I am a Wellness Warrior.
You wouldn’t know it by looking at me. I don’t resemble the gurus who fill my Instagram feed, resplendent in Lululemon, skin glowing from green juice, and biceps chiseled from countless Sun Salutations. Instead, I’m overweight, fatigued, and struggle with bouts of depression. I also obsessively consume health and wellness media.
Right now, I have fourteen health-related apps on my phone. Every inch of my shelves, desk, and nightstand are occupied by books with titles like “Quantum Wellness” and “Minding the Body, Mending the Mind.” I listen to self-hynosis tracks on the bus, webinars during my lunch breaks, and Youtube meditation videos before bed. And I’ve lost track of the number of testimonials I’ve read from people who have transformed their lives with a combination of lemon water, Kundalini yoga, kale, and oil pulling.
This constant edification means I’m quite well-informed about health. I can tell you the benefits of Manuka honey, that a potato has more potassium than a banana, which yoga poses are best for tight hamstrings, and that tart cherry juice can relieve insomnia. But despite the breadth and depth of my knowledge, I am still overweight, tired, and often unhappy. Since I don’t look the part, nor always feel it, I consider myself to be a closeted Wellness Warrior.
Like so many others, I struggle not because of a lack of information but a lack of action.
As a card-carrying member of the “I’ll start on Monday” club, I read the blogs, buy the products, and say the mantras, but don’t take the next steps. I know what to do, I just can’t seem to muster the motivation to actually do it.
A mere sampling of the books I own dedicated to health and wellness. Ask me how many have actually changed my life…
For some of you reading, this may completely undermine my credibility. “How can this chick maintain a blog about mindfulness when she seems anything but mindful?” You may be right that I have no place speaking about the power of meditation and mindfulness. There are plenty of days I certainly don’t practice self-compassion. But this blog is my attempt to help myself by helping others.
I’ve always had a desire to help people thrive. That’s why I became a college professor. I wanted to inspire students to be their best selves and to chase their dreams. I wanted to help them battle injustice and make a positive impact in their communities. Similarly, I want you to feel empowered and enlightened after reading this blog. I want to support your endeavors to build a happier, healthier life. I hope in the process of helping you, I will be motivated to take the steps to help myself.
Do you relate to being a closeted Wellness Warrior? Please share your thoughts; I’d love to connect!
The Peaceful Professor 
Totally feel you here! I teach personal development and sometimes I felt like such a fraud teaching the stuff I do because in doing my research on a topic it would become painfully obvious that it was something that *I* needed to work on.
Recently, I’ve started taking my own advice. It started by quitting nicotine back in April (the behavior I felt the most fraudulent about as I teach recovering addicts) and I’ve slowly been changing about one big thing per month. Next I worked on non-nicotine ways to manage stress like journalling and meditation. Then I added exercise. This past month I tackled food and lost 10 pounds. Each successful month seems to motivate me to do something more. The biggest thing I’ve learned is to be kind to myself when I have what I call ‘laziness relapses’ and use them to see what needs changing instead of beating myself up over them.
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Thank you so much for reading the blog and for taking the time to comment. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to respond. I can totally empathize with you — I feel like a rock star when it comes to helping others, but struggle to take my own advice. This can make coaching really challenging because I don’t feel like I’m always setting a wonderful example. But you’re right about taking baby steps — I try to make too many major changes at once and then burn out, which leads to completely giving up. Thank you for sharing a part of your journey with me. Congratulations on your many successes — I know more will follow!
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this speaks to me so much I feel like you are writing about me. I have so many books and feel like a fraud for reading them and not instantly changing my life. I hope you become as motivated as you possibly can and take the action and hang up the I’ll start on Monday badge 🙂
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Thank you, Danielle, for reading my post and for taking the time to comment. It’s relieving to hear there are other “closeted Wellness Warriors” out there! I understand feeling like a fraud on so many levels. It can suck the motivation right out of you. But I am taking baby steps towards greater self-care and self-compassion. I hope you find your path as well. We’ll start on Monday, right? 😉
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