What the Wellness World Gets Wrong

This might be an unpopular opinion, especially coming from someone whose whole career sits within the wellness industry, but I sometimes think wellness has become a little too complicated and the words around wellness, like ‘ritual’ for example, are becoming even more complicated, intellectualised and snobby. Can we stop, please, with this nonsense? It’s not helping anyone.

The irony is that wellness completely changed my life. Learning to move my body because I enjoyed it rather than because I wanted to punish it for not being good enough, not perfect enough. Learning to speak to myself with a little more kindness because valuing myself now comes first. Discovering meditation, yoga, breathwork and, of course, ceremonial cacao. Every one of those practices has helped shape the person I am today. They’ve helped me through difficult seasons of life, taught me how to regulate my nervous system and reminded me, time and time again, that looking after ourselves isn’t selfish, it’s essential.

So don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the fact that wellness is now part of everyday conversation. Twenty years ago people weren’t talking about nervous system regulation over coffee. Children weren’t being taught breathing exercises in schools or encouraged to recognise and name their emotions. Pilates studios weren’t on every high street, and most people had never even heard the word mindfulness. In so many ways, we’ve moved in a really positive direction.

My frustration isn’t with wellness itself. It’s with what we’ve turned it into. Why do we constantly take good things and manipulate them to serve our outer world without recognising that in turn, you’re actually crushing your inner world? And yes, I am talking to some of the influencers out there doing this at the moment. We need to be simplifying, not complicating.

Scroll through social media for five minutes and somebody is telling you to cold plunge every morning. The next video tells you women should never cold plunge because it’s terrible for your hormones. Someone swears by fasting for sixteen hours, while somebody else insists you should eat within half an hour of waking. Apparently none of us should even think about starting the day until we’ve consumed 30 grams of protein, walked 10,000 steps, meditated for twenty minutes and exposed our eyes to the morning sunlight.

What’s interesting is that this is coming from somebody who genuinely loves learning about health and wellbeing. Imagine how overwhelming it must feel for someone who’s only just starting their journey.

I also find myself questioning the integrity of parts of the wellness industry. Not everyone, of course, because there are some incredible practitioners doing beautiful work, but I do think success can sometimes pull people away from the very reason they started. Most practitioners begin because they want to help people. Their work is personal. It comes from experience rather than ego. Then the audience grows, the pressure grows with it and, before long, social media starts rewarding certainty over curiosity. The louder the opinion, the more attention it receives.

We’re all capable of that. Every single one of us has an ego. Mine included. The trick isn’t pretending it doesn’t exist. The trick is noticing when it quietly starts taking over and gently bringing yourself back to why you started in the first place.

I have my own beliefs too. There are things I practise almost every day because they’ve genuinely helped me. I talk about ceremonial cacao because I love it. I teach breathwork because I’ve experienced what it can do. I encourage people to move their bodies because I know how much better I feel when I do. But I’ve also learnt that what works beautifully for me won’t necessarily work for somebody else, and I think that’s something we sometimes forget.

My role has never been to tell people how they should live. It’s simply to share what’s helped me, create a safe space for people to explore what feels right for them and trust that they’ll take what they need. If someone leaves one of my classes and decides cacao isn’t for them but breathwork is, brilliant. If they never meditate again but start walking every morning instead, that’s equally wonderful. There isn’t one path to feeling well.

I also think the wellness world has a habit of pushing everything to the extreme. We seem to believe that if something is good, then more must be better. More supplements. More exercise. More restrictions. More discipline. But I’ve never been convinced that’s how our bodies work. I think our bodies are far more intelligent than we give them credit for.

When was the last time you sat quietly and genuinely asked yourself what you needed? Not what Instagram was telling you to do. Not what the latest podcast recommended. Not what everyone in your office suddenly seemed to be doing. Just you, sitting with yourself for a few minutes and listening.

I don’t actually believe we’re craving another wellness trend. I think what many of us are really looking for is peace. A little less noise. A little less pressure. A little more permission to slow down without feeling guilty for it.

If I could give one piece of advice, it would simply be to cherry-pick. Keep the things that genuinely make you feel better and leave the rest. If you love lifting weights, keep lifting. If walking the dog is the only movement you enjoy, that’s enough. If Pilates lights you up but running fills you with dread, don’t run. If coffee is part of your morning, enjoy it. Although you probably know by now I’m quietly hoping you’ll swap it for a cup of ceremonial cacao one day.

Wellness was never supposed to become another competition. It was supposed to help us feel more like ourselves. Somewhere along the way, I think we’ve forgotten that. Maybe the healthiest thing we can do isn’t adding another habit to our morning routine, but giving ourselves permission to stop chasing perfection and start listening to our own bodies instead. Maybe we start a new Whatsapp group called ‘Keeping it Simple’ - not another Whatsapp group! 

Love,

Gizelle x