Wellness is not the same as Wellbeing by Nikki Bostwick
No GMO’s, sugar, carbs, soy, corn, fruits, legumes, grains, nightshades, eggs, meat, or dairy. No breakfast. No dinner.
Does that sound familiar?
Don’t get me wrong, I still have a list of my personal “no’s” but now I have a completely different relationship with them. It’s a relationship not filled with strict rules and shaming, but simply what feels good to me intuitively and reflects my values.
I’ve done it all. Not in a wellnessfad type of way, but rather in a hardcore Ibelieveinthis/it’smyreligion type of way. And it worked for a while... until it stopped. It took me getting sick and losing my fertility, with my hair falling out and a weakened thyroid, left with no energy to figure out what the hell was happening to my 23year-old body.
It wasn’t necessarily the food I was eating, but rather what I wasn’t eating as a result of FEAR. I believed everything was bad for you. I didn’t take into account the stress of not doing something vs. the joy in taking part in what you love/your culture/your way of connecting with others.
I don’t necessarily regret my journey. I learned a lot about “health” and I still practice many of those core values today, but I just don’t take it so seriously anymore. At the time I felt like I had finally hacked my way into a healthier life, so naturally I would continue reading and applying what I read to my daily routine because I felt so great, I figured I could just continue to feel better and be better and look better, etc. What I didn’t realize was that there is a sweet spot. And once I went over that sweet spot, I ended up feeling UNWELL, even with the addition of all the recommended health changes to my routine. It was just too much on my system and ended up stressing my body out so much it went into fight or flight and I started packing on pounds and ended up so inflamed.
Though I thought I was doing all the “right things”, what I didn’t take into account was my community. I really isolated myself. Not that I didn’t hang out with anyone, but when I did I just avoided doing so many things that I didn’t realize really add to the experience of connecting with each other. I’m not religious but there’s a reason breaking bread together is such a spritual experience no matter what your belief system is!
Connection, community, and a support system are what help us live long, meaningful lives. And once you are able to trust yourself and your intuition to lead you to a truly healthy life, you can leave all the media headlines behind. You can trust that you know what’s best for you.
I recently had my first child, Truth, and it’s pushed into the forefront just how grateful I am as a mother to have learned a sense of balance. I know I’m not going to be able to control everything every step of the way, but I’ve learned that we do our best when we let go of the rest. What better gift can I teach my son early on in life than to trust himself and learn to let go? Choosing love over fear has become my daily supplement.
Nikki Bostwick is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of wellness and contemporary lifestyle brand, The Fullest. Nikki’s passion for wellness began in college after experiencing many of its benefits first hand. While spending a summer on Maui she gained her yoga teaching certificate, which led her to teach yoga throughout college. After graduating with a Business degree, she chose to educate herself further in the world of wellness by attending plant-based culinary school at Matthew Kenny Culinary to concentrate on raw foods, and learn about the energetics of healing with a reiki certification. Her curiosity took her on a path to continue learning about wellness, and more importantly, explore what the word wellness meant to her. Nikki’s deep background in wellness and her desire to ultimately question the industry’s influence all together has undoubtedly contributed to the continued success of The Fullest. What started out as strictly a digital platform, publishing new content everyday and producing multiple podcasts, The Fullest has since expanded to include a saffron based product line to complement their view of happiness being the ultimate indicator of wellness. Nikki hosts one of the brand’s podcasts, Morning Matcha, and she personally formulated the brand’s celeb favorite- the Saffron Latte wellness powder.