The rise of the wellness movement dates back to the 1950s when the word “wellness” became popularized and the greater population turned their sights to optimizing their health. People became obsessed with what it meant to lead health-conscious lives and “take care” of themselves. This carried into the 21st century when fitness industries, fad diets, supplement companies, and spas began taking root in our culture. From there, people have become slammed with messages of self-improvement, “better living”, and the image of health. I put these words in quotation marks because many of the teachings in the wellness movement, while meant to better health, actually have detrimental undertones to them.
As we live today, we receive constant messages in the media, from friends, and from general society that we must be thin to be healthy, achieve full happiness when we are pretty; deserve rest only once we have worked ourselves to the bone; and are successful once we have the relationship, the house, the job that we have always wanted. We are sold the idea that supplements, endless self-care, essential oils, and restrictive diet changes will change our lives for the better.
It is sickening to think that we all accept these messages while the beauty, diet, and fitness industries continue to grow into billion-dollar franchises. It is heartbreaking to see how people go to the ends of the earth to fit the ideal image of a body just to feel acceptable in this world. It is sad to hear people preaching about the latest wellness fad that will “cure all ails” including mental illness, self-esteem issues, body image distress, and relationships.
In all of this chaos, let’s get into what the wellness movement forgets about when touting its beliefs.
Not all bodies are meant to look the same.
The number one issue I have with wellness culture is how closely it follows the principles of diet culture. We are told that the thinner the body, the healthier the person. Some doctors and wellness gurus prescribe restrictive dieting with the hope that it will “heal” the person from their ailments. This is damaging on so many levels.
Not only are bodies beautifully diverse and meant to look different, but it is also terribly detrimental to the mental health of patients. Minimizing a person’s value to their body size puts shame on a person and marginalizes their health. Going on to tell a patient to cut out certain foods or to eat less leads to eating disorders, general disordered eating, and an obsession with weight and food. These ultimately lead to worsening relationships, poor mental health, and lower energy to engage with life.
Instead, let’s celebrate all bodies with a Health At Every Size approach. Let’s give people the true care they deserve with proper physical and psychological methods. Not all issues have to do with the size or shape of a person’s body.
Mental health takes more than self-care and healthy eating.
The topic of mental health has been a controversial one over the years. Wellness and diet culture attribute the incline of mental illness to how people are eating, how much exercise they are getting, and what size body they are in. Media pushes the image of a “happy person” as one who is thin, has many friends, is wildly successful in their job, can move about the world easily, and never asks for help.
I beg to argue that every person struggles with mental health, and it has absolutely nothing with the body they are in, the supplements they take, or the level of success they have in their jobs. Yes, medication, psychotherapy, proper self-care, and physical health are huge aids in mental health. But they do not make up the whole picture. Instead, let’s think about how a person can properly cope with distress, how well they show up in meaningful relationships, how much they are engaging with their passion and hobbies, and how well they can communicate their needs.
Wellbeing is not the same as wellness.
It is easy to confuse well-being with wellness. Wellness is the notion that if a person is physically healthy, they must be emotionally healthy. In contrast, well-being focuses on the whole person (emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually). In the pursuit of well-being, we often get caught up in wellness and forget what our initial intentions were.
I would like to offer that well-being is taking the whole person into account, and giving them personalized ways to live a fulfilling life. Wellness is a one-size-fits-all approach to life. So rather than going to the gym, drinking celery juice, and dabbing essential oils all over your body, consider the possibility that your mind and body need more than just tinctures to function. To pursue wholeness, find ways to cope well with stress, see a therapist to process trauma, find foods that make you feel good and happy, pursue a career that fills your cup, and feed into the relationships that give back to you.
The Takeaway
We live in a world that pushes messages that physical health can be “hacked” through physical movement, restricted eating, buying into the industry, and prescribing strict rules for life. It is countercultural to want to live any differently. But it would do far more help than harm to leave behind this lifestyle and adopt one of whole person wellbeing.
Take care of your whole being through a personal approach to food, movement, therapy, relationships, career, beliefs, emotions, spiritual health, and mental health.
In a world that tries to tell us who to be by giving us a mold to fit into, let’s break free and be who we want to be. Let go of the image and step into self-love and acceptance.