07/07/25

#216 Why Health is More than Just Food and Fitness

Why Health Is More Than Food and Fitness

I’m always banging on about the importance of looking after your physical health—but to be truly healthy in the richest, most complete sense of the word, you must also nourish your mind, your soul, and your inner self.

Your inner peace has a profound impact on your physical well-being. Holding onto stress, guilt, or poor self-esteem can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and weight gain.

That’s one of the reasons I’m running a retreat in Bali next week.

It’s a chance to step out of constant doing and into simply being. To give ourselves permission to rest, reset, and reflect. To prioritise our inner health and reconnect with what truly matters.

Personally, I nourish my inner health daily by reading, journaling, and spending time in nature.

Yes, Even in NZ, We’re Nature Deficient

Have you heard of Nature Deficit Disorder? It describes the growing gap between humans and the natural world—and the toll it takes on mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Even here in clean, green Aotearoa, thousands of women spend most of their time indoors—in cars, houses, offices, and towns—without regular contact with nature.

Yet just 20 minutes a day in natural surroundings can improve your mood and health. Walking in the bush, or simply being surrounded by trees, has been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce resting heart rate, and lower cortisol levels.

Cortisol, as many of you know, is a major stress hormone—and one that drives belly fat and weight gain, especially for women over 40.

The Japanese have a term for this healing practice: Shinrin-yoku (森林浴)—forest bathing.

That’s why we’re heading to a secluded, peaceful part of Bali. Far from the noise and crowds. Right on the beach, surrounded by natural beauty. And that’s why we’ll be practicing daily mindfulness and journaling to nourish our whole selves.

A Taste of What We’ll Do at the Retreat

Here are a few of the beautiful inner work sessions I’ll be guiding:

Coming Home to You: Creating space for self. Visualising your future self. Taking aligned action.
Surrounded by Gratitude: Deepening presence. Noticing the good. Reclaiming joy in your life.
Loving the Body You’re In: Body appreciation. Self-compassion. Falling in love with your before photo.
Honouring Your Body Through Nourishment: Eating with love, not guilt. Self-respect through food.

Now, if you’re a science-based realist like me, some of this might sound a bit woo-woo.

But the older I get, the more I see the value of this work.

I don’t spend all day navel-gazing—but I do take time each day to get the crap out of my head. I use journaling to see my thoughts on paper, sort through them, and ask:
Is this really true? Is it serving me? Or is it time to let it go?

I’m so much calmer, less stressed, and quite honestly—a much nicer person to be around—because I do this work.

My Invitation to You

If you take one thing from this blog, let it be this:

🌿 Get out in nature every day. Even just 10–20 minutes. Leave your phone at home. No earbuds. Just be.
🖋 Start a daily journaling practice. Write what’s in your head. Don’t censor. You’ll be surprised what flows.
💬 Question your thoughts. Some of mine look ridiculous once I write them down—so I let them go.
❤️ Write down your dreams. Your plans. Your hopes for yourself, your whānau, and this planet we share.

And if you can’t join us in Bali this time, I encourage you to give yourself a mini retreat. Take a weekend off. Head to a batch, a cabin, or somewhere quiet and beautiful.

Just stop.

Refresh.

Let yourself be a human being, not a human doing.

🌺 Our next Bali Bliss Retreat will be July 2026—start saving now if it’s calling you. Or consider joining us in Okinawa, Japan, in April 2026—details coming soon.