ways you can research a new approach to fitness. When you find something you like, you may choose to follow a specific program to learn the mechanics and then amend it when your interest shifts or it becomes less effective.
That’s how my fitness journey evolved. When I found myself woefully out of shape, unable to jog more than a minute at a time in my mid-30s, I bought a book that was popular at the time called Body for Life. It outlined a simple weight training/aerobic routine and a basic body-building diet. I followed it to a T and got great results.
Over time, those simple home workouts gave me the confidence to sign up for a gym membership. Then a few years later, I got more serious and worked with a personal trainer. As my fitness increased, I started bootcamp workouts, which led to training for ultra long distance cycling and running events. Today, I do a mix of CrossFit, kickboxing and hiking, along with daily walks.
Those are two examples of how someone else’s wellness philosophy can benefit you. Over time, you can embody the principles that work for you and find ways to combine them with other elements that you’ve experimented with until you create a way of eating or workout routine that’s tailored just for you.
Let’s break this into practical steps. Here’s how you can cultivate your own intuitive wellness protocol:
Cast a wide net: An important component of honing your intuitive wellness toolkit is mindfully consuming an array of information. You can look to books, online videos, podcasts, classes and personal experiences. Be clear on your intention of what you’re looking to accomplish. That clarity will help you discern information that’s of value to you from the noise of one-size-fits-all solutions.
Experiment and iterate: This is the key to the whole process – try different approaches, see what feels right, learn from your experience, rework your process, and try it again. As you try new things, it’s great to connect with mentors or coaches to seek guidance, support and accountability.
Focus on what you can control: This means showing up and doing the best you can each day. It means taking ownership of your time, thoughts and actions. It means letting go of self-judgment and criticism by comparing yourself to your own progress and not to anyone else.
The pursuit of wellness is a unique journey for each individual. While there are countless health philosophies and regimens, the most effective approach is one that aligns with your unique body, mind, and spirit. By relying on your self-awareness and self-compassion, you can break free from rigid diets and exercise routines to cultivate a nourishing lifestyle you can sustain for the long-term.
Intuitive wellness offers a refreshing perspective, encouraging you to listen to your inner wisdom and make choices that support your overall well-being in an enjoyable way. Experiment with different foods, movement activities, and wellness practices to discover what resonates with you.
As you step into 2025, commit to a new way of exploring and supporting your well-being in a way that celebrates your individuality, feels nurturing, and empowers you to thrive.
Journal Reflections: How has perfectionism and rigidity impacted your wellness practices and results? Which life area is a good candidate for trying intuitive wellness? How might you begin to experiment with intuitive wellness; what specific step can you take?