A holistic approach to wellness
I truly believe that what most people are missing in their approach to health is putting enough emphasis on what’s beyond their diet or workout routine. Primary Foods.
You may wonder, “What are Primary Foods?” I’m so glad you asked! Primary Foods are the things that nourish us *off our plate*. These are the areas of life that contribute greatly to our health and well-being that can’t be blended up into a green smoothie or chopped up into a salad. Think relationships, home environment, career, etc. Whether we’re aware of it or not, these factors are impacting our wellness as we speak.
So, what are they? There are 12 main areas that have been outlined as Primary Foods. And I’m here to break down why balance in these areas of life is crucial for your health. Let’s dive in!
1. Relationships
Relationships are your connections to other human beings. Your closest relationships are major contributors to your health as they provide important systems of support, deep connection, and love. And these are incredibly nourishing.
2. Spirituality
Spirituality means something vastly different for everyone. You may not even consider yourself a “spiritual person”, but it has been proven that finding meaningful connections that help you explore your sense of purpose, identity, values, or even something greater than yourself is a common thread between the longest-living populations around the world.
3. Creativity
Self-expression, through whatever medium feels right for you, is extremely healing and nourishing. Be it drawing, cooking, playing an instrument, or coming up with fresh ideas or solutions to problems, there are endless forms of creativity and I’m positive that there’s one for everybody.
4. Finances
Finances are something that has the ability to bring joy or stress into your life. This is not to say that there is a universal amount that equals “satisfaction” in this area, but your relationship with your finances is something that no doubt impacts your well-being.
5. Career
Did you know that many people spend more than 50% of their waking hours at work? Even if this isn’t you, finding ways to be fulfilled at work is hugely beneficial to your health. Having a career or sense of purpose that nourishes you can greatly improve satisfaction and life balance.
6. Education
Education can look like many different things. It could be exploring learning through traditional methods like school, as well as less traditional methods like self-study or simply remaining curious through experiences that grow you.
7. Health
This may seem obvious, but taking care of all aspects of your health (mind, body, and spirit) by tuning into your unique needs without judgment will hugely support your overall well-being and happiness.
8. Physical Activity
Our bodies thrive with movement. It doesn’t have to be intense or even conventional “workouts”. It can be gentle stretching, walking, tai chi, gardening, you name it. Get your body moving however you are able and just watch how it positively affects your holistic health!
9. Home Cooking
Beyond the food you cook, the act of preparing food at home communicates care to your body physically, mentally, and emotionally. Sharing home-cooked food can be an act of self-care as well as an expression of love towards those you share it with.
10. Home environment
Your physical living space, the people you share a home with, your neighbourhood, and your natural surroundings all make up your home environment. It all has the potential to either energize or drain you. To bring peace or to feed chaos. So being mindful of our environment is a big way we nourish ourselves.
11. Joy
Laughter, a smile, a sense of lightness in the body – joy is an emotion and an experience. Be it from an outside source like a compliment from a stranger, or by connecting with something that aligns with your values and purpose, joy is something we need in our lives.
12. Social Life
Not to be confused with the area of relationships (which focuses on deeper individual connections), social life is creating space for time with others and engaging in activities in community. Building a greater sense of belonging does wonders for our well-being.
Now that we have a bit more understanding of these Primary Foods, we also must understand that they are all connected. We can’t simply work hard and achieve fulfillment in one area while completely neglecting others. Balance is essential.
Satisfaction and fulfillment may come more naturally in certain areas over others, and I want to assure you that this is completely normal! We are each so unique, so naturally what flows easily for one person will not be the same for the next! Don’t be discouraged if you feel like you have to focus extra attention on certain areas in order to balance them out. It’s worth it, I promise.
Different seasons of life will also bring different levels of satisfaction in your areas of Primary Food. For example, in one season your relationships may be thriving, but your finances are out of balance. In the next season, you may have found a bit more financial stability and rhythm, but your line of work is causing you to bring home a ton of stress. You get the picture.
Our lives are constantly changing, and so are we. The key is in learning to acknowledge where you’re at with each area and have grace for yourself when things feel out of balance.
This is a topic I could go on and on about (and I kind of did…), but for today, my goal was to introduce you to the concept of Primary Foods and to get you thinking about where you’re at in each area within your own life.
I encourage you to take 5 minutes and reflect on these questions to get yourself started:
What’s one area of Primary Food you feel extremely satisfied in at the moment?
What’s one area you’d like to dial up your satisfaction in?
What do you feel you need to do in order to make that happen?
What’s one step you can take this week to move toward that greater balance?
I hope this was insightful and encouraging, and that you feel even the slightest bit more equipped to bring balance into your life and well-being.
Talk soon!
-Audrey
