"I JUST WANNA FEEL GOOD, LOOK GOOD, AND PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH" -- THE NEGATIVE SELF TALK IN A HEALTH PRACTITIONERS MIND

Can you relate? Are you a health coach, nutritionist, naturopath, personal trainer, beautician or some other job description where you believe you should be the walking, talking, picture of health and that if you are not, you’re a fraud?

This thought came to me last week and I thought I’ve gotta do a blog post on that! The thoughts that arise telling us we’re not good enough in some form or another, but in this case, it’s to do with health. I get them all the time. I’ve had acne since I was 11yrs old, and having studied nutrition and just finished, I quite often have thoughts and voices in my head telling me that no-one is going to see and believe what a nutritionist tells them if she herself has acne. Who wants to pay someone to help them with their digestion when the practitioner has fatigue and appears to not have her sh*t together?

The ironic thing is, that even the individuals who I look up to, and believe to be some of the ‘best in the business’ still have their own health concerns. One might assume that we get into the health industry because we have perfect health and can therefore support others to attain it themselves. But more often than not, the complete opposite is true – we’ve had shocking health issues, troubles, problems and set-backs, that led us to seek education that wasn’t medically based, and as such, we are healing ourselves at the same time we are supporting healing in others, and in the long run, we’re actually much better equipped, learned, and well versed in all things messed up when it comes to health.

If it weren’t for my own adrenal fatigue and really understanding stress from a different point of view, I’d likely still think it was something corporate 9-5’ers working overtime with long commutes to and from work experience. Not someone like me. And without years of IBS, perhaps I’d be less sensitive to someone complaining about a little bloating. And the same with my acne – although I’m still discovering why I chose to experience this life with it for so many years, and hoping that my time with acne is almost up.

What I wanna get at here is that it’s ok to occasionally think “I wanna feel good, look good, and practice what I preach”… and then drop that thought, change it around, make it something more affirming, and move on. If I want to feel good now, I look at why I’m not feeling good, and choose something that makes me feel good. If I’m tired and feeling crappy, then I watch a lazy movie, have a nap, or spend time on my own, instead of playing all day long with loads of other people. I choose what’s works for me.

If I want to look good, I’ll choose clothes I love to wear. And do my hair the way I feel comfortable. Put makeup on or don’t. And as for practicing what I preach, well we’re all different anyway so you could say I’m practicing what I’d preach to someone… perhaps I’m just too hard on myself and giving myself sh*t… Does this resonate with you too? If not, then yes maybe a few changes need to be made so we can get back on track to feeling and looking good 99% of the time. Forget the coffee that gives you a headache each morning and have a tea instead.

So as much as this post is written for you and I hope it helps you to see things differently, whether in yourself or in your health practitioner, it is also written for me, and I'm taking stuff away from this too.

And remember, we’re only human after all.