Written by Michelle Shelton

September 10, 2024

Did you know that the global wellness economy is valued at $5.6 Trillion? Yes, trillion with a “T”. That’s huge. The Healthy Eating, Nutrition, and Weight Loss segment is valued at $1.07 Trillion. Also huge. If how we spend our money is any indicator of what we value, (and I believe that it is a significant indicator!) we clearly value our health. But here’s the rub. With all this value and investment that we place in being well, we’re largely missing the mark. 

Much of the narrative in the fitness industry centers on weight loss. But, spoiler alert, body weight is not a measure of health. There are countless people in larger bodies who are very healthy, and countless in smaller bodies who are not. It is simply not the measure of health we think it is. And, in fact, focusing on weight can lead to very unhealthy behaviors like weight cycling, binge eating, restricting important food groups and nutrients, mistreating your body, and disconnection from your physical cues. 

To be clear, what you eat and how often you move does matter. But they are independent of body size, and just one of many components of a truly healthy life. Real health, in my view, covers 6 main dimensions:

1. To be able to love yourself unconditionally. Nobody knows you more intimately than you. Nobody goes more places with you than you. Nobody has known you longer, or been with you through more, than you. It only makes sense that your relationship with yourself should be top priority. Be kind to yourself, even on your worst days. We’re all looking for that friend or loved one who would love us unconditionally. Be that person to yourself. From this base, you will have the capacity to love others more fully and more freely, as well.

2. To be able to connect with others openly. We are all connected as one human family, fellow travelers on this vast planet. There isn’t anything that you do that doesn’t ripple out and touch multiple lives, whether you perceive it or are aware of it, or not. The ability to embrace this connection, to receive it with an open heart, to use it to spread more good in the world, is our human birthright. The more we can do this, the more alive we become. 

3. To be able to meet your needs without apology and respect the needs of others with kindness. This is where nutrition and joyful movement comes in. Our bodies have the need to be nourished and cared for, to get adequate sleep, and medical care when we are ill. Our culture sometimes praises those who ignore their needs, who get by with too little sleep and make up the difference with caffeine, who ignore physical symptoms in order to stay busy and produce more results, who push down feelings in order to appear strong. True health honors my needs and yours, and makes space for them with wisdom, knowing that real strength and productivity come when we are well and cared for.  

4. To be able to express yourself authentically and courageously. Yes, this is a marker of health, because this is a sign of life. To honor what feels alive inside of you, to allow it to grow, and to offer it to the world and add to the narrative of beauty and life - this is to be alive. Sadly, this is the area of health that may be suffering the most in our society. We’re so busy working on who we think we are supposed to be, trying to keep up with who we think others are, we’ve lost connection with what feels truly alive inside us. To reconnect with it, to offer it without fear of rejection or ridicule, is a marker of health. 

5. To be able to receive life with creativity and playfulness. We can only be playful when we can let go of control. Letting go of control brings us out of the past and out of the future, where pain and worries lie, and into the present. Here, we can experience joy. Here in the present, we can create. Here we can respond to what is instead of protecting against all the what-ifs. Play invites humor, connection, and creativity. I play off you, and you play off me, and together we create something totally new. We can only do this because we’ve let go of expectation, let go of control, and responded to what is.

6. To be able to trust and accept what is. This principle is a close relative to the one before. Creativity and playfulness happen in the context of trust. But trust is a little more, and worth calling out as its own. Trust is staying committed to the process while letting go of the outcomes. It’s a belief that whatever the outcome is, it is ultimately for your good, and will direct you to where you need to be and teach you what you need to learn, help you grow how you need to grow. It allows you to let go of the past, to forgive, to accept people as they are, to let go of things you were never meant to carry. What you trust in is a personal thing, trust in God, in the divine, the universe, or fate. But trusting that there is a bigger picture, and that things will ultimately work out for your good, becomes the fuel to help you find the good, grow, and get stronger through the ups and downs of life. 

Health is a much more expansive experience of connection, love, and self actualization. A blockage in any of these dimensions is a trailhead. Follow it and it will lead you to the root, where real transformation happens and where your healthiest self is waiting. This view of health is not a destination, it's a life pursuit, a journey, every day learning to love and live more freely. You’re never really there. But every day is an invitation to be more healthy, to be more alive.