By Lindsay Kluge

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February 25, 2021

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Health empowerment is a big part of the naturopathic approach to healing. Putting healing power and health education into the hands of our clients at Richmond Natural Medicine is foundational to our approach, and we always encourage our clients to educate themselves and trust their intuition when it comes to their own health. We find that one of the biggest barriers to healing with our clients is their lack of confidence in their own innate ability to support themselves, and a feeling of disconnection from their own body. This can be due to a lengthy and complicated health journey with unclear answers, an overwhelming amount of available health information, or living a lifestyle that does not allow time or support for their own health needs.

Below are some tools that our practitioners encourage their clients to utilize to begin making a care plan for themselves. A health plan can include everything you feel is affecting your health – including physical health, mental health, spiritual health, and emotional health. Nothing is too big or small to address in your own care plan, and creating a care plan for yourself is an excellent way to observe how your health and wellbeing is changing over the course of the seasons.

Read more: Daily Practices to Support Mental Health

1. Make a habit of checking in with yourself, every day. It’s easy to get swept away with our day as soon as we get out of bed, and neglect to notice what we need to feel our best that day. Check in first thing in the morning with yourself – How are you feeling? Is there an area of your body that is drawing your attention? Is there a part of your upcoming day that is causing you stress? What are two words that could describe your emotional state this morning?
2. Write down how you’re feeling to notice patterns. If time permits, quickly journal these thoughts to make them a bit more clear. This is an excellent tool to check back on if you’re finding you have repeated health patterns.
3. Prioritize your needs. If you notice that you feel overwhelmed with the amount of things you’d like to improve with your health, start with the easiest to implement first and the most difficult last. For example, an easy health improvement may be to commit to eating one more piece of fruit every day, practicing meditation for 5 minutes in the evening, or spending 10 minutes outside each afternoon. More challenging health improvements may be implementing meal prepping each week or exercising for 30 minutes 5 days per week.
4. Start with one practice every month. Add one more each month for consistency and accountability. Don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to make all of your health changes at once. It takes weeks to form a new habit and the goal of wellness is to make it personal and sustainable for you and your lifestyle.
5. Be honest and ask yourself, “What’s getting in my way? Why am I not doing this?” Have you tried making some of these health changes in the past and were unsuccessful? Have you yet to begin? Be honest with yourself and notice what was standing in your way to begin or continue. Some things may be within your control, and some may not. Pay attention to when these barriers show up again, and try a different approach.
6. Ask for help, and seek out those who can support you in reaching your goals. Much of our health may seem out of our scope, and we need a professional to support us in solving our health needs. The doctors at Richmond Natural Medicine are tuned into looking at your entire health picture, and providing support to connect the dots of your wellness needs. For more information or to schedule an appointment, click here.